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Guidelines for business etiquette
Executive Planet™ provides valuable tips on business etiquette, customs and protocol for doing business worldwide.
Essential business culture guides for the international traveller
Cultural Quick Tip
Cultural Quick Tip is provided courtesy of [3] Culture Coach.
Question Your Assumptions
You use assumptions in your daily life such as assuming that everyone else will obey the traffic laws on the way to the grocery store, which you assume will be in the same place as it was last week. While some assumptions can be helpful, others can hold you back from understanding how someone else sees the world. This can result in passing judgment on someone else's behavior when it doesn't match your assumptions about the way people should behave. If you find yourself thinking "why are they doing that" in a critical manner, then it's a good time to check what assumptions you are making. Alternatively, you may find that people are making assumptions about you too.
When working in a multi-cultural environment, explore how your assumptions are impacting your interactions with others. Use open inquiry questions such as "can you share with me how you see that?" to gain clarity with others and be willing to share your own way assumptions to promote better understanding. It is also helpful to remember the quote from Wade Davis: "The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you: they are unique manifestations of the human spirit."
The Executive Planet™ guides to doing business worldwide each contain the following articles:
Let's Make a Deal - negotiating tactics, the value of connections, recommended business card style and content, business card protocol, sitting and presenting yourself in meetings, language for brochures and promotional material, pace of business, preferred presentation styles, final agreements, thinking styles, adherance to company policy, and more business culture info . . .
Prosperous Entertaining - typical mealtimes throughout the day, best venues for business entertaining, punctuality for social events, dinner table seating etiquette, mealtime etiquette, importance of alcohol, toasting, guidelines for hosting a banquet/social event, what foods should be served/avoided, accepting and declining invitations, and more business etiquette info. . .
Appointment Alert! - typical vacation times, recommended apppointment times, length of the lunch hour, signals that indicate beginning or end of an appointment, best arrival time (early, late, right on time), and more on business culture info. . . Gift Giving - recommended gifts, gifts to avoid, good and bad colours for wrapping paper, how to present a gift to individuals and groups, guidelines for receiving gifts, and more on business etiquette info. . .
First Name or Title? - using titles such as 'Doctor', naming conventions to avoid, when to use first names, and more business etiquette info. . . Public Behaviour - how to greet strangers and introduce yourself, the rules for men shaking hands with women, acceptable demeanor, rules for eye contact, gestures/sayings to avoid, and more on business culture info. . .
Business Dress - is dress modest, conservative, etc., specific dress requirements for men and women, what visitors should wear to social functions, and more on business etiquette info. . .
Conversation - welcome and unwelcome topics of conversation, the role of compliments, the tone of voice to be used, whether your hosts are physical or more reserved, and more on business culture info. . .
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