Top 10 Things That You Should Never Do at Work

Top 10 Things That You Should Never Do at WorkTop 10 Things That You Should Never Do at WorkWhen youre at work, you need to work, of course, but, youre also human. That whole human thing means that you make mistakes from time to time and you take some actions that are not ideal for your career. Everyone does, and its not a huge problem in most cases. But tzu siche are some things that you should never, ever do at work. They are career damaging, reputation damaging, and they will cause you to lose respect from your coworkers, your senior team, but most particularly- the person you fondly call the boss. Here are the top ten things you should never do at work. 1. Use Your Computer for Anything You Wouldnt Want Your Boss to Know About Lots of bosses dont careif you check your personal email, post to your Twitter account, or shop for flowers for Mothers Day on your work computer. That doesnt mean that you have free eigentlich on your computer. You should limit what you do on a work-ow ned computer even if your job doesnt have formal internet and e-mail policies. No porn, of course, at any time. It is never appropriate to view at work. But dont job hunt, tweet anything inappropriate, or do anything that would cause your boss to freak out either. Remember, your company IT department can have access to everything you do on that computer, even when you use it at home. They access work computers when they suspect suspicious behavior by an employee. 2. Whine You can whine at home to your friends and family, but whining at work is a career killer. This doesnt mean that you cant complain about problems. When you complain, however, your complaint should identify a problem that is fixable with an action plan that you and your organization can implement. When you whine, its just whining and whining makes you look immature. 3. Overshare Yes, you want to become friends with your coworkers. But they dont need to know all of your drama whether it is relationship drama, family drama, or medical drama. This doesnt mean that you need to be a closed book, but it does mean keep the sharing of the personal drama under control. Telling your coworkers that youre going through a divorce is alright. Sharing every detail about what your soon-to-be ex is doing- and how you feel about it- is not. Keep business relationships professional. 4. Ignore Your Bosss Warnings When your boss says you need to come into work on time, she means it. When your boss says your attitude needs adjusting, it needs adjusting. When your boss says she wants you to focus on task A before going on to task B, you better make A, your priority. When youdont pay attention to these warnings, you put your career on the line. Some bosss preferences are career breaking to ignore. 5. Always Say Yes Your boss didnt hire you because she needed a robot. She hired you because you had knowledge, skills, and abilities that make you great at what you do. This means you need to speak up and sh are your ideas. After youve expressed your doubts about an idea and your boss says she still wants you to do it her way, do it that way, but use your intellect to present new ideas. 6. Anything Illegal This really shouldnt have to be said, but so many people break so many laws all of the time, they dont think its a big deal. Think about speeding. Everyone does it, right? But dont do it when youre driving on company business. What about working off the clock? You shouldnt do that either. Dont sign documents youre not legally authorized to sign. Dont do drugs. Dont let regulations slide. Be a stickler for legality in all of your actions. 7. Anything Immoral Dont lie. Dont have an affair. Dont set out to undermine your coworker. Sure, all of those activities can seem fun at the moment, but if youre busted, even if its not directly related to your job, it lowers your colleagues opinion of you. You dont want people thinking of you like Jane, who had an affair with her boss, or Pa trick, the guy who tried to make his team look badeanstalt to a senior manager despite his involvement in the failed project. 8. Recommend Your Friends Just Because They Are Your Friends Lots of companies have employee referral programs, and they are great. If you know a person who would work out fabulously in a position in your company, by all means, recommend that person. If someone you recommended gets hired, youll likely get a bit of extra cash- at least positive recognition and a big thank you. Awesome. But, dont recommend a person just because you are friends. That tends to end up as a disaster. Remember, its not just about the referral bonus, and its not just about getting your friend a job, its about your reputation. If you know or even worry about the possibility that your friend is a slacker, dont recommend her. 9. Spread Germs Around the Office Now, its true that many companies dont have sick plans and in some cases, youll get in trouble for taking time off, even if you have a fever of 104 and spend half the day in the bathroom. If thats the case, then put a pox upon your bosss head and hopefully, he catches whatever you have. But if your company has a sick plan or any PTO that you could use when youre contagious, for Petes sake, take it. When youre sick, youre not working up to speed, and youre infecting others. If they catch your disease, their productivity drops as well. One person with the flu can decimate an office. Stay home. If you cant stand notworking, work from home if possible, but pretty please, keep the germs to yourself. 10. Let Anger Take Over Your job can be one of the most stressful components of your life. Dont, however, let your stress turn into anger that turns into bad behavior in the office.Yelling, screaming, punching a wall- or even worse, punching a person- can be career limiting. Punching a coworker also falls under that no illegal things category. Youll probably get fired and might land yourself in prison. Lear n to count to 10 before responding. If you find yourself yelling a lot, use your companys EAP and get some anger management help. It will save your career. You want your coworkers to like and respect you, and your boss to appreciate you and your work professionally. You want to make the time you invest at work happy time, too. So if you avoid these ten actions, what you want will come true, and youll have missed most opportunities for committing career suicide.