Expert Office Advice

It’s well documented that office workers loathe Mondays. However, a recent survey shows that Mondays are the days when workers put the most effort into their looks, and spend the longest time preparing for the long day ahead.

A survey carried out by Debenhams has found that British women on average spend 76 minutes to get ready on a Monday morning, nearly 4 times longer than on Friday (an average of 19 minutes).

One third of the time spent in the morning is taken up by doing their hair, 18 minutes go to makeup application, 16 minutes are lost trying to choose the outfit and the rest is left for actual showering/washing.

However the duration of this vigorous preparation seems to decrease as the week passes, with only 40 minutes on average spent on Tuesdays and a quick prep of 19 minutes on Fridays.

According to the survey, British workers do look better and smarter on Mondays, with men being no exception to the rule. They too let the 28 minutes they spent on Monday decline to a mere 11 minutes by Friday.

Our colleagues’ bad moods annoy us the most, a recent survey shows. Nearly 37 per cent of British office workers said their grumpy colleagues deserved to be in the top list of annoyances in the office.

Slightly less, 36 per cent of respondents, thought that the second most irritating thing is slow computers, whilst the list of the biggest office irritants also included excessive office gossip, management speak, and colleagues that tend to speak loudly on their phones.

British workers also pointed out too many health and safety intrusions, people being late or skipping meetings, office temperature being too high or too low, team members who do not leave a clean kitchen area after using it, as well as poor washroom etiquette.

The survey was carried out by Opinium Research.

A recent survey carried out by an internet service provider Lumison shows that nearly 70 per cent of office workers engage in less face-to-face communication compared with 2004.

The survey revealed that advanced technology and easy access to instant messaging, mobile phone or email widely used in the workplace are reducing the direct interaction between colleagues.

Interestingly, when it came down to giving negative news, nearly 95 per cent of respondents preferred doing it face-to-face.

Losing your job due to the worldwide recession is stressful enough without having to worry about outdated business cards.

A group of former TBWA\Chiat\Day employees have come up with a creative way of reusing their old business cards – by crossing out the obsolete information and adding a little statement.

The idea took off and now you can browse the worldwide collection of Cards of Change online, submit your own, look for perspective partners and employees, or simply get inspired.

Photo: ©Cardsofchange.com

Trying desperately to juggle your professional life and motherhood? You are not alone. The Family Care Company carried out a research a while ago which shows that over 50 per cent of working mothers found it easier to blame traffic jams or a misbehaving alarm clock than admit it was their little one that made them late for work. It seems that the struggle to keep an effective work-life balance is still affecting nearly half of mums.

More interestingly, nearly 60 per cent of working mums said that childless female colleagues were less considerate and understanding than men were. Almost two thirds of working mums thought that asking for flexible working schedule would impact their careers in a negative way.

Juggling work and motherhood has become a hot topic, with more and more information, help and advice being available to new mothers.

Here at Office Connection we’ve selected a list of online resources that provide extremely helpful tips and give a platform to working mothers to communicate with each other and share their experiences.

Working Families offers an outstanding range of articles, toolkits, expert advice and consultations. Issues covered include your rights at work, maternity leave and pay, time off work, pregnancy, childcare for children with disabilities and much more. There’s also information about free legal helplines available. (more…)

You’ve made your packed lunch, check.

You’ve brought it to work and put it in the office fridge, check.

Lunchtime rolls around and you go to enjoy your sandwich, check, er hang on, it’s gone! Not a crumb in sight, not one morsel of your lovingly prepared lunch. Just remember you are not alone in this predicament! Offices around the world are plagued by the office lunch bandit, the sneaky fridge thief himself.

So what can be done to combat this midday pilferer? Fingerprint activated lunch boxes? Lasers, alarm systems, mousetraps? Well a canny soul has come up with this Anti-Theft Lunch Bag. (more…)

Gift giving in an office environment may be an enjoyable experience for the employees, but it isn’t as effortless as it seems. There are several gift giving etiquette points, as giving business gifts to your clients, partners and employees is completely different from choosing a gift for your partner or a relative. With Christmas virtually on our doorstep, it’s worth remembering a few rules.

Find out the Company Policy regarding business gifts. Some companies have strict policies on the acceptance of corporate gifts, so do a little bit of research before you purchase or accept a gift. The gift should not be perceived as a form of bribery. In some cases organisations and businesses have a limit on the value of the gift that can be accepted.

Do not give an inappropriate gift. By that we mean extremely personal gifts, items showing your affection for the colleague, very expensive or extravagant gifts, such as designer clothing, shoes or high-priced gadgets.

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With Christmas parties just around the corner, you will want to start deciding on your outfit. If your budget won’t stretch to a new dress, there are some things you can do to revamp your old one.

You could add a nice brooch, or perhaps a bright belt. A visit to the haberdashery may be in order, they sell all manner of sparkly items, ribbons, buttons, feathers etc… you name it.

If you’re handy with a needle and thread, you could make a few alterations, perhaps to the sleeves or hemline. If your dress has buttons, you could easily replace them with something interesting. If you don’t know one end of a needle from another, there are tailors (or perhaps your mum?) that can alter your dress for you at a reasonable cost. I recently took a trench coat in to get altered and was only charged 15 pounds, a bargain I feel as now I have a coat at just the right length for me without having to buy a new one.

So don’t despair that you don’t have a fairy godmother to sort your wardrobe, with a few simple changes you can still be the belle of the ball. Now where’s that Prince Charming from the marketing team…

When planning a meeting it is easy to forget that the room in which you are holding the meeting is a key element that should be given due attention. A bit of planning before the meeting as to the seating, refreshments, heating/cooling, presentation and other arrangements can go a long way towards ensuring a successful and productive meeting.

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That file must be somewhere here… Whether you are going through your papers on a messy desk or entering various keyword combinations in your email search box, doing this too often causes not only stress and aggravation, but can ruin a healthy and composed atmosphere at work.

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