Friday, May 28, 2010 at 12:11PM Office Politics: Bet you don't know the etiquette of...high-fiving!
If you don't do it right, you're running the risk of being an outsider.
Ever wondered if you really fully understood how critical some office politics are, and--if your answer is "yes,"--if you're really "up" on how to execute those important social behaviors. By now everybody's figured out which fork should be used when dining out with colleagues and business contacts, when the ringer on your cell fone should be turned off, or how to dress "business casual." But how many people do you know who are familiar with how to execute a high-five?!
There are important protocols--an etiquette to it all, if you please--to slapping a high-five. Do it right, and you'll be admired; don't handle it properly and, well, who knows what could come from that for you as a social animal in the world of business politics!
If you don't know--you should!
What follows is an end-of-the-week-but-important-nonetheless, social--and, thus, business--lesson in showing you know what you're doing: How to high-five...in and out of the office.
If you didn't know some of these pointers--well, consider it a good lesson learned; if you found this to be useful-but-old news...well, share this blog with someone you know who could use the advice! There's got to be plenty of those kind of people!
Enjoy a terrific Memorial Day weekend!
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Reader Comments (2)
Good humor for the end of a week and into a Holiday mood.
True story. I was 22/23 years old. We had a Managing Director who was on the positive brilliant, meticulous and on his way up the corporate lader three-four rungs at at time. He was also humorless, unapproachable and we often joked the easiest way to stump him on Jeopardy was if the final jeopardy question was "This is what a third beer tastes like". One time his kids who were four and six at the time came into the office and turned to his wife, their mother, and said "so this is where daddy lives." So one night we were working really late, definitely after midnight. Probably 20 of us in the office. We were waiting on a prospectus to return from the 24 hour printers and being the most junior person, upon its arrival I was the one who needed to go to the lobby to get it. I had learned that in the elevator my job was also to open the box so the other 19 people could grab their copy. I came back to where our group sat and started handing copies out so everyone could review it. The Managing Director turned to me as I handed him his copy, and said "Now we have it lets dig through this" with an enthusiam we had never seen from him. He then said, "High five!" and offered me his raised palm to High Five. Fast forward to about a year ago and I am sitting in my office in London, and I get a phone call from a former colleague, they were at a retirement lunch for this MD. (He was retiring at 44 so all of his bad traits paid-off in one regard.) He was on the line, along with 10 of the 20 that were there that night, and also the CFO of the company and a few others. They asked me to on the box as part of the roast-like aspect of the lunch to share the story as proof that this Managing Director does express emotion.