Working folks spend a large time of their work week at office. Your colleagues start becoming your tea time friends and gradually desk table friends. This is when the personal and professional boundaries dwindle and at times you start taking each other for granted.

This is a common phenomena when it comes to brilliant techie engineers who have not seen diversity in their academic life and are suddenly exposed to working with women. Its also common amongst the other extreme end of guys, who have had female friends all their life and they are not able to differentiate between a personal and a professional setup.

This article comes from my experiences at work. It addresses the specific kind of men, the one who have fair intentions, and they land themselves into trouble because they have not been educated about the he & she boundaries at the workplace. I don’t have any knowledge to impart to the other kind of men, who do it in spite of knowing it all !

• Touch – If we go by the books, the only acceptable touch in the professional world is a hand shake. In the start up set up, because of the enthusiasm, it usually extends to a hi five. A lot of informal offices have culture of hugs, mostly reluctant ones. If you want to play safe, avoid them totally and just get done with a hand shake. If you cant avoid it as everybody is doing it, go for a side one. Anything, beyond these like patting on the shoulder or head can make your “she” colleagues uncomfortable, hence do not do it.
• Eye Contact – Always maintain an eye to eye contact when you are having a conversation with colleagues at work place. Eye contact is the sign of true confidence. Make it a conscious habit to not look anywhere else. Looking anywhere else creates a very negative impression. So totally avoid it.
• Compliments – Its rightly said that genuine praise and positive feedback are opportunities to strengthen your relationship with your colleagues. In the realm of complimenting, one should primarily stick to work attributes. If at all complimenting is extended to personal attributes, the choice of words used for complimenting should be appropriate and legitimate. This kind of compliments are feel good if they come once in a while. Also, if you feel the receiver senses them as unwarranted, they should never be given again.
• Working together – There are instances at work when you have to deliver in a team. These times are the most critical ones as there is a significant increase in your physical proximity with your colleagues. Always make sure that you don’t nudge into your colleagues. If you want to be on the system, use courteous words like “ Excuse Me” or “May I have the access for a while” and take full access of the system.
• Calling Names – Every individual wants to be referred to by their own names, or their initials ( if the name is too difficult). Avoid giving names to your colleagues. A “sweety” or a “dearie” in the conversation doesnt make your point more clear. Hence, abstain from creating fuss around addressing any individual.

These are banal ideas, but you can apply them in your professional avatar to see long term results. You earn respect from your colleagues if you respect their personal space at work.