Just as one sets out with resolutions for the new year, organisations embark upon new plans with new budgets and strategies. This inevitably entails meeting new people, traveling, arranging meetings and working with different teams and 2022 is showing signs of moving to face to face events as opposed to virtual events. In this article I answer the key questions thrown my way relating to introductions since the dawn of 2022.
01.How should a group of people be introduced at a meeting?
Let’s look at both, the who and the how of introductions.
Who: Each group would have one key member (who may not always be the head of the group) who is the link between the different groups. S/he should initiate the introductions as s/he would have spoken or emailed at least one or two people from the other group/s. The host of the meeting should ideally set the pace by initiating the rounds of introductions.
How: The key link / leader of the group should introduce his/her group in order of seniority. If the group is particularly large, it can simply be the name and department. A bit of extra information such as the key responsibilities need to be outlined for those who will be heavily involved for future interactions and activities.
02.How should business cards be handled?
Let’s understand both the giving and taking of business cards.
Giving: Start with the person closest to you, the person who was introduced first or the senior of the other group. The cards should be handed over using both hands and should be held such that the recipient can read the contents without turning the card or his/her head.
Receiving: Pay attention to the card that you receive, look at the card with interest as you receive it with both hands. Then place it on the table with respect; avoid stuffing it in to a pocket or bag without giving it much recognition.
03.What if the name or other key information element was not clear?
A lot of new names and faces in one go can be a bit of a challenge to anyone. Focus on the party/ies who are most important and relevant to you and try to keep a track of those first. If you miss out on such a person’s name or forget it completely within two seconds (happens to me all the time), there are a few ways out.
Option one: If you paid attention to point 02 above and laid out the business cards in front of you instead of stuffing them here and there, you can subtly glance through and figure it out.
Option two: Discreetly ask someone from your team whether s/he remembers the name and role. This cannot be done during a round table discussion, but more in a setting where everyone is moving around.
Option three: Just as the introduction is done, if you weren’t paying enough attention, say ‘Sorry, I didn’t catch your name’. If you realise only later that you have forgotten it and there are no business card reading options available, confess to having forgotten the name momentarily and politely ask him or her for the name. Something along the lines of ‘Just yesterday in office we were talking about our previous meeting, but your name has slipped my mind momentarily, could you please tell me what it is?’. Not the nicest thing to do at all – but rather than calling the person a different name or being in a soup when asked by another party, to introduce him/ her, you do come clean.
04.In one to one scenarios, who goes first?
The senior person has priority to know as does the outside party. However, there are times, that you need to tweak this around a bit to create an impression such as when you need to loudly declare that so and so is the Chairman and catch everyone’s attention. Play it by ear and make sure that everyone knows everyone within a few minutes of coming across each other. As the host/ the key link, that is your sole responsibility – no one else can do this for you.
Enjoy meeting new people and having your horizons widened. If you run into etiquette dilemmas, write to us at fullofetiquette@gmail.com and we will create more of these articles to help you out of real life scrapes.
Till I return with ‘Full of Etiquette’ next week, stay safe!
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Praveeni Jayasekera is the Founder and Editor of fullofetiquette.com; she is a regular advocate on the subject. She is an ACMA, CGMA; holds a BSc. Economics and Management; PG in IT and Diploma in Social Sciences. She is employed full time in the capacity of Chief Operating Officer at CL Synergy (Private) Limited; a Sri Lankan freight forwarding company. She is an ardent fan of the written word and has compiled content for numerous websites for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, corporate profiles and blogs. She has experience in training corporate professionals on customer service and business etiquette. She conducts coaching sessions on etiquette for school children every now and then.
