San Francisco: Top 10 things that should & should never be done at the office

It took me longer than it should have to understand that you do not choose an Administration position by how well the company is doing or paying.

In my first Business Administration position as a Receptionist I consistently offered to help in every department doing any little Administration task that needed to be done. This turned out to be both a great way to learn new things. On the positive side I got to know all of my co workers much better. On the negative side I got to know all of my co workers much better. To my dismay I was working with all the ‘Cool’ kids from high school that I never got along with.

There was the High School Cheerleading Captain with the constant Go Team Go pep. Everyone who worked with her had to endear listening to her talk about how good we were all going to make her look with this task or the marketing or the new product. She had transferred all of her Cheerleading education to the real world and did it all while wearing leather pants, skirts and 5 inch heels.

The surfer was our Business Product Inventor and absolutely no other stereo type could come up with better sleek business electronics than he did. He went surfing every morning in the San Francisco Bay and headed to work right after “catching the morning waves” as he liked to say.

The almost popular girl who always hung out with the ‘cool’ kids finally got her chance when she was promoted to Administration Manager. The first thing she did was buy the latest trendy sun glasses and matched it with a trendy hair cut and new trendy clothes. She never left the building without those sun glasses with the designer name clearly engraved on the side.

Our fearless leader was the Prom King. He could have easily been a model if his Donald Trump style business investments didn’t work out. He had a million dollar smile to match his innovative sense of style. While the office was decorated in white furniture, pastel accessories and plastic bubbles, his home was splashed with loud colors such as orange and purples with white furniture.

Needless to say our Business Administration Controller was the brains and had a very down to Earth quality to him thankfully.

As for me, I was and still am a bit of a book nerd. The girl who sits in the back and watches everyone else; except I’m bit more focused and slightly less enigmatic. They were all wonderful at their jobs, but I thought I had seen the last of High School when I left.

However, there were always days that no little thing needed to be done. The Business Administration Controller felt bad that all I was able to do on those days was sit at my desk like a statue. So he told me that it was perfectly fine that I go online and do personal things if no one else need assistance and there was nothing else and to.

That is where I truly wish I had a Business Administration mentor who could had given me an education in the things that just shouldn’t be done at the office.

Top 10 things that should & should never be done at the office

The following are actual events / occurrences for humor purposes. Some are over dramatization of the events / occurrences, however some are not.

1. Never tell your unconventional friends to meet you inside the office if you work within a conservative business.
2. Don’t eat your co-worker’s lunch – especially off their desk
3. Spell Check any email and official document you want to send. Even if your 100% sure of your spelling; the computer minions will occasionally play havoc with your typing.
4. Make sure the speaker phone option is turned off on your phone before you:

a) Start to gripe about how much you dislike your co-worker(s). Or make sure it’s on at the highest volume and leave immediately after you tell the whole business office what you think of the person.

b) Listen to your voice mail. Repeated violations will result in the company prankster leaving a hot & heavy salacious message on your voice mail for all administration personnel to hear.

5. Before going to company’s IT Department stressed out and screaming about your computer

a) Check all of the plugs on your computer including the on / off switch located in the back of your computer. The same is true for the printer.

b) Don’t change any of the settings on your computer

c) Don’t down load non company software and huge music download programs. There’s a very valuable reason why they don’t want you to download anything – viruses & incompatible software malfunctions.

6. Do not surf online dating web sites or any web site that contains more than conversational communications. Every computer has a history file and history can be saved to the network where you the user can not delete it. In addition, a lot of companies now use a program that can view anything you’re looking at while you’re viewing it; it’s an IT remote tool.
7. Don't indiscriminately hit the "Reply to all" button when replying to a message. Especially when you're talking bad about someone in your business office, and they're on the CC: list.
8. Don't be the jerk who finishes off the coffee (or worse, leaves a few drips of sludge in the pot) without refilling the pot with water.
9. Do not leave your password on a sticky note on your monitor! Would you leave the keys to your car hanging from the radio knob?
10. Always make sure that the break room is clear of Management before doing that impression of the boss who makes illogical requests or demands.