6 ways in which your staff can breach workplace etiquette

With more jobs requiring collaboration skills, there is no place for poor workplace etiquette that often implies a lack of respect for coworkers.

However, managers and employees have very different views on what constitutes a breach of workplace etiquette.

A survey from Accountemps found that more than a quarter of 2,100 CFOs polled in the US said the most common offence is having staff or peers being distracted during meetings - for example, checking a smartphone or sending emails.

On the other hand, the most number of employees cited "gossiping" as the biggest source of etiquette breaches at the workplace.

"The results show managers might not have a full understanding of how widespread gossip is at work," said Bill Driscoll, a district president of Accountemps.

"Likewise, workers may not be aware that their bosses notice distracted behaviour during meetings," he added.

The survey found the top six sources of etiquette offences in the office:

• Being distracted during meetings - 27% of CFOs vs 16% of workers
• Gossiping about others in the office - 18% of CFOs vs 28% of workers
• Not responding to calls or emails in a timely way - 18% of CFOs vs 21% of workers
• Running late to or missing meetings - 12% of CFOs vs 12% of workers
• Not crediting others when appropriate - 6% of CFOs vs 12% of workers
• Criticising others publicly - 5% of CFOs vs 11% of workers

Here's an infographic on the full findings:

Lead image: Shutterstock