Category: Uncategorized

Good morning and happy Friday to everyone as we congregate back in the breakroom. What started as a relatively standard week is ending on some big happenings here in the office. Michael is currently meeting with his boss, Jan, as they prepare for a joint sales pitch to bring in what would become our biggest client! Rather than skimming over the details, let us go right into all, shot by shot!

While they’re busy prepping, the rest of us are going about our business except for poor Ryan. Keeping up with typical temp duties, he was sent out to pick up Michael’s clothes from the dry cleaner; the important piece was his lucky tie. Like I said, this is a pretty big account so Michael isn’t pulling any punches. Additionally, it seems Michael had also had his pair of Levis jeans dry cleaned; cannot say I know many people who dry clean their jeans. Pam didn’t seem too surprised, evidently these are Michael’s favorite pair of jeans. So much so, she is pretty sure that the entire intent of him implementing Casual Friday was to give him more opportunities to wear them.

While not every company recognizes Casual Friday, many of them do and can often be a fun concept for workplaces. For a deep dive into the concept, I went to the Workspace Group who has a breakdown on the history of this concept. It seems to have originated in Hawaii during the 1940s when locations began to introduce the option of wearing Aloha shirts as part of the year, ultimately becoming Aloha Fridays. As clothing manufacturing began to be outsourced internationally, the cost of casual clothing was significantly reduced which prompted a push for the concept of Casual Fridays into the United States during the 1970s. This hit the greatest stride during the 1990s and 2000s during the dot-com boom with new companies trying different innovations to improve upon the American workplace. From there, the concept has explained internationally and is still recognized by many locations today. There numerous benefits with the biggest being employee morale by offering the chance to have at least one day where they can dress comfortably, and bring some added self-expression into the office which can have an effect improved productivity. But there are some negatives to it, the biggest being that some companies find the casual clothing as “not professional” and could be detrimental to the company’s image. This is especially true if employees are too lax with the guidelines and become too casual. At the end of the day it is up to the company to decide if they wish to implement this, or a variation often referred to “dress for your day.” Since not every office or employee has meetings or sees customers every day, there is often some flexibility in how they can dress¹. Regardless, if you are looking for ideas on how to boost morale you might consider reviewing the company’s dress code and see if there is a possibility for flexibility. Of course, if you let your casual clothes disrupt your work you might have them taken away by Pam.

As I mentioned, Michael and Jan are spending time preparing for their big sales pitch to bring in one of the largest clients this branch has ever seen, Lackawanna County. That’s right, the entire county is up for grabs which includes thirteen schools and two hospitals all using our paper. Now, as they are prepping we really start to see that different preparation strategies that these two use. Jan has come prepared with charts and statistics that she is going over so she understands the specific needs; Michael seems less than enthused to be going over all of this and seems fully confident he could go right in. Well, he did actually done thing to prepare for the interview and that was changing the location. Jan had lined it up to be at the local Radisson, but Michael had it changed over to Chili’s. In his words, “Chili’s is the new golf course” because that is where business happens.

It is not a new concept to meet with individuals outside of the office to discuss meetings and close business deals, but what are the best places to do so? Restaurants are often a staple because it’s easy to schedule since you’d normally be doing these at lunch or dinner. Additionally, by including food into the meeting can help ease any tension or awkwardness as you ease into the discussions. Traditionally, these meetings would be done at a nicer restaurant to set that professional tone that Jan was trying to incorporate at the Radisson. Besides wanting to ensure there is good service and food, these restaurants are traditionally quieter and therefore easier to conduct a meeting at. Michael’s take is the opposite in that he wants to double down on breaking down the tension and focus on building a rapport first, with the sale being his secondary focus. Aside from sit-down restaurants, what are some other good locations to meet at? I went to Inc.com and found several other options if you’d prefer something besides a restaurant. A coffee shop is another common location, this could be seen as a step away from the eatery but there is the option for coffee or another beverage. Just my personal opinion, while some might be nervous with holding onto a beverage I do find it nice to have a “prop” to keep my hands busy or perhaps take a sip of to keep myself from letting my mouth run. Museums and libraries were also mentioned; not every city will have a suitable location but as these are public venues and landmarks they can make excellent neutral locations. I would advise taking the time to scope them out if you haven’t been before to ensure there is a location there where a meeting could be held. And finally, there is a co-working space; larger cities are more likely to have these locations which are a great alternative to hotel meeting rooms where you can take on a room for an hour or so for personal use to conduct a meeting². While a restaurant might be classic, it never hurts to mix it up and cater your location to the individual you are meeting with.

Now while Jan and Michael are preparing for this huge sale, about half the staff are currently in back on break. Evidently, the topic came up on worst first dates; I guess Oscar once had a girl come with a print out of his dating bio and wanted to go through each line. Although, Pam was pretty quick to beat this when she had a date where the guy brought his brother along to a hockey game, and then left at the end while she was in the bathroom. Certainly bad, although not so bad as to not be willing to continue to date him since this was his fiancé, Roy. I know everyone is entitled to correct a bad first impression but I have to admit, that is a pretty bad one.

With that, Michael and Jan are off to their meeting! Michael was actually going to let us all go but Jan cut him off so unfortunately we are stuck here. Again, there seems to be a misunderstanding to their tactics; Michael is thinking this will take all night but Jan is confident it should take no more than an hour. Even further, Michael loves to have a safe word in place in case the other needs to be quiet to which Jan again is not up for. But they ultimately get to the restaurant and prepare to implement their game plan, although not before Michael panics when he discovers Jan recently got divorced and never said a word. Ever the rock, Jan sails right over this and goes into sales mode with the representative from the county, Christian. It’s pretty obvious his task is to reduce costs so he is pretty hesitant to agree to big terms, and this doesn’t bode too well for what Michael has in mind. But we start to see Michael’s tactics at work; first thing he does is cut him off and order an Awesome Blossom from the server and then tantalize him with a joke. One joke only, so this is when he loops in Pam to look through his joke books to give him a good one.

Today is really a productive office day because while Pam was looking up jokes for Michael she stumbled across his copy of “Threat Level Midnight.” While we should not be surprised by this, Michael has been writing a screenplay of an action movie staring Agent Michael Scarn of the FBI. With the boss away, Jim and Pam thought it’d be fun for us all to read through the screenplay together so we could see just how good it is! Unfortunately, it is not the greatest and actually seems to be a mix of varying ideas and names from other action movies (Samuel L. Chang, anyone?). It was still a lot of fun, but Dwight’s opinion was soured when we caught a typo in the script that leads us to believe Michael originally named his fool of an assistant, Dwight. With the screenplay over, Dwight broke out some fancy fireworks to end the evening on a high. Jim and Pam disappeared someplace because I didn’t see them outside but Dwight and Kevin were having a great time running through the sparks.

There is often questions of how Michael got to be where he is, as he is not seen as the most conventional manager. His biggest perk is that he was an incredibly talent salesman, having brought in some big clients and he does very well with closing these deals, and his talents were on full display tonight. First, he was very quick to cut off any and all business talk and evening going to lengths with some pretty crazy noises to cut Jan off. Next, he kept the food and drinks coming all night to get Christian in just the right mood. I think it’s safe to say that most of us would be pretty pliable following margaritas and baby back ribs. Then there were the jokes from his books, playing around with his tie, and evening going into a rallying rendition of the Chili’s rib song. Post ribs, we are entering some pretty personal conversation about divorce and past pain to really open up with one another. Finally, Michael talks about he grew up in the county and knows the pressure the schools and hospitals are under and is able to close that deal. Michael might not be the most orthodox person but he does seem to know his clients because it’s almost like he had his own game plan the entire time, which got us that huge sale!

For those going into the sales field, it is important know that there is often much more to the sale than you’d realize. While storefronts or restaurants have it easy where costumers literally walk through the door to spend money, companies like Dunder Mifflin need to seek out clients to keep as long-term customers. This means it is important to understand different sales techniques and tactics to the close the deal successfully. Many companies will offer seminars or training, but it would be beneficial to educate yourself and even practice these techniques. I went to Indeed and found an entire article on some of the best tactics to use. Included are offering a choice, such as a one or other option rather than just one option; build rapport, much like Michael did customers are more likely to buy from you if there is a connection; and focus on their goals, get them to see how the purchase would be beneficial to them³. At the end of the day, perhaps the biggest technique is learning to be a people person. Much like Michael you need to be able to anticipate what sort of customer you are dealing with, plan ahead with your techniques, and map out your conversation.

With that sale made, I guess Michael and Jan must have gone out to celebrate because Jan never came back for her car until early in the morning. I assumed that the night simply got late and she decided to stay at a hotel rather than drive back to New York so late, but then I talked to Michael and it sounds like they got together last night. Now if that is true, I really am not sure who made the biggest mistake: Michael making a move on his boss, or Jan making a move on someone with as big of a mouth as Michael. More to come because I do not think the office will let up on a piece of gossip like this any time soon.

And with that, the office is abuzz and we are ready for the weekend. I do not know about you but I’m pretty sure I’ll be chatting about Jan and Michael right up until the end of the day. But I hope everyone was still able to learn a little something; whether that be a brief history of Casual Fridays, or a bit of insight closing a sales deal. Until next week, I’ll see you around the breakroom.

Does anyone here have any favorite locations for business meetings? Feel free to leave a comment with possible ideas for us!

Good morning and welcome back to the breakroom! I have been out of the commission the last two weeks so I am excited to be back at the office, and breaking down everything that is happening amongst our dedicated colleagues. What I have thought about during these last couple of weeks can be summed up in two philosophies: prioritize your life to recognize what you need to focus on, and when you recognize the goals you should find that willingness to fight to achieve them. I look forward to coming back to this work with true dedication so that I can achieve what I want and look forward the future in what I can accomplish. I hope someone out there can walk away feeling inspired, but to also feel entertained so with that let us jump into today’s happenings!

Today started off truly as routine as any other day in that Dwight discovers Jim pulled yet another prank on him. His entire desk has disappeared with no sign of where it went; Jim is reluctant to allow this prank to end so quickly until he threatens to go to Michael. At this, Jim plays a rousing game of “hotter-colder” until Dwight finally locates his desk relocated in the men’s bathroom. Jim might find a lot of his jokes to be funny but with this I really have to side with Dwight’s declaration that it is “totally unprofessional.” Those first moments of the day are often the most calming of the work day as you mentally prepare yourself to tackle that day’s challenges, and now he has to spend his morning moving his entire desk back to his spot. I’m sorry Jim, but I think you really need to start to rethink your pranks and how they really can just ruin someone’s entire day.

But this doesn’t get Dwight and he continues on with his day as usual, although he does make an unusual phone call to his sensei, referring to himself as sempai. For some clarification, a sensei is used to represent a teacher of various fields with those of us here in the United States most commonly associating that with martial arts. A sempai is an honorific meant to designate an individual with great experience, such as a martial arts student who has trained for numerous years. I think Dwight doesn’t seem to understand this since I would not consider that an a “assistant sensei.” Although, perhaps Dwight’s ego was still bruised from the desk incident and wanted to just shove this recognition in Jim’s face. I think this was my first time hearing that Dwight was a practitioner of Goju-Ryu karate in Scranton.

Goju-Ryu is a specific branch of the field of karate and is perhaps one we are most aware of here out West. While one might be thinking Dwight is odd for being interested in martial arts, the industry has continued to grow over the years per some statistics from GymDesk. From 2012 to 2021 the number of martial arts business has grown at an average of 18.7%, with an estimated 2.34 million people having participated in martial arts for fitness in 2021. In terms of profitability, the six most profitable disciplines moving down are: MMA, boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, karate, taekwondo, and kung fu. While the largest age group participating in martial arts is 7-12 year olds (accounting for 26% of memberships) the second largest is 25-34 year olds (accounting for 21%). Based on these statistics I think it is fair to say that while Dwight is unfortunate enough to be close to a gym with adult classes, he would not be considered odd for being so interested in the martial arts¹.

Now the real news is that unfortunately today marks what Pam has affectionately called, “the perfect storm.” Michael is responsible to sign timecards each Friday, purchase orders must be done at the end of each month, and then expense reports must be done at the end of each quarter. Unfortunately, once a year these all fall on the same day and Michael will go to extreme lengths to procrastinate these (literally it is just signatures and initials) which means we’re usually stuck late since these must be done.

Procrastination in the work place is nothing new; we all either know someone who routinely procrastinates or we are that person. So what is the story behind procrastination, does it mean we are simply lazy? There are a number of reason behind people might procrastinate doing specific tasks. One of the most common is the sure fact that an individual does not believe they will enjoy the task and will simply put it off as long as possible due to not wanting to feel that level of unhappiness. There are also those who are considered such perfectionists, that they will put off tasks out of the fact they are afraid of not being able to complete the task the way they would want to; this goes with the mindset that you cannot fail what you do not do. Per a study in Psychological Science, this leads to the believe that procrastination is “the quintessential breakdown of self-control.” This study tries to breakdown the psychology behind procrastination and while I feel there are many good points in the study, I believe it simply brings up the point that procrastinators vary behind their rationale². For instance, I am absolutely a procrastinator and I can say I do a combination of some tasks are simply unenjoyable and I put them off; other times I want to complete a task so perfectly I am hesitant to begin in. I can attest that through college I would routinely be writing my papers all in one day, the day before they are formally do. I do question if perhaps I subconsciously was choosing to do this because I enjoyed that rush of adrenaline in attempting to finish a task right up until the moment it is due. While I have been able to find a means to thrive off procrastination, I think we can all agree that learning to manage our tasks in a more timely manner would result in far less nights working until midnight on a project we have known about for awhile. As for Michael, I feel pretty confident that Michael simply finds no thrill in having to sign so many documents and this is why he simply puts it off until the very end.

Michael truly goes above and beyond in an attempt to not have to sign any of these, even sending out Ryan on a “secret mission” to update emergency contact. I am glad he did not ask me because I am not quite sure why this is a priority, or truly anything that needs to be done. Traditionally, employees would be responsible to provide their emergency contact information at hire and would then need to update this information (either with Human Resources or their self-service portal). Because of how absurd it is that someone is being tasked to do this, I suspect this is simply a means for Michael to avoid finishing his work. All he needs to do is sign the forms, and he was even caught avoiding work by practicing his signature a piece of scratch paper. Then he heard all about Dwight’s accomplishment and jumped at the opportunity for another distraction, though he claims it is part of being a manager to exert his dominance., According to him, “The problem with being a boss, when you are tough they resent you, when you are cool they walk all over you. Catch 22.” Essentially, it is very important to be able to remind your staff that you can beat them up given the opportunity. And we are getting that opportunity because after some prodding from Jim and Pam, Michael and Dwight are going to be battling for supremacy Dwight’s dojo. The Albany branch is actually working straight through lunch to ensure there is no downsizing, yet we are getting an extra long lunch so we can all go see this fight. There truly is nothing like Scranton.

Needless to say, the fight between Dwight and Michael went about as expected. Dwight started off strong because he understood the rules in the skirmish, and then Michael disregarded these rules and completely humiliated him. At least, I would consider being pinned down and spit upon as humiliated but perhaps I am alone in that opinion. And this really didn’t seem to resolve anything because Dwight and Michael were even worse off than before the fight; goes to show you that fighting truly doesn’t solve anything.

Well we all got sick of waiting for Michael to sign the paperwork so a bunch of simply got together and signed the forms ourselves, in total disregard of the legality behind it. Honestly, we should just start doing this going forward because it would save a whole lot of time in the long run. I’m all for procrastination, but I at least pick my battles since I would never want to stay hours late simply because I didn’t feel like doing work earlier. And with that our day was over and Michael and Dwight were left to lick their wounds in separate corners; or so we thought. I went back and overheard them talking and I guess they were able to mend their relationship, with a promotion no less! That’s right, I am the only one who now knows that Dwight is officially the Assistant Manager. It comes with no pay raise or office, title change only, which will be left off the books as part of a three month probationary period. Not what I would accept but it seems Dwight was more than okay accepting this offer.

This day is late but at least it’s officially over! So what did we learn from this day in the office? Martial arts is a broad term overseeing several disciplines and only continues to grow in popularity; so I would recommend it if you are looking for a new fitness routine, and you just might run into Dwight. We also learned a bit about procrastination; we all do it but perhaps we should focus less on simply breaking the cycle, and start with asking ourselves why we procrastinate on things we do. Personally, I am going to try to be more proactive with my duties this next week. Until then, I look forward to seeing you all around the breakroom!

Anyone have some tips on how they cope with their own procrastination? Why not include it down in the comments sections to help your breakroom colleagues out so we can all do a bit better!

Good morning and welcome back to the breakroom and another exciting day here at the office. I hope that besides having a great week, you all saw the memo in which you are allowed to come to work today in a (work appropriate) costume in honor of Halloween! So grab some candy and lets breakdown all that happened everything that happened on this particularly spooky work day.

As I mentioned, it is officially Halloween and Dunder Mifflin is all in favor of allowing employees to dress up in costume! Now this is certainly not the case everywhere and is up the company on if they allow dressing up. Those in office settings like Dunder Mifflin are more likely to allow that chance to dress up, but then settings like a hospital will have pretty strict uniform rules in place (for obvious reason) which means they do not get to dress up. So what should you do if you are interested in dressing up for Halloween? Well, Carmen Reinicke shared four things to consider in preparation for dressing up through CNBC. First, make sure that your office allows you to dress up; second, make sure you have a work-appropriate costume; third, ensure you will be comfortable the whole work day; and fourth, get creative. Follow these and should be safe with your Halloween costume¹. Now, I feel like the phrase “work-appropriate” is pretty self-explanatory and most employees can police themselves. But for those you need to hear it, the biggest rules would be nothing outrageously gory, overtly sexual, or anything that could be seen as insensitive. This doesn’t always pertain to cultural references, a good example would be you should refrain from dressing up as someone from work to do an impression of them as most people will grow tired of this pretty fast. For those in need, Goldie Chan with Forbes created a quick list of costume ideas okay for work, including: a ghost, a character from Sailor Moon, or even a dinosaur². Always use common sense if you are going to be dressing up to head into the office, but remember that it is quite possible to be work-appropriate while still being creative.

We got plenty of people dressing up today, with our costumes being:
Michael – Two-headed Michael
Pam – Cat
Phyllis – Cat
Angela – Cat
Creed – Vampire
Devon – Hobo
Jim – Three hole punch Jim
Meredith – Zombie
Dwight – Sith lord
Oscar – Dressed in drag
Kevin – Dunder Mifflin Super Hero
Kelly – Dorothy of Wizard of Oz

We have a wide array of costumes along with varying degrees of effort and money put into them Ranging from Jim’s use of three paper circles to Dwight who spent $129.00 on his over to Michael who actually sent away for his head via catalog (what is this catalog?) over the summer. This brings up the question of how much should we spend on our costumes for Halloween? Capital One offers a full breakdown, where for 2023 the average American spends $108.24 on Halloween (this includes candy, costume, and decor). Breaking down further, they estimate that of this the costume reflects $36.84³. Technically, the cost of costumes can vary widely because just as we see through the office, each individual’s ideas can run the gambit of cost. This goes even further based on are you purchasing the costume as is, or do you plan on making it from fabrics/pieces. I think it’s best to simply advise to stick to what you can afford, and ideally if you are going to spend more it’s best that it’s something that can be reused and held onto.

Now what I found interesting was Michael hasn’t seemed to be in his usual mood, he is always pretty excitable and looking to do an impression so Halloween should be one of his favorite days of the year. The rumor around the water cooler is someone is going to need to be let go by the of the day. Evidently he included Pam in on this information and when she asked why he wanted for today, the said it was “very scary stuff” so naturally it should be saved for Halloween. I feel like he should have kept this news to himself until he had formally completed the layoff, otherwise people will be worried it is them, but I don’t quite think he has made up his mind on who it is. Besides talking to Pam he also was talking with Dwight trying to get an opinion on who it could be, asked Accounting to try to find money hidden in the books equal to someone’s salary, and even was practicing the the act with Jim. Michael is certainly not someone who likes to disappoint people and have to present bad news, but layoffs are always very difficult since this isn’t tied to someone needing to be fired due to being poor at their job. It truly is about letting someone go to save on some money, and this of course results in the fact that there will be work without the ability to rehire them. I think we all know that every office has those departments where there truly is more people than work, I always had a feeling that having three employees in Accounting was an situation. They simply represent this branch and there is still an Accounting department at the corporate office which represents the larger aspects. But that is just my opinion, of course, it’s not like I’m about to tell Michael on who he should consider letting go.

While this was all going on, Jim and Pam were working together on an interesting prank to mess with Dwight. It seems they created a fake resume for him and have uploaded it in several places on the internet so he can be hired away and leave Dunder Mifflin. While funny, I just feel like this wasn’t fully thought out and if you were truly trying to set someone up to leave you need to keep them included somehow. Dwight is certainly an interesting character and they should have seen it coming that he could come on a tad strong and scare away this job offer. But major props to Pam that she was able to put together a resume which resulted in someone reaching out the day of. I do not know why Dwight thought that he could use this job offer to leverage a raise on a day that he fully is aware a position is going to be laid off today, but kudos to him for the moxie.

According to the Amy Gallo with the Harvard Business Review, this is a tried-and-true tactic. While many employees might ask their employer for a raise, coming in with a legitimate job offer does provide them a big of leverage in the negotiations. Not only does this provide confidence to the employee asking for the raise, they are also able to provide concrete information on what the industry average is to their position. Additionally, it does put the company into the deciding position on whether they want to keep you or would they rather attempt to find someone new. There are certainly risks to this tact; as we see with Dwight, the employer can decide they are actually trying to save money and let you choose to leave. Additionally, it is important to remember that not every leader likes the “threat” that you might leave if you do not make money so not every company will recognize this as a smart tactic. Regardless, if you are considering this tactic you should prepare yourself and do thorough research to ensure you go about it wisely. This article had a great deal other information besides the details I have summed up so feel free to use this as a starting point⁴. Having worked in leadership roles, I will warn that for most companies your leader cannot simply offer you a raise because you asked for one. Our wages are often determined by wage rules and measures designed by teams in recruitment and compensation. Unfortunately, in those situations you would need to hold a position which is considered difficult to fill to the point that you are invaluable. I firmly believe that employees should be paid fair wages and what they are worth, but not every company has the flexibility to meet our demands.

At the end of the day, Michael finally had to get around to making good on his task from corporate to lay someone off. I originally thought it was going to be Creed because he was called into a meeting with Michael but he came out looking pretty pleased with himself, but then Devon went in after him and that was a different story. I heard the yelling and then he came out inviting (most) the office to meet him for a drink so I think we all know who got let go, unfortunately. Michael had some incredible difficulty with letting him go and truthfully I just do not think he prepared himself enough.

Rebecca Knight with the Harvard Business Review offers advise on how leaders can prepare for such an instance, but having to complete layoffs is something that no one ever looks forward to. First, we can certainly tell that Michael did several things wrong with how he approached the layoff. He didn’t even decide who the person was until today, he absolutely should have made that decision so he could be prepared for who he was speaking to. Additionally, it is often recommended to not go in alone; if anything he should have had Toby with HR but, we all know what Michael thinks of him. It is also important to be direct; the news is going to be devastating either way so by not tiptoeing around the conversation and drag it on longer than it needs to be. And while it is important to be compassionate, you cannot let yourself get sidetracked as there is a great deal of information which needs to be relayed and you cannot miss it. In particular, you should make sure they have all the important details of any transfer opportunities, severance, benefit end dates, and so forth⁵. So for all of those out there who find themselves facing laying off staff, do not simply try to wing it and prepare yourself as thoroughly as you can.

And that, everyone, was this year’s Halloween work day and I hope you all learned something. Perhaps it was to always save “scary stuff” to do on Halloween to stay on theme. Or maybe it is to try to pleasant to your colleagues in case the office decides to issue layoffs as if it were a popularity contest. Personally, I am going with when you commit to chips and dip for the office potluck you better stick with chips and dips. Just because you thought it’d be fun to do brownies, you should at least have still brought the chips (seriously, Pam). With that said, I look forward to seeing you all again around the breakroom. Have a great Friday and weekend!

Feel free to share in the comments your own Halloween plans! Trick-or-treating with kids?Handing out candy? Or are you the type to stay in with a movie? Let us know!

1. Reinicke, C. (2018, October 30). 4 things to consider before wearing a Halloween costume to work tomorrow. CNBC. Retrieved October 19, 2023, from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/30/4-things-to-consider-before-wearing-a-halloween-costume-to-work.html ↩︎
2. Chan, G. (2023, October 9). Work Appropriate Halloween Costume Ideas. Forbes. Retrieved October 19, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/goldiechan/2023/10/09/work-appropriate-halloween-costume-ideas/?sh=79c061b72ab3 ↩︎
3. (2023, September 24). Halloween Shopping Statistics. Capital One. Retrieved October 19, 2023, from https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/halloween-sales-spending-statistics/ ↩︎
4. Gallo, A. (2016, July 5). Setting the Record Straight: Using an Outside Offer to Get a Raise. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved October 19, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2016/07/setting-the-record-straight-using-an-outside-offer-to-get-a-raise ↩︎
5. Knight, R. (2015, June 26). How to Tell Someone They’re Being Laid Off. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved October 19, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2015/06/how-to-tell-someone-theyre-being-laid-off ↩︎

Good morning and welcome back to the Breakroom, celebrating our new location on Friday’s. I hope you have had a great week, we were able to make it all the way today so let us jump right into dishing about the goings on here in the office.

The morning has actually been pretty uneventful, except there was this weird incident with Pam and Jim. Evidently Katie, the purse girl Jim started seeing, called him through the main line and Pam seemed a touch odd when she realized it was her. Pam did remind Jim that he could just give her his extension. I personally do find it odd when people would give out main line numbers like that for personal calls; just give out your cell phone or perhaps think of your extension right away because you are at a place of work.

That whole scenario aside, I noticed that Ryan was in Michael’s office for a good while. Evidently, it is time for a review that Michael must complete for the temp agency that Ryan works for. That’s right, he is still being hired through a temp agency rather than being made a formal employee. I’m not entirely sure how this works since such positions usually do not last long but I guess corporate feels it is more cost effective to continue to have a temp on board rather than hire him on full time. That being said, if they were so motivated on cutting costs I would start with evaluating how many temp positions they currently have on the books. But I doubt Michael would like that because he believes Ryan is doing a phenomenal job and is quite honest about. Dwight isn’t very happy, however, as he hasn’t had his work evaluated in years. These sorts of evaluations are awkward in which you trying to ascertain an employee’s goals and “five year plans.” There are those who truly know where they want to be in five years. Ryan intends to finish his master’s program to receive and MBA and then start up his own company. There was a time where a degree in business was a ticket to almost anything you want but I can advise that so many people have taken that route that it truly does come down to your experience and unique credentials which are need to place you ahead of the competition. There is certainly nothing wrong with having a long-term plan, but I have learned that with often things can change that it is important to not be beat down if something doesn’t work out the way you want right away. Can’t seem to find the job you want despite getting that fancy degree? Figure out ways to paid your resume; look for a unique license/certification you can get, teach yourself some programs, or even start a business blog.

Thankfully, if you have ever had any interest in business you should reach out to Michael because is just a fountain of information. If you had to compare his teaching styles, he would be a mix of Mr. Miyagi and Yoda and he even has his own 10 Rules of Business, these being:
1. You need to play to win, but you also have to win to play
2. Adapt, react, readapt, apt
3. Reach for the stars, if you fail see rule 4
4. Failure is not an option
5. Image is everything
6. Safety first

If you were to seek out “10 Rules of Business” online or from an educator, I feel like you would receive quite a few different options, so what are some of the best? According Isabel Isidro via Power Home Biz, the 10 Rules for Small Business Success¹ are:
1. Find a niche
2. Be small, yet think big
3. Differentiate your products
4. The first impression counts
5. Good Reputation
6. Constant improvement
7. Listen to your customers
8. Plan for success
9. Be innovative
10. Work smart

Additionally, Peter Jones (of BBC’s Dragon’s Den) has his own 10 Golden Rules² to build a successful business, being;
1. Have a vision
2. Use your influence
3. Build your confidence
4. Make a commitment
5. Aim for results
6. Timing
7. Perseverance
8. Be caring
9. Take action
10. Use your intuition

All in all, the day was pretty straightforward for the most part. Michael was Michael, Dwight was looking for attention from him, Ryan was fighting off attention from him, and the rest of the office trucked along. That is, at least, until the fire alarms of the building suddenly started going. Well Dwight and Angela went right into safety mode, Angela is actual fire and safety leader but Dwight certainly likes to think it is his responsibility. While Angela gave us advise like arms at our sides and to grab our safety partner, Dwight prefers to motivate everyone by shouting orders before he then “attempts” to put out the fire. It is very important to be aware of what the procedures are in the event of a fire for your office and/or building depending on where you are at. You should know the proper exits, and typically there is someone who oversees the process as they can direct people, take a head count, etcetera. Additionally, while public buildings do have fire extinguishers for use in such events they are only to be used if you know how to use them. If you do not know the proper means of using one, it is best to simply evacuate the building and leave it to the professionals. There may be the question on “women and children first” but if you ask Michael, you do not need to worry about that in the work place. Besides the fact that children wouldn’t be found in the work place, you wouldn’t want to treat women differently because the are meant to be equal in the workplace by law. Now this isn’t the first time that I have been through a situation where we had to evacuate and while it doesn’t appear the building isn’t on fire, you’re expected to simply occupy yourself and wait for however long it takes.

Now Dwight, Michael, Ryan continued to talk amongst themselves about business and I guess nicknames? Ryan mentioned how he is doing his best to not be noticed because he is worried about being a “something” guy. Sort of like how Stanley is the crossword guy or Angela is the cat lady; I think we all are aware that when you are noticed you tend to be listed as something. Myself, I have most often been the “gay guy” at most places, although obviously no one ever referred to me as this. Or for a few years I was the “vest guy” because I always wore vests to work, that I was okay with since vests are so cool. But to Ryan it means that you are destined to work there forever, that it ties you down.

Well while this was all happening, we thankfully had Jim taking charge of everyone else by running some games to keep us entertained including Desert Island, Who Would You Do, and Would You Rather? I feel these games are pretty self-explanatory but I can certainly explain the rules. Desert Island is a game in which you are given so many options of movies or books that you can bring. Such as, you are stuck on a deserted island what are the three books you would bring with you, or perhaps the five movies. Who Would You Do is essentially who in the office (or other set parameter of individuals) would you rather do? And Would You Rather is you must choose out of a set of scenarios that you would rather partake in, i.e. would you rather shave all your hair or have to dye it green? Silly games to pass the time and yet, can actually be quite revealing at the end of day so they’re pretty nifty as ice breakers.

In contrast, I could hear that the guys were talking business questions like why have people been rethinking the Microsoft business model? It doesn’t seem like Michael knew what the answer was, unfortunately. There are a couple of means to answer this, but primarily Microsoft has always created it’s product which is then sold for a set price to customers. Eventually they come up with an updated version in a few years with some new tools and then again, customers can purchase this when they are ready. But they have transitioned more to a subscription model where rather than needing to purchase each new model, they receive the updates as they are released as part of their package deal. Topics aside, they certainly seem to be winding each other up with Michael feeling like has so much lost potential while Dwight seems so jealous of the attention he is getting from Michael and I think Ryan is just feeling awkward.

Well, tensions reached their limits right after Who Would You Do because Dwight ran inside the evacuated building to find Michael’s phone as a means to impress him. Michael had started to get a bit worried he finally came running out and he had the details on the whole fire situation. Turns out, Ryan burnt his cheese pita in the toaster oven; besides giving us some outside time, this news definitely reset the status quo. Ryan went back to being the inept temp (aka, Fire Guy) while Michael and Dwight were buddies again, including giving a rounding rendition of “Ryan started the fire.”

And that was essentially the highlights of our day so all-in-all cannot complain. We delved into some psychological questions with Desert Island, we got most of Michaels ten rules of business, and we got a semi-successful fire drill under out belts. But let’s not stop! Feel free to comment below with your Desert Island Top 5 Movies to keep the games going and see we all compare to everyone. Until next time, I’ll see you around the breakroom!

Revised 7/24/2024

Good morning all, and let me welcome you back to the Office Olympics. Because of how poignant this episode is for me this time of year, I wanted to add to it and allow many of you to look back at one of my earliest posts, plus perhaps encourage new readers to review it. So why is this post so important? For starters, this Friday will be the opening ceremonies to the 2024 Summer Olympics, being held in Paris. I am so excited to see the ceremonies, evidently conducted right on the Seine River that runs through Paris, especially because it is one of my favorite places in the world. I know we always hear artists talk about the magic of Paris, and I can confirm that it is absolutely true. We here in the United States have no true comprehension of appreciating architecture that has been around that long so we really need to stop kidding ourselves into thinking our country can match many of the others around the globe. In addition to the opening ceremonies, I really do want to keep up and try to watch events to partake in the festivities. For those who are also not big into sports, the Olympics offers a whole slew of events that are much more interesting than basketball or American football. That being said, they are not necessarily more interesting than Flonkerton.

The second reason this was so important to me is that just like Michael was closing on his condo, so too have my husband and I been actively looking at houses for the last few weeks. The market is so different than it was when we purchased our current house, we have more money but our spending power hasn’t exactly carried through as much as we though with how expensive the market is right now. The biggest trend we are seeing is people remodeling their homes themselves, but they do it badly. The result is the sellers want you to pay for their “improvements” but then you need to pay to have them corrected. My personal theory is that during the pandemic, everyone decided to watch too much HGTV and then they decide they can remodel their homes just as well. I am here to say that no, unless you are a trained professional then you should absolutely be hiring someone to do it for you. For anyone else going through the same thing, you have my deepest sympathies and I wish you luck in tracking down that dream home.

But that is why this episode spoke to me so much; I’ve been a bit busy for a Coffee Break but did want to share my thoughts on what has been happening this week and I hope you all enjoy this flashback to ‘Office Olympics’ and that you all tune in for the 2024 Summer Olympics, kicking off this Friday.

Original Post

Good morning everyone and welcome back to the office, and, more importantly, to the breakroom! I think we all can admit that most days as we are getting to work, we ask ourselves, “what should I do on break today?” Well, I very much appreciate you joining me on these breaks to breakdown the happenings of the day.

Enough chit-chat, lets get down to the scuttlebutt. So Michael actually started today very early, though it sounds like this must be a common occurrence which is news to me. He is simultaneously a night owl and an early bird, which makes him wise and has worms (not sure he heard that right) and means he likes to get to work a good several hours before anyone else does. Well, almost anyone else. I think we should both be grateful that we are not Michael’s go-to temp, Ryan, who actually got called in early for a special project. And by special project, it was to pick up Michael’s sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit. I really would like to know why Michael, who admitted to being at work abnormally early, couldn’t have used that time to swing by and get the food himself? I think it has to do with his weird obsession with Ryan, so maybe I should ask too many questions. Although, maybe the biggest travesty is the waist of the perfectly good biscuit (to make it low carb) when it could have just been ordered with out.

Flash forward to everyone now at work, meaning actual business hours, it turns out Michael will be out today to close the sale on his condo. He is really excited to finally be a homeowner, talking about how there was a time in which you had to own land to vote, else they would throw you in the stocks and humiliate you. I cannot comment on that warranting the stocks and humiliation, but he does have a ring of truth surrounding the voting. For a period, there was a property qualification in place for the thirteen colonies, very similar to what was in place in what is now the United Kingdom. In the colonies, each of the states had specific ownerships that had to be met in order to be eligible to vote; fifty acres of land, for instance, was a common example. Predominately, these laws were seen as a method to limit the voting powers of those in lower economic standing to ensure the greatest power was held by those with money and station¹. Dwight actually seems to be okay with going back to those days, although I feel this has less to do with his sixty acre beet farm, and more to do with being able to use stocks as punishment. He is an absolutely stickler when it comes to issuing punishments to people. But with Michael closing on his condo, this can only mean one thing: boss-free day.

A day without the boss, or Dwight, couldn’t come at a better time because people are a bit drained today. Expense reports are due today and they are not super exciting, Jim is slowly dying of boredom over at his desk. Thankfully, Pam is there to help occupy him with one of her little games she likes to do when bored. She likes to take small items, like paper clips or notes, and see if she can throw them into Dwight’s coffee mug from her desk. This actually gets Jim intrigued on other ways that people kill time, especially when Michael is out of the office. Turns out that Kevin and Oscar have been playing “Hate Ball” for a few years; this is basically just paper football at their desks, but Angela really hates that they do it. They then let slip that Toby and Kelly like to play “Dunderball” back in the annex. They use a small ball that they pass to each other by bouncing it off the wall adjacent to their cubicle divider.

These are all very specific things that they do to help pass the time at work, and that brings up the question of what are some different things you can do while bored at work? While everyone has jobs that can be very busy, there are obviously those days and time in which some downtime comes up. Perhaps you have routine paperwork that fluctuates so you might have a light day, or very few phone calls coming in for the day. Chris Leitich with Career Addict was eager to recommend simply entertaining yourself by doodling, watching an interesting video on Youtube, or just doing a quick internet search for random articles. There is evidence that these actions can help destress you, which is meant to help prevent long-term burnout. He did also recommend other tasks such as clearing out your inbox, reading up on industry-specific articles, or simply planning out your schedule². Jennifer Herrity published an article through Indeed which focuses more on using that down time to be productive. You could teach yourself useful skills, such as becoming more familiar with Excel; perhaps write an industry article for a publication; start a networking group; or even take the initiative on updating department protocols. These are certainly not bad recommendations, as all too often do we tell ourselves “if only we had time” when it comes to these productive ideas³. And perhaps somewhere in between productive and entertaining, I found an impressive list from Leo Babauta at Zen Habits. Among my favorites were write a blog post; drink some water; pursue a hobby; or just get wild⁴. There are many things we can do when we are getting bored at work and trying to fill the time, and while not all might be work-related I do feel they have their value to being productive. My personal favorite means of keeping myself entertained is listening to podcasts; they are more consecutive than listening to music and not as distracting as television, but still entertaining. Specifically, I will recommend Office Ladies but whatever helps occupy the silence of the day is great. Unfortunately, not everyone has the right work setting where they can do this so it is all about finding that tool which helps you reset every so often to continue with the day.

Back at the office, Jim has taken these games and created the first Office Olympics. Opened with the light of a cookie-scented candle, everyone will be competing for gold, silver, and bronze (blue) yogurt lids in a series of events. What can I say aside from, let the games begin! We truly have a wide variety of events that have been going on today. We first have Flonkerton, which is an Icelandic event of racing with paper boxes on our feet which Phyllis narrowly beat Kevin at. But, Kevin came back by being the victor at seeing who can fit the most M&Ms in their mouth. After that, Stanley and Phyllis were neck and neck in a makeshift game of HORSE. Ryan then came in first when they competed to see who could guess would come off of the elevator next (he guessed someone to Vance Refrigeration). We were just in the middle of Toby and Oscar racing each other around the office holding a mug of coffee when Michael and Dwight finally came back (though I thought they’d be gone longer). This did sort of put a damper on the games and only Jim really still seemed excited by it. Even Michael seemed sort of off, and I thought he’d be really excited about having closed on his condo so I’m wondering if the whole event ended up being more stressful than he expected. With that full rush of reality, we are all brought back to the real world.

Or so we though, Jim and Pam were all set with a special Closing Ceremonies for the Olympics, and they brought Dwight and Michael in on it! Michael was awarded a gold medal for closing on his condo, which I think he really needed to remind him that he did accomplish something amazing. Dwight seemed pretty eager to also accept silver, I think for just being Dwight. And, of course, Jim accepted bronze which I feel is well deserved for putting that together. And like that, our work day closes to the national anthem and a series of paper doves strung in the air. Not too shabby for a day that could’ve been just like any other.

Were you able to get a medal yourself? If not, it really is all about having a bit of fun to break up the monotony of the work day and I hope you were able to learn something! More than anything, it is okay to break up that boredom at work and it can actually be healthy. Not only are you more likely to get a second wind when you need a break, it really does help with burn out. So whether you find time to better yourself with a new skill, clear up your desk or inbox, or devote your time to a hobby like blogging I hope you can find what works best for your job. Until next time, I’ll be sure to see you around the breakroom.