Workplace Lessons I Can Relate To From Hit US TV Show ‘The Office’

CareerTimes CT
Aug 25, 2017 · 2 min read

If you haven’t watched the hit US tv show the office, I strongly recommend you do so. A colleague of mine had long advised me to watch the show, but I somehow never had the time. Well, late last year I did and boy was it an eye opener! I laughed, I cried, I laughed and cried at the same time.

It’s a show I think every recent graduate MUST watch before starting out in the workplace. Why? well, though slightly exaggerated for on screen effect, it pretty much depicts the reality of everyday office life.

Here are the top lessons I learned and can relate to watching the show, and I thoroughly wish I had watched it four and a half years sooner.

Some People Are Genuinely Crazy

Michael is the manager of the Scranton branch, and one has to wonder what the corporate heads were thinking putting an absolute nut case like that in charge of anything. Where does one start with all the crazy things he did? From inappropriately touching staff members to his highly insensitive jokes, he made life for his team members a living hell. Was his behaviour over the top? Yes. Is it unrealistic? No. I’m not sure if it’s just start up culture, or if this is wide spread among all workplaces, but I came across a fair number of people that can only be classed as insane, and oddly enough, many were in managerial positions. From trying to make you do things that are downright illegal, to breaking into your laptop to use your Skype account, you’ll quickly come to realise that some people in the workplace are just plain crazy.

Many Employees Do Nothing

I cannot recall Creed actually doing anything, Ryan spent his time trying to scheme his way to the top, Jim thought up creative and hilarious ways to prank Dwight, (and also to chat Pam up), and Stanley was constantly asleep at his desk. In reality, this isn’t far from the truth, a lot of employees spend their day on Facebook, flirting on skype, aimlessly roaming around the office, eating and yes, sleeping.

Many Managers Aren’t Any Better

Michaels days comprised pranking his staff, taking day trips at will, watching youtube all day, doing silly impressions and stalking his ex-girlfriends. Now many real life managers might not be as caricatured as this, but be sure not all managers are ‘crunching numbers’ and ‘devising strategy’ all day.

Don’t Get Too Involved.

Jim totally embodies this point. He never got too worked up, too busy, too ambitious, too anything. He treated Dunder Mifflin as what it was — a job. I know this goes against the popular school of thought, where you do the most to get noticed by your manager (Dwight), or put in extra long hours to impress your boss (Pam). At the end of the day, you need to remember that you are doing a job, and while you may well love what you do, you will not stay in that job forever.

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