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Green IT Tips for the office?

Moving from a small office to a very, very big one. Tips?

  • What should I know before starting my first job at a large, corporate company that I may not be prepared for coming from a tiny, flexible office environment? Following on some of my previous work related questions on here, I took some people's advice to pursue a higher paying position with a larger (and very corporate) company. I start next week. Hooray! I'm very excited, but also want to make sure I get off on the right foot. I am used to working in a very small, very flexible environment for the past 4 years, where about 90% of my time was actually focused on getting tasks done directly. No bureaucracy, very few meetings, very direct ways to approach colleagues and clients, all quite self-directed. Office politics were non-existent. I know from my interview process with the new company and my own research that a lot more of my day will be spent in meetings with various team members, and my actual work will need to get done in the mornings or possibly brought home with me at night. That is one big adjustment. What are some others I may not be thinking of? I've read things on career sites about pros and cons of big companies vs. small, but I found most of the insights to be on the general and vague side. Anything you wish you knew before joining a large company/office? Particularly on making a good start? Avoiding or navigating office politics? Not getting lost? Anything small or big you can think of would be helpful, the more specific the better. Thanks!

  • Answer:

    Don't take work home! If you need to, block out time in Outlook so that you can get work done and not have people schedule meetings during that time. Don't do it all the time but in meeting intensive companies you have to set aside time to actually do the work that gets assigned/discussed in meetings. Be cooperative and collaborative. Office politics vary enormously. Don't get drawn into office gossip but always pay attention to it. The issues, personalities, power people, slackers, idiots, empty promisers, allies, etc. will reveal themselves.

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Draw a line in the sand w/r/t work-life balance from Day One. Many people, starting a new job, will work super-extra hard to impress and then suddenly you're that employee who is now expected to work until 9 P.M. or take work home every night.

griphus

Learn how to use the phones. Nothing quite like accidentally hanging up on a client when you're trying to put them through to another department, or finding out that you have dozens of messages on an answer machine you didn't know you had.

dumdidumdum

There will be a process for everything. I mean everything. This can be annoying if you're used to flexibility, but in a big company it's necessary - to ensure that things are done the 'right' way, to record data accurately, all that kind of thing.

essexjan

A lot of people won't take lunch breaks -- they'll eat at their desks while doing work. But actually, they probably spend at least an hour on personal stuff (e.g. watching YouTube videos) per day, so it evens out.

cranberry_nut

"Never ascribe to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity." [though ignorance is more often the case than outright stupidity]

DigDoug

Keep all work-related emails (and keep them in a way so they are easily searchable). I know this is hard for minimal inbox email type people. But I can site numerous moments where I was able to retrieve a 3 year old email which either covered my ass, or illuminated some current problem.

kimdog

Show up EARLY for the first three months. After a while, you can just roll on the fumes of your good reputation. And it's so much easier to get work done when there's no one else there.

mochapickle

Start keeping notes on what you talked about with colleagues/bosses in meetings, phone calls, or the quick convo in the hallway, especially as it pertains to you and getting your work done. At my old company, we called this a CYA (Cover Your Ass) document, but you hopefully aren't that cynical yet.

SuperSquirrel

In a bigger office, you will be ruled by your calendar. This can be used to your advantage. I mark off at least an hour or two for "work time" in my calendar every single day, so that I can't get swept into meetings when I need to work because I had openings.

xingcat

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