Workplace Etiquette: 25 Tips

It's important to have impeccable manners at work, whether you’re wondering whether to add your boss, co-workers, and clients to your social networks; speaking on the phone; knocking on a colleague’s door; receiving a text message on your cell phone; or eating at your desk or at your company event. To help, here are Blue Pencil Institute's top 25 tips for workplace etiquette. For more information about Blue Pencil Institute, please visit our website at www.bluepencilinstitute.com.

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Dr. Laura Hills, Blue Pencil Institute

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Use formal address. Don’t assume a level of informality in your relationships to which you are not entitled. Rather, assume the highest level of formality when addressing others, especially clients, by calling them by their formal names (Dr., Mrs. Ms.). Use first names only when you have explicitly been invited to do so. www.bluepencilinstitute.com

Watch your language. Profane language has no place in a professional workplace. Crude or foul language makes you look bad and can make others feel uncomfortable. Learn new speech habits if you are accustomed to using profanity. Remember that speech habits are learned and can be unlearned. www.bluepencilinstitute.com

Monitor the volume of your conversations. Be sensitive to how loudly you speak. Do you notice that people down the hall comment on your conversation? That might indicate that your voice is too loud. Remove yourself to a private office with a door you can close when you need to have sensitive conversations either in person or on the phone or if the person with whom you are speaking has a hearing impairment and requires that you talk loudly. www.bluepencilinstitute.com

Don’t snoop and share. Respect the privacy of those around you. Don’t read memos or faxes that are lying around in other people’s workstations. Don’t stand behind coworkers seated at a computer monitor and read what's on the screen, without their permission. Don’t make comments about overheard phone conversations or share what you heard with others. Don't share personal information about others using electronic media. www.bluepencilinstitute.com

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Control social networking content and privacy settings. Don't risk blemishing your reputation at work by allowing the boss, co-workers, and clients in on your moment-by-moment status updates, posts, and personal photos. If you wish to include business contacts in your social networking, be mindful of the information you make available to them and how they are likely to receive it. Exercise good judgment and restraint about what you post. www.bluepencilinstitute.com

Be punctual. Being on time for appointments and meetings shows others that you respect their time. When you absolutely can’t avoid being late, call, apologize, and offer an explanation. Then, apologize again when you finally arrive. Send a note of apology afterwards when your tardiness has caused someone a serious inconvenience. Then, do whatever you must not to be late again. www.bluepencilinstitute.com

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Respect your colleagues’ space. Do not enter a colleague’s office or workspace unless you are invited. Do not stand in hallways outside of their offices or workspaces to conduct conversations through doorways. Talk either in your workspace, in your colleague’s workspace, or in another appropriate place in your workplace. Don’t sit down in someone’s office until you are invited to do so. www.bluepencilinstitute.com

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Pay attention. Stop what you’re doing when someone is trying to speak with you and give him or her your undivided attention. Continuing to work and keeping your eyes and hands engaged in what they were doing may be a good attempt at multi-tasking but it can also be construed as a brush-off or rudeness. Stop, look up, and make eye contact. www.bluepencilinstitute.com

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Be respectful to everyone. Do not have different standards for different people. The CEO of your company and the custodian who empties your trash baskets deserve equally respectful and courteous treatment from you. www.bluepencilinstitute.com

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Practice little courtesies and graces. Don’t let a door close on a person behind you. Hold elevator doors. Offer to help to others who are carrying bulky or cumbersome items. Share your umbrella. Say please and thank you with a sincere smile. Bring enough of whatever goodies you have to share. Small courtesies such as these make a big difference to others. www.bluepencilinstitute.com

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Keep personal grooming private. It’s great to have good hygiene but not so great to do it in public. Save the hair brushing, makeup application, and flossing for the rest room during a break or lunch hour. www.bluepencilinstitute.com

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Mind your manners in the office kitchen. Wash and return items to their proper places. Clean the inside of the microwave if you spill anything. Mark items kept in a shared refrigerator with your name and date. Don't leave food in there for others to have to discard. Don’t eat the food that doesn't belong to you. And, if you take the last cup of coffee, make another pot. www.bluepencilinstitute.com

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Keep your workspace clean and neat. Use discretion when displaying personal items so as to be respectful to others. Also be mindful that any symbols you choose to wear to work including those in jewelry should be chosen with great sensitivity so as not to offend others. www.bluepencilinstitute.com

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Practice good equipment etiquette. Maintain shared items in “like new” condition. Leave the photocopier stocked with paper and working. If a machine stalls or jams, take time to undo the jam or to alert the proper person to attend to it. Printer and photocopier etiquette also dictates that you give preferential treatment to a co-worker who is printing only one or two pages when you have a large document to print or copy. www.bluepencilinstitute.com

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Be sensitive when pointing out etiquette gaffs to others. Speak in private and let the person know as tactfully as possible that if the situation were reversed, you hope they’d approach you about it. Ask the perpetrator if he or she was aware of the effect his or her actions had on others. Then seek opportunities to discuss possible solutions. Look for ways for the person to save face. www.bluepencilinstitute.com