At one time, everyone wore suits to the office. Now casual Fridays stretch into all the weekdays.
過去，每個人穿西裝上班；現在，星期五休閒日擴展到了所有工作日。
At one time, offices were the epitome of formality where bosses were addressed as "Mr." or "Mrs." and you wore only suits or dresses (complete with pantyhose).
過去，辦公室是正式場合的象徵，稱呼老闆用“先生”、“女士”，你會只穿西裝或裙子(和連身褲襪)。
Now, many workplaces have a business casual dress code with even more casual Fridays, and the bosses -- who go by their first names -- are your Facebook friends.
現在，許多工作場所的着裝規定都很寬鬆，週五休閒日的規定更是隨意。被直呼其名的老闆們是你社交網站Facebook上的朋友。
Employers relaxed the rules to enhance workplace attitudes. If you're on the phone or on the computer all day, it doesn't matter if you're wearing a tie. At least you'd think so.
僱主放寬規定的目的是爲了改善工作態度。如果你成天都是用電話、電腦辦公，那麼打不打領帶無所謂——至少你是這麼認爲。
Of course, as with all things good, too much can be detrimental. How can you have a relaxed, casual environment while still maintaining your professionalism?
當然，和所有事情一樣，都會有過猶不及的時候。要如何即保持職業化又獲得輕鬆、隨意的工作環境呢?
To befriend or not to befriend
要不要夠朋友
Friendships are commonplace in all jobs. They exist between colleagues and sometimes between employees and their bosses. Try as you might, switching from friendship to professional mode while you're on the clock can be difficult. For the sake of your office, however, you might want to try harder.
一切工作中都會有友誼。同事之間有友誼；老闆和員工之間也有友誼。工作中要想從友誼狀態轉到職業狀態往往是一件困難的事情，你儘管去嘗試一下看看。不過，爲了你的工作，你也許會希望爲此付出更多努力。
"We spend so much of our day at work that people often forget where the line between work and personal life should be drawn," says Roberta Chinsky Matuson, president of Human Resources Solutions. "Discussions regarding what you did last night and with whom are not necessarily conversations one should be having at work."
Human Resources Solutions公司總裁Roberta Chinsky Matuson說：“我們每天會花很多時間在工作上，以至於人們經常忘記該怎麼樣劃分工作和個人生活的界線。昨天晚上你和誰做了什麼不是在工作中必須討論的。”
Matuson also reminds you that what you say to a close co-worker can be overheard by many other people in the desks or cubicles within earshot. Even if no one else hears, you could be talking to the wrong person in the first place.
Matuson還提醒說，你對一位親密同事說的話可能被聽力所及範圍內的辦公隔間、辦公桌旁的其他許多人聽見。即便沒人聽見，可能一開始你就找錯了說話對象。
You might be close with your boss, but giving information that could undermine your reliability or professionalism can harm your career down the road when it's time for a promotion.
也許你和老闆的關係很近，但是透露了會有損你可靠程度、職業水準的消息會在以後晉升的時候影響到你的事業。
寬鬆的工作環境很容易就會讓人忘乎所以、隨便過了頭，那麼該如果確定這個界限呢？
How to tell when you've gone too far
如何辨識隨便過了頭
Your words, appearance and behavior are three key factors in gauging whether work has become too casual, according to Todd Dewett, management professor at Wright State University and author of "Leadership Redefined."
根據萊特州立大學管理學教授、《重新定義領導藝術》一書作者Todd Dewett的觀點，你的言談、外表、舉止是衡量工作是不是過於隨便的三個關鍵因素。
Your words: Among the warning signs are, according to Dewett, "The use of expletives, overly familiar terms (calling someone by [his or her] first name or a nickname when few others do), using common slang deemed inappropriate for work communication or failing to use appropriate jargon for your particular work context."
你的言談：Dewett認爲一些需要警示的現象有“髒詞、過於親暱的詞（直呼某人名字或綽號，而別人很少那麼做)、使用被認爲不適合用於工作交流的常用俚語，或者沒有在特殊工作環境下使用適當的專業術語。”
Common sense still rules all, and that means the topics long considered taboo are still off limits. The humor that you find edgy but others could perceive as racist, sexist or any other form of offensive should just be left to private conversations between you and your friends outside of company time.
常識仍然佔據主導位置，這意味着長期以來被認爲是禁忌的.話題依然是不被允許談論的。你覺得新奇的幽默，別人可能會認爲具有種族色彩、性別歧視或其他任何形式的冒犯，這些幽默應該只在你和朋友工作時間外私下的談話中分享。
Your appearance: "This includes both attire and grooming," Dewett says. The obvious wardrobe error is dressing down too much, including jeans and belly-revealing shirts, not to mention showing a lot of cleavage or tattoos and piercings (if it's not the norm for your occupation).
你的外表：Dewett 說：“這（外表）包括着裝和修飾”。明顯的着裝錯誤就是穿着太隨便，包括穿牛仔褲、露臍衫，更別提露出大部分乳溝或紋身和人體刺穿（如果這不是你所在行業的標準的話）。
When it comes to grooming, the rules are pretty much common sense: Keep the style and color appropriate to your field and bathe on a regular basis.
修飾方面的規定很大部分是常識性的：保持風格、顏色和你的工作領域相稱，勤洗澡。
Your behavior: "This could include too much socializing at work, socializing that is perceived as too personal and too often getting inside another person's personal space, which for most Western cultures is about arm's length," Dewett says.
你的舉止：Dewett 說：“這包括工作中過多地交際，過多地進行太私人化的交際、過多進入別人的個人空間——在多數西方文化中，個人空間是指一臂長的距離。”
工作場合太隨意，可能會讓你或你的同事感到不舒服。該怎麼解決呢？下面就爲您提供一些技巧。
How to solve the problem
如何解決“過於隨意”的問題
If your office is too casual for comfort -- either your own or your colleagues' -- you can try to fix it. Kerry Patterson, co-author of "Crucial Confrontations," offers some suggestions for tackling the subject if someone else is responsible for making your workplace too casual.
如果你的辦公室隨便到令人(令你或你的同事們)不舒服——那麼你嘗試改變。《關鍵對峙》一書作者之一Kerry Patterson給出一些建議：當別人讓你的工作場所變得太隨便時應該怎麼做。
Calmly discuss the issue that matters most.
平靜地討論最重要的事情。
"Don't air a list of gripes. Instead, focus on the one issue you care about most."
“不要把牢騷一個個發泄一通，而是關注你認爲最重要的那個問題。”
Choose your words wisely.
言談要明智
"Describe the problem using tentative language, then describe what the person is doing -- not what you're concluding."
“用試探性的語言描述問題，描述對方正在進行的行爲——而不是你的結論。”
Don't make a private issue public.
不要將私事公開化
"This means [keeping the issue private] not only during the conversation, but also after. This will help the other person feel safe talking to you and remedying the problem."
“這是指不僅在談話中，而且在談話之後（都不要將問題公開化），這會讓人們感覺到和你談話、改善這個問題令人放心。”
Don't imply that your concern has been festering.
不要暗示你的麻煩困擾已久。
"Since it's the first time you've brought it up, treat it as something that has only recently become an issue."
“既然你是第一次提起，就把它當成是最近發生的事情吧。”