2. Everyday Etiquette for Office Life

What makes a good boss?

It's up to1 employers and managers to initiate the kinds of relationships they want with their employees and also to set the tone2 for employees' behavior. If the bosses are rude or officious3 with customers, then employees will be, too. If bosses treat employees and customers with fairness and respect, this, too, will reverberate4. Lots of bosses, though, aren't sure what's expected of them. Here are ten rules that will help a boss create a supportive atmosphere:

1.Take the lead. Bosses are supposed to set examples in all areas, from their work to their manners. Make sure you do this.

2.Show respect for all employees, regardless of gender, race, religion --or personality.

3.Respect employees' privacy. You may have to search an assistant's desk in his absence for a paper you need, and you certainly have the right to do so. But this doesn't give you the right to leaf through5 a checkbook6 or what is obviously personal correspondence7.

4.Give frequent compliment and praise. People perform better and more efficiently when they are encouraged, and your job as the boss is to be the main encourager.

5.Make sure your criticism is fair. It's easier to accept graciously8.

6.Respect other's autonomy9. Put together a good team and then let them do their job. Infantilizing10 employees by looking over their shoulders11 at every move often makes for a belligerent12, tense office environment.

7.Be available13. If possible, leave your door open at least part of each day. Answer your own phone. Be open to14 ideas, even when they're critical of how you run things.

8.Use the name your employees prefer. If your female secretary is elderly, or even if not, use the appropriate title(Miss, Mrs, or Ms.)

9.Show small courtesies15. You're the one with the power, thus it behooves16 you to extend small courtesies to make your employees more comfortable. When an employee comes into your office and needs to talk to you, ask her to sit down. When the employee leaves your office after a long talk, stand up to say good- bye. Shake hands and give a gracious welcome to an employee who's just returned from a vacation or from some other absence17.