Episode 5: 7 Things Not to Do at a Business Meal

Episode 5: 7 Things Not to Do at a Business Meal

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In this podcast episode I discuss one of the business fundamentals of working in a professional environment: business dining etiquette. When working in a professional environment there are many opportunities to attend business lunches, dinners, happy hours and holiday parties, so you want to make sure that you take full advantage of these situations without embarrassing yourself and/or becoming the talk of the office (in a bad way) the next day. Making a misstep is sometimes easy to do because we let our guards down with co-workers. We may spend more time with them than our own families and find ourselves in situations where we’ve not only let our guards down, but also made some not so great judgment calls. So in an effort to avoid them, here are seven things not to do when out  with coworkers on a business meal:

1. Don’t drink too much.
2. Don’t be the only one drinking at the table.
3. Don’t order the most expensive thing on the menu.
4. Don’t get too excited for a free meal.
5. Don’t be distracted by your phone (turn off the ringer and avoid texting).
6. Don’t eat your neighbor’s bread or drink their water (I'll give you a tip to always get it right).
7. Don’t order anything too messy (especially ribs and spaghetti).

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So tell us: have you had any business meals that didn't end well or have some tips for us? Tell us below!

Image courtesy of Jenny Downing on Flikr

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