Lessons from “The Office (US)” applied to work environment
HR is not your friend
One of the wisest things Michael says right at the beginning of the show is that Toby does not work with them, but for the company and no one should trust him. In real companies that is one thing older colleagues warn the juniors about. They are usually nice and you can talk with them about just about anything, but know that anything you say can one day be used against you so choose the topic wisely.
Everything is politics
In some corporations it is obvious everything is politics. In others, only when things go wrong and it may be too late to notice. Unless the team is amazingly well picked, there will always be someone trying to climb the ladder by stepping on others and pushing them out of the way. Jim tries to stay away from it (refusing promotions and tasks whenever possible to be no threat to anyone) while Pam is friends with almost everyone (being someone they care for and never see as an ambitious rival). If these methods fail, be transparent so no one can accuse you of having hidden agendas. And if the chance arrives, everyone will have you on top of their mind for the position because you fought for it for so long.
Be authentic, yet professional
Everyone on the show is quite transparent. but Michael as the boss could be more careful on what and how he says it. Every employee is always seen as an ambassador of the company, and it is their job to be seen as professional. The higher you are ,the more visibility you have and the better you must behave.
Technology can make you obsolete, stay one step ahead
The paper business 20 years ago was going away. Now, with new technologies coming to life every year and ideas turning into business faster than we can list them, all businesses can go “the way of the dodo”. Are you falling with it? In “The Office” Pam is always engaging in creative pranks, has the flexibility to all the crazy new tasks Michael asks her, and is willing to learn new skills, even if it means losing weekends and doing long travels. When the branch was about to close, she was the only one happy with the new possibilities ahead.
To conclude
In every episode someone screws up enormously. And all is forgiven. Everyone works together to fix it. Everyone learns. Everyone moves on, together. This is almost the biggest lesson you can learn.
Because the main lesson is, have a laugh, do a great job and – hopefully – 20 years after you started, people will still remember you fondly.
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