NFIB

Technology and Good Manners
03/ 28/ 2002


Of course, everyone knows that good manners are important for getting along with co-workers or when serving customers. However, the definition of good manners in today's technological world may be blurred.

All of us have probably been guilty of using the following modern business tools and practices in a way that caused a disruption, irritation or inconvenience to other people. When those people are customers or associates that are important to our business success, then the consequences are written in dollar signs. Workshop contributor Edith Helmich has some reminders to help us keep our p's and q's straight.

Pagers are as common as a briefcase, but can be much more irritating and disruptive. The audible beeper interrupts a conversation or a meeting. Most pagers can be set to vibrate silently so that only the recipient of a call is alerted.

Laptop computers get smaller and lighter every year. People take them everywhere. To use them during meetings is rude and arrogant, suggesting that the reason for the meeting is unimportant to you.

Cellular phones ring at the most inconvenient times if they are taken into a situation where a call would be inappropriate. Turn the phone off and give your attention to the meeting, client or speaker.

Call waiting options were not meant to interrupt conversations repeatedly. If an important call is expected, it is acceptable to state this to a caller and interrupt the conversation if it comes in. It is not acceptable to interrupt a conversation several times with the comment, "Oops, I have another call! Will you hold for a minute?"

Speaker phones allow the caller to address an individual or a whole room full of people. It is necessary to inform the caller if more than one person is listening and to identify who is in the audience. Not doing so holds the potential for embarrassment or a feeling of being ambushed. Neither emotion promotes good business.

E-mail is fast, convenient and effective. However, business communication is business communication. Keep the messages brief, but use full sentences. Use proper titles, subject lines and a respectful closing. Leave the smiley faces for personal messages. Don't overuse office computers for trivial messages, a practice that can create long, burdensome lists of e-mail to read.

Sometimes a new technology is used inappropriately because of its novelty. It becomes a toy with the playtime creating a loss of efficiency. An occasional reminder to ourselves or to employees is usually all that is needed to place the technology back in appropriate use.

workshop.technology.thu
3.11.1999

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