Business Etiquette: Table Manners

While I’m certainly not an etiquette expert, I do feel it’s important to share basic etiquette rules, especially concerning table manners. As an entrepreneur, I find myself attending many luncheons and dinners and the last thing I want to do is offend or come off as “rough around the edges”.  The table etiquette I’m providing below is based on basic rules prevalent here in the United States. If you’re traveling outside of the states, be sure to take some time to familiarize yourself with the country’s customs as they may differ from our own.

Utensils
The fork is always on the left and a knife and spoon are positioned on the right with the knife closest to the plate, blade side facing the plate. If a salad course is to be served, a second fork will be placed to the left of the plate. Always start with the fork furthest to your left and work your way in to the plate as the courses continue. Dessert utensils are placed above the main plate and horizontally.

Plates and Glasses
Food items are always positioned to the upper left of the plate while drink items are positioned on the right. An easy way to remember this is to hold out your hand, fingers extended and pull your pointer finger to the tip of your thumb. Your left hand forms a “b” for “bread” while your right hand forms a “d” for “drink”.

Wine glasses sit directly above the knife while a water glass sits left of the wine glass at a 45 degree angle, closer to you. Coffee cups are placed to the right or above the setting if space is limited and the handle of your coffee cup points right.

Basic Etiquette
Do not begin eating until all are seated at the table.

The only reaching you should be doing at a table is going after items directly in front of you. Do not reach across your neighbor. Ask her to pass you the butter rather than reaching for it if the distance is too far.

Place your napkin in your lap. If you must get up during dinner, place your napkin on your chair, not on the table (the napkin is only placed on the table once the meal is complete and you are leaving the table).

Chew with your mouth closed. Don’t be gross. Don’t blow your nose at the table. Again, don’t be gross. Elbows should not be placed on the table. No phones at the table. That text/tweet/post can wait until after the meal.

Finishing Up
Once you’ve finished your meal, all utensils should be placed on the plate, together and to the right, pointed up. Place your napkin to the left of your plate.

/by

What to Keep in Employee Personnel Files

A few tips on how to maintain your personnel files so they don’t become a source of damaging evidence in a lawsuit.

By guest blogger Pat Richter of
Shannon, Gracey, Ratliff & Miller, L.L.P.
prichter@shannongracey.com

In almost every employment case, one of the first things your ex-employee will ask for is a copy of his personnel file.  In fact, ex-employees will often ask for a copy of their file before litigation begins (or even before a demand letter is sent).  The documents you keep in your employees’ personnel files may turn into evidence that can be used against you.

If there is extraneous or harmful information in your personnel files, you can count on seeing it as an exhibit at trial.  One way to prevent this from happening (or at least minimizing the risk) is to be watchful about what goes in to your personnel files.

What Goes In:

Performance evaluations.  The most important thing to put in a personnel file is periodic evaluations of employee performance.  In fact, the employee’s annual evaluation can be a good time to double check that the documents in the file are accurate, up to date, and complete.

In addition to performance evaluations, you should keep important job-related documents in the personnel file, including:

  • job description for the position
  • job application and/or resume
  • offer of employment
  • IRS Form W-4 (the Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate)
  • receipt or signed acknowledgment of employee handbook
  • forms relating to enrollment in employee benefits
  • forms providing next of kin and emergency contacts
  • complaints from customers and/or coworkers
  • awards or citations for excellent performance
  • records of attendance or completion of training programs
  • warnings and/or other disciplinary actions
  • notes on attendance or tardiness
  • any contract, written agreement, receipt, or acknowledgment between the employee and the employer (such as a noncompete agreement, an employment contract, or an agreement relating to a company-provided car), and
  • documents relating to the worker’s departure from the company (such as reasons why the worker left or was fired, unemployment documents, insurance continuation forms, and so on).

What Stays Out:

Your personnel files should not be a receptacle for every document, note, or thought about the employee. Here are some areas to be careful about:

Medical records. Do not put medical records into a personnel file. If you keep any medical records regarding an employee, keep them in a separate file and limit access to only a few people.  Disability law requires that medical records be handled this way (and it’s a good idea to do so, in any case).

Form I-9s. Do not put Form I-9s into your employees’ personnel files. In fact, all I-9s should be put into one folder for USCIS.  The government is entitled to inspect these forms, and if it does, you don’t want the agents viewing the rest of the employee’s personnel — and personal — information at the same time.

Unnecessary material.  Indiscreet entries that do not directly relate to an employee’s job performance and qualifications — like references to an employee’s private life or political beliefs, or unsubstantiated criticisms or comments about an employee’s race, sex, or religion – can come back to haunt you.

Bottom Line:

Keeping the documents you need in a personnel file – and keeping out the documents that don’t belong – is a good first step to ensuring that your files are not used as evidence against you at trial.  While even a properly maintained personnel file can contain some questionable information, applying a simple set of rules will help to filter out harmful information.   A good rule of thumb: Don’t put anything in a personnel file that you would not want a jury to see.

 

/by

Five Things Every CEO Should Know

1. Know your customers
If you don’t know your customers, then how can you expect to know how to sell them your product or service? And once you think you know who your customer is, please don’t stop trying to get to know them better. The marketplace is ever changing and so is your customer.

2. Know the ins and outs of your marketing plan
Understand the ins and outs of your marketing plan and why the marketing team is suggesting the company go in this direction. Since you know your customer, understanding the marketing plan is a piece of cake.

3. Know your competition
Not only should you know who you’re competing against, but you should also know what your competition is doing. You should know your competition so well that you’re able to anticipate their every move.

4. Know your accountant
I’m sure you have a very good accountant who is incredibly trustworthy, but you’re in this business to make money. Check in with your accountant to ensure taxes are properly paid, know what’s going on with expenses and payroll, too.

5. What don’t we know that we should?
Hopefully you’re following steps one through four, but there’s always something out there, specific to your business that you should know inside and out. Is it the manufacturing process? The sales process? Only you can know what this fifth element is, but know it and know it well.

/by

Best & Worst Cities for Recession Recovery

“Ten cities poised for a rebound — and 10 cities with a long slog ahead”

Forbes.com, 6.10.09 Click here for the full article

10 Best Cities for Recession Recovery
1. Austin-Round Rock, Texas
2. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Ark.
3. Boulder, Colo.
4. Huntsville, Ala.
5. San Antonio, Texas
6. Mobile, Ala.
7. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
8. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va., Md., W. Va.
9. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas
10. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.

10 Worst Cities for Recession Recovery
1. Flint, Michigan
2. Fresno, Calif.
3. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Michigan
4. Modesto, Calif.
5. Salinas, Calif.
6. Bakersfield, Calif.
7. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.
8. Stockton, Calif.
9. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio
10. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif.

 

/by

How PR Works

,

Public relations can be an expensive tactic, mainly because the practice is much more than just picking up a phone and getting a story placed. A lot of work goes into a PR campaign including researching story angles, staying on top of what the client’s competitors are doing and saying, and developing a sound strategy. PR is also about the messaging, positioning and any necessary documents including news releases, fact sheets and bios. Once the foundation is set, then your PR team will begin to “pitch” the story angle(s) to media contacts.

A pitch doesn’t become a story after a single phone call (at least, very rarely does that happen). Instead, the PR team is developing relationships with key media contacts on your company’s behalf. More times than not, it takes several phone calls and emails, many follow up efforts, to secure interest in a story. From there, the PR team guides your story through until you’re confirmed to be a part of an upcoming piece.

Once a pitch becomes a story, then the PR team monitors for results secured and reports back to you in a number of different forms.

With any pitch, it’s important to remember that your PR team has no control over what is covered or how it’s covered. This is one of several differences between PR and advertising.

Before working with anyone, no matter the budget, we put a strong emphasis on setting expectations up front. Consider covering these four key questions before moving forward with any PR program.

1. What are the top five media outlets on your wish list? Meaning: For this PR program to be a success, where will you see your name? This helps us gauge story angles, contacts, etc. before ever getting started on your business.

2. What types of outlets are key in helping you meet your business goals? Vertical trade versus consumer magazines, for example.

3.  What is your timing? Most PR results can be seen three to six months after the relationship begins between a company and a PR firm. Keep this in mind as you’re planning future marketing efforts.

4. What are our goals? Define what success looks like including number of placements secured, total impressions, etc. Many PR firms will supply a number of different measurements to show your return on investment.

And finally, PR isn’t just about delivering a big stack of media placements. Today, as PR counselors, we not only assist with generating media mentions, but we’re also developing social media programs and serving as general strategists to assist in your overall marketing program.

/by

Staying Productive in a Home Office

We all face challenges throughout the work day. Some challenges are just … there, like a difficult boss. But other challenges, like an inefficient work space, can be evaluated and fixed. This post began as a “what you can do to stay productive in your home office” piece, but we quickly realized that many of the challenges faced in a home office are also encountered in the workplace.

1. Stay on-task, even when no one is watching. Whether you’re working in an office or in your home office, your boss shouldn’t be breathing down your neck throughout the day. It’s up to you to make sure you stay on task throughout the day and charge through your to-do list.

2. When your nose is to the grindstone, remind people around you that you’re on deadline, working on an important project, etc. Sometimes a gentle reminder is all it takes to get the peace and quiet you need in order to finish your to-do list.

3. Separate work life from personal life. In today’s world, it’s getting tougher and tougher to separate the two, especially with work issued Blackberries and iPhones. BUT it’s important to step away from the mobile devices and have a life outside of work.  When you’re working from home, that separation is even more difficult to achieve. Consider shutting down your computer at a specific time each day or moving your laptop into a different part of the house to signify personal computing time.

4. Take a lunch hour – you deserve it.  So many times, when the day gets busy, we fail to break for lunch. When we skip lunch, we’re not being fair to our jobs or ourselves. And, for those who work from home, taking a traditional lunch hour is even tougher. Again, schedule lunches away from your desk and stay consistent with your midday break. They’ll make a difference in your productivity and creativity. Promise.

5. Keep in touch with colleagues, peers, networkers. Don’t wait until you’ve been laid off to start networking. Continuously build your address book and keep notes on those you meet. So Pat has a Chihuahua named Lloyd? Put it in the notes section of your address book. Next time you hang out with Pat, you’ll be reminded to ask about Lloyd and she’ll be charmed you remembered her fur kid’s name.

/by

Selecting the Right Partners

At Snackbox, we work hard to develop strong relationships with our clients, vendors and employees. Of course, it’s not a difficult task as we only work with people we connect with. It’s all about chemistry for us.

So when we’re interviewing a potential client, what are we looking for?

Chemistry
Is the client easy to interact with and do we share a common bond or interests? Do we have knowledge that translates well into their industry and who will be our day-to-day contact?

Management
Is the company well managed? How about senior staff? Do they understand what it is they’re hiring us to do and is there buy-in from all involved?

Respect
It’s okay to disagree, but does the client respect our opinions? Are we being hired as a partner, not as a vendor?

History
Does the client check out as far as credit history goes? Are there any questionable practices are stories that pop up in Google searches? Do they have solid business references?

References
Are the references telling us that the potential client has some sort of “interesting” character flaw? How are they about paying bills, working with others and responding in a timely manner?

As we are gathering information to pitch our bsuiness to a potential client, we’re simultaneously working to find out more about the person we hope to sign on. While adding more billings is part of our business goals, we keep in mind that our contracts typically run for one year. No one wants to get saddled with a nasty client/vendor/employee for any length of time – life is too short.

/by

Why PR Matters in a Down Economy

,

Why PR Matters in a Down Economy: Favoring the Fat

It’s no secret – we’re in a recession. When sales slow down for a company, many times, the first thing that’s cut is the marketing budget. To many CEOs, the marketing budget is fat that can be trimmed, while manufacturing, etc. is left untouched. For those of you battling to keep your marketing and/or PR budget, here are a few arguments that favor the “fat”.

Public Relations builds credibility. Unbiased third parties tell a story for you or your company and through their storytelling, you receive incredible value.

Public Relations provides value. Most forms of communication tie a direct correlation between monies exchanged and results. However, through PR, our results are tied to the number of placements secured, the conversations started and the people that are talking.

Public Relations builds trust. As social media continues to rise and consumers get more of their news online, communities create a broader exchange for information. Many times, consumers are trading news stories and providing their own take (as in: “I use XYZ product and love the results).

Public Relations is affordable. Just because you’re experiencing a tough financial market at the moment, don’t sacrifice your long-term marketing objectives. Public relations is an affordable way to stay in front of your target, facilitate conversation and work to build brand loyalty.

Public Relations is aggressive. It’s easy to hide away during tough financial times, but isn’t that what your competition is doing? Take this opportunity to break away from your competition and solidify your position in the marketplace.

Make this tough economy work for you. Creativity and connections can easily catapult you to the next level (or two!)

/by

Building Your Social Media Approach

, ,

In order to build a social media approach for your company (or for yourself personally), there are five key steps to consider and follow:

Step 1: Research
Take a look at the types of social media available (it’s a constantly changing landscape) and determine which tools are most beneficial to your company. I highly recommend participating in social media on a personal level in an effort to get a feel for how it works before engaging your company.

Look at where your target audiences are online and find out what they’re talking about. How can your company join these conversations and add value?

Step 2: Audit
This steps requires you to take a look at your company and determine what your biggest obstacles are, including slow adoption of social media. During this step, it’s important to evaluate the obstacles you may face and determine how you and your team can overcome them.

Who is on staff that is most enthusiastic about social media? Many times, these are the people that are already involved on a personal level. Are they interested in learning more about the social media craft and are they capable of holding conversations with your target audiences?

Step 3: Plan
Now that you know what types of social media your company will employ and who will be the brand champion, how will you measure your success? Keep in mind that there are generally two types of success: Impact and ROI.

Do the folks in your company understand that you’re not going to see an immediate and direct return-on-investment?

Step 4: Internal Education
So you have a select few who are involved in social media on a personal level and have agreed to assist you in shepherding the company into this new media. What about the majority of employees who not understand how it works and don’t realize the amount of time and conversation it requires?

And, because your company is becoming a part of the social media world, what sort of policies do you need to create to protect both your company and employees?

Step 5: Participation and Evaluation
As you’re diving into social media, keep a watchful eye on what others are doing. Set up RSS feeds and Google News to monitor peers and competitors. Listen in on these conversations and be sure you’re represented within every social media tool that your competitors are using.

Plan your participation, too. If there are major ideas you want to present to your target through social media, consider creating an editorial calendar. By outlining conversations you want to start, this allows you to pick up on your social media efforts and keep the flow going.

And finally, continuous evaluation is key. Are we active in our communities? Are the conversations flowing? How can we improve our presence and our content? What are we doing with the information we gain?

/by

How to Get the Most Out of a Trade Show

,

Trade shows are a great way to build relationships with media contacts and work on story development. Here are a few of my favorite Do’s and Don’ts when planning trade shows.

DO get a list of media attending the show.

DO early outreach to media. Reach out early to find out what their goals are once at the show and how you might be able to help. Be sure these contacts are setting aside some time to meet with you at the show.

DO draw media to your booth through one-on-one interviews with a spokesperson.

DO Plan product announcements around key trade shows.

DON’T be tough to find. The last thing you want to do is force your media contacts to look for your spokesperson. Include multiple cell phone numbers and be sure those numbers are manned by someone who has direct access to your spokesperson and their schedule.

DO create an online media kit that includes all announcements, bios, etc. you’re providing at the show.

DON’T expect all of your media contacts to want to lug a traditional media kit home with them. Not everyone wants to haul 62 media kits home with them and your journalist contacts will appreciate your thoughtfulness.

DO Supply hard copies of news releases, fact sheets, bios, brochures, etc. in the press room at the show if permitted.

DO create a master schedule of your company’s activities while at the show and share it with all company representatives that are attending.

DON’T expect reporters to come to you to book interviews with your spokesperson. Expect to do a little leg work to help reporters find your spokesperson and be prepared to brief these contacts on the news you’ll be sharing.

/by