Put On The Polish

Good manners are increasingly becoming the standard in corporate America.  As professions become more competitive, individuals and groups with the most shine make it to the top.  It must become 2nd nature to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage in today’s work environment.

[An update on Etiquette has been planned for this article at a later time.]

4 Qualities to display and promote should include.

• honesty
• dependability
• reliability
• ethics

With that here are 10 strategies for the professional world.

First Impressions! Make Them Good!

How you Dress and appear is crucial, take care of yourself, and people will know you take care where ever you are.  Take note of what is appropriate by learning from the most successful in the company.  Eliminate profane language from your vocabulary, if it ever slips out in front of a executive… Blessings be Upon You.

Groom Yourself

Know the impact of how you look.  Clean, appropriate, and ironed clothes.  Do not wear accessories inappropriate for a professional setting.  Be consistent in how you dress and when you appear to work.

Punctuality

Coming late, will make you appear undependable, and unreliable which will close you off to promotions for higher paying and responsibility needs.  Being late is not respectful of your team and hiring manager who had placed their faith in you.

Consideration

Listening, Resisting distractions, respecting space, and having appropriate body language are some of the considerations you can make when in the workplace.  Listening is respectful and helps issues become solved faster while also not allowing arguments to escalate.  Resisting distractions such as a phone, food, or other unnecessary things keep you attentive to operations and the team.  Respecting space and property of employees establishes trusts with team members.  Appropriate body language is actually ergonomically healthy, allows you to not feel fatigue, and stay awake and alert when at work to remain productive.

Email Voice

Do not check your courtesy at the computer, email exchanges should also display professionalism and courtesy.  Introduce yourself when you first meet someone, let the recipient know how you got their information and why you are contacting them.  Write clear messages and use correct English; no colloquial or slang language.  Ask before sending attachments and always use a salutation such as Sincerely, Best Regards, and or Thank You.

Phone Personality

There are two sides to this, when answering a phone at work and acceptable use of your own phone.  The first is having etiquette when using the work phone.   When calling a client, customer or company personnel; introduce yourself, mention your organization, and ask how the person is doing; after response, explain the reason for your call so you may be directed to whom you need to speak to.  This is important as many individuals now a days are afraid of unsolicited calls, you can remove that fear and nausea out of the way by immediately identifying yourself.

Social Media Manners

Understand that some coworkers may not want to add the whole company to their friends list.  Be cautious of what you place online if you think it makes it easier for others to question your professionalism.  Make sure your privacy settings are in place to help with this goal.

Preparation

If there are materials to be read prior to a meeting, make sure to have gone over them.  Have requested reports and task completed prior to a shift or meeting.  Having oneself to be prepared before work, allows the whole day to go off to a great beginning.  Being prepared for the tasks asked of you will eventually show itself as wisdom in the future and bring you integrity among your team members.  Preparation allows one to not be caught off guard and be more dependable in the workplace.