Don’t Twist Paperclips or Bite Your Fingernails …and 10 Other Meeting Manners to Avoid

By Joyce Hoff

It’s hard to shock Cherry Hill, NJ-based business communications trainer and author Barbara Pachter. As a business etiquette expert, she has witnessed – and corrected – many a bad breach of business conduct. But the manager who clipped his fingernails during a meeting may have caused even her chin to hit the floor. He turned to the woman sitting next to her and said, quite nonchalantly, “Oh, that didn’t go into your coffee, did it?”

“I don’t make this stuff up,” says Pachter, author of six business books including “When the Little Things Count...And They Always Count,” ($12.95, paperback, Marlowe & Co., 2001), who is quick to point out that most people don’t try to be rude.“ A lot of bad business behavior stems from bad habits. The trick is tuning in and realizing what our behavior silently says about us,” she says. “If you’re sitting in a meeting and mutilating a paper clip, you are going to give the appearance that you are possibly nervous or not paying attention.”

According to Pachter, the problem with meeting manners is people don’t realize that they matter.“ It’s especially easy to forget your behavior at a regularly scheduled meeting where you are familiar with the participants,” she says. “But it’s no excuse and more importantly, you may be judged by the higher-ups without realizing it.”

So, don’t take any chances and put your best meeting feet forward. Here are Pachter’s top ten behaviors to avoid so you make a good impression on others:

1. Not Greeting Office Staff Upon Your Arrival. For many, especially sales people coming in from the field, this first mistake usually occurs before the meeting starts! If you are attending a meeting in your organization’s home or regional office and you don’t know the secretaries and other administrative staff, you should introduce yourself and always make a point to offer a greeting at subsequent office visits.
   
   
2. Not Greeting Other Participants. While participants arrive, you should greet each person and introduce yourself to any person you are not acquainted with.
   
   
3. Not Arriving On Time. This is rude and disrespectful to the other participants.
   
   
4. Grooming. Why do people believe it’s acceptable to put on lipstick, comb hair, clip fingernails, manicure, or bite fingernails while at a meeting table? It’s not acceptable and is even considered gross behavior by many others.
   
   
5. Not Maintaining Proper Posture. Don’t put your feet up, lean on the table, or slouch over.
   
   
6. Not Paying Attention. Don’t read e-mail, memos, or other items when someone else is speaking. Twisting paperclips, doodling, and biting pencils will give others the impression that you aren’t paying attention.
   
   
7. Failing to Prepare for Your Part of the Meeting. This makes you look like the kid who gets caught not doing his or her homework.
   
   
8. Interrupting Others. It’s an annoying speaking habit.
   
   
9. Leaving Early Without a Reason. Only leave early if it simply can’t be avoided. Tell the other participants in the beginning that you will be leaving at a specific time and apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.
   
   
10. Failing to Clean Up After Yourself. Throw away your discarded papers and any soda cans and trash you may have generated. It is rude and thoughtless to assume that someone else will clean up your mess.
    

Joyce Hoff is the Public Relations Coordinator for Pachter & Associates and can be contacted by email at pachter@ix.netcom.com. For a free copy of Pachter's newsletter, Competitive Edge, call (856) 751-6141 (NJ) or visit www.pachter.com. Published three times a year, it contains tips and strategies for business professionals on a wide range of business communication and etiquette issues.

Published in Networking Today, March 2003.