Business etiquette needs fixing

Call it human nature — most people have complaints.

Lately, the complaints I’ve been hearing about concern simple business etiquette, so it’s time to revisit the pet peeves that plague the business world. Based on my observation, here are the top five complaints of business etiquette:

1. Phone use

When did it get so hard to call people back? Why do we get so many complaints about companies not communicating with customers? Is business so good in some industries that a return call on a potential job is not necessary? Where did we lose simple manners when it comes to returning calls?

This subject continues to frustrate many in the business world. It used to be that you could hold an employee responsible for not conveying a message, but voice mail took care of that excuse.

2. E-mail

This subject alone would fill months of columns, but the highlights are:

“ Watch what you forward to people. Not everyone shares your religious or political beliefs, nor do they have time to read 18 jokes a day.

“ Answer it! Just a simple one-word response works. Acknowledge contact.

“ Check your spelling, please.

“ If you write in all caps, it looks like you’re yelling.

“ Know what your staff is sending out. Remember, e-mail is a critical part of business communication and needs to carry the same level of professionalism as all other forms of communication.

“ E-mail can’t replace face-to-face contact, so don’t try.

3. Cell phones

Ugh. If people aren’t talking to me about cell phone companies, they’re talking about why there are no rules when it comes to the use of these devices. Here are some simple rules that, if followed, will make us all less crabby:

“ The world doesn’t want to listen to your calls. Go someplace private and talk and spare us the details of your life.

“ Turn the ringer off in meetings, seminars, movies, restaurants and any other place where the sound would disrupt others.

“ How rude is it to sit with someone in person and talk to someone else on your cell phone? Such behavior makes your priorities quite clear.

4. Commitment

If you tell someone you’re going to handle something, do it. It sounds simple, but this is a big problem.

Part of it is learning to say no. I would much rather have someone tell me “No, Jan, I can’t do that,” and send me away than tell me yes and not live up to the promise. Don’t tell me what I want to hear — tell me the truth.

The majority of complaints we resolve here at TheLocalBBB stem from one party or another not living up to their commitments — the contractor who’ll “get it handled” and never does, or the company who says it will send copies of the requested paperwork and fails to deliver.

In the professional world, we all depend on others to keep us informed and complete tasks. If one person cannot be counted on, the process fails and we all struggle.

5. Time

This includes starting and finishing meetings on time, showing up for work on time, arriving at a scheduled appointment on time, and not making your own poor time management everyone else’s problem.

When someone arrives late to nearly everything, the message conveyed is that they’re far more important than others, that rules don’t apply, and that others have nothing better to do than wait. Wrong. I have a 15-minute rule, and that’s all I’ll wait.

As tight as we all schedule our time, if a meeting runs 30 minutes over, everyone is potentially disrupted for the rest of the day.

Honor time commitments, and you’ll be more productive.

One-way phones? Excessive rudeness? Way too busy? If you have other pet peeves, I’d like to hear about them.