How to survive in the office watch. "Generation burned out at work": a female scientist gives advice on how to survive in the office. If I wish, I can officially waive my "right to smoke" - then the company partially compensates me for the costs of fitness clubs. "If to
Since now, when I write these lines, I seem to be trying to remember my dream: as if I work as a secretary - I go in a jacket, I stand in morning traffic, I have lunch in the office cafeteria. Only in the most difficult moments can I, as in a lucid dream, say to myself: “Stop. This is not real!”
Interview
Tell me, Yulia, what is the best way to praise you? Would you prefer a raise or a thank you?
- Can't do both?
I am sitting on the fourth floor of a glass parallelepiped, which, like a mirage, rises in the middle of a littered industrial zone, far from the metro and human habitation. From the street, a white antique portico is absurdly soldered to the mirrors. I'm getting a job.
When I really tried to become a secretary ten years ago, I was usually interviewed by men and immediately began to unobtrusively begin to find out if I was ready to sleep with them. On this, in fact, it all ended. Since then, I have never taken a job in a real office. It turns out that during this time everything has changed: in any decent company there is a personnel department, interviewers are all women, insightful, picky and well trained. They ask strange, ridiculous questions: "Do you like to cook?" "How would you spend a million?" The questions are stupid, but it works.
- Camera? And then? On a big trip? And then what?
They didn't take me to this office. It was necessary not to show off and respond as expected. The trouble is that I'm used to "selling" myself as a piece of goods, and a good secretary is a serial product.
My dream takes a leap, and here I am already in another place - in the PUMA consulting association, where there are already 10 women psychologists, a whole large department. To them, in the personnel department, there are queues of applicants, everyone rustles with questionnaires. I also take tests, automatically ticking off statements like “I am sometimes irritable”, “Friends describe me as a sympathetic person”, and even “The customer is always right”. Then they give me a Russian language test and a computer knowledge test: “Is a virus a program, a bacterium, or a special device?”
I am almost sure that they will not take me: the handwriting is too bad for a secretary and everything is filled out sloppily. But for some reason, the next day they call me back and invite me for an interview with the manager. The leader is a businesswoman named Lyudmila. She has a tense mechanical gait, her hair is gathered in a knot, her eyes jump nervously along the walls and ceiling. “We have everything built on the principles of technology and optimization,” she says in a broken voice. It seems that talking to me is extremely unpleasant for her, but she smiles stoically, as if saying: “Yes, I understand, a person should smile in any situation.”
My legend: after graduation, I sat with the children, never worked anywhere, you have to start somewhere.
- Are you going to take sick leave if the children get sick?
- God forbid!
Again, I am almost sure of failure, but the next day they call me back again: now I have an interview with the director. It seems to be purely formal. The director asks why I chose this particular company. "Because it's big." The answer suits him well. And I was hired with a three-month probationary period. I'm filling out a lot of paperwork. In particular, if I wish, I can officially waive my "right to smoke" - then the company partially compensates me for the costs of fitness clubs. “If you smoke, don’t sign,” the personnel officer advises. “We have such a principle here - “Honesty”, for violation they are fired.” I like it and I honestly don't sign. From Monday I go to work.
Habitat
The main thing is to run away from home before the children wake up. Otherwise, you will inevitably be late: the children will always find some cunning and naive reasons to detain me - pour juice, turn off the light, turn on the water, or just "sit with me." A nanny can do all this, but they still turn to me. And I sneak out of the house and go to the bus stop, wondering why people don’t look back at me, because I move with such dexterity on ice on my heels.
And here I am, the secretary. My office is located on the sixth floor of a large Brezhnev glass building, with an endless industrial landscape opening from the windows. At the entrance to the company, I must attach an electronic pass to the sensor to track working hours - lateness will be deducted from the salary. Whoever is not late for a month is entitled to an incentive four-hour day off. I go to my department. In the center of the office there is a large table for playing ping-pong, next to it is a rack with golden goblets and pennants. The room I work in is built into the “mezzanine” so it has very low ceilings. The windows are from table level to the floor, and streaked daylight pours in through the blinds. Bookcases with documents are twined with light green indoor ivy. There is a stand on the wall with a poster "Department Competition" and some complicated graphics.
Lyudmila is sitting in the far corner by the window. With their backs to her are ordinary employees, they have an “open” position: it is clear what they are doing on computers. More advanced clerks have a “closed” position, and so do I: as a secretary, I cannot sit with my back to the entrance. As I later found out, the tables were arranged not just like that, but according to the rules of “office feng shui”. Sounds similar to the sound of the surf are regularly heard from the next room: “Ah, they are clapping. We're clapping all the time."
Coordinator Tatyana explains to me what's what. My workplace- a table on which there are two statements, green and red: receiving and transmitting documents. Documents are as follows: acceptance certificate, reconciliation certificate, contract, invoice, invoice, invoice and letter - it seems that everything. They bring me a document, I enter its six-digit number in the red sheet, carry it to a certain OIS, there it is entered into the second sheet, given to the right employee for signature, entered into the third sheet and brought back to me, and I write it down in the green sheet. After that, an employee of my department puts the document in a special cell and from there it goes to the client. That's all the work. There are usually 30 documents per day. The work is simple, even pleasant: when there are a lot of pieces of paper at once, I classify them with pleasure, label them and send them to the right employees. All this is not urgent: one paper must go through all instances, as a rule, in a week.
Tatyana and I order pencils, stickers, scissors, and a hole punch for me at the warehouse. Then we slowly follow them. Tatyana is calm, smart and feminine - she is never in a hurry and manages to do everything. She has a smooth beautiful gait, she is always ready to help, explain. Ideally, I should be the same. Tatyana has been working at PUMA for a year and a half: “I like it. Here everything is stable, everything is white. I used to work as an administrator in slot machines, there the attitude was different. There, for example, it was impossible to sit down if there was at least one client in the hall - you had to stand or walk.
Our company sells a certain product that cannot be touched, smelled, or eaten, although this is a rather important thing. Partly it is information, partly a service. For brevity, let's call this product Good. Good is produced by another company, and organizations buy it first of all - from small shops and kindergartens to large corporations. Individuals like me rarely need it. Goods need to be brought to customers once a week. I work in the OSD - the Good escort department. There are about 100 employees in the department, but most of them are rarely in the office: they travel around the city, deliver Goods to customers and are called "specialists". On average, they need to go around about 15 points a day. They communicate with the bosses via SMS - they have a special code table.
Specialists are managed by foremen, foremen - by managers, and they, in turn, by the head of the department. The bosses address their subordinates as “you”, and those who address them as “you”. Only directors stand above the leaders, there are two of them - tactical and strategic. One basically signs contracts, the other composes corporate rules. The second director, Daniil Vorontsov, seems to be a great intellectual, a graduate of the Physicotechnical Institute. The company's website says that he loves Jarmusch, Hesse and Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Tatyana takes me through the company, showing me the huge sales departments, in which, like black chess pieces, managers in suits sit in their fenced cells. Their task is to find new customers among those who still do not know anything about Dobro. There is also a special unit where an employee calls various organizations and, introducing himself as a person from tax office or a compiler of a business directory, finds out if this firm has Dobro. But the OIS is the information support department. Here, firstly, they make sure that the client does not refuse weekly deliveries, and, secondly, they strive to sell him new types of Good, of which there are a lot.
While my workplace is being set up, I start reading Over the Cuckoo's Nest, recommended by the director, Ken Kesey. Noticing this, the boss immediately provides me with good manuals and a guide to the company. It turns out that in order to pass the probationary period, I will need to pass a test on knowledge of corporate ethics and the principles of PUMA. These five principles are: “Be honest!”, “Keep your word!”, “Create value!”, “Help others!”, “Learn!”. The company has a hymn in which all five principles are set out in verse: “PUMA is us striving for a goal / One and worthy, for the benefit of the whole country. / There are many of us, we are all different, but only in every business / For Five main principles are especially important to us: / Honesty and openness are a reliable foundation for us, / We are accustomed to cherish trust in work. / And if you, my friend, give and keep your word, / That means you are with us! It may be difficult, but hold on! / And we have long understood that the price is not only experience, / And not the amount of work, not the weight of labor costs. / It is more important to be useful, to work conscientiously, / So that values \u200b\u200bare created, the result was visible! The anthem, as they explained to me, is sung twice a year, during big corporate holidays. I also learn that the doors of the directorate are literally always open and that "couples in PUMA do not work, alas."
I'm not going to start a family here, but in general, I rather like everything that is written in the training manual - it seems that the person who wrote all this was sincere. The only embarrassing thing is that there is too much of this: decrees, orders, explanations, a table of ranks (the head is a diamond, the director is two diamonds, the founder is three diamonds, the expert is one branch, the leading expert is two branches), how many minutes a day are spent on smoking, as it relates to the lunch break… Reasoning about the nature of the five principles… Mission: “We contribute to the development of Russia by helping our client make the right decisions faster”… It seems that the author of the text cannot stop, again and again trying to convey to his subordinates something very important to him.
Anapa. Ankara. Alaska... Is it a city or not? By evening, there is less work, foremen, in anticipation of reports, play "in the cities." Someone has creatively drawn a silhouette of a business woman in high heels and with a briefcase in a computer, the rest are discussing the merits of her bust. “Let's go play,” the female employee says to the male employee. "Tennis?" I happily ask. “No-o-e-e-t, what are you, we have a business game ...”
I'm still waiting for the phone and computer to be delivered to me. I have already read everything about the company and about Dobro and I am wandering around the office. Cleaning women sit at the tennis table and put stamps on some brochures. I take pictures with my cell phone. In the corridor along the wall under the Shock Workers of Capitalist Labor stand, there are IKEA tables about waist high, on the tables are computers, behind which young employees, shifting on their heels, look at some sites. I photograph them too. "What is it?" I ask. “This is internet access. And what are you doing here? Do you work for OSD? Well, go ahead and work." I try to go to my mail, it turns out badly and slowly - the computers are old, everything hangs, and besides, it's uncomfortable: this is the most passable place, everyone sees what you are doing. Now you have to get used to the fact that they don’t “sit” on the Internet, but “stand”.
Suddenly, a piercing bell rings out from somewhere, like at school. "Attention. Blocking. Doors. Attention. Blocking. Doors. says the automatic man from the loudspeaker. This means that the work shift is over.
I finally got a computer, but only fifteen minutes left before the end of the working day. I asked Lyudmila to postpone the study of the system until tomorrow and went home, where the children pounced on me like phantoms of Solaris, unable to spend a single second apart from their creators.
business games
Before finally starting work, I have to go through a two-day training along with other new employees of the department. I go to recruit classes and immediately feel like a black sheep: nine guys and me. However, this gives me the opportunity to behave freely, without fear of exposure.
Classes are conducted by the staff psychologist Fedya - a small stocky man in jeans, with round hamster cheeks. Fedya is witty and shines with professionalism: “I’ll tell you honestly: PUMA is the best,” he says. Guys are shy, naive and ambitious. They, like me, are working for the first time in big company and are very happy about it. Almost all of them are from the Moscow region and are looking for an apartment. At first, their salary will be like mine - 13 thousand. Classes begin with the fact that everyone is divided into two teams, each of which must build a paper tower at least 180 centimeters high in 10 minutes. The guys are having fun rushing into battle. "Faster! Faster! - shouts the novice. “We must make it higher than theirs!” I laugh: no one said that the tower should be higher. "And what? Fedya says. - Competition is natural main principle nature." I look at two paper towers and understand that Fedya and Freud really know something important about life.
— What is the most important thing? Team spirit? Correctly! Clear plan? Correctly! Fedya writes on the blackboard. In general, he writes everything on the board - up to the point that you have to greet the client. Specialty classes begin. We play in the accompaniment of Good. We are specialists, Fedya is a generalized conditional client, who for some reason is always called Inna Lvovna. Fedya very funny and convincingly portrays this Inna Lvovna - a narrow-minded soviet aunt who is not very interested in Good, but with our correct behavior, she is able to get used to and love him.
“Hello, Inna Lvovna,” we repeat in unison. - I'm from the company "PUMA"! I will come to you once a week ... Inna Lvovna, you can read the magazine "Vremya Dobra". This is a magazine published by our company, in which you will find an overview of Good for the last week and interesting articles.
- Great, and now the same thing, just add: "Here is my business card."
Hello, Inna Lvovna. I'm from PUMA. I'll be coming ... damn, I forgot about the business card ... - the tall Eduard gets confused, blushes like a schoolboy, and starts all over again.
We must learn all phrases by heart. The welcome scene plays dozens of times. We go out the door, knock and repeat everything again. “He’s already fucked up,” the guys in the corridor complain. I try to somehow diversify the script, I say: “Here, read our magazine ...” Fedya immediately stops me: “According to the text, please.” (Stop! This is all not real!) Then, in the same way, we learn the options for our actions in cases where Inna Lvovna behaves inappropriately: we know what to say if she does not have time, if she is dissatisfied with Good or she has a question that can only be answered at PUMA. “I understand, Inna Lvovna, the question is serious. It can be answered by our specialists hotline. Do you have access to the city in nine? Let me pick it up." The task is for Inna Lvovna to get used to PUMA and learn to call there as often as possible. Fedya does it naturally, we don't do it very well.
You can’t say any negative words, such as “long”, “slow”, “expensive”, you can’t ask questions that can be answered with “no”. Fedya teaches us to smile, not to talk on the go (it turns out that this is very important) and strongly requires that we all have something “breath fresh” in our pocket.
We break up into pairs, now I am Inna Lvovna. I get a sad forty-year-old Jew who stands out in this company. He has been working at PUMA for a long time and came to the training to “refresh his knowledge”. He tries very hard, tells me in detail about the Good - as if he is actually talking to the client.
“Something you look painfully plaintive, ingratiating,” I notice.
“This is my mask,” he replies proudly.
At the same time, it turns out that we are scouts - in the client's office, we need to understand to what extent the products of the main competing company can be present here (let's conditionally call it Evil). If we see a business card, a ballpoint pen or a calendar with the symbols of Evil on the table, we must report this to the manager on the same day. The war between Good and Evil is legendary - they say that in the nineties, when Good separated from Evil, it almost reached the point of assault. Now everything is civilized, but until now, the whole company can be fined for the phrase “Good and Evil are one and the same.” I guess I accidentally said it...
Those who catch an Evil spy or other competitors in PUMA are entitled to a bonus. “You can do this for ideological reasons, but if you wish, it will be rewarded with a bonus from 1 to 12 (annual earnings!) of your salary, depending on the volume and value of the information. We abide by the principles in relation to our employees, customers and suppliers (we are not at war with them). The situation is different with competitors, we are in a state of marketing war with them. And in the war - as in the war ... ”- explains director Vorontsov.
During a break between trainings, I go to my department. Fedya is sitting at the boss's table with his back to me. I hear him say: “I don’t know about the secretary ...” Lyudmila interrupts him: “And here is Yulia herself ...” Fedya leaves, Lyudmila looks at me with prickly, unseeing eyes: “Tell me, why did you photograph our employees yesterday with a mobile phone? Several people have already expressed their bewilderment… Besides, on your first day of work, you left fifteen minutes early. This is the second. And I don’t understand how you can read Fiction in the office. I know you've been at home for years, but now you've come to work for the company. Remember: not work for you, but you for work. Her metallic voice touches some very deep childish complexes in me, I confusingly apologize and promise not to do anything like that in the future. She softens, gives me a captious motherly look: “And do something with the hair. And then you look like you just got out of bed.
A crisis
Sign, Inna Lvovna, - I am clumsily trying to joke with the manager who took my escort exam.
“Don’t call me Inna Lvovna. It is there that I am Inna Lvovna, but not here.
By the end of the first week, I was quite comfortable with my work. I seem to be coping well, it seems that nothing fundamentally new is expected in the coming days. I ask Lyudmila for permission to travel with one of the client specialists, maybe I can sometimes replace someone. She reluctantly promises to think about it, but the next day she refuses: “Now is not the time. It is not necessary for your work. You are tied to the office with a long chain.”
My colleagues took me for granted. No one asks me any questions, my attempts to communicate are answered in monosyllables. I bring documents to them, they sign without looking. I already know everyone by face and by last name, but I just can’t choose who to sympathize with, because everyone manifests themselves the same way. Outside the company, they are probably very different people, you can see it. The immense Shishkina, a former director of a travel agency, most likely does not at all look like a smart, swarthy Volzhskaya - but there is no way to check this. I can only guess. It seems that with only one person I felt a rapprochement - or, maybe, I invented it. This is a modest fifty-year-old manager in the far corner, with a sad smile reminiscent of Akaky Akakievich. He kindly explained to me for several minutes how best to fill out the form. I would like to talk to him, but I can’t: he doesn’t smoke and always leaves work at exactly six, and I have to sit until seven.
I have to sit at the computer and read corporate humor and creativity of employees - this option is available to me, just like a working one. Email. Among the jokes about blondes, the praises of the company, football chants (“There are no more men in the world yet / Men are better than PUM”), I suddenly find someone touching poem: “Autumn is coming, it has become cloudy, / Something is leaving, someone is gone , / Life stops, it becomes quieter, / The sun in the sky descends lower. / People from work and to work, / Everything is tired, it would be Saturday soon, / Well, after that it's Monday again, / People shout: Get to work, loafer! / I would find a place where people, fun, / Maybe my mood will return, / Life will become better, more wonderful and more beautiful, / You can go to the cinema, but again not on ours ... ”The author is anonymous.
Several times a day someone is scolded in our office. Basically, managers scold specialists: “According to the rules of our company, you can’t make calls from your phone on your questions while at the client’s!” “You didn’t get to the client, and I’m responsible for this!” Then Lyudmila scolds managers, for example, because they forgot that February 25 is a day off: “You won’t answer, I will answer!” The accused really never answer anything and go to their jobs with sad faces.
In the middle of the day, one of the managers asks for attention. His face is serious and concerned: “Last week, while I was on sick leave,” he announces grimly, “one of our employees had a birthday. Congratulations, Dima! “Hello!” - employees chant in chorus and immediately disperse to their places.
In general, in our office, someone is always praised and congratulated. Now I understand why applause is regularly heard. “This week, the leader of the escort was the Mokrukhina brigade. Congratulations! “Specialist Malyshev made great strides this week. Congratulations! Malyshev is handed a Beeline phone card worth 250 rubles. The criterion for quality work is a certain number of KPIs, which is calculated based on the number of customers, the percentage of failures in agreements, and many other factors. Efficiency indicators for teams are posted weekly for everyone to see. Depending on the efficiency, the best foremen, the best managers and the best department are appointed. Somewhere I recently saw this ... And, here: “Everyone in the department is proud of how the patients cooperate. We have a brass plaque nailed to a maple board: "Congratulations to the department with the least staff." This is a prize for cooperation. It hangs on the wall above the logbook exactly in the middle between the chronicles and the acute ones.
And I am a secretary, there is no one to compare me with, so they only scold me. Once I was 20 minutes late for two days in a row. “You start your work with systematic delays. This not normal. It calls into question your passing probationary period. Remember: not work for you, but you for work, ”says Lyudmila.
I frustratedly leave to smoke on the stairs.
“Pay no attention,” my colleague Vitya comforts me, whom, to my shame, I always confuse with my colleague Denis, although they are not at all alike. “It's a matter of habit. Everyone is scolded. My method is this: listen, nod, and forget.
“You can’t do that, they will deprive you of the bonus,” says another guy.
- Well, to hell with her.
- The manager will also be deprived of bonuses.
- What about you? I ask.
- But what about, a bad relationship with the manager - this means you can’t take time off, exchange with someone. Everything is connected here.
“Let’s go on strike,” the guy jokes. - We will come to the office and refuse to work, we will sit here with posters.
- Yeah, so that we all were fired and recruited new ones in three days? Thank you.
- They say that half of the department is leaving the OIS. They have such a system - if the client "jumped off", it is a minus for them. No, you will get your 20 thousand in any way, but there will be no bonus until you make up for this minus with sales. And selling is luck, rarely anyone succeeds. So they sit, work hard for 20 thousand. If you accidentally went into the minus - it will always be so. And how does he know why the client stopped buying Dobro? Maybe he doesn't need it at all.
Yeah, now I think I understand why there is such a huge personnel department. Nobody lasts long?
Every time around 4 or 5 p.m., I am overwhelmed by unbearable fatigue. Numbers of contracts are floating before my eyes, jokes in the computer are not funny. I start to look at the clock every minute in anticipation of the end of the shift. Colleagues in their free time continue to discuss the bust of a computer woman drawn last week. I really want to move. “No one wants to play ping pong with me quickly?” I ask. Everyone is silent, only Vitya politely explains: "It is allowed only after 19.00."
In order to somehow change the situation, I quickly cope with another portion pieces of paper and go to the common room, where there is tea and a black leather sofa. While the tea is being brewed, I sit on the couch. What if you close your eyes? I think about Lyudmila: I wonder if she has a family? Dog? Does she listen to music? Clerks at adjacent tables chat about the meaning of life, their conversation merges into an even hum. It's the noise of the train. And I’m like a guide, my job is to choose happy ones from six-digit contract numbers, where the first and last digits give the same amount. These numbers should be posted on the honor roll and awarded with a prize. I slowly make my way through the long reserved seat car and collect tickets from the managers. The faces of Shishkina, Volzhskaya, Mokrukhina float by, and in a dream it occurs to me that they also need to be numbered so as not to write down the names each time, it will be faster and easier - optimization. Where are we going? “Our goal is to be a leader in sales and service by constantly improving the quality of our services to the client,” the train leader replies. Suddenly I see that I have lost my shoes, and I go to look for them. I look into different departments - OP1, OP2, OIS1, OIS2, OPKK, OPD, OPS, OKO, ORP, OPH, ITO, OA - and I just can’t find them, and I walk with bare feet. The wheels are knocking, in time with the wheels, clattering with their heels, my older sister passes by me, and I understand that this is Lyudmila: “Come to me,” she says and leaves. The orderlies in the rest room turn to a whisper, and through my sleep I think: they are good people after all, they don’t want to wake me up.
Before me is Tatyana, the coordinator. She is in despair.
- Why did you do that? Why did you even come here? Why did you sit on the sofa?
— How much time has passed? Judging by the clock, my sleep lasted twenty minutes.
- I do not know. When Lyudmila finds out, it won't be good.
Pay
Stop! It's not real! The next day, I try to shake off my lack of will, dress nicely, come early, treat everyone with oranges, smile, say that today is Orange Day, everyone laughs.
- Come to me.
At lunchtime, Lyudmila fires me.
You've been criticized before. But what happened yesterday is IMPOSSIBLE!
— How did you know about it?
The head of another department entered the rest room. He reported THIS to the personnel department and even photographed THIS on mobile phone- Lyudmila proudly answers.
Before I get paid, I stop by to talk to the director Vorontsov - the very author of the company's internal ideology, who loves Kesey. I had a lot of questions for him: “How is it? What for? Why all these hymns, efficiency, badges with diamonds? Why did he, an intelligent and educated person, choose such a style and path for himself?
It is very easy to meet him. Any employee can make an appointment with him via Outlook. Vorontsov is not a cynic, as I thought. He is a very good person - honest, smart, a little shy, but really open to communication. “Just when employees don’t have any questions or objections to me is an alarming symptom.” He is a kayaker tourist, he gained leadership experience in university mountain trips: “When everyone needs to overcome an obstacle, everyone has their own responsibility and a common goal.” He had only two positions in his life - a researcher and a company director (“In the nineties, the state stopped funding science, and I had a wife and a small child”). Yes, he read Over the Cuckoo's Nest ten years ago, it's a really important book for him. If you don't like it, he says, you can leave PUMA, it's not compulsory treatment, like Kesey's. “There, after all, only two or three people are treated voluntarily ...” I take out a book and quote:
“Actually, in our department, very few people are treated forcibly. Only Scanlon and... I think some of the chroniclers. And you. And there aren't many in the hospital. Very little…
- Tell me why? You complain, you whine all day long about how disgusted you are here, how disgusted you are with your sister and all her dirty tricks, and it turns out that no one keeps you here. I can still understand some of those old people. They are not normal. But you, of course, you don’t meet such people at every turn, but what kind of crazy are you?
Yes, he forgot a lot, but, in the end, this is not the main thing, but the main thing is that "freedom must be inside." The company came naturally to him, like a biological structure. He didn't plan ahead. At first there were three people in the firm, then 10, then 50, now 700. Yes, he read American textbooks, some of them took root, some did not take root. Has he tried something completely different? Of course I tried. Suffered losses. For example, at one time there was a free visiting schedule for all employees. People found a second job, tried to combine, lost interest in PUMA, left.
In general, during the leadership of the company, he learned a lot for himself. “For example, I was surprised to find that many people love monotonous work. And most of these people, can you imagine? They feel more confident where they are competent. When faced with new challenges in unfamiliar territory, they experience fear and discomfort.” Why efficiency and competition? “People don't want to be equal. Many are ready to do anything to stand out from the team, to be the best, at least out of five or six. And it turned out to be such a powerful motivational stimulus that even no money is needed.”
As for my dismissal and denunciation: “Let it remain on the conscience of that person. I would never do that myself. I do not encourage whistleblowing."
Why all this corporate rubbish? Why suggest to a clerk who signs contracts that he does it not for his own sake, but with deep meaning? Well, we sell Good, we get money - isn't that enough? Or does no one take this whole ideology seriously?
“I don’t see any exaggeration or dishonesty in either the goal or the mission,” Vorontsov replies. - PUMA is engaged in an important and useful business for society. Moreover, PUMA is not an intermediary: the volume additional services to the client seriously exceeds the cost of products purchased from manufacturers. That the main purpose of money is not true. It's the same as if I told you that your main goal in life is health. I can also tell you a classic example about two cleaners in a research institute. They were asked: "What are you doing?" One replied: "I'm floor sweeping and I get money for it." And the second: "We launch rockets into space." And remember, both are right. It's a matter of awareness. Now think about whose work is more interesting and complete.
Philosophy
Thank you Daniel. It seems to me that with your help I looked at everything from the other side.
Well, what about the other way around? Vorontsov is interested. — How is it in the escort department?
“Terrible,” I confess frankly. - Boring, gloomy, psychological pressure, someone is scolded all the time, everything is very formal.
“Disorder,” Daniel replies. - We'll figure out.
I leave with the pleasant feeling that I have finally done some good for the company. Maybe now he's really starting to figure it out. Someone will improve, someone will be fired, others will come in their place, they will work conscientiously and with meaning, the company will come to life, flourish, sell a lot of Good ... Damn it, did I snitch on my employees? With the best of intentions, huh?
I think about meaning, about conscience, about my great-aunt, who "launched rockets into space." For the sake of her husband, a physicist, she sacrificed everything, gave up her career, left for a closed scientific town where he made a bomb, and explained to everyone around her that this was out of a sense of duty to her homeland. Everything in the family was subordinated to the bomb. Then in the nineties, with the same fervor, she argued that the bomb must be destroyed. And the director of their institute committed suicide. But maybe only physicists reason like that? No, it turns out I think so too.
I think about the Russian Reporter magazine, where I actually work. Is it very different from the factory, the Kesey plant and the PUMA company? Very much. But if you look closely, you will find the same mechanisms, only much more humane and blurry. You probably can't run away from this. But now I know how even in the worst dream to stop and say to myself: “Stop! It's not real!" And wake up.
Mobilography: Julia Vishnevetskaya for "RR"
A photo:Victoria Ilyinskaya for "RR"
Those employees whose working day lasts more than eight hours (with a five-day working week) are six times more likely to burn out due to mental and physical exhaustion and stress, British scientists have found. Fortunately, experts know how to deal with this and minimize damage.
Harvard graduate psychologist Joan Borisenko has studied the detrimental effects of overwork on women. According to her, every tenth British woman works more than 45 hours a week. That is why many workers are exhausted physically and mentally to a dangerous limit, the newspaper The Daily Mail writes.
A striking example is the story of Sunny Moran, a former employee of a London PR agency. Every day she got up at 6:00, spent an hour and a half on the road to work, and sat in the office until 22:00, and lunch breaks were not welcomed there. Sunny sacrificed her health and personal life for six years for the sake of work, but one day she found that she did not even have the strength to get out of bed. When Sunny told her boss she was quitting immediately, he didn't argue.
However, at risk are not only neat women and workaholics like Sunny Moran, emphasizes Borisenko, who has written books about the phenomenon of "burnout at work." The book is called Fried: Why You Burn Out And How To Revive.
The reason for this disastrous phenomenon is often downsizing. The load on the remaining employees is increasing, but they are afraid to protest, lest they themselves be brought under the next reduction. According to Borisenko, it is especially difficult for women: they are more likely than men to please others and ignore their own needs, according to an article cited by the website InoPressa.ru.
In a state of "burnout" a person loses motivation and vitality, hates his way of life, notes Borisenko. Many women notice this condition only when it is almost irreversible. Of the 2,000 women Borisenko examined, one in three took antidepressants. At the same time, 18% did not tell anyone about it, and 10% did not tell their husbands about anything at all.
43-year-old Helen McNellen, a trader from the City of London, ended up in a psychiatric clinic after a nervous breakdown. "I was afraid to appear weak, to lose my job, to lose my home," she explains. Helen even drove her car up to the tallest building she came across and thought about suicide, but still returned home. It ended in hysterics. For Helen, the breakdown was the beginning of a long road to full recovery.
Symptoms of "burnout" sometimes resemble depression, but medications do not help, Borisenko emphasizes. She recommends radical lifestyle changes. It is very important to learn to distinguish positive stress from negative. For many, troubles begin with the belief that nothing in life can be achieved without effort.
“When you exert yourself, productivity grows, but not indefinitely. In a state of stress, you chase the old “carrot” - the reward for your work, as you see it. And then you find that productivity decreases: you make more efforts, but the quality of what you do falls. This is how it begins "burnout," Borisenko explained.
Women in this situation develop a skeptical and negative attitude towards life. The feeling that everyone neglects them forms a "martyr complex" - a woman is offended by the whole world and considers irritability justified, Borisenko notes.
“In a state of depression caused by stress, the brain starts to work differently. The “center of fear” turns on, the activity of the frontal lobes changes, we lose control over our emotions,” the psychologist points out. "In each of us live Jekyll and Hyde, and in a state of stress, Hyde breaks out." At work, a person is forced to restrain his inner Hyde, but at home he vents evil on loved ones. So "burnout" poisons the relationship.
Borisenko herself was torn between science, raising two children and working on books for 10 years. "She realized that something was wrong when she realized that even in the most joyful moments she does not feel anything," the newspaper writes.
For working mothers in the current situation, when they have to work to feed their families, stress is especially dangerous, Borisenko emphasizes. She advises women to save time and rigidly exclude from life everything that encourages him to squander.
The best defense against "burnout" is an early diagnosis. Borisenko advises women to acquire a mental scale: from “I feel very good” to “I started to “burn out.” Regularly assess your condition on this scale and, in which case, take urgent measures, the psychologist advises. Each woman will find her own ways to relieve stress, often the simplest ones are to get a massage or retire from everyone for a while, to keep secrets with friends.
Sunny Moran changed her life after her burnout: got a personal trainer, lost weight, and now conducts "New You" seminars for women suffering from the same problems.
office survival
How surprised old Darwin would be if he knew that his "natural selection" is applicable not only in the bosom of wildlife ...
Broken copier? The printer does not print another document?! The secretary still hasn't brought coffee?! And, oddly enough, phone bills are going through the roof this month... The heat is unbearable. The air conditioner must have broken down again. Employees do everything but work. Cases in bulk, and no strength, probably because of yesterday's gossip about your office romance. How to survive in these unbearable conditions?!
Boarded up barrel
Office work is one of the most common jobs today. Now imagine how many people give best years of his life, so that someone's company succeeds and copes with all the piled-up cases in time. I think everyone imagines a standard office - walls, tables, computers, and a bunch of papers scattered in a chaotic manner. Not the best place for work, and life, especially, isn't it?! Yes, what is there to hide - this is a real prototype of a boarded up barrel - no entrance, no exit, only existence inside and contentment with the last breaths of clean air.
However, this happens quite rarely. Usually real life boils in such a barrel, with its indignation, sycophancy, envy and unpredictable cynicism. And, if not for this, then the offices would have exploded long ago from the inexhaustible and nowhere invested negative energy.
The office is the same jungle, with its leaders, females, and newcomers who rake soundly, relying on someone else's prey. This is how it is in nature, and, oddly enough, we are still part of it. You apply for a higher position, get it to the fullest! And so it is everywhere, whether it be in a company with huge profits, or in a small office that barely pays for copier paper.
Newbie?! Write, it's gone...
An office terrarium teeming with poisonous individuals is especially dangerous for young employees who have just come to work, or for beginners at all. And since the enemy is not asleep, you can immediately roll up your sleeves and expose your weapons, the "Tatar raids" are already very close. There is no time to deal with the reasons, but we have no right to hide them. And so, what did you manage to do wrong already in the first five minutes spent on new job?! Oddly enough, absolutely nothing. Particularly hardened office workers, and even those who have already got used to such an environment, may see you as a particularly dangerous applicant for their position. Competition among employees is one of the most common factors that cause numerous problems.
In this situation, it is especially necessary to immediately clarify the situation. And it is better if this is carried out by the boss, who publicly introduces the newcomer to all the employees of the office, explains what part of the work he will do. This will allow everyone to understand that he does not pose a particular danger to colleagues. However, your samurai sword should not be hidden. Do not think that everyone immediately took it, and left their new victim alone. Office work is commonplace, so in such a situation, everyone wants to enjoy your defeat to the fullest. As they say, the enemy's failure is my victory.
It is important in the office to get accustomed to the usual rules, and God forbid, you want to make your own adjustments to them. It's better to do hara-kiri on your own! Your office life will be like a butterfly surviving in a spider's web.
Feel free to ask questions if you don't understand something, or if you want to learn more about the corporate culture. It is better to do this with the boss, otherwise you can imagine that envious people or ill-wishers can advise you. You can get into a very funny situation.
Of course, not every team is a “pack of wolves” that strove to devour you, however, you can ruin everything on your own. A manual for those who personally want to dig a hole under themselves contains the following basic rules:
· Tell employees more often that they do not know how to perform their duties.
· Your self-esteem and confidence in your abilities should skyrocket.
· Always take notice when you see someone have a wrinkled skirt or a grease stain on their tie.
· Never miss the opportunity to complain about life and express constant dissatisfaction with the events taking place.
· Snort louder when someone tells a funny joke.
· It is important to realize that collective rules and norms are not for you.
· someone offers new idea, look, do not be late to express your obvious indignation!
· Are you being asked for a favor? No, no, how can you agree, let them perform their duties themselves.
· And the motto should be the following - "We do not" knock "but inform!".
Yes, this might help you. The main thing is not to be shy, and use everything and as much as possible.
"Committed" team
Yes, where is it. There is no more cohesive team. One is an envious person, the other is coveting your salary, the third always strives to correct you so that you do not speak, etc. There is nothing better. However, not all is lost here. The main thing is to know who is who, in fact, and learn how to neutralize their negative impact. Sociologists identify several basic types of people who strive to spoil something. However, we can neutralize them too.
Look around the office, who do you see?! Surely, there is a person among them who at first glance seems so sweet and friendly that you think that he would become your partner in the shop. If I were you, I'd think about it! It is precisely such a contingent behind your shoulders that can beat off such gossip that you never dreamed of. And you will trust him with your secrets and punctures. Afterwards, don't forget to pick up your favorite stapler when you pack your things.
Such a person most often sees competitors in others, but he will never tell you to your face what he thinks of you. The safest thing you can do is talk to him in person. Although this is not so easy to do. Even with loose gossip, you will have to rummage hard in the trash to find the thread from which the whole ball was subsequently tied. In such cases, the culprit is the last suspect. And even in a personal conversation, he will vehemently refute everything, and you should believe him for a while. That is when he will be able to stop his machinations over you.
Oh, and you see this weirdo who, before losing his pulse, is trying to prove to everyone that he is right. This is the so-called know-it-all. Such people in the office are usually appreciated. The point is to maintain the brand, he must constantly increase the stock of knowledge that can be useful to the company itself. If you do not want problems, in no case do not try to humiliate such an employee. It is better to agree with everything with him, to praise him for his inexhaustible desire to help common cause and then make some adjustments to what you discussed with him. In this case, Mr. "I know everything" will be pleased, and you yourself.
It is quite obvious that there is also a person in the office who constantly complains about life, about those around him, about numerous unbearable problems. I can’t congratulate you, you are faced with a bore, what to do is absolutely not worth it. Since pessimism is contagious, it is better to bypass such people so that you do not suffer a similar fate.
This advice can also be used with a person who proves the inapplicability of everything new and untested before. Purely conservative ideas can also be contagious, and in some cases simply fatal for the firm itself.
Screams are heard somewhere, am I right?! These are especially furious colleagues expressing their obvious dissatisfaction with the performance of someone's duties. Psychologists call such workers - ebullient. And, true, they boil faster than a kettle, but it would be better vice versa. However, such people have a weak point that you can use to speed up the cooling - they are usually extremely insecure. And each of us knows that the best defense is an attack. This is what the ebullient ones use to become stronger on the gases of their colleagues. As they say, everyone has a different way. Do not argue with such people, it is better to listen to them calmly and quietly offer exactly your vision of the problem. In this situation, your benevolence will do its job.
Today you proposed a new solution to an existing problem in the company, which you have been thinking about for so long, and someone told you that this is complete nonsense?! Do not worry, there are cynical people in every team. Do not get angry and do not swear if at the same time you are also “friendly” patted on the shoulder with the words “do not waste your energy.” If you are absolutely confident in your idea (for this you need to objectively evaluate it), feel free to prove it to Cynic. Seeing your perseverance, he will only respect you more than drown you further along with the idea itself.
Yes, your team is clearly diverse. However, before drawing categorical conclusions, take a closer look at how the entire staff treats this or that employee. Maybe you yourself are deeply mistaken about someone, distinguish between antipathy and a real vision of things.
Office intrigues and office romances - what to choose?!
Office as a prototype cardboard box, would not be such if it were not for the constant intrigues and novels in the office. Where else to put the unclaimed energy of employees who spend most of their time at work?! No wonder if you soon begin to envy the janitor: work in the fresh air, most of the day is free, and there are acquaintances where to start. Yes, our comrades have arrived! Something else was missing. It is better to take advantage of all the opportunities right in the office.
By the way, it can be said in secret that many leaders themselves encourage intriguing urges, and even personally participate in them. Detente, it seems, is necessary even for bosses.
Intrigues and office romances, in fact, give the illusion of a hectic life. And in the absence of another such, they are the only consolation. In addition, paradoxically, they strengthen internal ties in the company itself, which, in the future, allows the team to be more cohesive. Where to go, once together and through the water, and through the fire, and copper pipes could not be bypassed.
On the other hand, intrigues in the office are encouraged in most cases because colleagues themselves, getting involved in such a competitive struggle against each other, try to be the best, improve their abilities, always be in sight and always have time to help if necessary. What kind of boss, excuse me, would interfere with such a constructive process?!
As for novels, it's better to limit yourself to ordinary affairs. You will live more fun, and you will avoid numerous problems. And in the best case, the dismissal will be postponed for some time ahead.
In general, keep your hand on the hilt of the sword, be vigilant and do not succumb to the increasing provocations from the “hungry” colleagues. May the necessity of self-destruction not descend on you.
TIPS as
survive in the office1. Are you being watched? To communicate uncontrollably by e-mail, it is enough to generate a cipher and exchange encryption keys with respondents. The main thing is not to save the key on the screw of the working computer, but to carry it with you on a floppy disk or flash drive. Resident programs for monitoring your computer are blocked by anti-Spyware programs.
2. To your appearance find fault? In order not to become a slave to the dress code, try the Zen method of "awakening the inner Tao." Wear a white top, black bottoms, a discreet tie, as directed by your superiors, remembering to put on your most idiotic family shorts with green polka dots first.
3. Are you forced to work overtime? Memorize Article 99 Labor Code. If the office has not been attacked by armed Martians, the sewer has not broken through and the report you have not completed will not lead to the death of the chief accountant, you have no right to plow without your written consent. Along the way, find out how processing will be paid. If there is a trade union in the company, look there and ask if it is true that the night is not a hindrance to work?
4. Are you being denounced? To figure out a spy, tell a dubious character misinformation about an allegedly upcoming "violation of ethical standards" and watch how the authorities react.
5. Are you being zombified? If it is customary to sing a corporate anthem at the beginning of the working day, you can compose an alternative version with obscene words and perform it to yourself. When training, think about the decline of European civilizations. Try to speak in sane Russian, for example, "make a photocopy" instead of you know what word.
6. Are you sexually harassed by your superiors? It all depends on your attitude to the issue. In any case, career growth through the bed is an unreliable business. You will not demand printed paper in order to increase your salary in exchange for intimacy?
7. Are you in control of your entertainment? In mind, there are all sorts of corporate parties, picnics and trainings in the fresh air. You can pretend to be sick, preferably with a certificate, but for permanent use the topic will not work.
9. Are you not allowed to express yourself? Nothing prevents you from downloading funny pictures from the network, printing, cutting applications and
hang the resulting masterpieces over your workplace.
10. Do your colleagues dislike you? These are their problems. Most likely this
an expression of envy at the indisputable fact that you, unlike them, managed to keep uncomposted brains, a sober memory and a sound mind that is interested in a lot of other things besides work.
Regardless of the size of your company, the size of the social package and the friendliness of the team, sooner or later you will feel that you have to survive in the office. We hope that this is only a temporary phenomenon, but life is unpredictable.
Be that as it may, our 10 tips will help you get through a difficult period and move you forward if you are determined to succeed in your career. So let's get started!
Do what you gotta do
Do you have a million ideas on how to improve the work of the company? Great, but first do what you were hired to do. Consistency will always work for your reputation.
Become an expert
Constantly improve your knowledge and skills in professional field. If you enroll in courses that will improve your skills in one way or another, you will make an excellent investment in your future.
Get a portfolio
This advice is also relevant for those who are far from creative work (just write down a list of non-standard tasks that you managed to solve). In this way, you will receive an argument for demanding an increase, and you will also be able to convince the new employer that he needs it (if something goes wrong at this point).
Be human
The team doesn't really care how good you are at estimating or writing code - goodwill and courtesy are valued higher. If you are known as “your boyfriend”, then the attitude towards your flaws will be more loyal, but loners risk becoming the object of criticism even with 100 percent progress. Communicate with colleagues at events, attend corporate courses and just try to support.
Ask your boss where you went wrong
If you have not coped with the task, ask your immediate supervisor to do a "debriefing". So you will not only get a complete layout, which will allow you to avoid mistakes in the future, but also a loyal attitude of your superiors.
Find a way to make your routine interesting
Any specialist has such tasks that are catching up with melancholy. If these are big projects, then try to “eat the elephant piece by piece”, and if the routine tasks are small, then turn them into a game and be sure to reward yourself.
Keep Deadlines
You have no idea how important meeting deadlines is in today's business world. If you learn how to manage before the deadline, you will earn a brilliant reputation. All that is required is to set deadlines, taking into account delays (and they will definitely occur) and set “reminders” 3 and 2 days before the project deadline.
Set yourself a good example
Surely in your company there is a person whom you would like to be like, and whose degree of professionalism you dream of achieving. Repeat after him. Let him be your example.
Think about asking for a raise
The reason for most refusals is an unreasonable request for a raise, expressed in the wrong tone. Write a list of your advantages, think of moves that will improve the company's work, in general, work on point 3. Reread these lists several times. Do you feel your value? Now stock up on self-confidence and go "on the carpet."
See where to grow
Professional drivers say that on the road you should always look with your eyes for an empty place where you can jump out. This skill will also come in handy for surviving in the office. Always keep in mind the prospects of horizontal or vertical growth, and then you will not miss the very opportunity!
Today's tense economic situation and the threat of dismissal may force previously quite respectable colleagues to start weaving intrigues and go over their heads in order to stay in their positions. However, the economic crisis did not give rise to office quarrels. This phenomenon has existed and will always exist. They are caused by the most ordinary human feelings - envy, resentment, anxiety, the struggle for power. It is enough for this or that employee to earn a little more, to be a professional in his field, so that intrigues begin to form around him. There is also such a category of people who start quarrels just for fun: for them to arrange a small mess in the team - a kind of remedy for boredom.
How to behave in such a tense atmosphere - to adapt to the behavior of intriguers or to keep a distance from them?
Blackmailers and know-it-alls
Psychologists distinguish several types of people who are prone to intrigues, which should be avoided if possible or know how to build a behavior strategy with them. The first type is the know-it-all. He can endlessly talk about what “really happens in the company”, pretending to have exclusive information, obtained from God knows where. The worst thing you can do is give a know-it-all any information about yourself and your work. You never know how he will distort them in order to use them for his own purposes.
The next type of intriguer is a lobbyist. As a rule, this is a good specialist who defends his project by any means and believes that only his ideas can benefit the company. If you disagree with him on some issues and express it openly, you can run into trouble. You can only deal with a lobbyist if you share the enthusiasm for his project.
One of the most dangerous office workers one that weaves behind-the-scenes intrigues. This may not be an expert in his field, but a very charming person, and therefore he easily finds an approach to colleagues and superiors. And thanks to this, he is promoted.
Almost every office has a so-called advisor, who is close to the big boss and serves as the eyes and ears for middle managers. By the way, anyone can play the role of an adviser - from a high-ranking deputy to an administrative employee. Don't suck up to this person, but don't push him away either. He has considerable influence, so a good relationship with them can come in handy.
According to a number of psychologists, a blackmailer can be added to the main office characters listed above. This is a person who notices the slightest weaknesses or miscalculations of his colleagues, and if he needs you to carry out his plans, he can put pressure on you by threatening to tell his superiors about your mistakes.
And here are the main contenders, to whom the arrows of insidious employees are most often directed. Beginners, overly active workers (because from the outside it seems that they are advancing at the expense of others) fall under the wheels of office intrigues. In addition, few people like colleagues with higher salaries. They often substitute absent-minded "idea generators" (since they are easy to deceive), middle managers (in the event that a potential intriguer has "laid eyes" on the boss's place) and ambitious and conceited employees (they can be easily caught on the hook of "friendship" or "partnership" and then substitute).
How to deal with hazing
Very often, new employees fall under the pressure of the old-timers of the office. They are exposed to office hazing for a simple reason: in an era of fierce competition, colleagues who have worked for more than one year see a real or potential threat in every newcomer. Who knows what the new one is capable of? And if he works better than the representatives of the old team? It is possible that then the boss will decide to fire the veterans. Fearing for their well-being, employees try to get rid of the newcomer as quickly as possible. For this, a variety of methods are used: boycott, neglect, ridicule.
Case of life. Andrey came to work in a large construction company as a manager. The young man had high hopes for this job. However, they were not destined to come true, since Andrei was met very hostilely at the new place. On the first day, he was not even given a job. It got even worse when the newcomer managed to make several successful deals. His boss saw him as a serious competitor and deprived him of access to client base. As a result, the manager was forced to resign from a promising job.
Victims of office hazing often become not only ordinary employees, but also managers who are trying their best to introduce their own methods and principles of work. Naturally, subordinates who do not want to change their usual mode of work, moreover, bearing fruit, resist radical changes. The new boss, who has not yet managed to gain authority and enlist the support of top management, runs the risk of facing a lot of problems: this is the “forgetfulness” of his subordinates, the provision of false information, and other “tricks”.
So, Victor, the new general director of a large enterprise, after his appointment decided to show everyone who is the boss in the house, and that now everything will be in a new way. He instructed the HR director to control labor discipline, fight abuses of office, the IT director to ensure information security and implement information system to ensure control over financial flows. It would seem that everything was in motion: at the weekly planning meetings, everyone reported on the fulfillment of the tasks set. But when Victor himself had to report, the owners of the enterprise were shocked - profitability fell sharply. Further fate CEO was predetermined.
If you have been subjected to office hazing, do not think that you have nothing to do with it. Yes, this phenomenon is often provoked by the problems of the company's management, but it is worth analyzing why the team took up arms against you. Of course, you don’t need to blame yourself for all mortal sins, but it won’t hurt to calculate the laws of the pack in this office and your place in it in order to avoid such a situation in the future. In addition, it can be useful to talk to those who show the most aggression towards you and find out the reasons for it. Some psychologists, in order to relieve tension in the team, advise you to smile more and express affection for the people you have come across. This does not mean that you have to please everyone, just show your friendliness and willingness to cooperate.
Office taboos
To avoid intrigue as much as possible, psychologists recommend adhering to several office taboos. Most of all, the bosses themselves do not like it when employees discuss salaries and bonuses with each other. It often happens that different employees receive different salaries for the same job. Moreover, they themselves do not understand why this is happening. Naturally, this gives rise to hostility towards each other. From this follows the rule: never tell colleagues, even with whom you are on friendly terms, the amount of your remuneration for work. Moreover, you should not share her promotion with someone. People usually react painfully to such news if their earnings remain unchanged.
A lot of conflicts in the office are caused by the tactlessness of individual employees, which they justify with their own “soul simplicity”. Such a person tends to criticize everyone and everything, both colleagues and superiors. The appearance of others, the ideas of the boss, etc. fall under his sight, etc. It is easy to guess that the employees of such an employee will make every effort to get rid of him.
Many bosses constantly tell their subordinates what they should apply in their work. creativity. Many professions do require constant creativity. Intrigue can also be born on this soil, since in many companies cases of theft of ideas take place. It's pretty easy to deal with this situation. It is enough not to discuss your ideas with colleagues, but to convey them directly to your boss. If there is no opportunity to discuss your thoughts with the boss about the project, then you can voice them at meetings and planning meetings. Then no one will be able to encroach on your ideas: your copyrights will be fully protected and there will also be no reason for unnecessary conflict.
To avoid gossip
Of course, in any office where more than two people work, there is gossip. It is almost impossible to deal with this problem. But you can keep the discussion of your persona to a minimum. First of all, in the workplace, you need to refrain from talking about your personal life: family problems, intimate details, your state of health and the health of your relatives. A rare person will miss the opportunity to gossip behind your back, discuss your problems, or even begin to advise you on how to solve them, even if you do not need advice at all. If nothing is known about you, then there will be nothing to discuss, well, or almost nothing.
In addition, excessive talkativeness can turn against you. Individuals are capable of distorting the information you provide in such a way that you can appear before others in the most unexpected light.
Moreover, often gossip is born from scratch. For example, you are sitting at lunchtime with a colleague of the opposite sex, drinking coffee, and you are noticed by some kind of activist who monitors all employees, and this is present in almost all work groups. After that, she asks you: “Are we brewing an office romance?”. You laugh it off, you are embarrassed, because even this was not in your thoughts, and the gossip was already born and flew across the expanses of the office, starting to acquire more and more details, because everyone can embellish it with their “addition”. And in the end, it may turn out that your innocent conversation over a cup of coffee has already turned into preparations for the wedding, and if that same colleague is married, then you generally run the risk of being branded as a malicious homemaker.
Therefore, it is better for women not to brag about the number of their gentlemen. It has been proven more than once that the attitude towards those girls around whom a crowd of fans swarms is, to put it mildly, biased. And offended rivals compose things about her that you can’t even imagine in a nightmare.
By the way, it is a mistake to believe that men are not prone to gossip. Representatives of the stronger sex, with no less pleasure than women, discuss colleagues, work, bosses, talk about the intimate details of their family life. So, it is also advisable to keep your mouth shut with them.
You should also not inform employees about a stormy weekend, that the real reason for the absence from the workplace was not the flu, but headache after drinking, or telling how, having taken a sick leave, you drove off to rest at a resort. It’s also better not to start a discussion with colleagues about an office romance (both someone else’s and your own), even if it seems to you that everyone already knows about it. Who will guarantee that "well-wishers" will not casually tell the management about this? If you cannot control yourself when drinking alcohol, then at corporate parties you should limit yourself to a glass of wine. The tongue will be tied, and there will be no reason to catch the condemning glances of colleagues the next day.
Of course, no one forces you to sit and be silent in the workplace. It is simply desirable to speak on neutral topics, of which, if desired, you can come up with quite a lot. For example, it is completely safe to talk about the weather, the trends of a particular fashion season, the benefits of your favorite car brand, and cooking. But psychologists do not advise discussing politics and sports. Everyone's preferences on this matter can be so different that it's not far from a major quarrel. And why would you make an extra enemy.
So, in office wars, you need to keep your eyes open. And if problems arise, then you need to solve them immediately, and not hope that they will resolve themselves.