Here's a question for the masses. We all know that there are several distinct generations fully entrenched in the workforce these days. We have the millenials, Generation X, Baby Boomers... And we all have to work together. Even though we all very different ways and approaches of working. And sometimes, though we may have a common interest, there is conflict.
Here is an example of one such situation.
The setting: A boardroom at an advertising agency in NYC. The room is floor to ceiling glass walls with a sliding door.
The Background: A big work session to develop a 2011 digital strategy with a few senior members of the team. Lunch was brought in so that work could progress through the lunch hour and be efficient/productive etc....
Once the work session ended two members of the team decided to stay in the room and continue working on another project.
The story:
Betty and Harold (not their real names) were sitting at the boardroom hunched over papers deliberating all the intricacies of mayo communication. They are surrounded by the remnants of lunch and have papers spread out everywhere.
The door slides open.
Kip, the intern, pops his head in.
Kip: Hey there! I'm Kip. I just started working here as an intern. I work on x. Who are you and what do you do?
Betty & Harold stop working and look at each other puzzedly before responding.
Harold: Um... I'm a senior planner working on mayo
Betty: And I'm a client. *full stop*
Kip doesn't miss a beat: Oh that's great. Well listen- I'm just going to grab a cookie here. You guys aren't going to eat it are you??
Betty: Uh... no. Help yourself.
Kip: Thanks! Nice to meet you both!
Kip takes his cookie and leaves.
End scene.
Now... Let's debate this. IS THIS APPROPRIATE?!?! Is it suitable for an intern to barge in on a closed door meeting with people he doesn't know so that he can help himself to an afternoon snack?!??!
I say...no. I say I would like to find Kip and teach him what's appropriate and what's not in a professional workplace. But I suspect that Kip would tell me to relax and it's just a cookie.
What say you- good folks of the interweb??
