Workplace Conversation

Author: Jordan Wendt
Jordan Wendt is a writer the Y Generation blog. You can follow him on twitter at twitter.com/jordanwendt or email him at jordanawendt@gmail.com

On Workplace Conversation:

In today’s society men are inundated with proper protocol and advanced etiquette that they haven’t bothered to learn. What our generation considers polite behavior has changed drastically from what our fathers’ considered acceptable. I plan to alleviate stress that might accompany any gentleman in his modern settings by covering such topics as cuff links to concubines and how to handle each accordingly.

Any gentleman should expect to hold an office job at some point in his life. While there is nothing wrong with working with your hands or working outdoors, a gentleman should have the necessary knowledge and know how to hold a conversation around the water cooler that does not exacerbate or offend his coworkers.

A true man knows that others in the office might not share his political or ideological beliefs and he does not engage them in conversation which could easily spark animosity between coworkers. A man may talk about which sports team he supports or which movies he enjoys but these are the few things he may actually argue about. If a man is prone to confrontation, he understands that he should not engage in argumentative discourse in the office but rather save that for after work cocktails with friends.

A gentleman understands that people like to discuss current events so a man is updated with the world around him. This is good advice for the gentleman at any point in his life and is sure to come in handy sooner rather than later. A man will come off as intelligent and sophisticated if he knows the current trends of the stock market, or he will be seen as dull and inattentive if he cannot answer who recently won the Masters Golf tournament.

The man engages his fellow employees around him with questions that will lead to them answering things about themselves. He never asks something that he would not want to answer himself. He questions his fellow workers on subjects that he remembers they like to talk about, such as a hobby they have, or a social gathering they might have attended the previous weekend. He never asks a woman about a budding relationship she might have with another man as this is none of the gentleman’s business.

A man knows that he is not what most coworkers want to hear about, so he keeps his personal remarks to a minimum unless it is relevant to the conversation. As always, a gentleman is someone who makes others feel comfortable and is a person who is easy to talk to. He is there to be a conversationalist and makes others feel as if they are being heard.