Protocol
One of the most important highlights of a Junior Chamber year is the visit of an international officer to your local or national organization. As you gear up to host international officers this year, we would like to share some ideas about protocol with you.
Protocol is particularly important during official ceremonies and functions such as Chapter and National meetings, receptions, hosting a JCI officer, JCI conferences, world congresses, etc. International protocol helps us deal with cultural differences in a formal manner.
Just as each country may have its own protocol, so does each organization or company. JCI, like most organizations, has a set of rules, etiquette or norms that are germane to our organization. But local norms are also to be considered, and they vary from one area to another.
Take the perceptions of time as an example. In certain parts of the world, if a meeting is scheduled to start at 09:00 a.m., it means that all participants must be in their seats by that time. In other areas of the world, you may be easily forgiven if you arrive five minutes late. And in some other areas you may arrive 10 minutes late and still be there before your host!
The term “protocol” has many meanings and connotations. For our purpose, we’ll say that protocol is “the generally-accepted code of etiquette and precedence within a particular group or entity.” In order words, it’s an expected and acceptable way of behaving in a given social situation.
BASIC RULES
A general rule of protocol is that the guest follows the rules of the house. Inform your guest about the appropriate dress code for the function, the suggested time of arrival, the point of entrance, where to park, who will greet the guest and where, persons to be introduced to the guest at the point of entrance, order of procession to the hall, seating arrangements, order of speeches, and order of departure after the event.
In general, elected JCI officers rank higher than appointed officers. For example, an elected Executive Vice President or Vice President ranks higher than an appointed Secretary General, Treasurer or General Legal Counsel).
During official ceremonies, lower-ranking officers speak and are introduced before higher ranking officers. If too many lower-ranking officers are present to be all introduced, just mentioning their names will be enough to recognize their presence.
PROTOCOL FOR SPEAKING
Ensure that pronunciations and punctuation are correct. In general, lower-ranking officers speak before higher-ranking officers. For example, this would be the order of speaking:
- Local Chapter President
- National Board Member
- National President
- JCI Vice Presidents
- JCI Executive Committee Members
- Government officials
- JCI President
- Country’s president or head of state
Remember:
- To check the visiting officers’ titles, names of countries, etc., to make sure they are announced correctly.
- To display national and organizational flags properly.
- To recite the JCI Declaration of Principles at the start of any official function or meeting.
- To play the national anthem if necessary.
PROTOCOL OF SEATING
Seating arrangements are typically designed not just to honor an important guest or friend but also to enhance the flow of good conversation during dinner.
Those who understand the art of small talk are well aware that “at a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely…”
At an informal dinner, a toast or grace may not be expected. In a formal dinner or ceremony, a grace, invocation or toast may be given to honor or celebrate a particular person or a significant event or date of the organization. It is customary to allow the main guest or VIP to make brief remarks or deliver a “message of greetings” just before dinner or immediately after. The host should have the last intervention with a “vote of thanks.”
Gifts or presents may be exchanged before or after dinner. In most organizations, guests are seated according to rank or seniority. Emphasis should be to ensure that guests are placed in their proper seats.
Proper salutations and recognition of important dignitaries in the room is also the norm.
For seating arrangements, please note the following:
- Important dignitaries, VIPs or high-ranking officers should be seated in the front row and low-ranking officers in the rows behind.
- To avoid any confusion, seats can be pre-assigned with name cards placed on each seat or on back of the seat. The airlines have eliminated any seating confusion onboard by pre-assigning seat numbers to passengers!
- Foreign guests rank higher in order of seating than local guests.
- Both husbands and wives are granted the same status as their higher-ranking spouses. Thus, if the host national or local president is a married woman, her husband is seated according to her rank.
- If possible, two or more persons of the same profession should not be seated together.
SUMMARY
Above all, recognize that people are different, and spend a little time building relationships and learning how people from other cultures think and behave. The world can then open up to you. As stated in our JCI Declaration of Principles, “…the brotherhood of man transcends the sovereignty of nations...”
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