Author: Nathan Westerberg

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Good morning everyone and welcome back to the Breakroom! I hope you have all had a pretty good week, it has been mildly calm around here on my end. We have certainly had quite a bit of rain this week which has meant it’s been dark and cloudy the majority of the time. That said, I actually do not normally mind rain especially during the work week. I do enjoy having it be a bit darker while I’m at my computer, the rain and thunder can be calming, and I’d prefer having the nicer weather when I can actually enjoy it. My forecast does indicate no rain this weekend (so far) so I might get the motivation to try to get back into walking as we go into summer. When trying to get more fitness in, it really is that lack of motivation so sometimes you just have force yourself to start and then you end up having a good time. But enough about the weekend, we have to get into today’s Breakdown of The Office.

As we found out last week, the Scranton branch was saved at the last moment and it is actually Stamford who is being closed and will be transferring some of their staff over to Pennsylvania. Needless to say, this whole process created a fair bit of excitement. I had touched base with Jim and he said the process was relatively smooth on their end in that they needed to pack up their stuff and have it moved on down to the Scranton office. There were mixed reviews on what people thought but the most excited seemed to be Andy Bernard with sales. He was trying to get the inside details on Michael so he could make a good impression. He sounds like someone I know but I can’t quite place who…

As we are all getting ready for our new colleagues, we get a very rare Pam Prank moment! Pam and Toby were chatting because Toby had completed a marathon (completed, not won) and Dwight was just not impressed. Pam is really supportive, congratulating him because he accomplished something. I think this is an important practice we need to remind ourselves, not everything we attempt is necessarily a win-lose scenario. A marathon is a incredible feat to accomplish, and typically requires a great deal of training in preparing for it. Every week my husband says he is proud of me for keeping up with this blog and even though it is not changing the world and generating money, he sees it as something I have accomplished. And I can assure you that I have plenty of unpainted Warhammer miniatures or unknitted cakes of yarn that show I have a habit of picking up hobbies and not seeing them through. So I hope you remember that while you might not see reading that book you’ve had on yourself for an entire year or taking the time to reorganize your garage as a major accomplishment, I think it is and you should be proud of yourself for finishing something. Not Dwight, he is believer in actual skills and results and believes he is much faster than Toby (landing somewhere between a snake and a mongoose) and Pam capitalizes on this opportunity by saying he needs to prove it. She gets him to agree to doing several laps around the building so she could time him and compare it to Toby’s time. She has no intent on doing this, her timer is actually a thermometer because this is all a ploy to get back at him for always making her life so miserable. Major props to Pam.

Before long, we start to meet our new colleagues from Stamford and I think the transition goes about as expected. We meet Hannah Smoterich-Barr as an accountant, and she is also a new mother. This means she needs to pump occasionally but she is not one to go to a bathroom or find a private room and chooses to do it right at her desk, but is quick to call out anyone who stares. Now, I am a firm believer that you should be able to pump or feed your child without being forced to feel guilty because it truly is a natural phenomenon. That being said, I do not believe I have ever met someone will to pump at their desk without hoping for some sort of privacy. She strikes me as the type who simply likes a bit of attention and to make others feel small or guilty about themselves. All I am saying is there are a number of available rooms at this branch that could be used to offer some private time for to pump, specifically I’m thinking the conference room. Next we had Tony Gardner, a sales man, who seems relatively non-descript but perhaps a bit cautious about the transition. Interestingly, Dwight had this brilliant idea of firing someone on the first day and to make Tony that person. His theory was this allows Michael to maintain a sense of power and authority with everyone. I cannot truly recommend this practice because you would want to terminate someone just for the power trip as this wouldn’t qualify as just cause. We then meet Karen Filippelli, also with sales, who hits it off pretty quickly with Pam. Then she meets Michael his first words, after his alien/robot impression, are was her father a GI with the military because of her exotic looks. And Karen very quickly figured out that everything she has ever heard about Michael was most likely true. Then Jim shows up with Martin Nash, supplier relations, and we can finally catch up with our old coworker! Martin, who happens to be black, is told a slavery joke/reference by Michael and that was probably his moment to reflect on anything he has ever heard about the manager of Scranton. Finally, Andy Bernard (sales) shows up and introduces himself to Dwight and I realized why he sounded so similar. They share this odd need to impress the boss and still maintain a sense of authority and control over everyone else. It is pretty clear by their animosity towards each other that there will be trouble in the future.

What is interesting is that I overheard Andy talking about how his goal is that it will only 6 weeks to establish himself here with a combination of name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake. So what are these tactics he is using, and do they work? The use of name repetition is a pretty common business technique and it is one of several tools you might become familiar with if you have ever studied Dale Carnegie (best known for his work How to Win Friends and Influence People) which it has been many years but I strongly recommend it as a read. I might need to reread this so I can talk more about it, but if you have not read it feel free to purchase one at https://amzn.to/3KAKRSB. These tactics can be valuable in nearly any industry, but the premise of name repetition (use the person’s name multiple times in conversation) has a few purposes. First, it certainly helps you remember their name and in business that can be pretty impressive to remember a person’s name from months previous. Second, it helps to develop an immediate bond with that person because we are so used to only have people we know use our names. And I believe there is something to this, because of how upset people can get when you use the wrong name. At least three times this week people have referred to me as “Nate” and it just rubs me the wrong way because I do not go by this name and people simply start calling me this the first time they talk to me. When a person introduces themselves, use that name to develop that relation. If you are communicating via email, do not assume that they have a nickname. See what name is listed and use that until you are told otherwise. The strategy he is uses is personality mirroring, in which you copy various mannerisms and actions that people use to develop a subtle connection to them. This can include tapping fingers, using the same phrases or words that they use, perhaps a similar style of laughter. This sounds innocent enough, and according to Simply Psychology, individuals with high levels of empathy are more likely to subconsciously begin to mirror people. They go on to explain what while it is common for some people to be prone unconsciously mirroring people (I know I am guilty of this) studies show that narcissists tend to intentionally use this practice as a means of manipulation by winning you over. Now I have only just met Andy, but I am getting a strong sense that he is a bit more manipulative than Dwight and falls under the category of narcissist¹. Unfortunately, he tactics do seem to have an impact on the office and is slowly winning over Michael, Angela, and Kevin.

As people are getting settled, they are working to get their desk settings all set up again. Karen, for instance, was setting up her outgoing voice mail. She was leaning towards something formal, while Jim suggested a fun Italian-themed message. Always a good source, I decided to call upon Indeed to see what their recommendations are and there really are a few options. Most often is you want quite a few details such as your name, company, and perhaps your specific title. Very often in large companies, your number might not be visible or known except to specific people who should. In those cases you are more likely to have a simple mention of just your name and then the rest is automated about leaving a message since the only people calling your number will already know your title and company. When in doubt, I’m a big fan of a variation of “You have reached Nathan with Dunder Mifflin. I am sorry I missed your call, but please leave your name, number, and a brief message and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you.” It mentions your name and company, asks for the information that you need, and then a courteous message thanking them².

Once everyone is settled in, Michael officially starts his personalized orientation process. He has crafted this tasty breakfast which includes salmon and sparkling wine. Only for the transfers, of course, so he is quick to turn the rest of us away. In honor of this he created a video entitled “Lazy Scranton” which is his orientation video to introduce them to the area. This was very similar to his old video, “The Scranton Witch Project” which was a bit more focused on what to do around the office. I am not sure how many companies do orientation videos anymore, the last time I saw one before this was when I was 16 and joining McDonald’s. This is one time I will say Michael was smart in creating a fun and quirky orientation video because I believe that it can make the transition fun. That being said, my current company also provides an orientation packet where it reiterates the important details as physical documents so that way it is easier to peruse later. He later tries to create this inspiring moment of having the Stamford staff sit on top of a table to show that we are not better than them. Karen points out that perhaps we should all be considered equal but I suppose he has his own methodology to this. There are problems when Tony is unable to get on top of the table (including with Michael and Dwight trying to hoist him up) he sort of decides to call it quits. Turns out he was hesitant about the transfer, doesn’t find Michael funny or or his type of leader, but it was when he calls Toby helpful that Michael says he refuses his resignation and fires him.

This serves as a huge blow to morale and Michael is desperate to bring the two groups together. He decides to use the old adage of nothing brings people closer together than a shared enemy. His master plan is to let the air out of tires for all of their vehicles, and leave a note claiming it was done by Vance Refrigeration. Now, we are not stupid so it really does not take that long for us to realize that it was Michael who did this whole thing. In the end, it does sort of work. Bob Vance agrees to fill our tires up with a pump so we can get home and we all bond over the fact that Michael has a talent for doing this sort of thing. Out of a rocky start of blending two established offices, I think we started to find common ground and will have a strong future. Still, not great that Michael had to fire someone on the first day (who oddly enough was Dwight’s original recommendation).

And that, everyone, was a breakdown of the merger at the office! I think the biggest thing we learned is the fact there is a true science behind winning people over and influencing them. This can be done as easily as using name repetition and personality mirroring. But be wary of others who might use these tactics, as there is always that risk of being manipulated. With that, I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and a great weekend! One week closer to the official start of summer, so let us keeping counting that down!

Feel free, as always, to subscribe to this blog and leave a comment down below to this blog on what you think or to give your own experience on these topics. I am always looking for topics as I try to do more of my Coffee Breaks, so feel free to mention possible topics. Until next time, I’ll see you around the breakroom!

1. Drescher, A. (2024, January 23). What Is Mirroring And How Do Narcissists Use It To Manipulate Their Victims? Simply Psychology. Retrieved June 6, 2024, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/narcissistic-mirroring.html ↩︎
2. Northup, G. (2023, March 13). 26 Best Professional Voicemail Greetings To Use (With Tips). Indeed. Retrieved June 6, 2024, from https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/professional-voicemail-greeting ↩︎

Good morning everyone and welcome back to the Breakroom. I hope everyone has had a great week, perhaps the biggest disappointment this week is we got very spoiled with a sunny and warm Sunday and we have since had a cool, rainy week since then. I’m very much ready to head into that warmer weather to try to get back into walking more and just be a bit more active. That being said, I did try a couple new recipes this week so I can officially include them in my rotation, especially when I’m looking to impress. I first did some homemade potstickers (filling and wrap all from scratch) which turned out pretty amazing. Perhaps I could’ve rolled the dough out thinner, but were still tasty. Then I made my own gnocchi and those also turned out pretty amazing. Perhaps a little big and not nearly as pretty since I was using a fork to shape them, but were very tasty. So I am recommending everyone mix things up every once in awhile with a new recipe. Gnocchi was actually shockingly easy (just mashed potatoes, flour, and eggs) and can really be customized with the sauces that you use with them. Now that I’m officially hungry, why don’t I tell you what has been happening around the office so I can then grab a snack!

So nothing too crazy actually happened at the office, instead it all happened elsewhere. Intrigue! So Kelly Kapoor, our Customer Services Representative, has invited the entire office to come to the local Diwali celebration being put on at the high school. This brings up a very good question, what is Diwali? Now, Kelly seemed it a bit unclear on the precise details for the holiday aside from “it’s awesome.” And if you were to ask Michael, he would sum it up as “essentially, a Hindu Halloween.”

Diwali is known as the “festival of lights” and is actually one of the most important holidays celebrated in India, though it is celebrated around the world and is recognized by several different faiths beyond just Hinduism. In the Hindu faith, the focus of Diwali can be found in the epic, the Ramayana. During the exile of Prince Rama and his wife Sita, Sita is captured by the demon king, Ravana. Rama is ultimately able to defeat him and rescue is wife, with Diwali marking the return of Rama and Sita to their kingdom from their exile. There are other origin stories, depending on the respective faith, but the primary theme of Diwali focuses on light overcoming darkness, good defeating evil. This typically falls between October and November (hence why Michael associated it with Halloween) and for 2024 it will be celebrated on November 1¹.

Not only is it so great that Kelly invited the entire office, but it is so refreshing that Michael got really into doing everything possible to ensure we were thoroughly excited about going. While not every company necessarily needs to go to the extent that Michael did, it is important for companies to celebrate the diversity of their employees. The United States, it can be very easy for employees to be seen as simply another cog in the machine, and therefore they blend in with everyone else. Sure, often times many of the employees fit a very specific mold (heterosexual, cisgender, white) so those who do not fit the mold tend to get forgotten. Such as come the holiday season, there are a number of holidays besides just Christmas that happen and it is okay to take that time to acknowledge that not everyone celebrates the same holidays. These can extend to other celebratory events like Pride Month or Juneteenth; it is a blessing that people have different backgrounds and truly should be celebrated. Before this, while I had heard of Diwali I certainly did not know the story behind it. I also didn’t realize that there are several faiths that celebrate it (such as Buddhists or Sikhs) who have their own variation upon the origin story. While being careful not to treat our colleagues like token hires, it is okay to show some interest when they want to share their culture. The keyword is let them share their culture, we white people do have a habit of trying to help teach other white people about other cultures. Case in point, Michael wanted to teach us all about Indian culture by providing various pictures of Hindu gods, showing us slides of famous Indian people (both fictional and non-fictional), and then proceeded to provide us copies of the Kama Sutra. If you would like to create a presentation like this, it is wiser to have it crafted and presented by an actual representative of the culture so you do not end up trying to mansplain someone else’s culture.

Once we actually got to the school, we were able to see Diwali in full swing. There were decorations and music playing to set the mood, and plenty of lights which were in theme with the holiday. Nearly everyone was dressed in traditional attire, so that would be men in kurta’s and women in saris. There was also an impressive spread of food, all authentic Indian food, of course. I’m personally a big fan of Indian cuisine but it seems Michael was incredibly disappointed. He was eating a samosa but only because he thought they said it was a smore, so then he was confused why they couldn’t have just done served smores. I will point out how he was first very excited to celebrate Diwali to experience their culture but evidently this doesn’t extend to food. That being said, Angela was also very hesitant about it since she didn’t seem to believe them when they said it was all vegetarian. Checking online there are many different sources but there is a range varying from 20 to 40% of how much of India identifies as vegetarian. Regardless, this is a pretty impressive percentage of the population.

Food aside, it was pretty fun getting to hear about some of the interactions going on at the event. With Kelly and Ryan having been dating for awhile, her family made a point to stop and talk to him. Kelly’s sisters were teasing him because he looks like Zach Braff, while her parents were pretty obviously trying to figure out his intentions with their daughter. And then Michael made his way over to talk to them, and it seemed to get pretty serious and I think they truly inspired Michael. So much so, that shortly after that he found his way on stage and professed his love for Carol (whom accompanied him as his date, and was wearing a cheerleader outfit, for some reason) and ultimately proposed to her. This didn’t really end well, however, because she quickly pulled him away and they stepped out of the room and didn’t return. Not to be unromantic but I am a firm opponent of public proposals for exactly these sorts of situations. What if they are not there yet? Additionally, many of us just do not want to be included with your special moment, so please just keep these situations for just the two of you. The rest of the evening sort of wrapped up from there but as far as my first Diwali celebration could go, I was quite impressed.

And that was today’s breakdown! So what could we walk with remembering today? Celebrate diversity in the workplace, we are all different and it is okay and beneficial to take the time to recognize that. Second, do not propose to people in public locations especially when you have only been on less than a dozen dates. It really is not that romantic, and I find it like you are trying to make the whole situation about yourself when there are plenty of people around you who really do not care. Be diverse and do not be obnoxious, these are truly words to live by.

I’m hoping for some warm weather this weekend, and in the mean time why doesn’t everyone please include a comment below on your own suggestions for how can an office or company celebrate their diversity without coming off as white people trying to mansplain diversity or “brag” about having people of color. Until next time, I’ll be sure to see you around the Breakroom!

1. Kaur, H. (2023, November 11). What to know about Diwali, the Festival of Lights. CNN Travel. Retrieved May 16, 2024, from https://www.cnn.com/travel/diwali-festival-of-lights-explained-cec/index.html32 ↩︎

Good morning everyone, it’s great to see you all at the Breakroom! This time around it has certainly been one of those sorts of weeks with a lot of ups and downs. It was husband’s birthday so I crafted two separate cakes for him, plus I treated us to getting our ears pierced so that was some of the highs. At the same time, we have been dealing with the fact that our neighbors now seem to have two pickup trucks taking up the street parking so that has been fun. In terms of work, I think I do need to stress to everyone when it comes to timecards and taxes, these are your responsibility. If there is a mistake on your timecard, your tax elections have not been producing taxes, or you forgot to update your direct deposit these are all your fault so you do need to accept the fact that you will need to wait until the next paycheck to see a correction. It feels like we often coddle employees too much in the HR world and employees need to accept their share of the responsibility. Just my weekly rant, for my prompt of the day why don’t you please comment below (you will need to open up the individual post rather than viewing from the Home Page) and share your vent of the week. While I do not believe in people being negative and tearing people down, I do think that it is healthy to get certain struggles off our chests sometime, so let this be your chance! While you think of your biggest headache of the week, lets get down to today’s Breakdown.

Well the day started off with Jan having a meeting with Michael first thing in morning. I understand that she is his boss, but it does seem like she has been coming around a lot more often for. I’m wondering if this has to do with the possible downsizing that we’ve been worrying about (which most people seem to have forgotten about). You know it’s serious because afterwards she actually tasked Pam with keeping a daily log of all of Michael’s actions. I know she has had frustrations with him before, but this really is taking it a to a whole other level to task her with logging everything he does each hour. I also do not understand how she can rationale having an employee do this on their leader, so this is very much a new extreme. Michael does start his morning off strong by having a big sales call for a potential new customer. That being said, he did spend the majority of the call doing his Cosby impression so maybe he was partially productive.

While that is going on at the office, Ryan and Dwight actually went out on a joint sales call. While Dwight might be the Assist (to the) Regional Manager and the best salesman in Dunder Mifflin, he is still a very odd individual and not someone Ryan would normally want to go with. Ryan explained that since he is no longer just a temp, he really needs to decide if he is going commit to the company or he might as well leave. He is choosing to commit to his job as a salesman, and he figures the best way to learn is from the top salesman. Speaking to them afterwards, it truly went exactly as I had expected. Rather than going straight to the call, Dwight brought Ryan over to Schrute Farms where he decided to give him a formal sales initiation. Ryan called it hazing, but perhaps a little of Column A, a little of Column B. While his methods might be odd, he makes some pretty great points. Instead of a lot of research and deep dives, lets instead look at some advice from Dwight Schrute.

You know what your problem is? You know why you haven’t made any sales? Cause you think you know everything. You have to trust that maybe there are other people that can teach you things. Are you ready to learn? Are you ready for the final test?

All too often, we find ourselves believing that we are fully equipped and informed to do something. Sure, there are those times that we really are and we do not need assistance with the topic at hand. But we must learn to recognize when we are struggling an admit that we need help. Sometimes it isn’t even about not knowing something, but rather that someone can still pass along their own information on the subject. Ryan is going to business school and he has read the general theories about business and sales, but he doesn’t have the practical experience behind it. While Dwight didn’t go to school, he has been in the industry and longtime and through trial and error and has perfected his sales technique. In this instance, Ryan should recognize that he came to Dwight for a reason and attempt to learn from his unusual strategies.

Establish time frames. Keep the phrase “real dollars” in their head. And always keep the power in the conversation. That’s why you’re losing them on the cold calls. Cause you say the word please too much.  Michael always said, K.I.S.S. Keep it simple, stupid. Great advice, hurts my feelings every time.

Here we have Dwight giving specific information regarding sales. While every sale is different, there are certain strategies which are pretty universal. Customers do not like to deal with estimations, they want to have a clear idea of the timing for their purchases, as well as actual dollar amounts. These help act as promises and guarantees, which will more likely result in a sale because it offers a reason for a customer to trust the produce. Dwight then explains one of Ryan’s weaknesses and that is he not confident in himself and most likely comes off more pleading than eager. There is truth to the fact that we are quicker to trust someone who is confident in themselves because it implies they have confidence in the product. If the salesman is nervous and weak, is it because they do not trust their product? Finally, at the end of the day you always remember KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). If a product is good enough, then the sales pitch really doesn’t need to be that complicated. At the end of the day we care about price, quality, a bit of variety, and ultimately we want to know why this one is better than all others. He is the top salesman in the company, he knows how to sell.

Not everything’s a lesson, Ryan. Sometimes you just fail.

In the end, they make it to the sale and in spite of all the prep Ryan isn’t able to make the sale. Not just that, they told him to his face they didn’t care for him and Dwight gives us some important advice. When we fail, we are compelled to dissect the situation and find out where we went wrong. It is true, that sometimes it is our fault and it can be helpful to figure out how we can do better. But sometimes, we really just fail and there wasn’t anything we could do differently. Perhaps you interviewed for a job and you thought you did so well, and then you don’t get the job offer. Maybe you really did interview well; unfortunately, someone else just happened to have interviewed better with more experience. In these instances, it is so crucial to not let that failure bring us down to the point that we give up. We just have to try that much harder until we succeed.

If you thought a joint sales call with Ryan an Dwight was exciting, you have obviously never experienced the Scranton Business Park on Pretzel Day. That is right, today is the annual day where they bring in a warm pretzel bar where everyone is entitled to one free pretzel with the fixings (they offer both sweet and savory). While everyone gets a tad bit excited, this is the day that Stanley truly comes alive because he straight up looks forward to this day all yearlong. Interestingly enough, Michael also seems to take pretzels as seriously as Stanley does so they are buddies in this. Pam does her best to try to get him to be more productive than just waiting in line for a snack. While that didn’t do the trick, his sugar rush from his sweet pretzel with the works certainly did. He was prepared to revamp the office, closed that big sale from earlier, and ultimately passed out at his desk. But he did close that big sale, and I feel that does help show that while Michael is not without his faults, he does have his strong points.

And that is what happened at the office, perhaps not crazy exciting but I feel like we still got to learn a few things. I hope you all remember those words of wisdom from Dwight and will use them in living your life. Whether it is remembering to not be afraid to accept help, or that sometimes you can do nothing wrong and still fail, life can be tricky and some of us have to work hard to succeed. That being said, it is also important to take time to yourself and I hope you all find some rest and relaxation this weekend. And do not forget that it does happen to be Mother’s Day on Sunday, so I will be planning out a brunch that we’ll be hosting for my mom and family.

With that, I’ll be sure to see you all around the Breakroom!