Today on Wale’s musings, we will be completing the series Civility and Etiquette. We will be looking at Etiquette as it affects global best practices within and outside an organization. This is still my reflection on one of our brush-up lectures at Lagos Business School (LBS) during our orientation week.
What is Etiquette?
Etiquette is a code of polite behavior acceptable in society. It is society’s expectation of you to do the right things. It is the exhibition of good manners; it underscores the acceptable manner of behavior within a set culture because culture varies in different societies. Business Etiquette does not change, they are global best practice for all businesspeople, meetings, and interactions within the business space. Those who violate business etiquette are considered offensive. The penalty for such behavior frequently lies in the disapproval of other organization members.
How not to be a guest—The Morgan Tsvangirai example
We saw a video of Morgan Tsvangirai the Former Prime Minister of Zimbabwe while on a state visit to Germany. Tsvangirai committed some diplomatic blunders including not allowing his host to lead the way, not standing in front of his country’s flag failing to recognize the colour of his country on the podium, yes, it’s good to have a firm handshake but don’t squeeze your host hands. This is a classical example of what can happen if you lack business and diplomatic etiquette.
Your Clothes—Grooming, Body language, and Carriage.
We will be looking at appearance under this section because the first thing you will see in a person for the first time is what the look like. According to research by Prof. Albert Mehrabiam “In a face-to-face encounter, 7% of a verbal message comes from the words used, 38% from the vocal tone, pacing, and inflections, and 55% from the speaker’s appearance and body language”. We can see that our appearance and body language communicate more than what we know and speak in a meeting, everything about us communicates.
Dress Codes.
Your appearance and body language communicate more than what you can say. The professional code of your work sector will underscore how you dress in that sector. You must always be careful not to carry the dress code of a sector into another one should incase you switch sectors. The dress code acceptable as an engineer will not be acceptable in the finance sector. In advertising, they dress down sometimes wearing torn jeans doing dreadlocks so as to keep with the notion that they think outside the box, while in banking you dress formally and conservatively to keep with the appearance of responsibility. You are expected to dress according to what works for your industry always while representing your company’s brand, remember, everyone, contributes to the image of an organization and everyone is the ambassador of the organization.
Grooming.
Grooming for professionals is non-negotiable. There is no industry that we tolerate a dirty, rough, and unclean employee. We must always remember that a first impression of our appearance goes a long way in our relationships.
Ways to Improve Workplace Etiquette.
These are some common ways to improve workplace etiquette for professionals:
- Make a Good First Impression: As described earlier, you might not have a second chance to make a good first impression.
- Communication is Key: This is essential in workplace ethics; you must know what to say and how to say it at the right time. Manage your tone and body language as well.
- Understand your Work Environment: Understand the generally accepted workplace ethics for your sector, industry, and organization.
- Avoid Gossip: Don’t make value judgments on people’s importance in the workplace or speak negatively about your coworkers, even if you find yourself frustrated over a certain situation. Be thoughtful about how you interact with your supervisor(s), peers, and subordinates as well.
- Be Personable Yet Professional: limit personal calls, emails, and engagement till after office hours. Let business hours be for business.
Till we meet next time, have a nice and fruitful week ahead.
Wale
My Career Choice: Accounting