Sunday, July 29, 2012

The Office Faux Pas

 



I’ve worked with executives and professionals in many companies on protocol and business etiquette. I have heard first hand of stories ranging from the senior manager who began eating directly from the serving trays at the buffet table to someone who applied his deodorant stick during a meeting. Some of these examples may show a lack of self-awareness. You probably don't mean to blunder — but you don't know any better. So acknowledge that, chances are, you may be making business etiquette mistakes that you'd want to correct if only you knew about them. How do you find out? Well one way is to ask for feedback. I receive tons of questions either through email or during my sessions on all areas of business etiquette. I thought I’d share with you some choice ones I have recently received. The names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Q: I just started working at this company. I was using the men’s room when the CEO walked in to use the facilities himself. I wasn’t sure what to do or how to act?

A: The first rule of the men’s room is let others (CEO or no CEO) handle their business in peace. The men’s room ideally should be a place of respite from the madding world outside of the office. So avoid lengthy conversations on the sales meeting figures or the colour of Dan’s new tie. A cursory nod, acknowledgement or brief greeting will suffice. You should let the CEO finish his pit stop and say a quick good morning while you are both washing hands. You do wash your hands afterwards don’t you!

Q: Derek, I am going for a business meeting with a potential client at a Chinese restaurant and I have no idea how to use chops sticks. Help!

Ken

A: Don’t panic Ken, even though they do say when in Rome do as the Romans do. Most Chinese restaurants will give you conventional silverware to use and it’s better to stick with what you know than to struggle picking one grain of rice at a time. Do yourself a favour however and practice on your own and impress your client next time with your chop stick dexterity.

Q: Hi, I am a senior manager for this multinational company and the bosses from the head office in Europe were visiting. In the process of hugging and pecking as I was greeting them, my lipstick rubbed off on the Vice President’s collar just before he was going in to the meeting. I was mortified – what should I have done? Anne

A: Well, in the first place I would have avoided kissing as a way of greeting. The approved skin on skin contact in a professional setting is the handshake. If you know that Hans will insist on pecks then prepare in advance and either don’t wear lipstick that day or blot it off before you meet him. Either that or hang out with society types and learn the art of air kissing. Lipstick is made up of pigments, oils, waxes, and emollients meaning it is infernally difficult to remove without resorting to removing the shirt and washing it or using other products. This I presume being impossible under the circumstances, I would have apologised profusely to Hans and made arrangements then and there to buy or procure him another shirt.

Q: When I go out for a meeting in the morning hours there is this client who insists on buying me alcohol. Is it appropriate to accept or should I politely decline?

A: I think you know the answer to this one; I’m not sure in which business culture it is considered kosher to start drinking in the morning, certainly not here in Kenya. You can come up with any number of excuses for why you don’t drink alcohol and this will not make you any less of a man. Just be unfailingly polite.

Q: My boss and I had gone to a client’s office to make a business presentation. As he began speaking I noticed his zipper was wide open. I decided not to say anything in front of the client. Was this the right thing to do? Njeri

A: This is a tough one Njeri – good business etiquette dictates that it is a mistake to not say anything. But you also don’t want to embarrass him in public. Depending on how long he is speaking for, I’d advise that you tell him very quietly as soon as he sits down or even slip him a note. The cost of not telling could be high if it appears that you knew and kept quiet. If you're embarrassed, get someone else to do it. The trick here is to save him from embarrassment in front of the client and to limit his exposure.

 

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