Proper Office Fax Etiquette
No matter how many people use the fax machine in your office, it still remains a tough issue for everyone. Follow these 3 easy do’s and don’ts for how to properly use the office fax machine.
Richie Frieman
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Proper Office Fax Etiquette
One of my favorite movies of all time is Office Space. And one of my favorite scenes is when the office workers take the fax machine out to a field and destroy it. Frustrated employees smashing the fax machine into pieces is an apt metaphor for everything that is wrong with cubicle life. Besides its contribution to filmmaking, Office Space also gave us this legendary quote by character Michael Bolton (not the singer) after yet another unsuccessful bout with the fax machine:
“PC Load Letter”? What the f does that mean?”!
Proper Office Fax Etiquette
I am not here to promote everyone taking our office fax machines and throwing them off the roof. Neither am I advocating dropping F-bombs at inanimate objects that aren’t working the way we would like them to. Bottom line: Technology can be a nightmare if we don’t embrace it with some patience and proper manners.
So with that, make sure you add a new cover sheet on all your TPS reports and check out my top 3 Quick and Dirty Tips for how to properly handle the office fax machine:
Tip #1 – Patience Is a Virtue
I will be the first one to tell you that I am impatient. I press the elevator repeatedly when it doesn’t come right away, I get annoyed when the light doesn’t change, and when I’m waiting for a fax to come in, every second feels like an hour. I start to wonder why some people don’t treat the phrase, “I’m sending it right now” as literally as I do. Still, no matter how amped up I get when waiting for a tardy fax, it’s never proper to huddle over the fax machine with your other coworkers like a football team, waiting for the paper to come out. It’s like a 10-car pile-up in the office.
To make sure there isn’t a packed line of people waiting for the faxes like impatient kids on Christmas, I recommend allowing each person to use the machine on their designated time. Before you get all jumpy about setting a timer for the fax machine, hear me out. I know that you can’t always anticipate a fax coming in or how urgently you need to send one out, but allowing each employee to send out their faxes alone, without colleagues forming a line and energetically tapping their fingers, will make for a more comfortable and polite work environment. When someone is in line behind you, you feel rushed and it can ruin whatever you are doing. Same goes for the fax machine. When you are trying to fax something, you don’t want to mess it up and accidentally send that TPS report to the wrong department. If someone is breathing down your neck, many things can go wrong, simply due to nerves. If someone has an urgent message to send out, let them go first. But in general, be patient, take turns, and always respect the time of your coworkers.
Tip #2 – What’s Mine is Mine
To piggyback on Tip #1, when you have too many people around the fax machine – be it waiting to use it or waiting for a fax to come in – some very important information is easily visible. When it comes to fax machines, people are usually so eager to grab their own papers, that they can neglect the documents of others. I’ve had numerous instances when a fax came in but I never received it because a coworker allowed it to slip behind the desk. In a busy work day, people can forget that there are others in the office… schocker! So, when you see another fax coming in, or see a stack building up, don’t think of it as unimportant.
I get that no one wants to be the office gofer for delivering other people’s faxes. But that does not mean you should ignore them. If you see something coming in while you are waiting, or sitting in the machine when you arrive, simply turn it over so no one can read the contents and place it on the side. I recommend having an inbox next to the fax machine where you can evenly lay papers face down. I don’t want anyone to read my information, nor would I want to see the documents of others. It’s rude to think that your work is more important than anyone else’s. Tossing incoming faxes aside is a sure sign that you are the “office manners offender”! Respect your coworkers’ privacy and hopefully it will spread throughout the office.
Tip #3 – Watch Out For Spammers!
My first job out of college was awful – I’ve mentioned this before – mainly because the place was terribly disorderly. And nothing was in more disarray than the fax machine. We would get streams of documents every day from all over the world that promised us some bizarre offer. It was nothing but spam. How did the spammers find us? Well, some employees decided to offer the office fax machine number up for some random raffle. So each day we would get tons of ads sent to us through the fax machine that would clog up the line and make it impossible to get things out on time.
Spammers make a fortune by stealing your information and will go at all lengths to use it to their advantage. When it comes to the office fax machine, I recommend keeping that number as hush-hush as the password to your email account. Don’t get me wrong, I am an advocate for using your office fax to send a personal document on occasion but don’t think of it as your private secretary. Yes, it’s easier to send a fax from the office rather than going down to Kinkos and spending $10! Trust me, that’s a scam! But before you give out the number, make sure it’s a reputable source. The last thing I want to do is have to miss a contract because I’m getting twenty faxes about “The Best Vacation Spots In Aruba For JUST $50” Come on!
Do you have a great story about improper fax machine etiquette? Post all the details in Comments below. As always, if you have another manners question, I look forward to hearing from you at manners@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email. Check out my Modern Manners Guy Facebook page, follow me on Twitter @MannersQDT, and of course, check back next week for more Modern Manners Guy tips.Â
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