Too Few Manners at Work

Early last month, I was talking with with a businessman who is now the president of a small college in New York. In the course of our conversation, he noted how rude his faculty were to one another.  I couldn’t help reflecting on the rudeness I had observed among IT staff members during my two decades at CIO — personal attacks, ignoring colleagues who had a different point of view, dominating conversations, interruptions, and the list goes on.

In this week’s Tuesday Reading, “Too Few Manners at Work” <http://www.cio.com/article/141452/Too_Few_Manners_at_Work>, Chuck Martin highlights how important courtesy and manners are to having a productive work environment.  He quotes an executive as saying “Manners are an indication of character” and goes on goes on to say that “good manners are a reflection of respect for others and without mutual respect it’s difficult to work efficiently together.”

What’s the status of manners and respect in your organization?  Perhaps you need to be more deliberate in the example you set for your peers and team.

.  .  .  .  .     jim