Desk talking - etiquette.

ShadowPuma

Stay sitting. If someone approaches you at your desk then they usually know and will expect you to be sitting anyway.

Paully232000

I would stay sat down and if they are going to be there for a while then ask them to go and get a chair/point out a close chair for them to sit on. If it is just a quick question then they can stay standing and i will stay seated as shouldn't take long.
Doesn't matter who it is.

Retrogamer

I stay seated. Standing up comes across as confrontational / defensive to me rather than polite.

Fluff15

I stay seated, unless it is a client who has come to visit and I will stand up to greet them. If it's a direct colleague and we're taking to long for them to stand, I tell them to drag a chair over to sit next to me. The only person I would get a chair for is my managing director, but I've only worked with them in their office so it's not had to happen yet!

Idiophreak

As the visitor, it's for them to bring themselves down to your level, not the other way round...either find a chair, sit on the desk, kneel down etc. Towering over someone to talk to them is pretty rude.

What *is* important, though, is to "be there" when someone comes to talk to you...So don't keep typing, doing what you're doing etc...Lock your computer, turn to face them, make good eye contact and listen to what they're saying. Not rocket science, but makes a huge difference.

kathrynha

JReacher1 wrote: »

My problem is im quite a tall guy and when a lady comes over to talk to me if I stay seated I'm basically eye level with her chest.

It seems disrespectful so I have started standing up so we are talking on an equal footing.

I'm undecided if it's better for me to stay seated or to stand up.

That never seemed to bother one of my old bosses, but then he had aquired the nickname P---- the perv for a reason.

To answer the question, short conversation, stay sat, but turn to them and visitor stands, long convrsation find them a seat and both sit.

timbo58

sorry I didn't make myself clear.

The only person(s) who is/are clearly superior to me is either:
My cat
My dog
The Chief Rabbi
The Pope
The Archbishop of Canterbury
The Dalai llama
The Grand Imam
The Queen

is that OK?

Anyway, don't take yourself too seriously, it was meant as 'superior' being the person who outranks you at work.: CEO and any other shareholder would be applicable in my case for instance.

And if you'd read my response I don't get up anyway, I simply give them my undivided attention, similar to what a Cat/Dog demands or a paw in the eye/groin would soon persuade me to do!

PenguinJim

I keep a cushion handy at my desk for just such an occasion. Can toss it in front of them and they can kneel down to speak with me. Then at the end of the conversation I bless them and they depart.

badskindollheart

Personally, I'd find it odd if the person I went over to speak to leapt up and stood up to talk to me - I'd think they were a bit confrontational or just plain weird.