What should be on a business card?
Q. My university degree is in economics. I also received a master's of business administration degree. When I design my card, which degree should be first: MBA or BA? Thank you.
F.F.Y., St. James, N.Y.
A. In business, people usually do not list any educational degree. It isn't a necessary element of the business card. However, you should list any professional degrees or designations you've earned to show your qualifications in your particular industry. For instance, an insurance salesperson who is a Certified Life Underwriter would list her name as Cynthia Jones, CLU. If you have more than one professional designation, list them in the order they were received. List your educational degree only if it is critical to do so in your industry. If listed, use only the highest level degree. Therefore, if you earned both a bachelor of arts degree and an MBA degree, you would list only the MBA degree after your name.
Q. My boss's father passed away and she took two weeks off work to be with her family. Two weeks was a long time to wait for her return. I was afraid that if I didn't copy, or "cc" her on important e-mails, I would later have to shoulder the blame for not letting her know or that she would be out of touch with important matters at work. Was it wrong for me to cc her on important e-mails? I didn't want to appear insensitive or rude. But, each time I cc'd her, I cringed and felt much discomfort.
S.L., Sacramento
A. You can rest easy. Under the circumstances, you did the right thing by cc'ing her on important e-mails. Without previous instructions, you had to make a choice. Keeping her informed, but not overwhelming her with less important e-mails makes sense.
When she does return, make it a point to meet with her to express your condolences at her loss and to explain how you went about handling communications during her absence. Keep other less important items to give her when she's ready for them. Finally, ask her if how you handled the situation was satisfactory for her. Discuss any changes she would want in procedure so the next time a situation crops up where she is unexpectedly absent for a few days, you'll know exactly how to deal with it.
It's always valuable for an assistant to ask, as a part of the job, how to handle such situations before they occur. Whether you are the boss or the assistant, if you don't have a plan in place or if you haven't discussed how you want emergency absences handled in terms of flow of work, schedule a meeting now to avoid confusion when an emergency does happen.
Peter Post is the great-grandson of manners guru Emily Post and is the director of the Emily Post Institute in Burlington, Vt.
NEED ADVICE? E-mail questions about business etiquette to bizmanners@globe.com; fax to 617-929-3183; or mail to Etiquette at Work, The Boston Globe, P.O. Box 55819, Boston, MA 02205-5819.
