More Workplace Stories
- Our office had a costume contest for Halloween this year, with a genuinely competitive cash prize on the line. Someone showed up in a costume clearly rented for hundreds of dollars, and the rest of us in DIY efforts felt slightly outgunned.
- I offered to help my coworker move apartments over the weekend, thinking it'd take a couple hours. Six hours, three flights of stairs, and one broken lamp later, we finally finished, and I've learned to ask more questions before volunteering.
- Our team decided to try a new brainstorming format for the quarterly planning meeting, using sticky notes on every wall. It looked chaotic for the first hour, but somehow produced the most useful ideas we'd had all year.
- Our office moved to a new open floor plan, promising better collaboration. Somehow everyone just started wearing headphones more, and actual conversation dropped noticeably compared to the old cubicle setup.
- Our department decided to do a potluck for someone's retirement, with a sign-up sheet passed around. Everyone somehow signed up for desserts, leaving us with an impressive spread of cake and absolutely nothing savory.
- I offered to organize the office supply closet as a small favor to the team. What I found included three staplers nobody claimed, expired coupons, and my own missing hole punch from what must have been years ago.