Message #73188

[rose.winter1980]

I can so empathize with this thread! 

This is about time and place and what is fitting.  There is a certain business etiquette that is required to progress things smoothly and efficiently, but never be afraid to let your personality shine through.  You are not a robot, after all.  And never pretend to be someone you are not.

I, for instance, am not a shrinking violet and am quite light-hearted, although I have a serious, reserved, side, too.  There is no use trying to be anything else - I would probably just come out in spots.  I work in monastic silence and solitude most of the day in my splendid corner office.  I happen to need people to bounce ideas off and get a lot of energy from others (sounds a bit vampyrish, I know), so I come out of my hidey-hole now and then and chat to others, but mostly I keep to my office.

The main things are: to be friendly but not familiar with everyone; to be kind and helpful; to be efficient and proficient at doing your job.  Anything else - workplace friendships etc - is a bonus.  Chatting with folks is fine and "water cooler" moments can achieve a whole heap more than meetings.  However, you can distract others and inhibit yourself from achieving your work goals, so may be a get-together at lunch or coffee and cakes after work are the way round this.