Stepping on work toes...

I stepped on a woman's toes this morning on the bus. It was her own fault. I was on the inside seat, closest to the window, and instead of getting up to let me by, she just moved over a bit. The bus jerked and stomp, I stepped on her toes. Did she give me a look! Of course I said I was sorry, but she really should have gotten up to let me out.

We can step on people's toes at work too. Here are some ways I think we can do that:

• By not saying please and thank you and giving common courtesies to our co-workers.
• By assuming too much and not asking.
• By taking credit for work and not sharing the success with our colleagues who assisted us.
• By not paying attention to the tone of our e-mails. People can get the wrong idea from an e-mail. Sometimes it is better to speak on the phone or in person.
• By invading each other's cubicle space or walking into an office without knocking.
• By going over someone's head and doing things behind the scenes. If you work in a team environment it is a good idea to work with your co-workers to come up with solutions.

We spend a lot of time with our co-workers. Let's be kind to one another. Sometimes we are so busy and stressed it is hard to remember to say please and thank you, but remembering goes a long way towards avoiding those work toes.