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There is a particular department in my company that seems to be in perpetual celebration. There are banners, work tables draped in flimsy paper tablecloths, and an endless parade of cookies, cakes, and potluck lunches. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that department undecorated.
I try to figure out each time the decorations change what the new celebration is. Is it someone’s birthday? A new season? Canadian national holiday? The vernal equinox? Daylight savings? Sally's cousin's granddaughter turned 2? Perhaps it’s jealousy that I don’t seem to be in the crowd that gets invited despite not being part of that department. More than anything, I find it humorous that it’s the department that is always trying the latest diet fad, which is a whole new level of irony given the confections that department rolls through there.
Don’t get me wrong – I love a raucous company holiday party as much as the next 20-something, and I enjoy the free food that comes along with early morning meetings, lunch meetings and the occasional birthday. When I worked at a start-up that had about 7 employees, we had a grand time one-upping each other when it came time to throw the birthday celebrations. But that was a small office, and at a start-up, you practically have to celebrate your birthday with your coworkers because you’re with them so much.
I understand that office celebrations can provide a sense of unity and community among employees. Some people work 40, 50, sometimes 60 hours a week at their jobs; it can inspire a little goodwill among workers and serve the utilitarian purpose of not losing productivity by keeping employees well fed and happy.
On the flip side, it seems unprofessional to me. There are the decorations, which recently went well beyond streamers and balloons, which stay up for at least a week following the celebration. Then there are the cooking smells from baking in the company kitchen that linger in the hallways for hours. (Side note: When I managed a basement radio station, I banned popcorn. No joke. Those odors lingered for days without ventilation.) Aside from the things that just plain annoy me, I wonder where they get the money for that stuff. Does it come out of their pockets? Is it part of their budget? Why don’t I get paid to cook on the clock? What if a customer comes in – does that undermine the professionalism of the entire company?
Companies spend a lot of time and money on providing the right environment for their employees and customers, taking into account colors, furnishings, and in some cases even smell (the cafe I part-time at doesn't allow outside food or drink because the space should be committed to the aroma of coffee). When you do work in such close proximity with others for that long, you ought to take into account what might be offensive to others. I'm not saying you can't pop popcorn, but enough with the 9 a.m. lasagna baking.
Am I being the office curmudgeon? Is there a point at which office celebrations are taken too far?
@Holly - dang, you beat me to the punch with Passive Aggressive Notes. Here is is for those who haven't seen it: http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2008/05/19/perhaps-its-time-for-a-...
It was actually one of the first ones I ever read on that site.
No! You are not a curmudgeon! There is no reason an office building needs to smell like chile con carne! Please.
At my old office, one faction of the building decided to have a potluck every friday. Starting at 9am, you'd smell meatballs and other weird concoctions. Then to add to the offense, they put up a makeshift barrier from the shredding machine to the divider wall to keep people who weren't on their "team" out.
I couldn't agree with you more. I think the office celebration is mostly a boomer thing. A boomer lady thing.
I taught a seminar for Xers on how to manage boomers. That was the number 1 complaint of the participants - getting roped into all the office parties, cookie exchanges, pot lucks.
I used to work at a department of a community college where the bosses would taking turns bring in "Monday treats." It would make me sick seeing all those people pawing at the dried up doughnuts. Plus, I'm kind of the mindset that I'm not a Dolphin, don't reward me with treats.
You horrible person! :-)
I once worked for a company that celebrated almost everything with potlucks. The office was about 50 people, they all hated their jobs and it was not a pleasant place to be.... they lived for the parties.... and I banned them as well... then, the good people who kept the place together started to quit... So, sometimes the parties are enough compensation to keep good people on the team. Depends on the culture, but as a general rule, cake is ok, anything else is not. Except donuts from KrispyKreme. And Tim Hortons.
I'm totally with you on the popcorn thing. I LOVE it, but I would never bring it to work. I would feel rude causing practically everyone in the entire building to smell whatever I was eating.
I couldn't help but think of the "Party Planning Committee" from The Office after reading this...
Well, my company has a "community" birthday parties every other month or so, and I must admit I enjoy them. They're in the conference room, they are during lunch (as to not inferfere with work), and it's a nice way to get together.
But every week? That's overkill....
Am I being the office curmudgeon? Yes, but you probably already knew that.
Food in the office is all about the quirky culture of the group. You can ban it, and you can change the culture.
Can you come up with other things to replace it? In other words, it's easy to complain, and to take things away. Big deal. You just prove you're tough.
It's harder to come up with substitutes for building good working relationships. I think no matter what you come up with (outings, food, monthly meetings, socials, motivational meetings, trainings, newsletters, etc.) there will be some people that don't like it, or like to complain about it.
Personally, I like the smell of popcorn.
@Milena: Putting up the makeshift barrier would be the last straw for me! That's the opposite of team building, and only inspires ill will among departments. Especially when everyone has to smell it, but not everyone gets to eat it. Whatever happened to the old schoolroom rule: Did you bring enough for the entire class? No? Then put it away.
@GenerationXpert: I agree with the lady part, for sure! The offending dept happens to be entirely female. I have my theories on food parties, but they're fairly cynical and lay a lot of blame on empty nests.
@Gerard MacLean: Thanks for the vote of confidence! ;) For the record, I only banned popcorn from the basement radio station office. There was NO ventilation and it wreaked, especially when burnt, and let's face it everyone burns popcorn in the office.
You bring up an excellent point - office culture. You can definitely kill it or you can foster it. My point is that one department constantly celebrating while the rest of the company does so in moderation (the occasional cake, donuts, working lunches with sandwiches) is not conducive to good will or unity among the company. It's staking out territory, like Milena said, and saying this is our celebration, not yours.
@Karen: You remind me of something I saw on PassiveAggressiveNotes.com about "ethnic foods" in the office. I have my own tuna lunches to be ashamed of. :P Popcorn doesn't bother me, actually. That's typical office fodder. Swedish meatballs and pigs-in-a-blanket are another story...
@AndyW: Right on! Yeah, I realize this is typical "office" stuff, but this is my first corporation and typical office environment. At the start-up I started out at celebrations were drinking lunches where you may or may not saunter back to the office. My, the office culture changes when the age demo shifts upward!
@Norcross: That actually sounds nice. Everyone who has a birthday that month is celebrated? Great! No one gets celebrated any more or less than anyone else. That's important, and I think that would neutralize the segmentation of the "don't eat our food" departments by allowing everyone their chance to celebrate.
Moderation is key. Celebration to the point of distraction is bad for everyone.
@Yvette: I don't think I was trying to prove that I was tough, or that's what putting limitations on office celebrations is trying to do.
At the end of the day, we're here to do a job. I'm down with company off-sites, leadership training, team building, etc. But I don't think celebrating every new season with food and streamers brings anyone but the people who have already been working in that department together for years any closer. I have to wonder if the customer who comes into that department thinks the Hello Kitty theme is professional too.
If the office celebration is truly meant to bring about better working relationships, then hell yeah I have some suggestions for replacements. How about a company off-site, an interdepartmental shadowing day, mentorship programs, or personality testing & workshops? All of those would foster much more understanding between coworkers and departments than standing in line for tiny BBQ weenies.
And I don't mind being the office curmudgeon. ;)
I think one of the best pieces of advice I heard was while I was still in college. One of the speakers at our sorority regional convention told us, "Never be the person who plans the office birthday parties. In fact, never bring food for the office."
I haven't always taken her advice, but I avoid patterns. That way no one expects it. I've also learned that riding the bus is a great excuse when there's a potluck in the works. Because no one expects me to carry a dish on the bus.
The problem we have in our office isn't with the food. It's with the dishes afterward, because people haven't been cleaning up after themselves. Much as I don't like the smell of microwave popcorn, I feel even more strongly about looking at someone else's dirty plate, cup, and utensils. Especially when you multiply them by six or so.
A possible solution to the smells you're being subjected to - a talk with your supervisor about having maintenance putting in a better ventilation system. You're not objecting to the other department members habits but rather trying to improve your situation by offering a solution. If nothing else you will have made your thoughts known and the feedback may generate some other solution.
The money issue, streamers and ballons, unprofessional environment, etc. are separate issues but you may want to start somewhere.
When I travel to our office in the Netherlands, I am astounded by the complete lack of food. Except when it is someone's birthday, then the birthday person brings pastries for their department - only. Usually about a dozen people or less. So once I brought in treats because I had been shopping at a market and thought it would be nice. Every person wished me a happy birthday!
I'm surprised that no one suggested speaking to the supervisor of the overzealous department. If they realized that their celebrations were affecting other areas, they might be willing to tone it down. I definitely agree that certain offices/departments have a food culture and the relationships built around the sandwich platter or slow cooker can be important, especially if you don't work with those people every day. But, moderation IS key. By toning it down, it makes it more special when you do celebrate.
I have yet to see a celebration go too far but I imagine they could. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with celebrations as long as the work is getting done. As far as smells in the office go, there are good ones and bad ones. If someone's baking cookies, woo hoo! If someone's re-heating shrimp, though, EWWW.
Why do you work in an office, anyway?
Curmudgeon is simply a ridiculous choice of words.
Banning popcorn was a major reason for all the network engineers and database administrators to quit and go work for a company that had a more liberal food policy.
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