The business protocol is made up of all those norms or rules under which a company operates. It can apply only to ceremonies and certain events, but it can also go beyond that and cover even the relations between employees themselves. Each company is free to decide what it will include.
In order to make it known to all the people who are part of it, the company can draw up what is known as a business protocol manual. This is a document that explains and details all the rules under which the company must act and the situations in which they must be applied.
Below you will find a proposal that will help you draft your business protocol manual. Remember at all times that this is a guide, so you should not take these guidelines rigidly.
Business etiquette manual: what to include in it?
Those who have questions about business etiquette manuals often have doubts about which points to include in theirs. Some of them that we recommend are:
- Table of contents. At the beginning of the handbook, we recommend including a table of contents that allows the reader to get a general idea of what the handbook includes if he/she has not yet read it, or to quickly find a specific piece of information if he/she has already read it but does not remember which pages it is on. In the case of a business etiquette handbook in digital format (e.g. PDF), we recommend that the items in the table of contents are hyperlinked to their respective pages.
- Description of the company. It is important to dedicate a few pages to explaining what the company does, what its objectives are, its vision, its mission, its values, its organisational chart... This will be especially useful for new employees, as with this information they will be able to link and better remember the established business protocol with respect to what has been explained about the company.
- Chapter-by-chapter division on the purposes of business protocol. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, each company decides which situations will be covered by its business protocol. Once decided, it is advisable to divide them into chapters in the manual to make it easier to distinguish between them. Some of the ones we recommend are:
- Standard business protocol. All those rules that every member of the company must apply in any situation. For example, a specific way of identifying oneself as a member of the company or the way of serving customers.
- Ceremonial protocol. For all public events, celebrations, etc., both internal and external, rules can be established, such as dress code. For example, a company that uses dark blue as its corporate colour may ask all its employees to wear dark blue at any ceremonial event.
- Public protocol. The company can draw up specific rules of behaviour, presentation, conversation, etc. for events attended by representatives of the public sector. Perhaps some kind of screen-printed gift is advisable for certain companies.
- Protocol for networking. In order to establish professional contacts, companies may also establish a certain form of presentation or any other standard of behaviour.
- Written protocol. All communications that are established in writing, such as a letter or an email, can also follow certain rules. Is it better for your company to greet using emoticons such as the classic smile 🙂 or is it preferable not to do so? It is questions like these that help to develop the rules of written etiquette.
- Internal protocol. Establishes office rules and how to deal with the members of the company themselves. For example, if we send them a gift voucher How should it be done at Christmas?
These are some of the types of protocol that can be distinguished in a business protocol manual, but remember that they are only examples to serve as inspiration. To determine which ones are recommended for your case, you should make a personalised study of your company and choose them by asking yourself the essential question «what is the purpose of establishing this type of protocol for me?.
We hope you find the proposed examples useful.
