Is Your Business Etiquette Good Enough to Develop Social Capital?

Is Your Business Etiquette Good Enough?

Posted on 24. Feb, 2009 by Craig Peters in Uncategorized

We’re not going to teach you etiquette. We’re going to teach you how to use your etiquette and your social skills to develop something bigger: Social Capital. Since you can’t develop Social Capital without a foundation of etiquette and social skills, here’s a quiz.

Business Etiquette Pop Quiz

In preparation for a business lunch, do you need to be told to “Hold your utensils in a proper manner and do not grip them in your fist”?
Do you know which fork to use for salad?
Are you wondering if showing up late for a business lunch is a good idea or a bad idea?
If you’re in the middle of a business lunch and your cell phone rings, would you answer it and leave your guest at the table by themselves even if it was not a life-and-death emergency?
Are you unclear about what to do with your napkin when getting up from the table (or if it falls on the floor)?

If you answered Yes to any of those questions, you need to set some time aside and study up on basic business lunch etiquette. Do a google search for “business lunch etiquette” and/or “business etiquette” and take it from there. You’ll find lots of articles. Here are three decent examples.

Business Lunch Etiquette Tips, by Gloria Starr. I’m pleased with her introduction:

Professionals who know proper dining etiquette are much more comfortable and confident in their business dealings with others than those without these skills. Manners during mealtime can be learned and practiced very easily with some basic guidance.

The success or failure of a job interview or project proposal may hinge on how well a person conducts his or her self during a meal. According to Gloria Starr, President of Global Success Strategies Inc., “If a person uses incorrect dining skills or has no knowledge of dining skills, that person is not going to get the job and that’s final.” Inappropriate actions or behavior will often be interpreted as rude, disrespectful, or highly offensive.

Dining Etiquette in Business, by Michael McCann. In his intro, Michael says,

Having a working knowledge of dining etiquette turns any employee into a poised marketing representative of the company.

I like his general intent with that statement. However, not to be nit-picky, I don’t fully agree because, a “working knowledge of dining etiquette” is just the beginning; a necessary foundation. It takes more than etiquette to be a “poised marketing representative.” That said, I included his post because he includes some examples that you won’t find in the article before it.

5 business-lunch faux pas, by Christopher Elliot. It wouldn’t be fair to call this one basic. Christopher is not going to tell you which fork to use. He’s not going to tell you to be on time (well, he does, but it’s just for context). He sets the right tone in his intro, especially when he says that a business lunch is part meal, part meeting:

The recipe for a successful business meal seems deceptively easy. “Let’s meet for lunch,” you tell a client or associate. You get together. You talk business.

Sounds simple enough. But you know better.

A business lunch is part meal, part meeting…

Christopher’s advice is a good transition from the world of business etiquette to that of developing Social Capital.

Social Capital is not etiquette

We’re not going to cover basic etiquette here, except for occasional reflections or to make a particular point. Instead, we’re helping you develop your Social Capital. What is social capital? We’re talking about it more on our other blog Social Capital Mentor. Here’s Rich from a post last week titled Avoid the Chopping Blog: How to Keep Your Job in a Recession:

Social Capital is a complex topic which I will expound on more fully in later articles but for now, you must understand that it is actually capital. If used properly, it can take the place of financial capital you may not have. But Social Capital can do things that financial capital cannot. It has the ability to get things going and even to close deals in lieu of actual money. In our example above, it can tip the scales in your favor when a manager must decide whom to lay off.

If you’re interested in the broader topic of Social Capital and how it can help your career, check out Social Capital Mentor and sign up to receive posts by email.