Is it unprofessional to have fun at work?

Former Member

I joke around alot, but never at the expense of getting stuff done. Is the following unprofessional?
Jokingly telling my supervisor i been stalking her. In fact, I made that joke more than once. Like about facebook.

One time occasion: telling coworkers about her personal life (not in detail tho.)

I just think ppl are leery of me after I threw an object to the ground and accidentally hit a team lead. That was out of anger, not fun.

My supervisor initially thought it was funny when I made that joke to her though. Mixed message, anyone?

Reena

Having fun at work is the only way to survive it.
We've always said, "You don't have to be mad to work here, but it helps!"
As long as you don't take messing about too far I don't think there's a problem. If the work gets done and everyone is happy, the odd joke or silliness is fine.
xx

plugitin

Joking around is fine, but er, it sounds more stalkerish than funny talking about how you looked your boss up on facebook and telling people about her life.

Former Member

Yeah I know. I even used the word "stalking" when I joked about it. I didn't know ppl would take it Srsly tho.

Former Member

if youre having fun and making jokes, its best to be sure that the others involved are actually enjoying it too.

Discussing your bosses personal life with colleagues is unprofeesionall and gossiping at work in general is, and WILL come back and bite you on the arse.

Former Member

Arse=British
Ass=American

Lmfao!

Former Member

Quite seriously, not knowing you or your boss' histories, I think we tend to trivialise stalking. It's very serious and has a tremendous negative effect on the victim. Perhaps your boss doesn't think jokes about it are funny.

Former Member

Kissmekate wrote: »

Arse=British
Ass=American

Lmfao!

well yeah, its a british site

Former Member

Nothing wrong with joking around and having fun at work but with anybody you know you have to now where peoples boundaries are respect them. One person might not care you making jokes about stalking them but another person, especially if they dont really know might get freaked out by it.

For me, if it was a friend i knew, probably wouldn care but would be quite scared if a relative stranger said it

Former Member

Worked there over a year and initially she thought it was funny. Then she don't. I'm like uh....

Former Member

making a joke about stalking is one thing. Repeatedly mentioning to someone that you are stalking them is... stalking

Former Member

Joking about stalking is funny. Once.

Telling colleagues about personal details you only know off Facebook is...stalking.

You were here not so long ago asking these same questions. Please stop trolling plskthnx :thumb:

Former Member

As others have said it isn't wrong to have fun at work. However there is a line you shouldn't cross. Joking about it once can be funny in certain circumstances, but rarely in any case. However talking personal details about someone when they are not there, is stalking and that is not acceptable. Perhaps it might be wise to work hard and keep your head down for the time been.

Former Member

Arctic Roll wrote: »

Joking about stalking is funny. Once.

Telling colleagues about personal details you only know off Facebook is...stalking.

You were here not so long ago asking these same questions. Please stop trolling plskthnx :thumb:

No recollection lol

Former Member

Kissmekate wrote: »

No recollection lol

http://vbulletin.thesite.org/showthread.php/153113-Just-how-important-is-professionalism-at-works?p=2444839#post2444839

Just to jog your memory.

Former Member

There is no problem at all having a laugh and joke at work, we are all human after all and have to enjoy ourselves. There is a time and place for it though. As long as you are getting your work done and allowing others to do the same then it should be fine- just ensure you don't become an unneeded distraction for people who may still be working themselves. You also need to respect boundaries. Personally I would not talk about people behind their back and wouldn't mention really personal things about people unless they broached the topic themselves.

As long as you don't negatively effect those around you or your working environment then just be yourself and joke around if you like. There are loads of topics, funny internet virals, films or Tv programmes, experiences you have had, etc that you could talk about that definitely wouldn't cause offence.

Former Member

Joking at work is fine but depends on your coworkers and the type of the job. If you feel that there is nothing wrong then everything is OK