Managing Sticky Situations at Work

Chapter 10Sticky Etiquette SituationsA book on sticky situations would be incomplete without looking atthe awkward and uncomfortable situations that come up every day atwork. These encounters are less extreme than the previous sticky situationswe’ve observed, but they often put us in a dilemma. We wonderwhat is the appropriate thing to do. What would Emily Post tell us? Intoday’s dynamic workplace with not only diversity between the sexesbut also among nationalities and cultures the rules of the past may ormay not apply.As we examine these kinds of situations, we will sometimes apply theSIJR Model. Often, however, we need to only learn what behaviorworks and what behavior does not work by applying rules of etiquette.RATE YOUR ETIQUETTE QUOTIENT 1To discover what you know about basic etiquette situations, take the followingtest to get your Etiquette Quotient. The higher your EtiquetteQuotient, the easier it will be for you to handle sticky etiquette situations.Some questions come from the Professional Presence Quotient in Bixlerand Dugan’s work.