The Bottom Line On Professional Courtesy

It’s 2018 and the business world is constantly changing. People no longer walk around the office and talk to colleagues (many companies are distributed and workers are remote), and communication has become impersonal and technology-driven.

In my observation, people do not return messages in a timely manner (if ever), they send endless emails to communicate, and sometimes they become crickets. Professional courtesy seems to have fallen by the wayside. To see whether you have strayed from the basics professional courtesies, answer these five questions:

1. Are you reachable?

2. Do you welcome in-person visits with partners (or video chats if remote)?

3. Do you use the telephone/video chat to call people?

4. Do you answer the phone/video chat when it rings?

5. Do you return voicemails, Slacks, texts, email messages within 24 hours?

What’s your biggest professional courtesy pet peeve?