Enter many offices at any given time of the day, not just mealtime, and you are likely to encounter employees munching at their desks. If their workspace happens to be behind closed doors or high walls, this may be acceptable. However, indulging in snacks or full course meals in plain sight of coworkers or, heaven forbid, clients and customers, is not a good idea.
Businesses that are open to the public should provide a designated area for people to enjoy a break and have their meals out of sight of everyone else. (Maintenance of the office kitchen is another issue for another time.)
If you work in a cubicle and don’t interact with outside clientele, you should still think twice about eating habits in the office. Just because you cannot be seen, you may be heard having your snack. Cubiquette, or etiquette of the cubicle, suggests that any major chewing, crunching or smacking be done out of earshot of others. It can be very distracting to the person on the other side of that soft wall to have to endure a colleague working his way through a bag of potato chips or cracking the last pieces of ice with his teeth.
If you enjoy the luxury of a private office, you also need to proceed with caution when dining at your desk. Close your door so no one can walk in just as you bite into that juicy hamburger.
Put your phone on voice mail so you are not tempted to take a call with your mouth full. Even though callers cannot see your cheeks bulging, they can hear you eating, drinking and chewing. Mouth noises are even louder over the phone.
Finally, chewing gum does not belong in any of the food groups, and it doesn’t belong any where in business. It looks bad, sounds bad and sends a message that the chewer is not taking the job or the customers seriously.
Lydia Ramsey, author of MANNERS THAT SELL, keynote speaker and seminar leader, is a leading authority on business etiquette and protocol. To sign up for more FREE business etiquette tips, click here.
