Professionalism 101 - Your Guide!

WSO warriors, I thought it would be useful to create a thread on how one should conduct themselves in the workplace.

As a new analyst myself, you sometimes find that there are unspoken rules to follow in the office. Every office or team is different, but some of these tips may serve you well.

Please feel post your tips!

  1. Come in EARLY! Always come to work 10-15 minutes before your contracted start time, it will serve you well. Time management is an excellent skill to have. It illustrates self-discipline and organisation. Do this with meetings too. If the meeting starts at 4 pm leave your desk at 3:50 pm for a toilet break and travel time (lifts etc). If you know you will be late, dial in! I found that showing up to work 10-15 minutes early allows me to get my mind right and organised for the day, try it.

  2. Know your boundaries. Look at your colleagues as you would your friend's mother or grandmother, do not ask personal questions. It is true that we spend a significant amount of time with our colleagues in this industry, but you must always remember that colleagues are not your friends. I have fell victim to this mistake and have crossed boundaries. It is harmless to ask how the weekend was, but don't ask for details. "How was your weekend?" offers the opportunity for detail, but minimise it. I prefer "Did you have a good weekend?" which allows your colleague the opportunity to provide detail. With the latter question, I often answer with "yes thank you, and you?". Do not confuse this point or observation of mine, friends at work are necessary. Friends in IB/Finance or any industry is vital for success and peace of mind BUT don't forget that you are colleagues first. Size people up before you get comfortable and become friends.

  3. Office instant chat and EMAIL is NOT your text. I was definitely a victim of this. Discussing informal things and how stressed I was at work on the office chat with my more friendlier colleagues. BIG NO NO! Do not do it. What is written or sent electronically is always evidence for or against you. If the company wanted to fire you today, would your chat history make it easy for them?

  4. Respect your corporate title senior! R E S P E C T! When you are an analyst, we all know how annoying some associates can be. However, they got to that position for a reason. Show them the same respect you would an MD. You may struggle at first because you feel as if you are being made to do the donkey job. However, if you cannot do the small tasks (booking a room, setting up a call to modelling) how can you be trusted with the big things? Don't do it for them, do it for yourself. It will strengthen your work ethic, open your eyes to your boundaries and create a great reputation for yourself. Always remember that EVERYONE in the office knows who the slacker is, you don't need to complain about it. Of course, unless it is affecting your health and creating an unbearable workload.

  5. Whatever you do, do not gossip! Do not speak ill about ANYONE in your office. I cannot emphasise this enough. I learnt from my associate that whenever someone was being bitched about he put on his headphones or excused himself. Best practise. If you cannot physically remove yourself or use headphones, keep your mouth shut. Do not utter a word. If you are bold, you can stand up for the colleague or divert the conversation. I personally wouldn't do either as it can backfire. But if you are strongly against gossip then those two options could be great!

Please feel free to add more! I will add more information on business writing soon! Until then, read: The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking by Barbara Minto

  • SP
 
  1. "Colleagues are not your friends" - not true. I spend insane amounts of time with my banking colleagues (analysts + associates) and we are an extremely tight-knit group. Happy to call them good friends of mine - and have heard similarly from friends at other banks as well. Honestly if I were to work in an environment where I couldn't bullshit around once in a while with the people I work with, it'd be pretty miserable
 
TheBuellerBanker:
  1. "Colleagues are not your friends" - not true. I spend insane amounts of time with my banking colleagues (analysts + associates) and we are an extremely tight-knit group. Happy to call them good friends of mine - and have heard similarly from friends at other banks as well. Honestly if I were to work in an environment where I couldn't bullshit around once in a while with the people I work with, it'd be pretty miserable

Sadly you missed the point. You are first colleagues. I am sure you didn't just start off as a tight knit group, be honest and realistic. Colleagues play a vital part in your work life but you should always remain professional. Your post can be misleading giving the impression that everyone is going to experience such things. It's not true, though not impossible.

My again is to always act in a professional manner, size people up, see who you can trust as far as work goes and then establish the relationship.

Thanks!

 
Best Response

Business school?

Some of us in business school are NOT undegrads, and many of us are NOT your typical MBA student who has worked 3 years in a single office job before coming here.

Some of us might just have experience in multiple areas, in both American office jobs and in entirely different parts of the world that you give you a much better understanding of human nature than any American white collar job offers.

Or in plain English: I am NOT saying that because of anything I've learned in business school. It might have something more to do with having seen it happen numerous times where career ambitious people will turn on those who considered them friends in a matter of moments if they think they can get something out of it.

The reason you need to be careful is because true sociopaths are chameleons. They're going to seem like the most charming person in the world right up until the moment where they don't have any more use for you. I recommend doing the same. Connect with your colleagues and make them like you but don't trust them until they prove worthy of trust.

 
Attack_Chihuaha:

First year analyst?

I'm assuming that this is your first job out of college. If so you'll learn very quickly that you should NOT assume people are friends you can trust until after they prove their character.

My point exactly!

 
geology rocks:

How to not win friends and influence people

If you fail to abide by some of these rules you may never get the chance to win friends and influence people. You must test the waters before diving in.

 

Don't necessarily agree with 2. Connecting with your colleagues is huge - especially in finance where you're spending inordinate amounts of time with each other. Though you obviously do still have to see each other if something goes awry, so just be cognizant of that and avoid offending people.

Good point with 5 though. It's so easy to bitch about people when working in IB, but there's really no benefit to doing that aside from allowing you to vent. Most productive professional relationships aren't built on the basis of mutual hatred of someone/something, so it's likely never going to be beneficial for you to talk shit on coworkers/bosses.

 

I have made a few friends at work, but for the majority of people I work with meaningful relationships. You don't want to rub anyone the wrong way, you never know who you might be reaching out to one day - which is also advice I got from a VP when I first started.

The firm IM/email stuff is pretty important, we had a guy who was basically putting a lot of overtly sexual shit through the system and it amazed me. He eventually was cut due to poor performance. We were pretty liberal about usin it there, however, there was limited line crossing.

Only two sources I trust, Glenn Beck and singing woodland creatures.
 

6. If your deliverable is late or has mistake, SEPPUKU! There is no excuse for poor quality work, and making mistake in office is dishonorable to you and your family. Should you make a mistake, immediately resign from position, and then recruit fellow soulless excel drone to assist you in parking lot SEPPUKU! This is the only professional solution to your terrible dishonor!

 
Sil:

You must have worked at the same bank that I did.

LOL maybe!

 

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