Raising the Bar on Business Etiquette

Posted by Etiquette under Management
From http://carolboryblog.com 5577 days ago
Made Hot by: biancaaquino on August 12, 2009 1:53 pm

Image a highly visible executive at a large private firm announcing she will stop using irony and parody in her blog posts. Her intention was to use wit to further her point although some readers misunderstood her humor. As a gesture to her readers she writes that going forward she will focus her tone on clarity of message with the goal of forging a stronger connection with her readers.

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Comments

Written by lyceum
5571 days ago

It is interesting to see a post on business etiquette. I think that a good business behavior is grounded on a sound ethical base with virtues, e.g. the ones listed by McLaughlin. I see it is time to introduce the business philosopher to companies and talk about the trader principle in order to know how to treat other individuals and have an exchange of ideas and values.

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Written by Etiquette
5574 days ago

Thank you everyone for reading, commenting, and voting on my article.

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Written by McLaughlin
5575 days ago

When I worked at Microsoft we had "Six Pillars of Character" and under Trustworthiness the list included honesty, integrity, promise-keeping & loyalty. I contacted Balmer and said that these should not be listed as traits to aim to have, but they should be a given. He wrote back that lacking these traits should be a firing point.

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Written by DebMark
5576 days ago

Good point Shawn!

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Written by ShawnHessinger
5576 days ago

I think the real problem here is often a disconnect between style, audience and what is being said and it is a BIG part of both marketing and writing/communication in general. What business are you in? What market are you trying to reach? What tone have you had success with in the past? What are your readers/customers telling you? etc. etc. etc. What passes for clever/witty/self-deprecating in one setting, may come off as sarcastic/rude/obnoxious in another. By the same token, what some readers may find civil/respectable/straightforward might be considered boring by another audience. The big question is, who are your readers, your customers and what are they telling you (in words and actions!) about your communications?

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Written by SkipAnderson
5577 days ago

It's nice to see a post on business etiquette. We can use more of it online and offline, I believe. I've seen so many examples of poor business etiquette that I think everyone should read your post.

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Written by smallbiztrends
5577 days ago

This is an excellent article. As I noted on your blog, Carol, "People are always urging me to get controversial when I write, but when I do some people misunderstand." I think it shows respect to be civil to readers and the world at large. Even minor criticism can come across as mean-spirited, even if you did not mean it that way.

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