![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
New job social mores
Mar. 10th, 2014 07:22 pmOne thing about a new job is figuring out the new social codes. Normal people probably do this automatically. Even though I work for the same employer, so I already know about the casual dress code, transit craziness, awesome libraries, etc., a few things that have surprised me about my new group:
* Don't even leave for local team meetings until the start time. But show up a little early for meetings involving outsiders.
* Say hello to office mates the first time you see them each day, but ignore them the rest of the time. Probably I'm supposed to say good-bye when I'm leaving for the day, too.
* When you're leaving the suite and no one else is there, lock the door to the suite. I don't know if this is true even if you're going to be gone only a few minutes, but I suspect so. Corollary: never leave the suite without keys in hand. (No, I did not have to learn this the hard way. Woot!)
* There is no bonding around food. One person actually dislikes when there is food at meetings. Another person said she has never seen the first person eat anything except at their occasional meetings a the coffee shop. No one brings food to share, and there is no table in the break rooms (one per suite), so we never happen to eat lunch together. Not surprisingly, my co-workers are all thin; in all the other offices I've worked at, there has been loads of bonding over food and most of my co-workers were not thin. So pi day this Friday will be like every other day. Oh, right, I don't work on Fridays anyway, so I won't be missing anything.
* There is no bonding around bathrooms, water fountains, or any other gathering place (as far as I can tell). There are two sets of bathrooms, with water fountains nearby, on our floor and I never see anyone at the one I use. We don't even bond going to and from meetings because some of us take the elevator and some take the stairs. Actually, the one person I noticed takes the elevator and I take the stairs.
* Meetings should end ASAP, which is generally good except that I have to be more assertive than I'm used to when bringing up my own issues. I can't wait for a lull because a lull means it's time to end the meeting.
* Don't even leave for local team meetings until the start time. But show up a little early for meetings involving outsiders.
* Say hello to office mates the first time you see them each day, but ignore them the rest of the time. Probably I'm supposed to say good-bye when I'm leaving for the day, too.
* When you're leaving the suite and no one else is there, lock the door to the suite. I don't know if this is true even if you're going to be gone only a few minutes, but I suspect so. Corollary: never leave the suite without keys in hand. (No, I did not have to learn this the hard way. Woot!)
* There is no bonding around food. One person actually dislikes when there is food at meetings. Another person said she has never seen the first person eat anything except at their occasional meetings a the coffee shop. No one brings food to share, and there is no table in the break rooms (one per suite), so we never happen to eat lunch together. Not surprisingly, my co-workers are all thin; in all the other offices I've worked at, there has been loads of bonding over food and most of my co-workers were not thin. So pi day this Friday will be like every other day. Oh, right, I don't work on Fridays anyway, so I won't be missing anything.
* There is no bonding around bathrooms, water fountains, or any other gathering place (as far as I can tell). There are two sets of bathrooms, with water fountains nearby, on our floor and I never see anyone at the one I use. We don't even bond going to and from meetings because some of us take the elevator and some take the stairs. Actually, the one person I noticed takes the elevator and I take the stairs.
* Meetings should end ASAP, which is generally good except that I have to be more assertive than I'm used to when bringing up my own issues. I can't wait for a lull because a lull means it's time to end the meeting.