Penelope Trunk, author of Brazen Careeriest: The New Rules for Success and columnist for The Boston Globe and Yahoo! Finance, asks whether bringing cupcakes or cake or cookies to work is a workplace no-no.
You need to be nice at work. This doesn’t mean holding the door. Well, it does, but you need to do more than that. You need to do high-profile, from-the-heart niceness. People who are popular at work do better at work. Yes, it’s true, the popularity contest never ends.
So why not try cupcakes? Wait. Stay with me here. Cupcakes are good because they are easy to make. You can leave them in a central location in the office, or even on your desk, and people can just pick one up. They will be impressed and touched that you cooked.
I bring cupcakes both to work and to parties, and I have to say, they're always a hit. Not everyone loves them but people come to know me as "the cupcake girl" and even ask me if I have cupcakes on me. I think it's a conversation starter and a generous gesture. I've worked in offices where someone has a candy jar or dish and people come to know that's where they can find candy. I don't think it should be obligatory or anything, because that defeats the idea of it being a kind gesture, and would probably seem forced if the office curmudgeon suddenly showed up with two dozen cupcakes. But to me, it's not about "getting ahead" so much as sharing my love for cupcakes.
What about you, readers?
You need to be nice at work. This doesn’t mean holding the door. Well, it does, but you need to do more than that. You need to do high-profile, from-the-heart niceness. People who are popular at work do better at work. Yes, it’s true, the popularity contest never ends.
So why not try cupcakes? Wait. Stay with me here. Cupcakes are good because they are easy to make. You can leave them in a central location in the office, or even on your desk, and people can just pick one up. They will be impressed and touched that you cooked.
I bring cupcakes both to work and to parties, and I have to say, they're always a hit. Not everyone loves them but people come to know me as "the cupcake girl" and even ask me if I have cupcakes on me. I think it's a conversation starter and a generous gesture. I've worked in offices where someone has a candy jar or dish and people come to know that's where they can find candy. I don't think it should be obligatory or anything, because that defeats the idea of it being a kind gesture, and would probably seem forced if the office curmudgeon suddenly showed up with two dozen cupcakes. But to me, it's not about "getting ahead" so much as sharing my love for cupcakes.
What about you, readers?
Comments
i just picked up a dozen from a new place in costa mesa, ca for work tomorrow.
now i feel all warm and fuzzy.
Shannon in Austin
"What about 7 layer bars, lemon squares, cookies, muffins, brownies....the list goes on. I think mom is the expert on "high profile from the heart niceness"& everyone likes her anyway (unless they're jealous that people like her more then them)."
Every now and then I remember advice in a book I have called, "Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office," which suggests that you don't be Betty Crocker. But I say screw that! Let 'em eat cupcakes!