Making Etiquette Easy: When to Call

Image from www.stevenalston.com

With technology insisting that no one is ever truly ‘unavailable,’ it can be hard at times to distinguish between whether you should call someone or not. Here are a few guidelines to dialing ten digits the right way:

• Office Hours: Not sure someone is on the clock or not? As a general rule of thumb, try to call between the normal office hours of 9am and 6pm, unless invited to do otherwise by the recipient.
• Time Zones: Pay attention before you dial sunny California at 9am New York time. No one enjoys being woken up at 6am by a work call.
• Work or Cell: Always try contacting a person first by their work number. If they are unavailable or it is urgent, then move on to calling their cell phone.
• Home Office: Don’t assume that just because someone has an ‘office line’ that they have an office outside the home. Many people call and leave voicemails in the midnight hour assuming that they will be received when the person gets ‘into their office.’ But with a home office, calls at that hour wake up the whole house.
• Pocket Program: If you’ve programmed a contact into your phone, be sure you have the key lock pad on when the phone isn’t in use. This prevents them from having to listen to your side conversations and regretting that they gave you their number.

Making Etiquette Easy,

Susan K. Medina

Making Etiquette Easy: Unknown Gifting

Image from www.countryliving.com

Thanks to generous friends and family, we’ve all been blessed at one time or another with gifts. So much so, we lose track of who’s given us what... A bride and groom sorting through their gifts after returning from a long honeymoon, a child trying to assemble their Christmas gifts after tearing through them, an overwhelming reception of hot food dishes given to a family going through a hard time….in all of these situations, be it bliss, excitement, or sadness, it can be hard to remember who gave us those beautiful flowers. What should you do?

• As a general rule, try to write thank you notes soon after you've opened gifts. If time doesn’t allow (i.e. in the middle of a baby or bridal shower), have someone else help you make quick notations of who got you what. Even if you think you’ll remember, the more details you have recorded will help when it counts.
• If you didn’t have the chance to do the above, start writing your notes to those you do remember. On occasion, this will narrow things down a bit, and you may discover that the leftover card you found goes with the unlabeled present.
• Finally, if you truly cannot remember and the shop-owner/florist or wedding registry is unable to help you identify your sender, call or write to those you think it might be from. It is better to reach out to people and identify their gift instead of never thanking them at all. And this one truly comes from personal experience...

Making Etiquette Easy,

Susan K. Medina

Making Etiquette Easy: Donations in the Workplace

Image from Veer.com

In some companies, offices are so close and people have worked together for so long that it can feel like family. So when the longest-standing employee decides to retire, the boss’ daughter is having a baby, or the receptionist is turning 30, it can feel like turning your back on your family if you don’t contribute to a coworker’s well-intentioned cause. Here are some things to keep in mind before asking for too much of your office mates:

• Do not go office-to-office soliciting donations for a present or an outing for someone. No matter how high your aspirations are, it’s impolite to put people on the spot, especially in front of other coworkers. The most appropriate way to ask for contributions is to send out a group email or to post something around the office. You can have an envelope on your desk for folks to drop off their contribution, no questions asked.
• Respect boundaries. If someone cannot attend an event you are hosting or hasn’t responded to your invitation, don’t push it. Though they should tactfully let you know where they stand, work and social conundrums can leave a lot of people puzzled at how to behave appropriately.
• Events that occur on office property should include everyone and shouldn’t be segregated by who ‘contributed’ or not. Events held off-site are a completely different story, as long as all invitations and collateral were sent outside of the work environment.

Making Etiquette Easy,

Susan K. Medina

Making Etiquette Easy: The Gym

Image from www.totallyuniquelife.com

While some of us get up early to get our morning calories burning, others find that the best way to clear your mind and get that second burst of workday energy is to get some exercise over a lunch break. Either way, gyms are always a buzzing place of people, and there are right and wrong ways to handle gyms as professionally as you do your job. Next time you grab your sneakers, remember these things:

• Wear Appropriate Gear: Ladies, this does not mean a sports bra. Men, this does not mean white cotton shorts! Be sure to dress in a way that doesn’t distract someone from the heavy and dangerous machinery they may be lifting. If it’s a corporate gym, you should be all the more cautious to maintain professionalism.
• Monitor Your Time: It can irritate your coworkers if you get a two hour lunch break simply because you are adding a workout to your day. Make sure that you watch the clock and be respectful of your office mates. You should also watch the clock when attending gyms that have maximum workout times by machine.
• Utilize the Cleaning Supplies: After each workout station, be sure to wipe down after yourself. Yes, there is a lot of sweat in a gym, but you needn’t be exposed to anyone else’s on accident.
• Quiet the Chit Chat: Gyms typically are used for results, not social interaction, and should be respected as such. A part from the occasional pre and post aerobic class catch-ups, it’s best to let people focus. If someone is trying to talk to you mid-workout, feel free to let them know that you’d love to catch up, but can’t concentrate on both activities at the same time.
• Locker Room Smarts: Many people are mortified to run into others they know while in their unmentionables. The best practice is to wait to carry on any conversation until out of the locker room. Also, cell phone usage tends to make people nervous as most phones are equipped with picture mail features, so leave it locked up!

Making Etiquette Easy,

Susan K. Medina

Making Etiquette Easy: Gas Stations

Image from www.energyprogram.net

Most of us take a trip to the gas station every week or so, unless we’re a part of a modernized group of individuals who have gone ‘green’ and prefer the hybrid. It can be baffling to find that so many people do not know how to manage themselves or their cars while attempting to fill up their tanks. For the efficiency and safety of everyone in a nearby radius, here are a few tips to remember next time you’re running on ‘E’:

• Wait your turn: There’s no sense in driving around the line to the opposite side in an attempt to snub someone from the other direction. It only causes those who are even less patient than you to let their true colors shine.
• Pull up to the farthest pump: Even though there is one pump open closer to you, it’s polite to pull ahead and leave space for the next person, and it also eliminates the chance of anyone getting side-swiped by someone insisting on getting to the pump in front of you.
• Check your wallet first: Searching for the cash that you actually didn’t bring, or trying all of your credit cards until one goes through is an inconvenience to those around you and to the sales staff. Always be prepared!
• Stop Everything: Though it may seem like common sense, you’re attention is needed at gas stations. No cigarettes, cell phones, or loud music. All of these are literal hazards and can cause you not to pay attention to important messages, let alone the endangerment of those around you.
• Pull Forward: If you have a last minute urge to grab a Mountain Dew from inside the convenience store, make sure you pull into a parking space and don’t leave your car in front of a pump when there’s no reason.
• Be Courteous: Always be courteous to the gas station staff. Indicate which pump you used and wait for them to process the transaction; hurrying this along can result in miscommunication and paying for the wrong pump—meaning you have technically left without paying.

Making Etiquette Easy,

Susan K. Medina

Making Etiquette Easy: Spoiler Alerts

www.channels.com

Season Finale’s are just around the corner as the month of May answers the questions of international audiences everywhere. Shows like LOST, American Idol, The Office, and the like garner millions of Twitter, Facebook, and forum postings everyday. With all the hype, it can make for some great water cooler chit chat at work. Here are the rules of spoiler etiquette to make sure neither side (the viewer or the yet-to-view) is in the offensive:

• From the East to the West: Before making comments about any highly-anticipated show, make sure that everyone has had a chance to see it. Nothing is more frustrating than an East Coaster announcing the winner of a reality competition before it has even aired in your state.
• Link to a 2^nd Site: If you must get something off of your chest online, make sure you link your thoughts to a second site, making sure your original post acknowledges the fact that you are giving away a ‘spoiler.’ For instance, “I can’t believe I know who won.”
• 24 Hour Rule: If you haven’t seen the show within 24 hours, it is not reasonable to expect people to hold it in any longer. If you missed it, you missed it - bummer. This goes for work as well, and would be in bad taste for you to ask coworkers to stop talking about it until you see it.

Making Etiquette Easy,

Susan K. Medina

Making Etiquette Easy: Mother’s Day

www.blog.tinyprints.com

While each of us only has one true biological mother, many of us have been impacted by great women who have either filled that role or widened our horizons at some point in life. So who should be honored - and how - is what I’ve outlined below:

Who?

This day is all about mom, and that is the most important message to get across no matter how far away you live or how many moms or stepmoms you may have. It is also important to set aside some time to think about all of the important contributing women in your life (grandmothers, mother-in-laws, significant aunts or neighbors, etc.)

Since the day recognizes mothers worldwide, consider other mothers you can reach out to, including new or expecting moms, friends who have lost children, and neighbors who have children serving the country overseas.

How?

• Plan ahead. Saving money to get flowers sent a week later or trying to schedule a reservation at the 11^th hour isn’t what mom wants. Try to think through a plan to honor her—you may even get an early bird special.
• What can be better than a gift to mom from all of her children? Try to select something that fits in everyone’s budget and is something mom could really use or enjoy, like her favorite lotions or perfume, speciality kitchenware, or a luxury day at the spa? If siblings cannot agree, they should give separate gifts.
• Take her to lunch. If you are splitting your day between multiple mothers, consider taking one to brunch and the other to dinner. The important thing is to honor each one separately and in a way that is unique to them.
• And most of all, Happy Mother's Day.

Making Etiquette Easy,

Susan K. Medina