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Business etiquette
Seems to be lost art, yet everyone yearns for it.
Here are 8 ways you can bring it back into your professional life and improve the moral of your company employees at the same time.
You don’t even have to be in management or leadership to do these simple things.
Give the benefit of the doubt. According to the Mirriam-Webster dictionary this phrase means: the state of accepting something/someone as honest or deserving of trust even though there are doubts. This is especially true after reading quickly written emails, or when someone gives an abbreviated answer due to shortness of time, or when someone assumes you are more familiar with a subject than you actually are, meaning important details are skipped because it is assumed you already know them. Politely ask for clarification. You could begin with something like, “I may be missing something, so please correct me if I am. What I think I heard….”
Say thank you. You want to be appreciated, so do others. Make saying “thank you” a habit in your workplace, whether your workplace is physical or virtual. With use, you’ll find this simple phrase expands people’s willingness to share information and ideas. It may help stave off doubt. Better yet, people will be more interested in working with you.
Reread your email text before you send it. Reread your email as if you are the receiver, not the sender. Clarify what you want to get across succinctly. Editing will help remove potential doubt, misunderstandings, and confusion about what you are truly trying to state. It will also remove the requirement for multiple follow up emails/phone calls to get to the real point that was not made. And don’t forget to clear up spelling and grammar errors. Solid communication helps move you forward.
Don’t cc: everyone. If you are answering a specific question to a specific person, reply only to that person. Don’t copy the world on emails that only need one or a few people involved. Inboxes are full to the brim as it is. Think Lean, don’t waste other’s time.
Don’t use CAPS in emails unless you really do want to yell at someone. Since yelling isn’t considered professional, try sending a polite email asking for private discussion time instead.
Don’t try to pretend you have all the information when you don’t. Your professional reputation will take a hit if you are constantly trying to bluff your way through. Ask for additional insights from those in the room. State you don’t know the answer to the question posed but will spend time figuring it out and then send people the answer. Spend more time preparing. And if you really think you do know everything, listen with the intent to disprove that belief as a double check.
Be accepting of mistakes. Don’t make someone feel insignificant when an honest mistake is made. It deadens your employees’ inquisitiveness, curiosity, and desire to grow in the job. Growth comes through making mistakes, identifying what caused the mistake, and then fixing the mistake. Unless your company wants to stay stuck in what it always has done because people are afraid of making even minor mistakes, you need to be tolerant of learning mistakes. BTW: is there a company policy that all projects require meaningful metrics to capture project problems – especially in risk areas or results that are off track? Mistakes will still be made, but they will be captured faster with metrics, leaving the discussion to focus on the new solution set and the innovation due to it. Learning to fit and create meaningful metrics as early warning signals is a highlight of your SCOR training.
Celebrate the victories, large and small. Tell someone who reports to you, or a cohort, that they did well today. A great way to diminish employee morale is to tell a hard worker that what they just accomplished was the job they were paid to do, nothing more. Even worse, ignore their accomplishments and say nothing.
Talent is still hard to find.
Don’t lose the talent you have because you didn’t say “thank you”. “You did a good job”. Ask “What do you think is the best way to fix this new problem”? Or edit email text that may lead to misunderstanding and confusion.
Business etiquette.
Sometimes all that is required is a little old-fashioned appreciation in today’s new economic realities.
BTW: for those not familiar with the 12 Days of Christmas, they go through January 5.
#businessetiquette #appreciation #courtesy #emailetiquette #thankyou #metrics #talent #SCOR #ProcessandStrategy #CynthiaKalinaKaminsky
Thank you for reading my blogs.
Cynthia Kalina-Kaminsky is an ASCM Master SCOR instructor and consultant. She’s also a supply chain professional. Implementation Essentials provides business etiquette to handle change resistance and politics in supply chains.
Supply Chain Mavens is teaming up with Process and Strategy Solutions to offer SCOR classes.
Learn more about the courses and register on the Process and Strategy Solutions website.