Respect office appointments

Oct 10, 2008

IN the last part of the series on office etiquette, we take a look at things that men do that they should not be doing. Ideally, when somebody turns up at your office and who is on appointment, it would be polite if you gave that

Ettiquette for Men - Timothy Bukumunhe

IN the last part of the series on office etiquette, we take a look at things that men do that they should not be doing. Ideally, when somebody turns up at your office and who is on appointment, it would be polite if you gave that person your undivided attention.

I have been to many appointments where the person shortly after asking me to sit down answered a call on his cellular and it was a conversation that took the best part of fifteen minutes.

When he was done, rather than apologise, he sought to rearrange his desk then kept peering out of the window whenever he heard a car driving or leaving the forecourt.

In fact he was so taken up by the cars that sometimes he would lean forward over his desk to get a better look. Rule One: If you have a visitor, you could ask your secretary to hold all your land line calls and put your cellular on silent through the course of the meeting.

Before the meeting starts, one must be prepared. When Ivan was involved in some land dispute with his neighbour, he employed the services of a lawyer. However, he says his lawyer was never prepared.

“Whenever I turned up for an appointment, he was never there. He would always say he was in court. On the few occasions that I did find him in his office, his office looked more like the registry of records than an office.

He had case files piled everywhere; on his table and on the floor on his filing cabinets. It would take him a good ten minutes plus to locate my file.” Rule Two: Learn ‘The six Ps’ – Proper Planning Prevents a P*ss Poor Performance.

Finally, if you have your own office, once the meeting is over and though not cast in iron, it is polite to walk your guest to the door.

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