Performance Improvement (PI) took time to review several articles regarding good business meeting etiquette. Here is a list of the best tips they compiled after their review:

• Face-to-face meetings are important:
  • Schedule face-to-face meetings for essential matters that demand everyone’s full attention.
  • Research shows there’s simply no substitute for meeting face to face. 
  • Participants in face-to-face meetings are more likely to remain focused and outside distractions are less apparent. 
  • People resist the impulse to multitask. 
• Booking of conference rooms:
  • Book and Cancel Your Conference Room Early
    • When people ghost meeting rooms, it can create frustration between coworkers and disrupt workplace productivity. 
  • Don’t Double-Book Conference Rooms
  • No squatting! Don’t Assume that an Empty Room is up for Grabs
    • Empty rooms aren’t necessarily available. Meetings don’t always start on the hour—if you assume a room isn’t booked because no one is in it and it’s a quarter past the hour, you may be interrupted and asked to leave when you least expect it.
• Accommodate the needs of others:
  • You don’t need a conference room that seats 10 if you only have 2 people in the meeting. If you book a large conference room for a small number of people and a coworker asks you to switch rooms, be accommodating.
  • Issues often arise, and your coworkers may ask to use your conference room in an emergency. Be understanding and help out your peers when you can.
• Keep the door closed:
  • Don’t short cut through a closed door, there may be a meeting in the room. 
  • Be aware of sound
    • It’s nice to hear folks laugh and talk around the office or in meeting rooms. It shows a strong workplace culture and team bonding. But when it happens for a long period of time, it can be distracting for those sitting nearby. Be aware of sound that travels outside of your meeting room. 
• Put your phone away
  • While your phone might be an important business tool that you use throughout the day, it should be out of sight during meetings. You don’t want to be distracted or appear to be distracted while others are speaking.
• Leave the conference room as clean as or cleaner than you found it

Good office etiquette comes down to showing respect and compassion for your colleagues. Sharing any space can cause tension and frustration, but if you are aware of how your actions affect others, then you can easily avoid any conflicts. Following these simple tips can go a long way to creating a more pleasant work environment and winning over your colleagues.