Part II: The Details

In This Part:

Chapter 10: Details

What strikes me the most upon the whole is the total difference of manners between them and us, from the greatest object to the least. There is not the smallest similitude in the twenty-four hours. It is obvious in every trifle.
Horace Walpole, Letters

This is the office etiquette section of this book, a list of the basic dos and donts of the American workplace. Were not especially concerned here with American values or beliefs or where they come from, but with what Americans actually do in a number of the most common workplace situations and, therefore, what theyll expect you to do in those same situations.

Entire books and chapters of books have been written about many of the topics addressed in this section, such as meetings and presentations, to cite only two. But the goal here is to give just a brief overview of each topic, covering the basic or most common features. We wont distinguish between kinds of meetings or types of presentations, for example, but we will describe elements common to most meetings and most presentations.

Needless to say, not everyone feels the same about how to use e-mail or the telephone, for example, so the standard advice to beware of generalizations must be repeated here. Just remember that you will never meet a general person, nor will you ever be in a general situation; so use the advice given in this chapter carefully .