Mind Your Elevator Manners
Updated: Oct. 26, 2015
How you conduct yourself both inside and outside the office can say a lot about you professionally. This includes your trips on the elevator. See how some of the common elevator behaviour can cast you in a negative light.
For anyone working in an office building, the ride up and down the elevator is actually part of the daily commute. It’s a routine activity, yet still requires “a measure of self-awareness and respect for others,” says Joanne Blake, a business-image and etiquette expert in Edmonton.
Sharing public spaces demands a certain civility, and your elevator manners can also reflect on you professionally.
- Push the button for your floor after it’s lit? This makes you look impatient.
- Block the doors or jostle to enter or leave? You’ll appear inconsiderate.
- Have private conversations in front of others? It displays poor judgement.
- Crowd another rider’s personal space? This shows a lack of social decorum.
“People will extrapolate that this is how you typically behave,” says Blake. So ensure that you elevate your conduct.
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