Some questions on office politics and streetsmart-ness

1. make friends with all, no matter what. with the printer contractor, plumber, IT contractor. u never know when you need their help to solve a crisis, especially when own corllicks cant help u.

2. dont be sucked into their schedule. staying back actually makes you look more incompetent. finish work and go home on time. having trouble? then make it sound like you have more workload than usual in a loud way and people you know you actually "went the extra mile to get things done".

3. these aunties have insecurities. be on their side. offer to help them whenever. give them treats. listen to their problems. make them feel you can be trustworthy. stand up for them occassionally even they are in the wrong. once you lower their emotional barrier, they can be your best ally.

do not offend those dinosaurs! many people commit this biggest mistake only to cost them their careers. they have the most power in the company. think of them as enciks in the battalion. once you have gained their trust, they make the best allies. making allies with them helps u to avoid obstacles and achieve a successful career.

Originally Posted by Nik

Haha, tks guys.

1) What if my office doesn't have a cleaning lady? Some smaller companies usually either have no cleaning lady (employees clean up around their own area) or hire a part-time lady who usually comes once in a while and doesn't interact much with the people.

2) Regarding the coming on time and leaving on time part, is it a good idea to leave on the dot (or at most, stay back 10 - 15 mins max) when you first join a new company? For some reason, I actually feel guilty leaving on the dot even though by right, there's nothing wrong.
I notice a lot of people tend to stay quite late, not sure if it's to show the boss they're hardworking or just plain out have no life.

I find that the later one stays in the office after the time is up, the later one will end up staying cos' the boss is used to it and your overtime BECOMES your NORMAL WORKING HOURS and the workload also increase instead of decrease! (ie: you stay 10 mins late when you first join, then 2 months late, you stay 30 mins late, then 6 mths later, you stay 1 hr late. Then your working hours come 9 PM to 7.30 PM and if you go back on time which by right is 6 PM, boss starts to make noise) :O

3) Anyone experienced those 40 - 50+ year old auntie-type of colleagues in the office who have a very nasty and fierce personality/temper and like to bully the young employees who just joined the company? Saw a few of these types previously, usually they exist in those companies whose work environment is more traditional chinese type (shipbuilding companies warehousing etc).
Do you guys generally just try to avoid these dinosaurs and try to focus on the work instead?

Tks!
Nik

I am jobless for 6 months.

I will never do well in a fast paced office environment.

I am very human.

I do things at a moderated pace. I don't rush my work. I don't rush when I talk.
When I talk to you, I want to have meaningful conversations. When I discuss with you, I need you to reciprocate with similar level of teamwork and effort I put in the work,

I hate useless office banter like: WAH THEY MOVING STUFF NOW THE PANTRY SO CROWDED HOR!!!!!
ANOTHER OF THE BLOODY USELESS OFFICE BANTER LIKE "you having late lunch today ah?"

Oh Ya, like you bloody care my lunch late.
And pantry crowded so what? Movers are moving stuff what!!


I also need a gf who can have meaningful conversations with me.! LOL

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am jobless for 6 months.

I will never do well in a fast paced office environment.

I am very human.

I do things at a moderated pace. I don't rush my work. I don't rush when I talk.
When I talk to you, I want to have meaningful conversations. When I discuss with you, I need you to reciprocate with similar level of teamwork and effort I put in the work,

I hate useless office banter like: WAH THEY MOVING STUFF NOW THE PANTRY SO CROWDED HOR!!!!!
ANOTHER OF THE BLOODY USELESS OFFICE BANTER LIKE "you having late lunch today ah?"

Oh Ya, like you bloody care my lunch late.
And pantry crowded so what? Movers are moving stuff what!!


I also need a gf who can have meaningful conversations with me.! LOL

that's why you are jobless for 6 months.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am jobless for 6 months.

I will never do well in a fast paced office environment.

I am very human.

I do things at a moderated pace. I don't rush my work. I don't rush when I talk.
When I talk to you, I want to have meaningful conversations. When I discuss with you, I need you to reciprocate with similar level of teamwork and effort I put in the work,

I hate useless office banter like: WAH THEY MOVING STUFF NOW THE PANTRY SO CROWDED HOR!!!!!
ANOTHER OF THE BLOODY USELESS OFFICE BANTER LIKE "you having late lunch today ah?"

Oh Ya, like you bloody care my lunch late.
And pantry crowded so what? Movers are moving stuff what!!


I also need a gf who can have meaningful conversations with me.! LOL

are you for real?? the world does not revolve around you, especially when you are a newbie. respect has to be earned, not demanded. also you need to put in a lot of work on your EQ.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

are you for real?? the world does not revolve around you, especially when you are a newbie. respect has to be earned, not demanded. also you need to put in a lot of work on your EQ.

EQ means talking nonsense in the office. WAH, late lunch sia! Wah, EH WHERE YOU BOUGHT THIS PORRIDGE? SIBEI ACT YI GE CURIOUS.

When I talk to you, I have real meaning in conversation. I want to help you. I care for you as a person, NOT SI BEI ACT YI GE CURIOUS. WAH SIANZ I DID NOT BUY THE 4D OPENING DIGITS. You not only FARK your colleague by doing that. you fark yourself for having to say that. YOU CAN ASK YOURSELF: DO YOU REALLY WANT TO SAY THAT TO A PERSON? LOLXXXX

WHAT BLOODY EQ.: It's easy, even my colleague who has depression can do that. she bloody talk nonsense, hyperactive, anytime someone talk to her, she super cheerful and high EQ sia. talk a lot and joke a lot.

But she only let me know, she is trying to hide her depressive episodes.

LOLx.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

EQ means talking nonsense in the office. WAH, late lunch sia! Wah, EH WHERE YOU BOUGHT THIS PORRIDGE? SIBEI ACT YI GE CURIOUS.

When I talk to you, I have real meaning in conversation. I want to help you. I care for you as a person, NOT SI BEI ACT YI GE CURIOUS. WAH SIANZ I DID NOT BUY THE 4D OPENING DIGITS. You not only FARK your colleague by doing that. you fark yourself for having to say that. YOU CAN ASK YOURSELF: DO YOU REALLY WANT TO SAY THAT TO A PERSON? LOLXXXX

WHAT BLOODY EQ.: It's easy, even my colleague who has depression can do that. she bloody talk nonsense, hyperactive, anytime someone talk to her, she super cheerful and high EQ sia. talk a lot and joke a lot.

But she only let me know, she is trying to hide her depressive episodes.

LOLx.

if you think that talking a load of rubbish is EQ then you really need some help.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

if you think that talking a load of rubbish is EQ then you really need some help.

Then you ****ing tell me what is EQ in the office?

you ****ING tell me. you BETTER ****ING tell me.

EQ in the office means try to have conversation with as many people in the office as possible. You can talk about ANYTHING you want besides work. which includes RUBBISH sometimes. you are not close with them, therefore you ****ING talk rubbish to them to make them feel you are friendly and human.

YOU ****ING TELL ME WHAT IS EQ IN THE OFFICE.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Then you ****ing tell me what is EQ in the office?

you ****ING tell me. you BETTER ****ING tell me.

EQ in the office means try to have conversation with as many people in the office as possible. You can talk about ANYTHING you want besides work. which includes RUBBISH sometimes. you are not close with them, therefore you ****ING talk rubbish to them to make them feel you are friendly and human.

YOU ****ING TELL ME WHAT IS EQ IN THE OFFICE.

that didn't take much to set you off. honestly, you better get some help. the EQ can come later once your mental well-being is taken care of.

[hustler]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Then you ****ing tell me what is EQ in the office?

you ****ING tell me. you BETTER ****ING tell me.

EQ in the office means try to have conversation with as many people in the office as possible. You can talk about ANYTHING you want besides work. which includes RUBBISH sometimes. you are not close with them, therefore you ****ING talk rubbish to them to make them feel you are friendly and human.

YOU ****ING TELL ME WHAT IS EQ IN THE OFFICE.

I only have one quote to offer you:

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” - Dale Carnegie

What you need is not a girlfriend, but a thorough self-reflection.

[Nik]

Ok, back to topic.

Sorry for asking these questions, but as I'm in the midst of moving to my new job and reflecting on the past few years in my current job, I realized there were many things I could have done better and mistakes I could have avoided had I been better at playing the game.

1) Say, when you meet a colleague who is the bullying type (ie: trying to make you look bad in front of everyone, or trolling you to force you to reveal your flaws etc), what's the best way to react? I think ignoring them is not an option (will lead to hostilities) and what I've been doing so far is mainly just smiling and playing it cool, though the problem is they tend to escalate it even more.

Sometimes in cases like this, telling the higher-ups is not an option since usually these higher-ups usually are buddy-buddy with these trouble-makers, which will backfire on you.


2) How do you guys handle colleagues who have the same position and similar job scope as you? ie: You're the admin exec in the company and there's 2 others with the same title and job scope as you, same seniority etc.
I find this type of colleagues are the trickiest to handle cos' in many cases, because of the same job type, they tend to see you as a threat (personally experienced this) and this is also the type who has the highest chances of backstabbing you IMO. I encounter this sort previously and even tried to treat him like a real friend but turns out he did all kinds of very subtle manipulative tricks behind my back.

Do you guys play it cool and keep a smiling face with this type, but internally, up your guard against them and avoid treating them as friends / telling them personal stuff?

Tks!
Nik