KINDERGARTEN ETIQUETTE: Play nice!

It could be a flipped finger, any digit.

Or a brusque response to a neutral comment.

Eating out and cellphone conversations, at the same time.

Even an online snippet that somehow can’t be recalled.

Many have called this incivility in America.  We prefer naming this, simply, bullying.  Because in any shape or form, in a variety of public forums, a sharp retort, interpreted a wrong way, can result in lost productivity, future bad behavior, employee turnover, and the very unfortunate downside of increased violence and suicide.

Research and academic institutes affirm this.  To no one’s surprise, an August 2013 survey of U.S. adults reveals that bullying experiences number more than two a day.  Half of respondents ended friendships; more than a quarter left their jobs. 

Apologies, usually, aren’t enough.  A number of employees are starting to instill and reward kinder, gentler actions.  NSA (we’re not kidding here) launched a program to increase cordiality, from registering compliments to recognizing those who show up early for meetings.  A Louisiana health system established the 10/5 rule:  Practice eye contact at ten feet; greet within five.  Boorish behavior has been banned from the folks who edit/work at Wikipedia; its code of conduct mandates that editors participate in the writing process in respectful and considerate ways.

What else is needed?  Role modeling, for sure (and that’s an activity that we should excel at, as communicators and marketers).  Two:  Promote and adopt the principle of least drama, solving an issue with the minimum of noise and hubbub. 

Lastly, admit it (we will, if you will):  Life was much simpler when we were taught to treat each other the way we wanted to be treated. 

RANDOM ACTS OF COMMUNICATIONS

In holidays past, way past, those little green elves from the late, great Marshall Field’s store would run around Chicagoland and perform what were dubbed “random acts of kindness.”

Senior citizens, outside in the cold, would get stick lip balm.

Kids strolling along State Street were handed yummy hot chocolates.

Free ornaments would glitter in hands of passers-by.

Not to mention gifting those huggable Field’s teddy bears and British racing green shopping bags.

Though definitely not yet the season, we remembered these activities recently, after perusing a University of Rochester psych professor’s research findings.  About newlyweds, of all subjects.  The study?  How to show compassion.  The results?  That small selfless acts increase individual (and couple) happiness.

Well, duh … sorta.  What tantalizes us is the professional reciprocity:  In these busy, stressed days, when everyone takes everybody and everything for granted, these randomnesses might just work in our own worlds of communications and branding and design.

It’s all about TLC, you see, and articulating, usually through behaviors (rather than words), that the person(s) are appreciated and respected.  Further, that their needs and concerns are recognized.  Think about the apps …

Project teams, laboring on long and intensive initiatives, usually get honored by an end-of-project dinner.  Why not once a week, when it’s unexpected, hold a “complimentary” (deliberate spelling) lunch? 

Going above and beyond responsibilities deserves a spur-of-the-moment notice … notes to the manager of managers, even a half day off.

How about a broadscale communications, to the department, even division wide, about the great work that’s being done in marketing and design?  Even if it’s in process?

It’s important, the professor underscores, to be open to requests, accept without judging, and go out of the way to simply “be there.”  Sure sound like good principles for succeeding at what we do.