Dressing in bright colors, or provocatively, or dowdily, or over-the-top, or too casually. Decorating your work space with too much personal stuff, such as many baby or pet photos, hanging up handcrafted items you made at home, hanging punk rock posters everywhere, turning the cubicle into a shrine, etc. Talking too loudly all the time, wanting to tell jokes to coworkers all day long, winking at people, interrupting people on a deadline to tell them long-winded stories, etc. Bringing stinky lunches to work and heating them up in the workplace kitchen, then eating at your desk while others are still trying to work. Bringing your pet to work when it’s not Bring Your Pet to Work Day. Insisting on leaving your bicycle in your cubicle when the workplace has a bike holding area downstairs. Refusing to join the others for workplace morning or afternoon teas, Christmas parties, etc. Refusing to contribute to whip around fundraising for workplace events and coworker’s personal events (such as births, retirement, leaving, etc. ). Coming into work obviously sick. Not only weird but very unfair to others who might catch it. Deliberately staying later than everyone else even though you’re not actually doing anything productive. Dancing at work Throwing objects at work Using work communications apps and sites to sell things for your side business Using work communications apps and sites to promote your YouTube channel Making funny videos in the workplace Doing impressions of Elmo or other characters(especially when dealing with customers) Bringing personal items with bizarre or unseemly images displayed to the public on them (phone cases, t-shirts, tote bags, water bottles, etc. . . ). Note that certain things that you don’t intend to be on display- such as the lock screen of your phone or the interior of the book you are reading- can still be visible to your co-workers should you use these personal items at work, and therefore caution should be exercised when choosing what books to read or what wallpaper to use. The golden rule: Just because you think something is awesome does NOT mean your coworkers feel the same. Insert your own definitions, conceptualizations and ideas [here].
Notice when coworkers seem impatient, annoyed, barely tolerating the behavior or ignoring you. If they roll their eyes, they’re irritated. Be attentive when a coworker speaks frankly about the behavior to you. Be alert to coworkers’ eyes glazing over when you talk to them about Mittens The Kitten for the forty-eighth time this week. Pick up on the annoyance in the emails sent to you about continuously forwarding jokes to your coworkers and stop.
This doesn’t mean complete conformity. If everyone is wearing a black suit, you can still wear a bright tie or scarf to enliven it.
Dial your eccentricities down a notch and keep relationships with co-workers formal. This, of course, need not apply to relationships with other weird office workers. However, keep those interactions for break time, not during work time. Do not joke about sensitive or crude topics at work. Even if you think it’s hilarious, at least one coworker is bound to be scandalized or offended.
Avoid stirring up rebellion––your coworkers first thought is always their mortgage, their car, then the school fees. Change is for the change agents and is something to be introduced with care and over time. If you stir the pot too much, you might find yourself being closely watched as a troublemaker.
