Eleven Commandments For Business Meeting Etiquette

1 Professional developmentHere s a knee-slapper: What did theemployee say when his boss askedwhy he missed a recent Meeting ?Answer: Sorry, I had to get some actualwork done. What s that? I don t hear you be that your sense of humor hasbeen worn down sitting through endlesspresentations, disorganized gripe ses-sions, or Business meetings where keyplayers showed up late, if at , I think the Business worldcould borrow a page from the book ofEmily Post, the maven of politeness andetiquette. A good Business Meeting is onewhere all the players show courtesy andrespect. This approach conveys a simplemessage: We re all professionals here, solet s have a productive , I researched the topic of busi-ness Meeting Etiquette but found virtuallyno established rules on holding courteousmeetings.

2 So I ve gathered what I velearned from my own experience into theeleven Commandments listed are by no means the final word. Ifyou have thoughts on Meeting Etiquette ,please send them to asked via phone, e-mail, or electronic calendar to attenda Business Meeting , be sure to reply ifa reply is requested. Some meetingsare structured and spaces secured onthe basis of expected this is not possible, arriveat the scheduled time at the latest but never late. Do not assume that thebeginning of a Meeting will be delayeduntil all those planning to attend arepresent. If you arrive late, you risk miss-ing valuable information and lose thechance to provide your input. Also, youshould not expect others to fill you induring or after the Meeting ; everyone isbusy, and those who were conscientiousenough to arrive on time should nothave to recap the Meeting for bring some-thing to write on as well as to write usually are called to conveyinformation, and it is disruptive to askothers for paper and pen if you decideto take notes.

3 If you know you will bepresenting information, ensure thatyour handouts, view foils, PowerPointslides, etc., are organized and Not your com-ments to the speaker until the meet-ing has adjourned or until the speakerasks for comments, unless, of course,the speaker has encouraged open dis-course throughout the Meeting . Also,do not interrupt other your comments to others in themeeting until after the Meeting isadjourned. Conversation during ameeting is disruptive to other atten-dees and inconsiderate of the from thenotice posted at the beginning of filmsin movie theaters requests, Pleasesilence cell phones and pagers. Acti-vate voice mail if you have it, or for-ward messages to another in asking a ques-tion, it usually is more appropriate toraise your hand than to blurt outyour question.

4 Other attendees mayhave questions, and the speakerneeds to acknowledge Your Questions ask-ing questions, be succinct and clear. Ifyour question is detailed, break it intoparts or several questions. But be sureto ask only one question at a time; oth-ers may have questions as to the issues thespeaker addresses, the questions fromthe attendees, and the answers pro-vided. You do not want to waste meet-ing time asking a question that hasalready been Patient and not fidget,drum your fingers, tap your pen, flipthrough or read materials not con-cerning the Meeting , or otherwise actin a disruptive the Entire onlywhen the Meeting is adjourned. Leav-ing before the end of the Meeting unless absolutely necessary and unlessyou have prior permission can bedisruptive to other attendees andinconsiderate of the to Action themeeting, be sure to complete any tasksassigned to you as expeditiously as pos-sible; file your Meeting notes or anyformalized minutes for later review orto prepare for future meetings.

5 Gary M. Smith is founder of Chatgris Press inNew Orleans. Titles include The Peer-Reviewed Journal, Coffee and Coffee-houses, The Complete Guide to DrivingEtiquette, Publishing for Small PressRuns, andGuided Meditation. Gary canbe contacted at Box 15092, NewOrleans, LA 70175-5092, (504) 895-5219,or at Commandments for Business Meeting EtiquetteEleven Commandments for Business Meeting EtiquetteBYGARYM. SMITHS enior Member, Houston ChapterFebruary 200029