The Etiquette of Honking

Have you ever been at the traffic light stop in Lagos, Nigeria and on sight of the amber light, the 15th vehicle in the roll honks endlessly or the oil tanker almost 10 meters away from your car honks to get you off the road in advance? Of course, This is a Yes for many Lagosians. Everyone seems to be in a hurry.

But have you ever wondered why the manufacturers designed the horns? And how it should be used? 

I sometimes wish, there was a daily limit on using theses horns, or perhaps daily charges for overuse, or even maybe the horns came with operation manuals.

What is business etiquette and why you should be concerned about it?

First of all, business etiquette is a very broad term, encompassing multiple aspects of the business interactions. These include business manners, business attire, business communications, business dining, client entertaining, business culture, cross-cultural differences, international protocol, basic workplace etiquette, netiquette and more.

Business etiquette, in my opinion, is a philosophy of building and fostering business relations based on trust, integrity, best practices, and cultural and regional sensitivities. Business etiquette is not a “business behavior code” – it can be defined only as “guiding principals for success in business.”

The indirect cost of inciviltiy

Cost of Workplace Incivility

Incivility has consequences. We are becoming more sensitive to the problem of bullying, but incivility is also a problem  

A 2010 WBI U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey shows that even “lower-level” disruptive behaviors in the workplace—the type of behavior that doesn’t quite reach the level of bullying or harassment—create a wide range of spillover effects. Of those who have faced incivility at work:

• 48 percent intentionally decreased work effort.
• 47 percent intentionally decreased time at work.
• 38 percent intentionally decreased work quality.
• 80 percent lost work time worrying about the incident.
• 63 percent lost work time avoiding the offender.
• 66 percent said their performance declined.
• 78 percent said their commitment to the organization declined.