Your co-workers and You A glimpse at the typical workplace gang

When you first start a new job in a new organization, you will be coming face to face with a whole new bunch of folks in a short period of time.

You are immediately at a disadvantage, because they already know each other, and feel comfortable in their environment. So on top of all your existing first day jitters, you will have the added pressure of trying to remember everyone’s name, and what they do. And inevitably, without effort, you will all be sizing each other up, trying to get a read on each other.

It is human nature, and everyone does it.

By the end of your first two or three days, you will have placed people into different personality categories, and they will be doing the same with you. There is no harm or malice in this. It’s instinctual, and it’s what we have done since infancy.

The typical tapestry of workplace characters includes one or two extremely friendly ones who will sit with you at lunch every day, talk about their kids, ask you lots of questions, and always include you in the weekly lotto or any other activity that may be floating about the office.

There are always a few quiet ones who will only speak when spoken to and give the impression of having no desire to engage in any kind of discussion with you unless it is pertinent to work. You won’t necessarily sense any animosity or discomfort from them. They just seem to be quite content to remain outside of the proverbial loop.

And then there are a few who you just can’t seem to get a read on at all. From one day to the next, you aren’t sure where you stand with them, or how to go about establishing any kind of rapport. They seem to go from hot to cold without cause, and you are forever wondering what makes them tick.

There are usually visible cliques inside the group. These cliques are often interdepartmental.

For instance, you will notice the same two people from accounting step out for lunch together every day, or hear all about the weekend golfing adventures of the guys in IT.

In turn, there are usually also visible tensions.You can often pick up quite quickly on the personality conflicts or minor child’s play that may be hovering between two or more particular individuals. It happens in every office, just like it happens in every family.

And now there’s you.

Remember that for all your efforts to peg people and place them in some sort of mental category where you can relate to them, they are all doing the same with you. It isn’t even conscious for the most part.

Perhaps your particular responsibilities require frequent or ongoing collaborations. Or maybe you are mostly assigned to independent tasks.

Either way, you are now part of a team wherein the players share a common denominator, which is the ultimate success of the organization.