Workplace Etiquette

 

This week Daniel taught us about etiquette in the workplace.

We started off by learning about etiquette in the studio, in meetings, on the phone, then learnt about etiquette in emails.

Here is a short summary of some of the things we were taught:

 

The Studio

  • Be pleasant and enthusiastic
  • Keep your own volume down
  • Offer tea/coffee if you drink it
  • Dress appropriately
  • Don’t gossip
  • Keep your area and common areas clean
  • Colleagues are people too – make sure you’re organised and file work properly. Respect your co-workers’ space, and use their name when entering their area.

Meetings

  • Greet everyone at the door and introduce yourself if you’ve not met before
  • Offer tea/coffee etc. and get everyone settled in
  • Be on time
  • Come prepared
  • Take notes so as not to forget vital information
  • Don’t be afraid to contribute
  • Be natural, professional, and respectful

 

On the Phone

  • Answer if it is ringing for a while and no one else picks up
  • Greet them, say company name and your name
  • Ask if you can ask who is calling
  • Transfer call, ask team member if they want to take it – if not, tell the caller that your colleague isn’t available at the minute, and ask to take a message for them.

 

E-mail

  • Write a good subject line. Make it about the email content.
  • Choose the right tone for who you are emailing.
  • Spell check
  • Establish a connection if it is a first time email
  • Get to the point quickly
  • Use paragraphs and headings if necessary
  • Sign off with something appropriate e.g. Many thanks, best, regards etc.
  • Have your details in your email signature
  • Use system fonts

 

After Daniel taught us this, we went into breakout groups and conducted a fake meeting about workplace etiquette.

We had a note taker, a meeting leader, a dumb question asker, and contributors.

This exercise was a great way to test our knowledge of what we’d just been taught, as well as allowing us to have a practice run of a meeting.

 

Overall, I found this lecture to be quite insightful, and I’m glad Daniel went through it with us as we will have to put these practices into use when we are on placement. I have only ever worked in the one place, and I could only guess the correct etiquette for working in a professional studio or company.