Etiquette in business can come in a

variety of forms

 Etiquette can mean the difference between

a company gaining or losing thousands of
pounds in a meeting setting.
There are different types of meetings:
They can be both formal and informal and
can be held with clients, customers or fellow
colleagues but the one thing they all have in
common is that they usually result in success
or failure.

Formal meetings can take many forms:

board

meetings

management
team

meetings

or departmental meetings

business

negotiations

Theyll usually have a similar structure

overall:
- a chairperson (often referred to simply
as chair who will preside over the
meeting).
- minutes to attend to which will often
include a record of whos present and
perhaps apologies for any absences.
- a set-out agenda which will include the
topics to be discussed.

If you are conducting a meeting which

will include references to reports, statistics
or any other information, you should make
sure that everybody who is going to be
attending the meeting each has a copy of
all the necessary facts and figures which
may be referred to at the meeting 3 or 4
days before it takes place, if possible.

You should dress appropriately for the

meeting

You should be punctual

You should switch off your mobile phone

You might also find that youre faced with

an established, pre-determined seating
arrangement so if youre unsure about
where to sit, ask dont just sit down
anywhere.

Acknowledge the chair and once

discussions are under way, if there is no
set speaking order, its good etiquette to
allow the most senior members at the
meeting to have their say first.
When you are invited to speak, you should
usually address the chair unless those who
have gone before you have done otherwise
and take your cues from their speeches. i.e.
If its necessary to condense your points
because of time restrictions, make sure
your comments are succinct but that you
include all of your major points

Informal meetings can consist of many styles and

some are more informal than others.
Often you will still have a chair who will usually be
the person who called the meeting but youll not
necessarily have to follow the protocol of having
minutes or a rigid, pre determined fixed agenda.
Its also good etiquette that if somebody cannot
attend the meeting, they are still provided with all
the relevant details as to what has been discussed at
a later point.

The key elements of etiquette to remember

are:

be there on time
dress appropriately
know when to speak and when to listen
be courteous
keep and treat the meeting as confidential

Youre inevitably going to encounter a great number

of people whom youll have never previously met
before either face to face or over the phone. But
formality is often very necessary, given that youre
unlikely to know the different types of personalities
youre going to be dealing with until youve actually
met them. Using Mr. Mrs. or Miss will always get
you off to a good start, until youre actually
proffered a first name the person might prefer to be
called. Once youve got over that hurdle, if youre
given a first name, use it and, more importantly,
REMEMBER it.

develop the skills of being a good listener and of

showing an interest (whether genuine or not) in
what the other person has to say
by making eye contact, nodding your head from
time to time and making other facial expressions,
e.g. smiling, will inevitably give off the impression
that you have listened to what the other person is
saying to you and indicates to them that you have
been interested in what theyve had to say.

 ending
a

with a repeat of the persons name

closing handshake (if its face to face)

thanking

them for their time (where

appropriate)

exchange

of business cards

Empathy is an Emotional Intelligence (EI)

competency. In the field of Emotional
Intelligence, there are four clusters of
competencies and eighteen competencies.

The four clusters are:

Self-Awareness
Self-Management
Social Awareness
Relationship Management

Empathy falls under Social Awareness. This

skill reflects a person's ability to connect with
others and to relate to them which is an
essential skill in building and managing
healthy relationships. Without the ability to
understand what another is going through,
our relationships remain superficial and
without the depth and richness that occurs
when we share an emotional connection.

1. For one thing, it requires we pay attention. Too often

we are in our own heads; we have our own agenda. We
are busy. So we don't pay attention to what others are
thinking or feeling. In order to improve, we need to be
more self-aware and more aware of others. For
example, the next time you ask someone how they are
doing, listen to their response. Do you believe them?
Are they really okay? Ask yourself if you care to learn
more. If so, then ask them a question or share your
observation.
2. It takes time. In our fast paced world, people just keep
moving. Empathy requires that we stop and take the
time to care. "What is going on for you; you look like
you have something on your mind?"

3. Your self-esteem gets in the way. When your

mind is so busy with negative thoughts about you,
then you don't have the space to really be present
for another person. Often people think they are
empathetic but when you consider what are you
thinking about when you are listening to the
person, you may find that you are busy thinking
about you - how the person thinks about you, if
they like you.
4. The longer you know a person, the more history
you have with them, the harder it is to put that
aside and simply be with them. You have
developed a preconditioned response which you
will need to be aware of and stop in order to truly
open the connection with this person. Look at
them with new eyes.

5. You are a professional problem-solver. You

believe that if someone shares something that you
automatically need to fix it for them. This is not
empathy. This is about you, not them, and your
need to impress or be right. It removes the
responsibility for solving their problem and places
it in your lap. It diminishes the person and makes
them feel devalued.
Empathy is a choice. We have to choose, to
improve, to care, to get out of our own way, and
to bridge the gaps between us - generations,
cultures, religions, socioeconomics, etc. Empathy
allows us to be fully human and gives others
permission to do the same.

If having a voicemail facility is a fundamental

component in your ability to do your job
effectively, you should ensure that you set it
up correctly in order for it to work as
efficiently as possible for you.

When formulating an outgoing message, you

need to identify your name, company name
if necessary and telephone number. You
need to state that you are presently
unavailable and if you are going to be away
from the office for more than a day, you
should state the date upon which you will be
returning. If youre also not going to be able
to retrieve your voicemail until the date you
return, you should also mention that on
your outgoing message too so that callers
will not think you are ignoring them or
failing to get back to them.

Hi. Youve reached the voicemail of Pam Tordon.

Im currently overseas on business and will not
be returning to the office until 10th December.
During this time I will not have access to
voicemail but will sporadically be checking email at pam.tordon@cpu.com . If your call is
urgent, please contact my colleague, David
Smith on 0000 111 2222. Alternatively, please
leave a brief message after the tone with your
name, company name and phone number and I
will get back to you upon my return. Thank
you.

Videoconferencing is becoming far more

common these days at work since
communication technology has got ever more
sophisticated and with the global nature of
todays business world. Allowing people to
hold virtual meetings anywhere in the world,
they enable important discussions to take
place without the need for each attendee to
be physically present.

In videoconferencing, the person who is in charge is

usually referred to as the moderator. It is their job to
make sure that all of the equipment has been set up
prior to the start of the videoconference and that it
all works.

The moderators role:

set

the standards which are expected

send each participant a copy of the
agenda (including start and finish times)
set out the rules of etiquette regarding
how each participant should interact
within the videoconference itself
introduce all of the speakers in the room
in which the videoconference is taking
place to all of the people who are
watching or participating remotely.

You should dress for a videoconference as

you would for a similar face to face
meeting at work so thats likely to mean
business attire. Neutral and pastel colours
are best. Also remember the background
youre standing in front of. If the
backgrounds dark, wear something lighter
and vice versa otherwise it may be difficult
for people to see you.

When speaking to camera, make direct eye contact

with the camera lens and speak clearly and slowly.
This is a particularly important aspect of etiquette
if youre holding a videoconference with attendees
who are linking in from different parts of the world
where English may not be their first language so
also ensure that you only use verbal terminologies
which everybody will understand. Also be aware
that microphones will pick up other sounds too
apart from your voice so avoid things like rustling
papers, for example. Its also good etiquette for all
participants to switch off their microphones when
somebody else is speaking.

If youre in a remote location from the

virtual meeting room and have been asked
to speak at the videoconference, make sure
you follow good etiquette by identifying
yourself before you begin. A good example
would be:
Good afternoon. Im James Marsh from the
Acquisitions Team based in Bucharest. My
question is.
And, subsequently, each time youre asked
to speak, you should identify yourself.

BUSINESS NETIQUETTE

1.E-mail to an External Company

E-mail takes far longer to read than the printed page and, in the
busy world of global communications and the thousands of e
mails that are sent each day, keep it concise and to the point
without using long rambling sentences. Check for spelling and
grammatical errors too. Use short paragraphs and leave a spare
line between paragraphs. Use numbers or bullet points to
highlight any key information but dont write whole words using
capital letters as it will appear that YOURE SHOUTING! Try to
come up with a succinct subject title which conveys exactly what
the e-mail alludes to. For example, if youre writing about a
product an external company has ordered, include the actual
product as well as the order number i.e. Ref: Your Order
45326/FG Laptops.

Its also important to read over the e-mail

before sending it to check it makes sense
and that there are no errors or
inaccuracies which you are aware of.
E-mail can save you considerable time and
there are many useful widgets contained
within most e-mail programs to enable
you to save you time and to maximise
your communication effectively.

Mail Merges bcc and cc

Be very careful when using cc and bcc for copying in
the same e-mail to multiple e-mail addresses. When
you send an e-mail using the cc function, everybody
can gain access to all of the addresses you have
inputted as cc. In many instances, people do not like
their e-mail addresses being on public show for
everybody else without their explicit permission so
you should avoid that wherever possible. Its far
better to use bcc and nobody is aware who the other
recipients are.

internal e-mails are less formal

information should be conveyed in a clear
and concise manner

Remember that many companies will still

keep every single e-mail which every
employee has sent or received on an
internal company mail server, even if youve
deleted them from your own mailbox.

For example, if youre arranging a meeting,

make sure the time, date and location are
clearly indicated on the e-mail. Youll be
only too aware of the vast amount of emails
that come into your inbox each day so you
can be certain that your colleagues, and
especially your boss, will get just as many
and, perhaps, even more, so keep the
emails short and to the point and put an
appropriate subject title.

No matter that youll always respond to

e-mail the second it lands in your inbox,
not all people are the same and
colleagues may be out of the office or
simply busy when you send them an e
mail and you should not get annoyed if
you dont get a response straight away. If
you prefer, in response to an e-mail that
needs a reply, you can always get back to
the person in a brief message and tell
them youve received it and that youre a
bit busy but will get back to them later.

Also, be very careful if you are angered or

upset by an e-mail. In fact, its good
practice to always leave an e-mail you
receive a good half-hour at least before you
respond to it if its of a serious nature or
its something thats upset or annoyed you.
An angry written response can often come
across far worse to the recipient than you
might have intended. And, a hasty reply to
a complex issue might indicate to the
sender that you havent really given their
message that much thought.

Instant Messaging Etiquette In Business

Whilst

instant messaging has been

around for quite some time and is more
popular with teenagers, it is also used in
business too. Many business men and
women find its a useful tool for keeping
in touch with both clients and colleagues
when theyre working remotely and need
to find out information or want to ask a
question quickly.

 Dont

type long winded paragraphs when

using instant messaging.
What you need to say should be concise
and to the point.
On the other hand, dont revert to text
speak either. Abbreviations like LOL
(laugh out loud) or BRB (be right back)
might be perfectly acceptable within an
instant messaging conversation youre
having with your best friend but might not
be understood or thought appropriate by
a colleague or client.

There is a danger in thinking that an

instant messaging conversation is
supposed to be between two people and
that, therefore, whatever you say is
private and confidential. However, thats
far from the truth. Just as an email can be
sent around the office so too can instant
messenger conversations be saved and
then redistributed. Therefore, dont
include anything that you wouldnt be
prepared to write in an email or typed
letter.

Emoticons are more the domain of people who

are using instant messaging in more of a social
setting but if theyre used within the
organisation youre working in, use them
sparingly. For example, a smiley face to
indicate your pleasure at something somebody
has told you is probably fine but dont pepper
your instant messaging conversations with
them as it can become confusing and isn't
good etiquette.

Instant messenger should only be used

sparingly at work anyway as it can distract
you from the business in hand but your
boss will not be at all pleased if theyre
paying you to work when youre chatting
away to your friends about what youre
wearing in the pub tonight.
Instant messaging can be a useful
networking tool for people who work from
home in a self-employed capacity. It
doesn't harm to put your IM identity on
your virtual business card or as a signature
at the bottom of your emails as it may be a
useful way of networking and establishing
new business contacts.

THANK YOU!