BUSINESS ETIQUETTE

Business etiquette is an agreed-upon list of rules for communication that help create a healthy work environment; one that fosters respect for colleagues, vendors, and customers. 

A thorough understanding of business etiquette, and how to institute organizational changes, can help build trust among employees in your organization, as well as promote their professional growth.

Rules for good business etiquette 

1. Always use names in a meeting - It is easy to forget people’s names when in a business meeting, and for this reason, it is a good idea to write all the names down (and check their spelling) on a piece of paper in front of you. It is common to say ‘treat others as you would like to be treated yourself‘. However, different people have different expectations. You might like to be called by your first name when being greeted by a service provider, however, someone else might prefer to be referred to more formally, with Mr, Ms, or Mrs.

You should not just assume that people like things the same way you do. If in doubt about the level of formality to use, it is probably better to go for more formality, rather than less, to avoid offending anyone.

2. The three Rs - It is important to be considerate about the psychological needs of different people. A very useful rule of thumb to go by is that of the three Rs.

• Recognition: using names, greetings, and making a point of acknowledging people.

• Respect: treating people with respect, value and courtesy, and apologising to them where the situation calls for it.

• Response: people do not want to be kept waiting, they need to be responded to.

3. Wardrobe and hygiene - Dirty clothes, fingernail biting, poor hygiene, unclean hair and body odour especially, can be a real turn off. It can be difficult having to tell someone they have body odour, but it is necessary, especially if the person has to deal with others and outside clients.

4. Cracking inappropriate jokes- Etiquette is all about behaviour and sensitivity. For example, cracking jokes at times where it is inappropriate, or inappropriate jokes in general, shows a total lack of sensitivity.
I have been surprised to still hear some men at work make jokes about women and the way they look. Also, jokes about race and disabilities are most certainly inappropriate at any time.

5. Showing gratitude - Thanking a person where the thank you is warranted is simple politeness.
Actually making a point of showing some sort of gratitude where someone has gone out of their way for you, or performed a task that is not part of their job description, is very important and actually makes for better interpersonal communication in the future.

6. Telephone etiquette - Being treated rudely on the telephone or left on hold is not professional. Making promises and then not keeping them or following through is also unprofessional and projects a poor image to the people on the receiving end.

How to improve business etiquette

Often people do not even realise they are not showing a high level of etiquette. The best way to develop good business etiquette would be to get together as a team and consider:

• How do we work with one another?

• What is the image we convey to people?

• Are we polite enough?

• How can we show more respect, be more responsive and recognise people?

• What are our standards?

Often you can generate improvements in just that one session. Rather than calling it ‘business etiquette’, you could call it ‘customer service improvement’ or ‘responsiveness’.

Business etiquette can sound like it focuses on small things that are unimportant, but all together they make a big difference to the workplace and the kind of responses received in all areas.