1. Business Communication Today
Chapter 2
Collaboration, Interpersonal Communication, and Business Etiquette
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2. Problem-Solving Teams
What Is a Team?
A team is a unit of two or more people who share a mission and the responsibility for working to achieve a common goal.
Committees
Task Forces
Problem-Solving Teams
A team is a unit of two or more people who share a mission and the responsibility for working to achieve a common goal. Problem-solving teams and task forces assemble to resolve specific issues and then disband when their goals have been accomplished. Committees are formal teams that usually have a long life span and can become a permanent part of the organizational structure.
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3. Advantages of Teams Increased Information and Knowledge
Increased Diversity of Viewpoints
Increased Acceptance of Solutions
Increased Levels of Performance
At the core of participative management, successful teams offer a number of advantages:
Increased information and knowledge. By aggregating the resources of several individuals, teams bring more information to the decision process.
Increased diversity of views. Team members bring a variety of viewpoints to the decision process, if these diverse views are guided by a shared goal.
Increased acceptance of solutions. Those who participate in decision making are more likely to support the decision and encourage others to accept it.
Higher performance levels. Effective teams can be better than top-performing individuals at solving complex problems.
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4. Disadvantages of Teams
High Cost
Aligning Schedules
Arranging Meetings
Restricts Interaction
Limits Productivity
Pressure to Conform
Affects Decision Quality
Groupthink
Hidden Agenda
The disadvantages of teams include groupthink, a hidden agenda, and high cost.
Like other social structures, business teams can generate tremendous pressures to conform. Groupthink occurs when peer pressures cause individual team members to withhold contrary or unpopular opinions and to go along with decisions they don’t really believe in. The result can be decisions that are worse than the choices the team members might have made individually.
Some team members may have a hidden agenda—private, counterproductive motives that affect the group’s interaction.
Still another drawback to teamwork is the high cost of coordinating group activities. Aligning schedules, arranging meetings, and coordinating a project can eat up a lot of time and money.
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5. Characteristics of Effective Teams
Clear objective and shared purpose
Strong sense of trust
Open and honest communication
Consensus decision making
Creative thinking
Skill at resolving conflicts
The most effective teams have a clear objective and a shared sense of purpose. Furthermore, they have a strong sense of trust, communicate openly and honestly, reach decisions by consensus, think creatively, and know how to resolve conflict. Teams that have these attributes can focus their time and energy on their work, without being disrupted by destructive conflict. In contrast, teams that lack one or more of these attributes can get bogged down in conflict or waste time and resources pursuing unclear goals. Two of the most common reasons cited for unsuccessful teamwork are a lack of trust and poor communication.
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6. Group Dynamics Roles Assumed by Team Members
Current Phase of Team Development
Ability to Resolve Conflict/Resistance
The interactions and processes that take place among the members of a team are called group dynamics. Productive teams tend to develop clear norms—informal standards of conduct that members share and which guide member behavior. Group dynamics are influenced by several factors: the roles that team members assume, the current phase of team development, and the team’s success in resolving conflict and overcoming resistance.
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7. Information Giving or Seeking
Assuming Team Roles
Dysfunctional
Self-Oriented
Functional
Team Maintenance
Task-Oriented
Controlling
Withdrawing
Attention-Seeking
Diverting
Initiating
Information Giving or Seeking
Coordinating
Procedure Setting
Encouraging
Harmonizing
Compromising
Members of a team can play various roles, which fall into three categories.
Members who assume self-oriented roles are motivated mainly to fulfill personal needs, so they tend to be less productive than other members. These roles include controlling others, withdrawing from the team, seeking attention, and diverting the team’s efforts.
Far more likely to contribute to team goals are members who assume team-maintenance roles to help everyone work well together, and those who assume task-oriented roles to help the team reach its goals.
Team-maintenance roles include encouraging others, harmonizing (reconciling) differences, and making compromises to reach a mutually acceptable decision.
Task-oriented roles include initiating team efforts, offering or seeking information, coordinating ideas and issues, and setting (suggesting) procedures that will move the team forward.
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8. Stages of Group Development
Forming stage - the first stage of group development in which people join the group and then define the group’s purpose, structure, and leadership
Storming stage - the second stage of group development, characterized by intragroup conflict
Norming stage - the third stage of group development, characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness.
Research shows that groups develop through five stages.
The forming stage has two phases. The first occurs as people join the group. In a formal group, people join because of some work assignment. Once they’ve joined, the second phase begins: defining the group’s purpose, structure, and leadership.
The storming stage is appropriately named because of the intragroup conflict. There’s conflict over who will control the group and what the group needs to be doing. During this stage, a relatively clear hierarchy of leadership and agreement on the group’s direction emerge.
The norming stage is one in which close relationships develop and the group becomes cohesive. There’s now a strong sense of group identity and camaraderie. This stage is complete when the group structure solidifies and the group has assimilated a common set of expectations (or norms) regarding member behavior.

9. Stages of Group Development
Performing stage - the fourth stage of group development when the group is fully functional and works on group task.
Adjourning - the final stage of group development for temporary groups during which group members are concerned with wrapping up activities rather than task performance.
The fourth stage is the performing stage. The group structure is in place and accepted by group members. Their energies have moved from getting to know and understand each other to working on the group’s task. This is the last stage of development for permanent work groups.
for temporary groups—project teams, task forces, or similar groups that have a limited task to do—the final stage is adjourning. In this stage, the group prepares to disband. The group focuses its attention on wrapping up activities instead of task performance.

10. Types of Conflict
Task conflict - conflicts over content and goals of the work.
Relationship conflict - conflict based on interpersonal relationships.
Process conflict - conflict over how work gets done.
Task conflict relates to the content and goals of the work. Relationship conflict focuses on interpersonal relationships.
Process conflict refers to how the work gets done. Research shows that relationship conflicts are almost always dysfunctional because the interpersonal hostilities increase personality clashes and decrease mutual understanding and the tasks don’t get done. On the other hand, low levels of process conflict and low-to-moderate levels of task conflict are functional. For process conflict to be productive, it must be minimal.
Otherwise, intense arguments over who should do what may become dysfunctional and can lead to uncertainty about task assignments, increase the time to complete tasks, and result in members working at cross-purposes.

11. Conflict Management Techniques
When group conflict levels are too high, managers can select from five conflict management options: avoidance, accommodation, forcing, compromise, and collaboration. 29 (See Exhibit 14-8 for a description of these techniques.)

12. Resolving Team Conflict
Fair Play
Alliance
Research
Flexibility
Proaction
Communication
Openness
Conflict in team activities is destructive if it diverts energy from important issues, destroys the morale of the team or individual team members, or polarizes or divides the team. Conflict is constructive if it forces important issues into the open, increases involvement of team members, and generates creative solutions.
The following seven measures can help team members successfully resolve conflict:
Proaction. Deal with minor conflict before it becomes major conflict.
Communication. Get those directly involved in the conflict to participate in resolving it.
Openness. Get feelings out in the open, then deal with the main issues.
Research. Seek factual reasons for the problem before seeking solutions.
Flexibility. Don’t let anyone lock into a position before considering other solutions.
Fair play. Don’t avoid a fair solution by hiding behind the rules.
Alliance. Get parties to fight together against an “outside force” instead of against each other.
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13. Overcoming Resistance
•Express Understanding
•Bring Resistance Out Into the Open
•Evaluate Others’ Objections Fairly
•Hold Arguments for the Right Time
Part of dealing with conflict is learning how to persuade other people to accept your point of view. In a business situation, reason usually prevails. However, people sometimes react emotionally. When you face irrational resistance, try to remain calm and detached. That way, you can avoid destructive confrontations and present your position in a convincing manner.
Express understanding. Most people are ashamed of reacting emotionally in business situations. Help the other person relax and talk about his or her anxiety so that you have a chance to offer reassurance.
Bring resistance out into the open. When people are noncommittal and silent, they may be tuning you out without even knowing why. Continuing with your argument is futile. Deal directly with the resistance, without being accusing.
Evaluate others’ objections fairly. Focus on what the person is expressing, both the words and the feelings. Get the person to open up so that you can understand the basis for the resistance.
Hold your arguments until the other person is ready for them. Getting your point across depends as much on the other person’s frame of mind as it does on your arguments. You cannot assume that a strong argument will speak for itself. Address the other person’s emotional needs first.
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14. Guidelines for Collaborative Writing
Select Collaborators Carefully
Agree on Project Goals
Give the Team Time to Bond
Clarify Individual Responsibilities
In any collaborative effort, recognize that team members coming from different backgrounds may have different work habits or priorities. To collaborate effectively, everyone involved must be flexible, open to other opinions, and focused on team objectives rather than on individual priorities. The following guidelines will help you work together more successfully:
Select collaborators carefully. Choose a combination of people who have the experience, information, and talent needed for each project.
Agree on project goals before you start. Starting without a clear idea of what you hope to accomplish will lead to frustration and wasted time.
Give your team time to bond before diving in. Make sure people can get to know each other before being asked to collaborate.
Clarify individual responsibilities. This is essential because team members will be depending on each other.
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15. Guidelines for Collaborative Writing
Establish Clear Processes
Avoid Composing as a Group
Confirm Technical Compatibility
Check Overall Progress of the Group
Establish clear processes. Make sure everyone knows how the work will be managed from start to finish.
Avoid composing as a group. The actual composition is the only part of developing team messages that does not usually benefit from group participation. Assign the actual writing to one person or divide larger projects among multiple writers. If you divide the writing, have one person do a final revision pass to ensure a consistent style.
Make sure tools and techniques are ready and compatible across the team. Minor details such as different versions of software can delay projects.
Check to see how things are going along the way. Don’t assume that everything is working, just because you don’t hear anything negative.
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16. Technologies for Collaborative Writing
Groupware
Shared Knowledge
Cloud Computing
Shared
Workspaces
Intranets
Extranets
Teams and other work groups can also take advantage of groupware or collaboration platforms. These technologies let people communicate, share files, review previous message threads, work on documents simultaneously, and connect using social networking tools. These systems help companies capture and share knowledge from multiple experts, bringing greater insights to bear on tough challenges. Collaboration systems often take advantage of cloud computing, which delivers “on-demand” capabilities over the Internet, rather than through conventional on-site software.
Shared workspaces are online “virtual offices” that give everyone on a team access to the same set of resources and information. You may see some of these workspaces referred to as intranets (open to employees only) or extranets (available to employees and outside parties by invitation only).
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17. Collaboration via Mobile Devices
Unified Communication
Voice and Video Calling
Voice and Video Conferencing
Instant Messaging
Real-Time Collaboration
Mobile devices add another layer of options for collaborative writing and other communication projects, particularly when used with cloud computing. An important aspect of mobile collaboration and mobile communication in general is unified communication, which integrates such capabilities as voice and video calling, voice and video conferencing, instant messaging, and real-time collaboration software in a single system. By minimizing or eliminating the need to manage multiple communication systems and devices, unified communication promises to improve response times, productivity, and collaboration efforts.
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18. Giving and Responding to Constructive Feedback
 Offering Constructive Criticism
Focus on the process and outcomes.
Provide clear guidelines for improvement.
Receiving Constructive Criticism
Don’t get defensive or deny the feedback’s validity.
Use feedback to improve the quality of your work.
You will encounter numerous situations in which you are expected to give and receive feedback regarding communication efforts. Whether giving or receiving criticism, be sure you do so in a constructive way. Constructive feedback, sometimes called constructive criticism, focuses on the process and outcomes of communication, not on the people involved. In contrast, destructive feedback delivers criticism with no effort to stimulate improvement.
When you receive constructive feedback, resist the urge to defend your work or refuse the feedback. Remaining open to criticism isn’t easy when you’ve invested significant time and effort into a project. However, good feedback provides a valuable opportunity to learn and improve the quality of your work.
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19. Making Your Meetings More Productive.
Much of your workplace communication will occur in meetings, so to a large degree, your ability to contribute to the company—and to be recognized for your contributions—will depend on your meeting skills. As useful as meetings can be, though, they can be an aggravating waste of time if they aren’t planned and managed well.
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20. Preparing for Meetings
Define the Purpose
Select Participants
Choose the Time and Venue
Set the Agenda
Successful meetings start with thoughtful preparation. After you have confirmed that a meeting is necessary, use the following planning tasks:
Define your purpose. Meetings can focus on exchanging information, reaching decisions, or collaborating. Whatever your purpose, define the best possible result of the meeting.
Select participants for the meeting. The rule is simple: Invite everyone who really needs to be involved; don’t invite anyone who doesn’t need to be there.
Choose the venue and the time. Online meetings are often the best way to connect people in multiple locations or to reach large audiences. For onsite meetings, review the facility and the seating arrangements. If you have control over the timing, morning meetings are often more productive because people are generally more alert and not yet engaged with the work of the day.
Set the agenda. People who will be presenting information need to know what is expected of them, non-presenters need to know what will be presented so they can prepare questions, and everyone needs to know how long the meeting will last. In addition, the agenda is an important tool for guiding the progress of the meeting.
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21. Conducting and Contributing to Efficient Meetings
Keep the discussion on track.
Follow agreed-upon rules.
Encourage everyone to participate.
Participate in an active way.
Use mobile devices respectfully.
Close the meeting effectively.
The following guidelines will help leaders and participants contribute to meetings more effectively:
Keep the meeting on track. Good leaders need to guide, mediate, probe, stimulate, summarize, and redirect discussions that have gotten off track.
Follow agreed-upon rules. The larger the meeting, the more formal you will need to be. Formal meetings often use parliamentary procedure, a time-tested method for planning and running effective meetings.
Encourage participation. Some participants are too quiet and others are too talkative. The best meetings are those in which everyone participates, so don’t let one or two people dominate the meeting while others remain silent.
Participate actively. Contribute to the subject of the meeting and the smooth interaction of the participants. Listen and observe to size up the interpersonal dynamics of the group and then adapt to help the group achieve its goals. Speak up if you have something useful to say, but don’t monopolize the discussion.
Use mobile devices respectfully. Tweeting key points from a speech or jotting down notes on your tablet can be productive and respectful. Checking Facebook and working on unrelated tasks are not.
Close effectively. At the end of the meeting, verify that the objectives have been met; if not, schedule follow-up work. Then, summarize the decisions reached, and make sure everyone understands and agrees on the outcome.
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22. Putting Meeting Results to Productive Use
Written Meeting
Minutes
•Problems and Opportunities
•Action Items Discussed
•Key Decisions Made
•Important Announcements
•Responsibilities Assigned
The conventional method of recording meetings is through written meeting minutes, a summary of the important information presented and the decisions made.
In most cases, the value of a meeting doesn’t end when the meeting ends. For example, problems or opportunities brought up during a meeting need to be addressed, any action items assigned during the meeting need to be acted on, and key decisions and announcements should be distributed to participants and those who were unable to attend.
The specific format of the minutes is less important than making sure you record all the key information, particularly regarding responsibilities that were assigned during the meeting. Any handouts, electronic slides, or supporting documents can be attached to the minutes when they are distributed. Depending on the meeting technologies at your disposal, you may have software specifically designed to record, distribute, and store meeting minutes.
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23. Using Meeting Technologies
Technology can allow professionals to enhance or even replace traditional meetings. Replacing in-person meetings with long-distance, virtual meetings can reduce costs, resource usage, and wear and tear on employees. It can also give teams access to a wider pool of expertise.
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24. Using Meeting Technologies
Instant Messaging
Teleconferencing
Videoconferencing
Telepresence
Virtual Meetings
Instant messaging (IM) and teleconferencing are the simplest forms of virtual meetings. Videoconferencing lets participants see and hear each other, demonstrate products, and transmit other visual information. Telepresence enables realistic conferences in which participants thousands of miles apart almost seem to be in the same room. The ability to convey nonverbal subtleties such as facial expressions and hand gestures makes these systems particularly good for negotiations, collaborative problem solving, and other complex discussions.
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25. Successful Virtual Meetings
Spend extra time planning before meetings.
Be more diligent during meetings.
Strive for audience engagement.
Provide opportunities to contribute.
Commit to paying attention.
Conducting successful meetings over the phone or online requires extra planning before the meeting and more diligence during the meeting. Because virtual meetings offer less visual contact and nonverbal communication than in-person meetings, leaders need to make sure everyone stays engaged and has the opportunity to contribute. Paying attention during online meetings takes greater effort as well. Participants need to stay committed to the meeting and resist the temptation to work on unrelated tasks.
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26. Improving Your Listening Skills.
Your long-term career prospects are closely tied to your ability to listen effectively. Effective listening strengthens organizational relationships, alerts the organization to opportunities for innovation, and allows the organization to manage growing diversity both in the workforce and the customers it serves. Some 80 percent of top executives say that listening is the most important skill needed to get things done in the workplace. Plus, today’s younger employees place a high premium on being heard, so listening is becoming even more vital for managers.
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27. Recognizing Various Types of Listening
Active
Empathic
Critical
Content
Effective listeners adapt their listening approaches to different situations.
The goal of content listening is to understand and retain the speaker’s message. You may ask questions, but don’t argue or judge. Just focus on the information.
The goal of critical listening is to understand and evaluate the meaning of the speaker’s message on several levels: such as the logic of the argument, the strength of the evidence, the validity of the conclusions, the speaker’s intentions and motives, and the omission of any relevant points. Be on the lookout for speaker bias, and separate opinions from facts.
The goal of empathic listening is to understand the speaker’s feelings, needs, and wants so that you can appreciate his or her point of view, regardless of whether you share that perspective. By listening in an empathic way, you help the individual vent the emotions that prevent a clear-headed approach to the subject. Avoid the temptation to give advice. Try not to judge the individual’s feelings. Just let the other person talk.
Effective listeners try to engage in active listening. They make a conscious effort to turn off their own filters and biases to truly hear and understand what the other party is saying. They ask questions, summarize the message to verify key points, and encourage the speaker through positive body language and supportive feedback.
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28. The Listening Process The Five-Step Plan
1. Receiving or Hearing the Message
2. Decoding or Assigning Meaning
3. Remembering the Message
4. Evaluating Information Quality
5. Responding to the Message
Listening seems like a simple procedure; however, most of us are not very good at it. Most people listen at or below a 25 percent efficiency rate, remember only about half of what’s said during a 10-minute conversation, and forget half of that within 48 hours. To listen effectively, you need to complete five steps successfully:  
Receiving: Physically hearing the message and recognizing it as incoming information.
Decoding: Assigning meaning to sounds according to your own values, beliefs, ideas, expectations, roles, needs, and personal history.
Remembering: Storing a message for future reference.
Evaluating: Evaluating the quality of the information.
Responding: Reacting based on the situation and the nature of the information.
If one of these steps breaks down, the listening process will become less effective or may even fail entirely.
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29. Overcoming Barriers to Effective Listening
Interruptions
Distractions
Selective Listening
Selective Perception
Language/Experience
Memory Issues
Good listeners look for ways to overcome potential barriers throughout the listening process. Maybe you can’t control some factors, such as conference room acoustics or poor phone reception. However, you can avoid interrupting speakers or creating distractions that make it hard for others to pay attention.
Selective listening happens when your mind wanders. You will often stay tuned out until you hear a word or phrase that gets your attention once more. However, by that time, you are unable to recall what the speaker actually said; instead, you remember what you think the speaker probably said.
Selective perception leads listeners to mold messages to fit their own conceptual frameworks. Listeners sometimes make up their minds before fully hearing the speaker’s message, or they engage in defensive listening: protecting their self-esteem by tuning out anything that does not confirm to their view of themselves.
Even with the best intentions, you can still misinterpret incoming messages if you and the speaker do not share enough background, such as language or experience. When communicating with a speaker whose native language or life experience is different from yours, try paraphrasing his or her ideas. Doing so will give that person the chance to confirm what you think you heard or to correct any misinterpretation.
One simple rule: Don’t rely on your memory if the information is crucial. Record it, write it down, or capture it in some other physical way.
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30. Improving Your Nonverbal Communication Skills
Nonverbal communication is the process of sending and receiving information, both intentionally and unintentionally, without using written or spoken language. Nonverbal signals play a vital role in communication because they can strengthen a verbal message (when the nonverbal signals match the spoken words), weaken a verbal message (when nonverbal signals don’t match the words), or replace words entirely. For example, you might tell a client that a project is proceeding on time and within budget, but your forced smile and nervous glances send an entirely different message.
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31. Recognizing Nonverbal Communication
Facial Expressions
Vocal Characteristics
Touching Behavior
Gestures and Posture
Personal Appearance
Time and Space
Paying special attention to nonverbal signals will enhance your ability to communicate successfully. Six types of signals are particularly important:
Facial Expressions. Your face is the primary site for expressing your emotions; it reveals both the type and the intensity of your feelings. However, facial signals can vary widely from culture to culture.
Gesture and postures. The way you position and move your body expresses both specific and general messages, some voluntary and some involuntary. Many gestures—a wave of the hand, for example—have a specific and intentional meaning. Other types of body movement are unintentional and express a more general message.
Vocal characteristics. Your voice also carries intentional and unintentional messages. Your tone, volume, accent, and speaking pace say a lot about who you are, your relationship to the audience, and your emotions.
Personal appearance. People respond to others on the basis of their physical appearance. You can control grooming, clothing, accessories, style. To make a good impression, adopt the style of the people you want to impress.
Touch. Touch can convey warmth, comfort, and reassurance. Touch is so powerful, however, that cultural customs govern touching behavior.
Time and space. Time and space can be used to assert authority, imply intimacy, and send other nonverbal messages. Keep in mind that expectations regarding both time and space vary by culture.
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32. Using Nonverbal Communication Effectively
Talking
Not Talking
Listening
Paying attention to nonverbal cues will make you both a better speaker and a better listener. When you’re talking, be conscious of the nonverbal cues you could be sending. Are they effective without being manipulative?
Consider the nonverbal signals you send when you’re not talking, such as the clothes you wear, the way you sit, or the way you walk. Are you talking like a businessperson but dressing like you belong in a dance club or a fraternity house?
When you’re listening, pay attention to the speaker’s nonverbal cues. Do they amplify the speaker’s words or contradict them? Is the speaker intentionally using nonverbal signals to send you a message that he or she cannot put into words? Be observant, but don’t assume you can “read someone like a book.”
Nonverbal signals are powerful but not infallible. If something doesn’t feel right, ask the speaker an honest, respectful question. Doing so may clear everything up, or it may uncover issues you need to explore further.
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33. Developing Your Business Etiquette
You may have noticed a common thread running through the topics of successful teamwork, productive meetings, effective listening, and nonverbal communication: the need for mutual respect and consideration among all participants. Nobody wants to work with someone who is rude to colleagues or an embarrassment to the company. Moreover, poor etiquette can drive away customers, investors, and other critical audiences—and it can limit your career potential.
This section addresses some key etiquette points to remember when you’re in the workplace, out in public, and online. Long lists of etiquette rules can be difficult to remember. However, you can get by in most situations if you’re mindful of your effect on others, treat everyone with respect, and understand that the impressions you leave behind can have a lasting effect on you and your company.
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34. Business Etiquette in the Workplace
•Personal Appearance
•Personal Grooming
•Personal Phone Skills
Workplace etiquette includes a variety of behaviors, habits, and aspects of nonverbal communication.
Your personal appearance often has considerable impact on your career success. Pay attention to the style of dress where you work and adjust your style to match. In addition to your clothing, grooming affects the impression you give others in the workplace. Pay close attention to cleanliness and avoid using products with powerful scents, such as perfumed soaps and colognes.
IM and other text-based tools have taken over many exchanges that used to take place over the phone, but phone skills are still essential. Because phone calls lack the visual richness of face-to-face conversations, you have to rely on your attitude and tone of voice to convey confidence and professionalism.
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35. Guidelines for Using Phones in the Workplace
Be aware of how your voice sounds.
Be courteous when placing calls.
Convey a positive and professional attitude.
End calls courteously and clearly.
Use your voic to help callers.
Be considerate when leaving voic s.
Here are some important tips for using phones at work.
Be conscious of how your voice sounds. Don’t speak in a monotone; vary your pitch and inflections so people know you’re interested. Slow down when conversing with people whose native language isn’t the same as yours.
Be courteous when you call someone. Identify yourself and your organization, state why you’re calling, and verify that you’ve called at a good time. Minimize the noise level in your environment. For important or complicated conversations, plan what you want to say before calling.
Convey a positive, professional attitude when you answer the phone. Answer promptly and with a smile so that you sound welcoming. Identify yourself and your company. Establish the needs of your caller by asking, “How may I help you?”
End calls with courtesy and clarity. Close in a friendly, positive manner and double-check all vital information such as meeting times and dates.
Use your own voic features to help callers. Record a brief, professional-sounding outgoing message for regular use. If you don’t check your messages regularly or at all, disable your voic .
Be considerate when leaving voic messages. If you leave a voic message, make it as brief as possible. Leave your name, number (don’t assume the recipient has caller ID), reason for calling, and times you can be reached.
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36. Business Etiquette in Social Settings
Meeting Others
Representing Your Company
Introducing Yourself
Introducing Other People
Business Meals
Observing Dining Etiquette
Starting Polite Conversations
Choosing Appropriate Topics
From business lunches to industry conferences, you represent your company when you are out in public. Make sure that your appearance and actions are appropriate to the situation.
When introducing yourself, include a brief description of your role in the company. When introducing two other people, speak both their first and last names clearly, and then try to help these two people ease into a conversation.
Business is often conducted over meals. Knowing the basics of dining etiquette will make you more effective in these situations. Choose foods that are easy to eat while you are trying to carry on a conversation. Avoid alcoholic beverages, but if one is appropriate, save it for the end of the meal. Leave business papers under your chair until entrée plates have been removed; the business aspect of the meal usually doesn’t begin until then. Finally, business meals are a forum for business, period. Avoid topics that are likely to stir up emotions. Don’t complain about work, avoid profanity, and be careful with humor.
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37. Business Etiquette Online
Behave professionally online.
Avoid personal attacks.
Stay focused on the original topic.
Don’t present opinions as facts.
Use standard spelling and grammar.
Electronic media seem to be the breeding ground for poor etiquette. If you learn the basics of professional online behavior, you can avoid mistakes that could hurt your company or your career. Here are some guidelines to follow whenever you’re using electronic media to represent your company:
Learn the basics of professional online behavior. You can avoid mistakes that could hurt your company or your career.
Avoid personal attacks. The anonymous and instantaneous nature of online communication can cause even level-headed people to strike out in blog postings, social networks, and other media.
Stay focused on the original topic. If you want to change the subject of an exchange, a forum discussion, or a blog comment thread, start a new message.
Don’t present opinions as facts, and support facts with evidence. This guideline applies to all communication, but online venues seem to tempt people into presenting their beliefs and opinions as unassailable truths.
Follow basic expectations of spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Sending careless, acronym-filled messages that look like you’re texting your high school buddies makes you look like an amateur.
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38. Business Etiquette Online
Use up-to-date virus protection.
Use hard-to-break passwords.
Ask permission before an IM chat.
Control language and emotions.
Avoid multitasking when using IM.
Use virus protection and keep it up to date. Sending or posting a file that contains a computer virus puts others at risk.
Use difficult-to-break passwords on , Twitter, and other accounts. If someone hacks your account, it can create spam headaches—or worse—for your contacts and followers.
Ask if this is a good time for an IM chat. Don’t assume that just because a person is showing as “available” on your IM system, he or she wants to chat at this moment.
Watch your language and keep your emotions under control. A single indiscretion could haunt you forever.
Avoid multitasking while using IM and other tools. You might think you’re saving time by doing a dozen things at once, but you’re probably making the other person wait while you bounce back and forth between IM and your other tasks.
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39. Business Etiquette Online
Never assume privacy.
Avoid using “reply all” in .
Don’t waste other people’s time.
Respect personal boundaries.
Be careful when commenting online.
Never assume privacy. Assume that anything you type will be stored forever, could be forwarded to other people, and might be read by your boss or the company’s security staff.
Don’t use “Reply All” in unless everyone can benefit from your reply. If one or more recipients of an message don’t need the information in your reply, remove their addresses before you send.
Don’t waste others’ time with sloppy, confusing, or incomplete messages. Doing so is disrespectful.
Respect boundaries of time and virtual space. For instance, don’t start using an employee’s personal Facebook page for business messages unless you’ve discussed it beforehand, and don’t assume people are available to discuss work matters around the clock, even if you do find them online in the middle of the night.
Be careful of online commenting mechanisms. For example, many blogs and websites now use your Facebook login to let you comment on articles. If your Facebook profile includes your job title and company name, those could show up along with your comment.
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Chapter 2 ̶

40. Business Etiquette Using Mobile Devices
Personal Mobile Device Habits
Issues with Virtual Assistants
Expectations and Policies
Your mobile device habits say a lot about how much respect you have for the people around you. Selecting obnoxious ring tones, talking loudly in public places, invading someone’s privacy by using your phone’s camera in inappropriate places, texting while someone is talking to you, allowing incoming calls to interrupt meetings or discussions—these are all disrespectful choices that will reflect negatively on you. Don’t assume that your habits will be universally acceptable.
Virtual assistants raise another new etiquette dilemma. As with other public behaviors, think about the effect you have on the people around you before using these technologies.
Expectations and policies regarding mobile device use vary widely from company to company. Make sure you understand the situation in your workplace.
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Chapter 2 ̶

41. Business Communication Today
Chapter 2
Collaboration, Interpersonal Communication, and Business Etiquette
Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 2 ̶

42. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.
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