Communication Skills for IV Semester Basic English Students (Part – 2)
Personal Conduct and Appearance
· Etiquette and Manners
According to OALD the Etiquette is “the customary code of polite behaviour in society or among members of a particular profession or a group” and Manners is something “a person’s outward bearing or way of behaving towards others”.
It will create poor impression on a person who behaves himself / herself badly despite his / her educational qualifications and experience. The way in which we behave ourselves says a lot about our character. Others judge us by our behaviour rather than by what we say. A well-mannered person finds it easy to work within a group and contribute towards its success. Now let us examine some forms of behaviour that are generally recognised as good manners.
1. It is considered courteous to make a room for elderly people and women with children while getting in and getting off a bus or a train. Giving up your seat for a person who deserves it more adds beauty and grace to your behaviour.
2. Listen to your friends and relatives or even to strangers when they wanted to share their problems.
3. In case you feel like sneezing or coughing in crowded places, hold your handkerchief over your nose and mouth, and apologise later to the people around you by saying ‘sorry’ or ‘excuse me’.
4. Being on time to a meeting, class or any other appointment is considered polite and professional. If you do happen to be late for such an event, apologise to the people who have been kept waiting.
5. Pointing your index finger at a person especially at close range is considered offensive body language. Try to avoid such gestures.
6. Showing undue interest in personal details of others and being inquisitive about them can be irritating to others.
7. ‘I disagree with you’ is very simple to say to a person with whom you disagree but it is crude expression.
8. Looking into the personal files of others’ mobile phones and reading personal letters without their permission and knowledge is considered as bad etiquette.
9. Taking away to a little distance and whispering with one of your friends in front of other friends creates suspicion among other friends and it will be considered as breach of trust.
10. Whispering to the person seated next to you during a meeting, especially while some one speaking, is not an acceptable behaviour.
The way you behave yourself and the language that you use are the important parts of your personality. Rudeness and insensitivity to other people’s feelings will harm your image. A well-behaved person is always be noticed and people are happy to interact with such person.
· Table Manners
There is a code of conduct, called table manners, that is considered acceptable at the dining table. We cannot behave in a way that may irritate others seated with us while eating something at a dinning table. Table manners are context-specific, and they also differ from culture to culture. A loud burp of after a meal may considered as an appreciation of the food in some cultures, whereas it could be considered uncultured behaviour in some other cultures. So, you try to be very sensitive to others’ likes and dislikes when you are at the dining table, especially when it is a formal meal.
Here are some tips to improve your manners and mannerisms while you join other at a dinning table.
1. It is bad table manners to eat nosily. Many people make slurping sounds while eating. This is considered bad manners especially in western culture. The best thing that you can do is keeping your mouth closed while munching the food and avoid making unpleasant noises which may irritate others.
2. The noise made by a spoon, or by a knife or by a fork on a plate can be irritating to the person seated next to you. Therefore, you are requested not make any such noises while stirring the contents of a cup.
3. The way you place your cutlery on the table and the way you use them are also part of your table manners. Hold the fork in your left hand and the knife in your right hand. Hold the food item with the fork and use the knife to cut it.
4. Similarly, placing the fork and knife on the plate may indicate some meaning. If you place them (the fork and knife) on the sides of your plate indicate that you need another serving, and placing fork and knife crossed on the plate indicate that you finished your meal.
5. In an Indian context, smacking your fingers during a meal or afterwards is considered a sign of appreciation. The person who cooked the food feels flattered by such behaviour but, in modern life, smacking fingers is considered bad manners.
6. Leaving the dining table in the middle of a meal without specific reason is certainly considered bad manners. If you must leave the table on an important reason you must beg the pardon of the others at the table.
The manners and behviour of person at a dining table enhances your personality that can yield respect from others. Therefore, you are advised to identify your weaknesses in your behavioural attitude and try to amend them.
· Dress Code
The clothes you wear can express your personality. The colours of dress you choose, the ornaments you wear and other accessories you use will certainly tell about that what kind of person you are. Feel free to express yourself with your appearance, but there are conventions that you need to follow when dress suitable to the occasion. Of course, being well-dressed is not always an indicator of being cultured.
The formal dress code varies according to the cultural milieu according to the context. For formal meetings or interviews you are advisable to wear a dark-coloured trousers, a light coloured shirt and matching despite well shined shoes. This type dress may be appropriate for men. If this type of dress code recommended in your organisations, you must also wear a coat. Students appearing for an interview may also follow this basic dress code.
Black trousers with brown shoes, white shirt and a maroon coloured tie will be a bit odd to look at. A well shined black shoes, black trousers, a shite and a grey or blue tie would look sober. The dress code for women in an Indian company is usually a simple silk or well-starched and ironed sari with matching blouse, may not be acceptable in specific regions, but commonly acceptable dress code in all over India. Avoid wearing a lot of jewellery when you are going to your workplace. A couple of bangles, a pair of simple earrings and a chain around your neck may enhance your personality and appearance. Using odd and gaudy coloured dress may not express your personality in a proper manner.
· Gender Bias in Communication
Gender Bias is the tendency to prefer one gender over another gender. Generally speaking, Bias or Biased Communication is prevalent in every aspect of our lives. Usually our brains are hardwired (very insensitive) to categorise things which we encounter every day the incidents of bias in order to make sense of the complicated world around us. However, biases can cause us to form prejudice against other, which allow very egregious inequalities to form between different demographics of the society.
Bias can be experienced in many forms in day-to-day life. Those are for example, communal bias, caste bias, religious bias, linguistic bias, regional bias etc. But here I have to focus on gender bias as per the topic I choose, and its role within the workplace. This topic covers what is gender bias, where and when it happens along with a few remedies which can reduce gender bias and ultimately build a more diverse and inclusive workplace. It should be noted that while there is a spectrum of gender identities, due to constraints within existing literature will focus on the gender binaries – male and female.
We have several instances which are deeply ingrained gender prejudices against women in our everyday conversations. We prejudiced that certain professions are prerogative rights of men only. We are not ready to accept that women can also be successful professionals like surgeons in medical sciences, pilots in Air Force or Civil Aviation, truck drivers, Loco pilots or any other such jobs. We always think that women are likely to be primary school teachers, nurses in hospitals, receptionists, secretaries etc.
Traditionally, women have not been given prominent roles in our society, but today several organisations have given women very prominent roles in decision making and Execution in their organisations successfully. Arundhati Bhatacharya, former Chairperson of the State Bank of India, Chandra Kochhar, former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ICICI Bank, Indra Nooyi is an Indian American Business Executive and former Chief Executive Officer of Pepsico are the best exemplary women who had led their organisations successfully. Therefore, using disrespectful or abusive language to women colleagues either in their presence or in their absence is absolutely unacceptable and such incidents will lead to angry protest. Giving respect to women which is due to them creates a pleasant working environment, which will increase efficiency and productivity.
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