Company culture

Every company has its own particular culture: acceptable or unacceptable ways of doing things. Company culture can involve how people communicate with each other within the company, or what spoken or unspoken rules there are concerning behaviour.

These can be as simple as whether or not you can wander around the office chatting to people – or whether you should maintain quiet most of the time, whether or not you can eat at your desk, and how you greet people.

The problem with company culture is that these rules aren't generally written down and you need to learn them "on the job". If you're not careful, you can end up unknowingly "breaking the rules".

Here are some of my own company culture "gaffes":

- heating up spicy food in the microwave and sending the aroma of chicken amok throughout the building (not appreciated by some of my more traditional colleagues).

- laughing with my colleagues in an open-plan office and getting nasty stares from my supervisor.

- not using "Mr" with my boss, but calling him by his first name. Then using "Mr" with his son, when I should have used his first name.

These may only be "small" things, but they can count for a lot. Here are some ways to avoid unintentionally breaking the rules.

1. Be observant
- What forms of communication do people use? Titles and surnames, or first names?
- How formal is the communication between colleagues and between colleagues and bosses? Do people chat to each other, or use email / memos?
- How personal or impersonal is the office? Do people have photos of family members or children on their desks, or is the office purely functional?
- What do people talk about? Is it only company business, or do they also share personal information?

2. Be flexible
You need to be able to fit in with your colleagues to have a harmonious environment. This might mean being as flexible as possible in the first few days regarding company time. Ask when it's convenient for you to take your lunch break (rather than just "downing tools" at the allotted time) and avoid giving the impression that you're clock-watching.

3. Be aware of what you say
It isn't appropriate to give out too much personal information at first. Get to know your colleagues gradually and stick to safe topics at first, such as family life, where you live, hobbies etc. Don't pass on gossip and don't make negative comparisons with your previous company.

4. Ask about "rules" and general practice
Can we… (use the internet?)
What's the company policy on…?
Do you have any particular guidelines about / for…
Is it OK if I…..?

Business communication etiquette

We can use an increasing number of communication tools to keep in touch with our business partners. From the most formal letters to the most informal messaging, we can decide the best way to communicate depending on our relationship with the person, and the formality and urgency of the situation. But it's not always easy to know how to use these new tools. With no style manual or user guide to help us, how do we know if the way we communicate is appropriate?

Here are some etiquette tips for using new communication tools.

Email
Many people are bombarded with emails at work, so your important or urgent email needs to stand out from all the others.

- Make sure you use a descriptive subject heading and not just a Re:Re:Re type heading.
- Don't send spam or forward "pyramid" emails (the ones asking you to forward it onto all your contacts).
- Don't use email to push your religious or political beliefs.
- Wait at least a few days before you follow up an email and give the recipient time to respond.
- Send longer, clearer emails with all the information your reader needs, rather than numerous, shorter emails that will fill up an inbox.
- Use bullet points and white space in your email to help the reader scan for information.
- Remember to send attachments if you say you're going to send them!

Twitter
A great marketing tool for your products and services, and also one of the most immediate ways to stay in contact. But make sure that what you tweet is useful, and remember that you are taking part in an informal conversation. It's not just you shouting at everyone else in the twittersphere!

- Balance your tweets. Don't just market your products, but answer questions, pass on tidbits and so on.
- Don't tweet stuff that's banal or uninteresting.
- Limit your tweets. If you send out too many updates each day, your important messages probably won't stand out.
- Learn txt language and abbreviations for common words.
- RT or use the @name to show that you are passing something along or replying to someone else.
- Highlight and share information from other people to help the conversation.

IM
The fastest way to communicate apart from the phone or face-to-face.

- Wait at least a few seconds for your partner to reply. Don't forget that people on IM are generally multi-tasking and may be on the phone or away from their desk.
- Say goodbye before you sign off and close the application. Phrases like "Nice chatting, catch up later", or "Need to go – will speak later" are ways to show you need to sign off.

Phone
One phone conversation can eliminate 30 emails. You know you've got the person's attention, and you can probably solve more problems in a short phone call than you can with email.

But if English isn't your first language, you may worry that you'll make mistakes on the phone. Check these articles and posts for help with telephoning: Making telephone calls, Managing phone calls, Using a mobile phone, and Phrasal verbs for phoning.

Menunggu 'resolusi' ekonomi setelah tahun berganti

oleh : Arief Budisusilo

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