What is not taught in B-schools (Part 1)

Manners that are often taken for granted by us are the building blocks that decide where we end up in an organization. As a wise management guru remarked “a man is known by his dress and his address”. That is what the person wears and how he behaves or communicates. The emphasis is not on the acquired knowledge but on the social etiquette. One might have the best of the knowledge but the wrong presentation would be in simple words, fatal.

IT in USA stands for Indians and Taiwanese. Indians make the best software, Taiwanese make the best hardware and the Americans make all the money. The rules of the game are very clear. Be fine tuned to the concept of soft skills. Soft skills are man management skills that are not taught in any business school or university. Discussed below are some things that go a long way in improving business manners.

Telephone manners: Telephonic manners need to be impeccable. The other person judges us by our voice. One needs to talk clearly and precisely. “Who is that speaking?” we bark. How very impolite. The correct way is to identify oneself first and later ask permission to speak with the person. When queried, “Can I speak with so and so” the usual response is to say, “you are”. Can is the physical process of speaking like I can eat, I can walk etc. The correct way is: “May I speak?” which is requesting permission to speak to the person intended.

Workplace manners: One can judge people by what they say. When asked for volunteers for a task one worker says, “Yes! I volunteer, what is the work?” and the second worker says, “What is the work?” When told about the type of work he volunteers. No prizes for guessing who would be given the work and the recognition.

Scold in private and praise in public: Always praise in public as it acts like tonic to the others and scold in private as the person scolded can always come out with his personal pride intact. However, a public bashing would be akin to stripping him naked. You are going to scar him for life. His self-esteem would be shattered.

Smile: As a quip put it, nothing in the world looks bad, if you put on - a smile. One needs 72 muscles to frown and only 21 to smile. So, lets us all smile and face the world. You would be surprised to note the difference in the treatment that you would receive from your colleagues when you smile.

“Standing up” for a lady: Most of the guys think that chivalry is dead and gone but ask any lady and she would wax eloquently about how well she was treated by so and so. To put it in simple words LIKE A LADY. It irritates one to no end to see many a strapping young man callously sitting in his side of the car while the lady struggles to get in. It is considered to be very bad mannered. Same is the case if you receive any refreshment from a lady in a sitting down posture. One is supposed to get up and greet the lady.

“Standing up” in business: A friend in sweets business had remarked, “one of the prerequisite in our business is the ability to stand for many hours without sitting. Not for me the type of sales people who sit on high stools and take orders”