Business Etiquette

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 Workshop Agenda
• Why Business Etiquette
• Clothing Etiquette / Dress Code
• Greetings and Introductions
• The Proper Handshake
• Touches
• Business Card
• Light and Attractive Presence
• Interpersonal Communication Competencies
• Doors Etiquette
• Electronic Etiquette: Email
• Business Telephone Etiquette
• Conference Etiquette
• Meetings Etiquette 2
Why business etiquette

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 Business Etiquette and Protocol – Why?

• Be aware of more rules of behavior than

you expect to encounter in most social
situations.

• Need to be aware of the behavior that is

expected in the world of work.

• It is how you play the game.

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• A U.S. office of Consumer affairs’ study
showed that “ up to 90% of unhappy
customers never complain about
discourtesy, and 91% will never again do
business with the company that offended
them.

• In addition, the average unhappy customer

will tell the story to at least nine other
people, and 13% of unhappy customers
will tell more than twenty people.”
Good etiquette is good business!

• “A company becomes a company

you want to do business with
because of people who work in it,
so business etiquette has a very
definite relationship to the bottom
line.
Customer Perceived Value

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 Customer Perceived Value

Total Value Total Cost

Product Value Monetary Cost

Service Value Time Cost

Personnel Value Energy Cost

Image Value Psychic Cost

Clothing Etiquette / Dress Code

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 Dress for Success

• Enhance your personal brand and overall

package

• Grooming

• Think CONSERVATIVE

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Greetings and Introductions

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 Greetings & Introductions

• Introduce the more prominent to the

less prominent

• Stand for introductions

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 Greetings & Introductions

• Stand for introductions • When you have been

introduced, use the
person’s name three
• Open confident gesture, times.

• Smile genuinely • Ask to have the name

repeated if it was not
• Keep personal space clear.

• Offer your name first. • Include something of

interest that would start a
conversation if the
• Hand relaxed and open
situation permits. 13
The Proper Handshake

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 The Proper Handshake
• Involves eye contact
• Is firm and painless
• Lasts three seconds
• Takes only 2 or 3 pumps
• Starts and stops crisply
• Does not continue through the
entire introduction

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Touches

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 Hugs and Kisses

• Hugs or kisses are

inappropriate in any
business environment.

• Touching others in the

workplace, of the
same gender or not, is
impolite.
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Business Card

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 Business Cards
• Have a stock of recently printed business cards
on hand.

• A business card should convey your basic

contact information such as your name and
email.

• When offered a business card, say thank you

and present your card in return.

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• When introducing your business card:
– Straight and open gesture
– Use the right hand, not left
– Hand it to the person’s hand
– Smile

• When get a business card:

– Thank you
– Look at it, you may find something to say
– Keep it front pockets, not back pockets
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Light and Attractive Presence

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 Safe and excited No interested
Insecure/hurt

•Stay away from the self (protect core worth)

•Show acceptance and respect to the person

•Open body language

•Empathize genuinely

•Be aware to the zone of choice

•Be specific, avoid generalization, labeling,

•Use productive language

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•Show optimism and good expectations
 People feel insecure
• Evaluations • Controlling
• Judgments/Criticism • Ambiguity
• Sarcasm • Paralysis
• Intrusions of privacy • Mistakes spotlights
• Over-caring • Critical Inspections
• Dominations • Gossiping
• Pessimistic themes • Spell checking
• Oversensitivity • Full obedience
• Superiority • Inconsistency
• Threatening • Escalation 23
Interpersonal Communication
Competencies

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Punitive Communication

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 Punitive communication style

• YOU did this (mistakes) …

• Then YOU are (negative label, comparisons) ….

• Therefore I will (a threat) ….

• I am right/good, but you are wrong

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Transactional Analysis

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 Transactional Analysis
• Berne (1960) suggests that every person has three egos:

– Parent

– Adult

– Child

• Every day we spend sometime in every state.

• Our behavior and communication style differs based on the state we

adopt.
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 Adult-Adult Communication
• Resolves conflict and absorb hostility
A B
Parent Parent
Adult Adult
Child Child

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 Adult-Adult Communication

• When somebody addresses your child with

a punitive parent, or address your parent
with a complaining and unsatisfied child,
the only way to stop the conflict is to
function in the adult position

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 Keeping Your Communication Clean

• Be sensitive to the child of others, protect

that child, and recognise the “not-Ok”
burden that it must carry.

• Protect your own child. Keep it safe when

others are angry and attacking.

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 Keeping Your Communication Clean

• Solve problems and conflicts with your adult only.

• Give your adult time to process data. Your own

parent or child may be jumping inside you to
make a statement.

• Filter what really needs to be said from the

impulsive statements you parent and your child
demand you to make
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 Keeping Your Communication Clean

• Do not use your punitive parent to

communicate. No one wants to hear it.
People will try to react by hitting your child.
Instead use you supportive parent or rely
on adult.

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Doors Etiquette

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 What about Doors?
• If you reach the door first: open it,
go through, and hold it.

• If someone’s arms are full, hold

the door.

• Allow seniors and clients to reach

and go through first.

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Electronic Etiquette: Email

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 Your message
• All of them should fit together:

Content (7 %)

Tone of Voice (38 %)

Body Language (55 %)

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 Email
• Research found that we tend to read less on
electronic devices. Therefore, electronic writing
need a different style.

• It should be clear, concise, short and direct to

the point.

• Remember that emails does not express body

language and does not convey your voice tone

• This is why it might generate conflict and

misunderstanding
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• Know the receiver’s communicating preference

• Consider the reader’s mood, existing

perceptions, and attitudes toward the subject
and toward you. Your email can be interpreted
entirely differently than what you have in mind

• If the subject is complex, use other media, like

face to face, or at least, telephone

• Review before send: tone, words, mood,

phrasing, etc. 39
• CAPS may mean shouting, and slow reading
time by 15%

• Use the same courtesy you would in face-to-

face conversation or a formal letter:
– Please, thank you, I hope you are doing well
– Use courtesy titles: Mr.
– Do not use nicknames, in general

• Do not circulate emails with offensive or

unprofessional content
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• Write a clear, meaningful subject line

• Keep your email message short, no more than

a full screen

• Respect each other’s privacy:

– Ask for permission before forwarding other person’s
email
– Use bcc, if you are sending a group if you want to
preserve the privacy of their emails

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 Electronic Etiquette: Email
• Treat Email as you would printed letters
– Always use a greeting and signature
– Show your full name
– Create a clear concise Subject line
– Always check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Failure to do so makes you, and those you represent,
look bad.
– Respond in a timely manner; use an Auto-reply when
unable to address for long periods of time.

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 Electronic Etiquette: Email
• Keep messages professional
– Never reprimand or criticize others
– Do not Reply All with negative comments
– Do not reply immediately following an emotionally-
charged email. Calm down and give your response
some thought.
– Do not start a new topic of discussion by replying to
an old message
– Do not send jokes or other non-business material
without first asking the recipient

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 Electronic Etiquette: Email

• When forwarding an email to another for

response/resolution, copy the original
sender.

• Take the time to review each email before

clicking Send to ensure your message is
clear and you are relaying the tone that
you want.
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Business Telephone Etiquette

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 When you are the caller
• Plan your agenda before your call
– Say Hello
– Identify yourself quickly and clearly
– Ask/verify for the person
– Light icebreaker – how are you, nice to talk to you
again
– Get the go-ahead before you begin a lengthy
conversation
– Be brief and to the point, in a friendly way

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 When you receive a call
• Greet
• Receive caller in a friendly way (voice
tone)
• Introduce yourself and your company
• Speak slowly and clearly

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• Exercise patience on the phone and let
other people finish their sentences

• Focus on listening

• Do not interrupt and speak over while the

other person is speaking

• Confirm you are listening with periodic oral

sounds, like: yes, aha, etc.
• Give firm answers, not gray sentences 48
 Do not
• Sneeze, blow your nose, cough

• Paper shuffling

• Eat drink, chew gum

• Use inappropriate terms in business:

– Honey, dear, sweetheart
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 Business Telephone Etiquette

• Be sure listener gets message loud and clear

• Do not chew, eat, or drink while on the phone

• Mute when not speaking or asking a question

• Do not interrupt others

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 Closing a Call

• Thank the person(s) for the call

• End on a positive note

• Do not say “See ya”, “Bye-Bye”, or “Later”.

Say Goodbye.

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 Conference Calls – Speak up
• Announce yourself for the benefit of
participants
• Think before you speak
• Be brief, get to the point
• Avoid confrontational language
• Do not upstage the meeting organizer
• No public criticism
• Do not interrupt
• Do not forget to un-mute when speaking!

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 Voicemail Etiquette

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why

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 Voicemail Etiquette: Greeting & Messages

• Write it out and practice

• Smile when you speak
• Do not use sound effects
• Briefer is better

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Meetings Etiquette

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 Strategies for Successful Meetings

• Have an Agenda
• Be prepared- Pre-work, action
items
• Arrive on time or early. Do not be
late.
• Bring all necessary materials
• Put bag on floor next to your
chair
• Turn off phones, pagers, and
PDAs
• Do not multi-task
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 The Meeting Agenda

• List discussion items

• Designate who is responsible for
items and due dates
• Amount of time devoted for each
item
• Handle most important/relevant
items first
• Distribute before the meeting
• Follow the agenda!

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 Meeting Minutes

• Someone to record or take

meeting notes

• Timekeeper

• Minutes distributed 24 hours

after the meeting

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