If there is one area within an office that is the site of the most conflict, it is often the office kitchen. Many of the problems that arise in an office kitchen begin from people not following proper office kitchen etiquette. This means that you need to be mindful of proper etiquette before you start using the kitchen in your new office. This will help you to avoid some pitfalls and ensure that you stay away from conflict at all costs.
Here are a few office kitchen etiquette tips that you can follow:
Cleanliness
The main thing that you need to remember is that other people are using the kitchen. This means that you need to be mindful of others at all times by cleaning up your own mess. Do your part to keep the area clean and remember that many small trash items can add up. This means that you need to be responsible for yourself and make sure that you are always cleaning up after yourself. Going the extra mile to take the trash out from time to time or clean up spills will earn you extra points with your coworkers.
Refrigerator Rules
It is important that you do not hog all the room in the fridge. You need to make sure that you pack your meals in a way that takes up the smallest amount of space possible. It is also important that you do not take things out of the fridge that are not yours. You need to respect other peoples property and food items in the fridge are in fact property. If it is not yours you should not be eating it unless it is offered to you by the owner. If you do not obey the laws of the office refrigerator, you will have some major frustration blooming in the office. Labeling your food is a really good way to avoid any unfortunate incidents. It doesn’t hurt to add a date either, so people will know whether it’s been in there for a while or not!
Throw it Out
If you bring food into the office kitchen, you need to be responsible for making sure that it finds its way out. This means that you need to get rid of food before it begins to spoil. You should try to remove your food each day, because this is the most courteous thing to do. However, if this is not possible, you should make an effort to get rid of your food within a few days.
– The Recruit Founders