Hope! Most of my friends working at different fields need to show business etiquette from time to time at various places whether its meeting clients or interacting with your peers or boss so let's start it what does Business Etiquette means?
Etiquette refers to the forms, manners and ceremonies established by convention as acceptable or required in social relations, in a profession or in official life. There are many elements which come under Business etiquette and to start with most important element i.e. body language as it plays an important role in showcasing your personality to others.
What is body language?
Body Language is the unique non-verbal channel of communication, by which we convey information, or express our selves through conscious or subconscious gestures, bodily movements or facial expressions.
Body Language - Hand shakes - let's start with hand shaking as this is the first thing when we met a person first time.
Handshakes are:
- The Universally Accepted Business Greeting
- The Only Acceptable Physical Contact for Men & Women In The Business Arena
- You Are Judged By The Quality Of The Handshake
How to shake hands:
Keep the fingers together with the thumb up and open slide your hand into the other person's so that each person's web of skin between thumb and forefingers touches the other's squeeze firmly.
Good Handshake Tips:
A proper handshake - should be firm, lasts about 3 seconds, is released after shake and includes good eye contact with other person.
Extend a hand- meeting someone for the first time, meeting someone you haven't seen for a while, greeting your host, greeting guests, saying good-bye to people at a gathering
Handshaking Tips- Avoid giving a cold, wet handshake keeps your glass/ drink in the left hand
Ground rules:
- Always stand up when being introduced do reach across and shake hands
- Introduce a higher-ranking person to a lower ranking person
- Don't panic if you forget names, be poised
The art of Conversation - listing skills - 70% of our day to day activity revolves around listing and speaking therefore we need to be master of this trait.
- Maintain eye contact
- Have a positive interested body language
- Use non verbal listening cues - Nods, Umm, Uh-uh
- Paraphrase where ever required
- Avoid distracters, like answering the phones, scanning emails while listening
- Use confirming questions
Communicating with Technology- Email Etiquette - Tips
In modern technology word, our most of the communication floats in terms of e-mails so these tips will help to bring more effectiveness in managing e-mails.
- Respond promptly
- Understand your audience
- Use appropriate salutation- Hi, Dear,
- Clean up the mail before forwarding it
- Make the subject line specific
- Abrupt mails like "Done, OK, Will do, Fine are sometimes considered rude
- Ensure that spelling and grammar are correct
- Use appropriate close - Regards, Best Regards
- Avoid jargon and complex words
- DON"T USE ALL CAPITALS- SHOUTING!
- Be concise, use paragraphs
- Have an appropriate tone
- Be careful about attachments
- Proof read and check before you send
Communicating with Technology- Telephone Etiquette - It is something we always do whether communicating on mobile or telephone for personal or business purpose, keep these points in your mind before communicating on telephone:
While calling someone
- Always identify yourself first
- State your purpose
- Respect other people's time
- Be prepared with required information
- Speak slowly and clearly
- Don't chew gum, eat, drink or smoke while talking
- Pause for a response
- Use verbal listening cues
- Have a pleasant tone
- In case of voice mail message, leave a contact number
Hope, these tips will help people to present themselves effectively at office and they will be able to use these traits to climb the ladder of success, because in business or corporate world the packaging of the material matters a lot and my dear friends you all are great stuff and just need good packaging around it to make you more salable.
