Really bizzare office environment, need insight.

[Nik]

Hi all,

I need some insight on this new company I just joined recently.

Overally, everything about the company is perfect. I mean, really perfect.
Except for one really disturbing issue : the office is too quiet.

You guys ever been to the National Library in Bugis? Ever went to 7th - 12 storeys? It's those reference rooms (Lee Kong Chian library, I think) that is so quiet till you can hear nothing at all except your own breathing.

That's how the office is like. And even more bizarrely, no one seems to talk to each other! And once in a blue moon when they do talk, it's all work.

Now, you may think: ok, so normal work-related talk with a couple of jokes here and there, and some small talk thrown in once in a while or some banter / slight chatter.

Except there's none. The conversation is PURE work, full of figures, numbers, stats, data, and once done, people go back immediately to their seats.

In the morning, people don't greet each other.
People plug their ears with earphones.
People eat lunch solo.
On certain days, you don't even see or hear some of them opening their mouths.

You may think : people go to work to work, NOT socialize.
You may argue: maybe it's cos' they're super busy.

The thing is : I've been in job environments that are WAY more high-tempo and busier than this, and those environments also have financial consequences if things go wrong, something this current one doesn't have.

So, this doesn't really explain why the office is so bizarrely quiet to the point it's scary and creepy.

Can you imagine going to work every day and not talk to your colleagues more than 10 words a day? I highly doubt anyone has worked in this weird situation before.

Don't get me wrong : the people are courteous, friendly, polite and easy-going, but somehow, no one seems to want to open their mouths.


Is this because of some underlying issue that I'm not aware of? Like some undercurrent at work here> I just joined recently, if you remember, so I still need to observe.

While people may say a quiet office is better than a chaotic one, an office that is even quieter than a cemetery (at least in cemeteries, you can hear insects) feels very uncomfortable to work in.
I'm not gonna leave any time soon cos' the work is very awesome.


Is there anything I can do long-term to slowly turn things around? Never faced this sort of situation before. I'm gonna try saying greetings to them and making small talk and forcing in some jokes between the 101%-work conversations to see if things get better.

Also, is it a good idea to ask HR about why the office is like this? In the 6+ companies I worked with, never faced anything like this.
Even in quiet companies, people do make small talk occasionally here and there, not keep mum permanently.

Tks for any insight!

Can share where do you work? I will fit into the environment perfectly.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Can share where do you work? I will fit into the environment perfectly.

ditto, this sounds perfect. i've worked with people who seem to be talking for the sake of talking (usually, imo, these people seem have mediocre performance at work), who are also poor conversationalists/listeners, so much so, outside work i rarely would want to get to know them as an individual.

i assume this is a number-crunching job or a SME whose staff are constantly on something that requires concentration?

perhaps u can add some colour to this apart from describing the culture... like what business, demographics, hierachy...

still, beneath the surface, there's always going to be politics (which is not necessarily unwanted/distasteful). or at least a tinge of it. do go for any social events (D&D or just after-work pow wows) if there's ever one.

[Nik]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

i assume this is a number-crunching job or a SME whose staff are constantly on something that requires concentration?

perhaps u can add some colour to this apart from describing the culture... like what business, demographics, hierachy...

Nope, doesn't require that kind of number-crunching concentration.
Can't say much about the company except it's doing creative and IT-entertainment services, sort of. Number of employees = less than 12, informal hierachy and young demographics.

do go for any social events (D&D or just after-work pow wows) if there's ever one.

Never in hell will these things exist in my company bro LOL
If there's D&D or social events, I doubt the culture will be like this.

sounds like an ideal environment for me.

i can't stand chatting/small talk for the sake of it during work. if you don't want give me.

Reminds me of the Japanese company I used to work in. As quiet as a library and the only time people talk is usually over the office phone and work related. Even then, they try to talk in hush hush tones...

Then again we used to go out for lunch together, local staff going out and gossiping and bad mouthing all the Japanese expats who work like robots..First ones in and last ones out.

Different company different culture. My company is somewhat worse than yours.

Because we are IT project management consultancy, the office is just there for people to either book meeting room to meet clients or use any of the hardware & server.

We don't have any concept of working hours or sitting cubicle as most work is virtual. Anyone come into office, just find a spot with power cable & connecting cable, sit down, plug & play & do your work. I don't even recognize most of the people in the office as people from all over the world office come & go and there is no telling when you might see them again.

People just quietly do their own thing and come & go as they need. So no lunch hour or tea break together with your kakis or gather one corner tcss.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Different company different culture. My company is somewhat worse than yours.

Because we are IT project management consultancy, the office is just there for people to either book meeting room to meet clients or use any of the hardware & server.

We don't have any concept of working hours or sitting cubicle as most work is virtual. Anyone come into office, just find a spot with power cable & connecting cable, sit down, plug & play & do your work. I don't even recognize most of the people in the office as people from all over the world office come & go and there is no telling when you might see them again.

People just quietly do their own thing and come & go as they need. So no lunch hour or tea break together with your kakis or gather one corner tcss.

That's interesting. So everyone works individually? Does that mean if u wanna resign, it will probably be via email or sthg?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

That's interesting. So everyone works individually? Does that mean if u wanna resign, it will probably be via email or sthg?

We work in teams, just virtual interaction most of the time as different project pull in different people from all over the world. A lot of telecon & Lync usage.

I think resign is through email to my boss first based in Canada. Then need to print out letter and file with the admin team based in Singapore office. There's a small HR admin team here does all the paperwork and manage the office for us.

it is probably unusual. but as you admit yourself everything else is perfect. so I don't think there's much to complain about. maybe after a while you find this actually makes you more productive and can finish your work early everyday and have more time with friends and family - those who you really enjoy hang out with anyway. So all in all it might be a good thing.

Originally Posted by Nik

Hi all,

I need some insight on this new company I just joined recently.

Overally, everything about the company is perfect. I mean, really perfect.
Except for one really disturbing issue : the office is too quiet.

You guys ever been to the National Library in Bugis? Ever went to 7th - 12 storeys? It's those reference rooms (Lee Kong Chian library, I think) that is so quiet till you can hear nothing at all except your own breathing.

That's how the office is like. And even more bizarrely, no one seems to talk to each other! And once in a blue moon when they do talk, it's all work.

Now, you may think: ok, so normal work-related talk with a couple of jokes here and there, and some small talk thrown in once in a while or some banter / slight chatter.

Except there's none. The conversation is PURE work, full of figures, numbers, stats, data, and once done, people go back immediately to their seats.

In the morning, people don't greet each other.
People plug their ears with earphones.
People eat lunch solo.
On certain days, you don't even see or hear some of them opening their mouths.

You may think : people go to work to work, NOT socialize.
You may argue: maybe it's cos' they're super busy.

The thing is : I've been in job environments that are WAY more high-tempo and busier than this, and those environments also have financial consequences if things go wrong, something this current one doesn't have.

So, this doesn't really explain why the office is so bizarrely quiet to the point it's scary and creepy.

Can you imagine going to work every day and not talk to your colleagues more than 10 words a day? I highly doubt anyone has worked in this weird situation before.

Don't get me wrong : the people are courteous, friendly, polite and easy-going, but somehow, no one seems to want to open their mouths.


Is this because of some underlying issue that I'm not aware of? Like some undercurrent at work here> I just joined recently, if you remember, so I still need to observe.

While people may say a quiet office is better than a chaotic one, an office that is even quieter than a cemetery (at least in cemeteries, you can hear insects) feels very uncomfortable to work in.
I'm not gonna leave any time soon cos' the work is very awesome.


Is there anything I can do long-term to slowly turn things around? Never faced this sort of situation before. I'm gonna try saying greetings to them and making small talk and forcing in some jokes between the 101%-work conversations to see if things get better.

Also, is it a good idea to ask HR about why the office is like this? In the 6+ companies I worked with, never faced anything like this.
Even in quiet companies, people do make small talk occasionally here and there, not keep mum permanently.

Tks for any insight!