Business etiquette and ethics

The current business reality is that only 15% of medium and large entrepreneurs seeking to strengthen their position in the market achieve the goal. It is for this reason that the relevance of business etiquette is multiplying, since non-compliance with its norms, for a number of other reasons, often leads to the rupture of useful business relationships.

In a broad interpretation, ethics is a set of general attitudes aimed at regulating social relations. Accordingly, business ethics addresses issues related to the accepted order and style of interaction in the field of business.

The details of the ethical aspects of business relations are business etiquette, including, for example, the procedure for negotiating, rules of corporate conduct, business traditions and rituals, elements of subordination, manners and styles of communication and writing, as well as issues of correctness in dealing with partners and business colleagues.

The importance of ethics and etiquette, as an integral part of it, lies in the fact that the regulatory framework that has arisen as a result of long-term practice greatly simplifies communication, creating an understandable and publicly accessible context in the business sphere that allows you to correctly achieve goals and significantly save time.

In other words, we are talking about a special algorithm for solving business problems, which allows rationally and in a conflict-free form to set and successfully achieve the desired business goals. The level of proficiency in this algorithm allows one to draw direct conclusions about the degree of professionalism of a business partner or opponent in a business dispute.

In this context, it is important to adhere to the following basic basic principles:

• punctuality everywhere and in everything;
• compliance with information security;
• sane altruism;
• favorable image corresponding to the business environment;
• Correct oral and written language;
• adherence to the rules of business speech culture.

The types of business correspondence are varied and, with a certain degree of convention, they can be divided into two main types:

• interstate - between state organizations, foreign representations and officials (various notes, memoranda and other forms) - elements of diplomatic relations;
• commercial - letters of semi-official status used in the field of business relations between institutions and organizations.

The style of writing a service letter, despite the linguistic and some traditional differences, has a certain common basis and a group of guidelines developed by the established practice. For example, a number of protocol requirements, determined by the position of the sender and addressee ranks, are based on the initial settings of mutual respect and correctness. Therefore, regardless of the type of document, structurally, it must necessarily contain the following elements:

• appeal (official status of the addressee);
• compliment (polite end of the letter);
• signature;
• date (day, month, year and place of writing the message);
• sender's address (surname, job status, address are placed at the top or bottom of the 1st page of the letter).

In addition, there are a number of provisions directly related to letters:

• business letters are set out on forms or sheets of paper exclusively on their front side;
• pages are numbered in Arabic numerals;
• messages are filled with printed text;
• erasures and corrections in the body of the document are unacceptable;
• the document is folded with text inward;
• the waiting time for a reply to a letter is no more than ten days.

A business message should have a pronounced target orientation and contain one question, and the whole meaning of the text should completely and completely obey its content, be it a deal proposal, a commercial request, or just relevant information.

The classification of business messages is diverse and depends on their functional and target orientation. For example, letters are:

• notifying;
• resembling;
• invitations;
• information reviews;
• orders;
• accompanying;
• other types.

In commercial correspondence, the most typical:

• requests;
• suggestions;
• orders;
• complaints;
• letters of guarantee.

As one of the forms of business communication, in the strict sense of the definition, letters are divided into 2 types - business and private-official.

Business includes correspondence circulating among organizations and institutions. A private-official letter is a message that is sent to an institution by a private person, or, conversely, by an institution - to a private person.

There are a number of rules for conducting business correspondence.

• The letter should stimulate the emergence of business interest in the recipient, clearly and on the basis of convincing evidence, demonstrate the benefits of the partnership and the inexpediency of breaking the partnership. The text should have an incentive, motivating character to cooperate.
• Excessive personal emotions in a business letter are not the best way to prove your case and resolve the issue.
• In order to avoid overloading and clogging the text of the letter, you should avoid any figurative comparisons, metaphors, allegories and hyperbole.
• For a clear and concise presentation of the topic, it is better to use simple sentences, avoiding particulars and excessive detail. The main idea of ​​the message should be supported by extremely relevant arguments, which are usually placed in attachments to the letter (diagrams, graphs, digital data).
• In the text, paragraphs should be highlighted, each of which, representing an independent thought, begins on a new line.

• In a business written message, you should not use descriptive adjectives, unnecessary clarifications and details. At the end of writing, it is advisable to check the document and eliminate phrases that do not carry the actual semantic content.
• Literacy is a basic element of text. The presence of spelling and other errors in the message is unacceptable.
• The subject of the letter is required. The topic in the documents should be reflected briefly and succinctly, this saves time when reading and positively characterizes the sender. If the letter is sent by e-mail and contains particularly important information, you should provide it with a special "flag" available in the electronic service.
• Good readability of the text is provided by Arial or Times New Roman fonts with medium font size. If necessary, italicized or bold key ideas are allowed.

• In the text, it is useful to use subheadings (3-4), which provide an easier understanding of the text presented.
• Enumerations, lists and lists are best designed using special markers.
• A corporate template (diagram) is an excellent indicator of efficiency and objectivity in business communication. It is especially appropriate in the corporate aspect, as it allows you to stand out in a favorable light and respect the required formality.

The structure of a business message is typical. Traditionally, it contains:

• introduction;
• the main part;
• conclusion.

The introduction summarizes the purpose of the letter. The main part describes the essence of the question. In conclusion, it is desirable to summarize the content of the main part, for example, in the form of conclusions. "Postscripts" and various kinds of footnotes are undesirable.

In conclusion, phrases resembling manipulations in form are inappropriate, such as: "I hope for a mutually beneficial partnership" and so on. It is better to say goodbye in a business letter with simple phrases - "Sincerely," "With best wishes," and so on.

At the bottom of the message are indicated: full name, job status, company name, and a signature. Contact phone numbers are also indicated.

Tables and graphs are attached as a separate file (package), indicating this at the end of the letter. If there is a group of attachments, then their list with names is given.

You can use abbreviations and special abbreviations only if you are sure that the recipient will definitely understand them.

To give the text greater logical rigor and consistency in business vocabulary, the following speech patterns are used as binders:

• for this reason;
• based on the above;
• because of this;
• according to the data;
• Based on this;
• Considering;
• other.

In the virtual space, business interaction, representing communication in miniature, is specific, and no less requires adherence to the relevant rules of etiquette. Competent work with writing, in accordance with practice, involves the implementation of the following notes regarding the volume, language norms, structure and format.

• The formula of the topic must absolutely exactly correspond to the subject stated in the text. This allows you to quickly tune the reader to the desired business mood.
• The optimal volume of a document sent by e-mail fits into "one screen", with the maximum volume of text - one sheet in A4 format.
• The optimal size of attachments is no more than 3 MB.
• It is recommended to "pack" the sent files into standard archives of Zip or Rar encoding. Others are often blocked during the transfer.
• Hyperlinks should be standard (blue, underlined below).
• The reply to the addressee should be placed at the top, at the beginning of the letter, and not at the bottom. This saves the pen partner from unnecessary and forced scrolling of the previous text.

• It is necessary to use the language of the letter that the partner understands as much as possible. The question of the appropriateness of using professionalisms, internal corporate vocabulary, slang expressions and abbreviations (especially in external correspondence) in the message is decided separately, depending on the context and qualities of the correspondence partners.
• It is important to inform your partner about the receipt of his message - this is a sign of good manners and part of business etiquette that demonstrates respect for him.
• The response should be as prompt as possible. If, for some reason, it is not possible to respond quickly, then the partner should be notified of the receipt of his letter and indicate the time of response. An ethical and comfortable pause before giving a response is 48 hours after receiving the message. After this time, the person usually believes that the message has been lost or is being ignored. Excessive pause in correspondence is often associated with the risk of losing a partner and is interpreted in business as a violation of ethical standards.
• At the end of the message, you should place the contact information that is indicated in all letters without exception, regardless of the order of the mailing.
• It is important to pay special attention to privacy issues during the transfer.

For more information on business correspondence ethics, see the next video.