One subtle point is to be aware of  is that YOUR idea of what constitutes obvious courtesy and respect may NOT be as clear and obvious to your attendee(s). These values are as fluid and contextual and culturally flexible as any other value. So do more research from the other person(s) viewpoint in advance so that ‘obvious’ is not taken as a given.

Courtesy reflects a person’s value to us. When we treat a person with courtesy – with kindness and empathy – it shows that they matter to us.

Courtesy has two components – our own state, and the impact that that state has on anther. In terms of our own state – we need to model behaviours such as listening, summarising accurately, and being…[Read more]

Interruptions are a big issue within meetings. They are one of the major causes of meetings becoming aggressive train-wrecks. (To be continued)

Always a good idea to acknowledge seniority levels in a meeting especially in very conservative companies. This does not mean however that you should be afraid to speak your views or why else be there.  Its always a judgement call between professional integrity i.e. ‘I believe this needs to be said’ and pragmaitism i.e. ‘i need to keep my…[Read more]

Very important to be aware of potential cultural consideration of the attendees.

There may be need for dietary provisions if providing meal or snacks e.g. kosher, halal, vegan etc.

There may be certain etiquettes to how to introduce people shaking of hands (or not) or how we exchange business cards or how we use titles of people…e.g. American,…[Read more]

To neck-tie or not to neck-tie? That is the question.

If you are attending any meeting find out well beforehand the dress code for that meeting. Is it forma or casual? Does formal inclde a tie or juts open neck etc..?:

Organisationally there may be a code or ethos e.g. if you enter the Google building with a tie or even a jacket  you may…[Read more]

This is very dependent on the mix of people at the meeting; how well they know each other; the seriousness of the meeting subject(s); the differing levels of seniority attending etc.

A light hearted amusing observation or a friendly slightly cheeky retort to a colleague may be fine to keep a good feel to a meeting and can often be good to loosen…[Read more]

Common courtesy to start on time and juts as important to finish when you  said you would as unscheduled run on can be both annoying and compromises others ongoing diaries. If a subject seems important enough to over run then you can ask for a vote at the attendees if they wish to allocate a defined additional time contract or agree to take it…[Read more]

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