LC Enterprise, 363 W 3rd St. Perris CA 92570
Cube dwellers need to follow some basic ground rules related to privacy, noise and smells to maintain a productive and neighborly environment, according to Jill Bremer of Bremer Communications, an image consulting and communication skills firm. Among her recommendations:
Never enter someone’s cubicle without permission. Behave as though
cubicles have doors.
Try to pick up your phone after one or two rings. Set the ringer volume at
a low level.
Use your “library voice.”
Don’t talk through cube walls or congregate outside someone’s
cube. For impromptu meetings, go to a conference room or break room.
Eat quietly. Avoid gum-popping, humming, slurping and pen tapping.
Avoid perfume and cologne. Your neighbors may have allergies.
“Privacy is an issue in a cubicle environment for all employees, including those employees with cognitive impairments,” Kitchen says. “Setting clear rules for communication in and around cubicle spaces that regulate voice control, duration of work or private conversations, and [which include] disciplinary actions, will help control noise levels, avoid congregations of chatty employees, and extinguish behavior such as calling out over cubicle walls.”
Above all, Ruh says, employers should find out how employees do their best work, whether that is in the midst of a group or in a quiet environment. This is true for introverts and extraverts as well as those with cognitive disabilities, she says. “It’s a matter of determining if a particular person needs a social environment or not. It’s less about their cognitive disability than it is about who they are as a person.”
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