One of the biggest things in cubicle culture is the inherent obsession with keeping track of people and when they come into the office, ie who comes in late,who leaves the office early, who works long hours etc.. The parking post started this topic in my mind and I will elaborate on it as it relates to non-parking, but your late arrival to the office. Maybe my knowledge of this subject stems from the fact that towards the end of my corporate America cubicle serviceĀ I was more late then on time and I developed some handy skills.
So, here it is laid out for you on what to do and what to look for in the way of the fake out on time arrival from your peers. When you are on time to the office, always keep your jacket on if you have it and always carry whatever else you have in your bag. Take the same route to your cubicle every day. This gets people used to your “normal” behavior when you are on time.
Now, when you are late to the office, take off your jacket when you get inside the front door, take a notebook out of your briefcase or some papers and hold them under your arm or in the same manner you do when you come out of a meeting and take a different route to your cubicle. Usually aisles along the window sides of the floor are good routes, generally these aisles are used for daily work traffic vs. arrivals. If you take an elevator up to your floor there will usually be two doors on each side to get into one side or the other of the floor, take the opposite door you usually do and walk around. When you get to your cube, sit down quickly and look as if you have to finish up some things as if you just got out of a meeting.
Do this and your cube mates will not suspect a thing. If they ask, tell them you had an “early” meeting. Generally they will leave it at that. On the same token, be on the lookout for this fakeout and ask follow up questions as to who the person met with, it will turn on the heat.
Enjoy the weekend