The way I know you are going to hit me hard if you raise your arm in a swift motion towards me, I can also make out when you are trying to look at my computer screen from the corner of your eye.
Wikipedia, the Bible of the netizens says, “Body language is a form of mental and physical ability of human non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals almost entirely subconsciously.”
Many of our actions are unrehearsed and often go unnoticed – but Mr Newton correctly said, ‘to every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction’. Let me explain; if you always have a frown on your face, I am for sure not interested in meeting you early in the morning. I would rather look for a happy and a bright face. Similarly, if my manager pats my back, I might feel happy. However, I have never dared to pat my manager’s back! Have you?
Another funny one, Manish Lamba crossing his legs by placing an ankle over the other leg is acceptable. But, however tomboyish Manisha Lamba is, she better not sit like that inside the office premises.
I am listing down a few instances – some irritating and some funny. Let me know if you have ever found yourself in a similar situation ever?
- I walked up to my manager’s cabin to seek her opinion regarding something. She was busy on her new mobile phone and without looking at me said; “…yes, you are right here”. I do not get her attention and hence, I do not feel confident, “…so, do Smita and I take a call on this?” She said very nonchalantly, “yes, go ahead”. And this happened quite a few times. So now, Smita and I have become good friends [more importantly, ganged up against our manager] and in all likelihood will vote her out if possible! And the poor manager never said anything wrong to us.
If you are not looking at me, you are not listening is what everyone assumes. Attention is the best gift you can give anyone, and it probably is not that expensive.
- A friend of mine, after having served as a junior officer in a government job for three years, finally managed to find himself a job with an MNC – his dream job. Smart, intelligent and up-to-date with current affairs. But he managed to earn himself a not-so-interesting title ‘BMD’ meaning ‘Bhaisahab turned Modern’. All he did was, addressed his peers as “Sharma ji”, “Mishra ji”, “Reddy ji” and thus, the twenty-something Rahuls, Varuns and the Nikhils of the company stayed away from him.
You need to understand the work culture and act accordingly. The Japanese always bow after taking your business card and never tuck it away in the back pocket of their trousers.
- This one irks me quite a bit. I was typing something with both my hands, with a sense of urgency, trying to meet a deadline – all of a sudden, I see a third hand on the mouse – I look up – my eyes meet this guy’s – “I want to check the packets sent and received” – “what??!!@@@?”. Well, he was the IT executive who wanted to check the internet connection. Trust me, I ensured that he never spoke to me ever again throughout my stay in that office. What I did can be left for some other day.
We should always keep distance and never encroach upon other people’s space.
- A friend of mine within two months of joining a new office declared that she has a ‘crush’ on her boss. So far so good. She felt he also reciprocated but was shy. Again, all well. At one of the office outings, she noticed that her boss is taking part in many activities and games and is not his usual self. She took ‘unsaid’ cues from that and blurted out ‘so, you also like me right?’ He replied, “…meet my wife Neha.” And my dear friend had to bid a goodbye to the organisation without any appraisal or promotion.
Office is office, treat it like one.
I guess I need to get back to work; just realised I am not paid for this!
Bent Views 