The laws of the business world are very strict. The rules of ethics developed by Aristotle many centuries ago continue to operate, albeit in their modern form.
Contrary to popular belief, to earn the title of professional, it is not enough to cope with your duties. It is also necessary to demonstrate respect for other employees, managers, and partners of the company. And for this, it is necessary to strictly observe all the rules of business etiquette. Below we have collected five of the most relevant, important and modern rules.
Why Do We Need Business Etiquette?
Why are all these conventions necessary? We do not live in the 19th century. Etiquette in all its rigor has long ceased to be an indispensable part of business communication.
Young entrepreneurs create cool projects in torn jeans and t-shirts with indecent inscriptions, emoticons are acceptable in online communication, and hugging the interlocutor no longer seems out of the ordinary.
If you think so, we will upset you. In certain circles, this is normal, but businessmen also have to communicate with officials, reputable investors, and people of the older generation, for whom all these liberties are unacceptable. Foreign partners may also not understand too persistent manifestations of emotions.
Therefore, let’s follow the following rules. They are very simple but very effective.
Respect the Time of a Colleague, Interlocutor, Manager or Partner
Time is the most important resource. The day of many entrepreneurs is scheduled by the hour, even a minute delay can shift the entire schedule of a business person. Therefore – never be late!
It is better to come to a meeting in advance and wait than to come up with ridiculous excuses. If you have trouble with this – learn the basics of time management, this should help.
Do Not Participate in Office Conflicts
The microclimate in the team largely depends on what kind of relationship has developed between the colleagues in the company. Equal, friendly, respectful relations are the basis of a healthy team. If one of the colleagues makes a mistake, it is important not to humiliate him or her, but to correctly point out the shortcomings in the work, to offer your help.
Office romance, mutual hatred, the Cold War, gray cardinals and office plankton, intrigues against each other are evil forces that interfere with the work environment and solving the main tasks of the team.
And your task as a professional who knows the rules of business etiquette is not to participate in this all, but rather to help colleagues resolve conflicts in peaceful ways.
Develop the Ability to Listen and Hear the Opponent
This is a rare gift given by nature – the ability to hear another person. In business, this gift brings millions, if used wisely.
Each client, employee and business partner will tell you what he or she needs, what the problem is, what help is needed. It is only important to be able to hear and make a counteroffer. In the business world, this skill is also important because it helps to save time, which is more expensive than money since it cannot be accumulated.
During a Meeting, a Smartphone Is an Emergency Tool Only
This rule is quite modern. Aristotle would have flinched if he had learned how the ethical approaches developed by him were transformed after so many centuries.
Yes, indeed, it’s not necessary to forcefully check-in people who probably want to hide your business meeting from others, on Facebook and Instagram.
Friendly companies have long had a rule: whoever takes the phone to urgently look at social networks, that person pays for the whole company.
Soon this rule will get to business etiquette: in fact, there is no urgent news that requires distraction from the interlocutor. It may be a fire in your home or office, but we wish this situation never happened to you.
Keep Adequate Boundaries When Communicating on the Internet
And since we have already talked about how modern technologies are changing approaches to business etiquette, it is also worth mentioning a few simple but important rules for communicating on the Internet.
Did you notice that business communication has partially moved to instant messengers and social networks? It is more convenient for many entrepreneurs and team members to communicate this way. It is more informal and convenient for both parties. Despite the myth of freedom of communication on the Internet, business people must still observe several rules:
- Do not cross personal boundaries. Address a person by name, avoid slang expressions, be polite, and remember that you have working communication, regardless of the messenger or social network.
- Do not use emoticons after each word – one or two is quite enough;
- Even if you want to highlight particularly important thoughts with a caps lock – don’t do this! Big letters are perceived on the Internet as a scream and often cause a negative reaction;
Hint! To find an individual approach to the interlocutor, study the information on the person’s profile. This is one of the advantages of a social network: you can understand a lot about a person by content in a profile or actions on a social network.
There Are Also Specific Rules
These were universal rules, but there are also some specific ones. Depending on the field of activity, professional etiquette may be supplemented by certain rules. Such standards govern how employees should behave in certain situations. In most cases, such rules are reflected in job descriptions.
For service industry employees, there are special instructions that specify how to communicate with customers and what answers to give to the most common questions.
In almost every office, life is governed by some kind of rules, written or unwritten. And such rules can vary greatly, although one thing unites them: the workflow should be organized so that the contribution of each employee is as effective as possible.
Of course, technology has changed the way we communicate, both between colleagues and between brands and consumers. But perhaps the most important rule is always to follow universal values that were developed by Aristotle, regardless of the type of business.