125K views 2 years ago Learn English with Alex Talking with co-workers can be awkward. Cookie Policy |Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy. Of course, I wouldnt rather kill myself). In the American workplace, showing your ability to get along with your coworkers is an essential job skill. Read it here or follow BusinessInsider Australia on Facebook. He felt confused when he saw his colleagues blank faces. Great Britain = Similar to Australia, the British tend to prefer conservative, classic clothes and aim for darker colours like black, dark blue, and grey. The issue today is that the move to remote work environment is cutting many people off from workplace small talk. Another topic to avoid is relationship status. Here, I found it was quite the opposite. Dont be afraid to ask your coworkers questions about themselves while interacting in the office or on Zoom! They were also more willing to go out of their way to help their colleagues. Anything youd like to share? When you trust people and feel they trust you in return, you can speak up, argue and disagree productively for the benefit of your shared goals. Dwelling on weather is one of the most common small conversation topics for almost any event in Great Britain. It sounds like youre looking for workplace training scripts, so I encourage you to search Google using those terms. You can also show that you were listening by repeating something that they mentioned, along with a plan to put it into practice. Even though youre talking about a challenge, youre being proactive, and youre trying to find a solution. You absolutely want to avoid company gossip, or complaining about someone you work with, or a project youre working on. This will help quieter colleagues or those from diverse backgrounds to feel included. The first thing I noticed when I got my contract was the 8.30am start time. Because the program sets a fixed window for conversations, it can prevent productive work time from being eaten up something thats more difficult to manage in face-to-face settings. Angela Wylie. Jokes, banter is commonplace, giving nicknames is sign of acceptance, occasional swearing is common. As well as fostering trust, networks and connection, small talk also helps people transition from activity to activity throughout the working day. Small talk is a strange concept for foreigners at first because it is may not used in some countries but it is common in Australian workplace. They reduce the uncertainty and sense of personal risk that any new behaviour initially carries, especially for those from under-represented groups. The budget contains $2 million planning money for further widening of the Monash Freeway. These days, astute managers invite meeting participants to join a scheduled virtual meeting even five minutes or so before the planned start time so they can simply chat. How can you segue from small talk to the substance of the formal agenda? Australians seem to appreciate that they spend more time with their colleagues than anyone else. I certainly see a significant difference in how "hard" people are willing to work to achieve productivity gains. Stereotypically, Americans are more tolerant of small talk than people from other places and expect to encounter it in social situations. Australia is shockingly expensive. You didnt usually go into your next meeting without the social lubricant of small talk first. When you ask these questions, pay attention to your intonation. We also saw that conversations didnt have to be intimate or lengthy to deliver benefits. My observation back then was in Australia, when compared with the UK and US, this was more skewed towards play rather than work as Australia's working days were typically shorter and holiday entitlements longer. While you can ask, How are you? or How are you doing?, I suggest trying to get a little more specific. Not necessarily a bad thing, just visibly different. Another thing to avoid is excessive self-disclosure: Sharing your deepest anxieties may be okay when youre meeting a friend for coffee, but its not when youre greeting an acquaintance. It can make someone feel uncomfortable if theyre single, divorced, or widowed. There was another incident where I finally told her I didnt like her when she asked why I didnt want to be chatty. But there are social risks for outsiders. Small talk at work has big benefits - Work Life by Atlassian These small, unstructured social conversations foster cohesion, job satisfaction and productivity.