What is business etiquette, and why is it important?
American business etiquette is very different than wedding manners, social manners, or state protocol, because it really is a civilized way of treating one another so that we can get along in the business world. Remember, we have 150 cultures in today's workplace. Not only do we have 150 cultures in the workplace, we have four generations. Even in our culture, even two generations getting along is often difficult. We have Generation X coming in that seems to be very different than what we were used to. But imagine stretching out that four generations, from the 16-year-old that's new in the American workplace in a summer job, to the 20- and 30-somethings, to the nearly retired, and oftentimes people are not retiring for their own personal reasons today. So we have four generations of 150 cultures. Now, how do we get along? Where would you have that information? Where would you learn it? It doesn't exist! So, what I've done for the past 30 years or more is to put together a codified behaviour that people can use to communicate with each other, to create civility in the workplace. And that's why American business etiquette is invaluable in the workplace.
