Achieving good relationship with co-workers is crucial for every newcomer, especially if it’s your first job or internship experience. Some of your dear new colleagues can become your good friends, others can just make your workdays more pleasant. But even if you become close with some people from your office, there are a couple of things you’d better never discuss with them in order to avoid any misunderstandings and confusions, here are some of the prohibited office talks:
Compensation
Salary is number one “don’t” in the list of all the topics you’d better avoid talking about at work. Most likely, you don’t know the exact amount each of your coworkers earns, and it may lead to a lot of misunderstandings between you. In fact, money and wealth subjects are not the best ones for the office surrounding talks. Discussing something simple as the cost of somebody’s new shoes can lead to the discomfort and bad attitude as not everybody of you will be on the same financial status. If anybody from your office asks about your compensation or how much your cute blouse costs, better respond politely that you don’t want to talk about it and change the topic softly.
Offensive Gossip
Even if you are sure everybody in your office hates your boss the same way you do, you’ll never know when he/she finds out about your attitude, are you sure you need it? Better keep all your negative thoughts about some of the colleagues private and try to avoid gossiping around the office. Your critique comments may keep you from being regarded as a part of the collective and cause others to wonder if you say the same things about everybody behind their backs. The key rule of becoming the part of the team is staying clear of offensive comments and being friendly to everyone, even if you feel some people don’t like you very much.
Willingness to Quit
No matter what circumstances you might go through, your boss should be the first person to get to know about your intentions to quit. Even if you think your office buddies can keep your secret, it’s better to stay on the safe side. It’s not the best topic for gossiping and discussions unless it’s already a done deal. If your employer gets to know about your plans from your coworkers, he/she might be faster than you in making up the decision and you will be fired even before you are ready to quit.
Political and Religious Views
Of course, it’s important to talk to your colleagues on the different topics in order to find people who share common to your views and beliefs, but religion and politics might not be the best discussion subjects at work. It’s better to stick to talks about hobbies, music, favorite sports, etc. Well, there is nothing bad if you want your colleagues to know about your beliefs, just don’t create any deep personal discussions on these matters and make sure to never criticize any of other coworker’s religious or political views if they differ from your own.