Social Rules of engagement : a focus on friendship

1.  When you make a phone call to someone who does not know you, start the conversation by introducing yourself instead of hello.
2. Don’t call someone more than twice continuously. If they don’t pick up your call that means they have something more important to attend to.
3. When you are in a multilingual group, use a language that everyone in the group understands
4. Treat the janitor with the same respect as the CEO. Nobody is impressed at how rude you are towards someone below you but people will notice if you treat them with dignity.
5. If you tease someone and they don’t seem to enjoy it, stop it and never do it again.
6. When someone shows you a photo on their phone, don’t swipe left or right. You never know what’s next.
7. Don’t ask awkward questions like ‘why aren’t you married yet?’ Or ‘why don’t you have kids’
   and when meeting someone after a long time, unless they want to talk about it, don’t ask them their age and salary.
8. When a colleague is leaving the organization, don't ask 'where are you joining? We are entitled to our individual decisions. Don't ask anyone why it's so.
9. If someone tells you they have a doctor’s appointment, don’t ask what it’s for, just say hope you’re ok. If they want to talk about it they will
10. If you take a taxi with a friend, and he/she pays now, you pay next time.
11. Return money that you have borrowed even before the other person remembers lending it to you. It shows your integrity and character. Same goes with umbrellas, pens and lunch boxes.
12. Never order the expensive dish on the menu when someone is treating you for lunch/dinner. If possible ask them to order their choice of food for you.
13. Praise publicly. Criticize privately.
14. There’s almost never a reason to comment on someone’s weight. Just say, “You look fantastic.” If they want to talk about losing weight, they will.
15. Mind your own business unless anything involves you directly, stay out of it.
16. Try not to fart in closed premises like meeting rooms, elevators, vehicles, if there are other people around.