Chapter 4391

Desan, you haven't been in officialdom for a few years, so your experience in this area may not be deep, but there will be many opportunities to accompany leaders to banquets or treat guests in the future. As a man, how to be decent and generous in such activities, and how to be accurate in your role, is not only a need for work, but also an excellent opportunity to show your personal ability, so don't underestimate it.

For example, the preparation before the banquet, the preparation work for the banquet can generally be divided into determining the participants, the banquet location, and sending invitations, waiting and welcoming, etc. Among them, determining the guest list is the key to the entire preparation activity. Because the identity of the guests invited to the banquet, the purpose of the banquet, the level and number of guests, and the degree of familiarity or harmony between the guests and the host are all directly related to the subsequent links. If the leader has determined the personnel, time, and location of the banquet, then we only need to implement them item by item. If the leader only has a rough idea or a few principles, we must treat it seriously. Because the preparation process before a banquet is essentially a public relations planning process, any slight omission may lead to serious consequences.

There is also determining the list of participants. When determining the guest list, you must consider it comprehensively and avoid omissions. The best way is to first draw up a large list and send it to the leader for finalization. If we also cannot determine the list of guests to be invited, asking or entrusting others is a good way. For example, to achieve a certain goal, the leader wants to invite relevant personnel from a certain department to sit down together. The invitation work fell on your head, and if you have no bottom in your heart about who to invite, the best way is to ask personnel familiar with the situation of that department (preferably someone inside that department), so that the result obtained should not have too much deviation. Another layer of meaning of considering comprehensively is to avoid making a big pot of stew when determining the guest list. Some people like to be lively or save trouble when treating guests. They want to solve all problems by treating guests once, without considering whether there is a connection between the guests and whether they are willing to sit together. The result will dilute the theme, fail to achieve the intended purpose, and even end up in an unhappy ending. After determining the guest list, you should also determine the list of accompanying personnel. There are several principles here: one is to consider the equality of the levels and numbers of both sides. The so-called equality of levels means that if possible, the identity of the first host of our side should be equal to or slightly higher than the identity of the first guest, because the identity of the first host directly determines the level of the banquet; the so-called equality of numbers means that the number of people attending from both the host and guest sides should not be too disparate. If our side has too few people, it is not enough respect for the guests, and if there are too many, it will appear indecent. The second is that people who have nothing to do with the theme of the banquet or have no help to the purpose of the banquet had better not appear at the banquet.

Another one is to determine the location of the banquet. Choose the corresponding banquet location according to the different nature of the banquet, try to have a unique style, and consider under what specifications to entertain guests. If it is a relatively familiar friend and there is no clear banquet theme, just to contact feelings and pave the way for future work, then the choice of location and personnel can be at will, and the atmosphere at the banquet should also strive to be relaxed and natural. If relatively important figures are present, you cannot be too casual in the choice of banquet location, because the grade of the hotel is a symbol of identity and sincerity. If the guest does not want to be discovered by more people, you should choose a relatively quiet location. When determining the banquet location, you should contact the hotel in advance, preferably make a field trip, carefully check the environment inside and outside the room and the banquet menu, and make clear requirements to the hotel on matters such as the banquet time, so as to avoid accidents.

Then there is sending invitations. The way of invitation can be flexible and diverse, face-to-face invitation, telephone invitation, invitation card invitation are all possible, but it must be solemn and sincere, so that the invited person feels your sincerity. The details such as the time, location, main attendees, and the way of attending the banquet must be stated clearly and accurately, so as not to cause ambiguity. In addition, if time permits, invitations should be sent three to five days in advance so that the other party has sufficient preparation time. And on the day of the banquet, you should remind them again so that the guests do not forget.

For more important guests, you should take the initiative to send a special car to pick them up. In addition to showing respect for the guests, you can also use the opportunity of picking up and dropping off (there must be sending if there is picking up) to find out the guest's home address, which is convenient for future visits. On the other hand, this can also save the trouble of taking care of the other party's driver.

The party treating the guests should arrive earlier than the guests. After arriving, they should make arrangements or adjustments to the surrounding environment, the arrangement of tables and chairs, the preparation of dishes, etc. Here, I would like to emphasize the number of seats and tableware at each table. Unless there is a temporary increase or decrease in personnel, the number of seats and tableware at each table should be consistent with the number of people seated, because temporary adjustments (especially temporary increases) of seats and tableware after the guests arrive will not only make the banquet appear chaotic and disorderly, but also be a great disrespect to the guests. People might think: am I redundant?

After everything is ready, we should go to the hotel gate to welcome the arrival of the guests. If the guest's level is relatively high, we should also remind the first host to go outside to welcome them. After arriving at the hotel, there are rules for seating, which can generally be divided into two problems: correctly determining the table number and the seat number.

One is the table number. If both sides have many people and need to eat at separate tables, one table should be determined as the main table. There are generally three principles for determining the main table: one is that the middle is the upper. That is, when three or more tables (and it is an odd number) are side by side, the middle table is the main table; the second is that the right is the upper. That is, when two tables are side by side, the right table is the main table, but when two or more tables (and it is an even number, such as four) are side by side, then the above two principles need to be used at the same time to determine the main table, that is, the right table in the middle is the main table. The third is that the farther is the upper. That is, the table farthest from the main door of the room (that is, the most inside) is the main table. In addition to the above three principles, there is also a principle of how to determine the left and right direction—the door-facing principle, that is, the right side when facing the main door of the room is the upper. I think as long as you truly grasp the above three plus one principles and apply them flexibly (either separately or comprehensively), even if you encounter more complicated situations, we can correctly determine the table number. After arranging the table number, the next step is to distribute the personnel at each table. Generally speaking, we should try our best to arrange the main members of both the host and guest sides to eat at the main table. No matter how many tables are divided for eating, each table should be arranged with our own personnel. If the VIP brings a driver, then you must not be careless about the driver. If it is inconvenient to arrange for the driver to enter the banquet, you should arrange for them to eat separately or give a sufficient tip. Sometimes big things will be ruined by details.

The second is the seat number. Seating is generally divided into two ways due to different occasions:

If there are many people, the ranking should be more formal. That is, the position facing the door in the middle is the main host seat (also known as the bill-paying seat, main seat), the opposite is the deputy host seat, the right side of the main host seat is the first VIP seat, the right side of the deputy host is the second VIP seat, the left side of the main host seat is the third VIP seat, the left side of the deputy host seat is the fourth VIP seat, and so on. This ranking method is suitable for relatively formal occasions, and at the same time requires that the status of both the host and guest sides (especially between the main host and the deputy host) are relatively close.

If there are not many people participating in the banquet, and even if the host side only has the company president and his secretary, no matter who the invited guest is, the above ranking method is obviously inappropriate, because no matter what, arranging the second VIP next to the secretary is not respectful enough. At this time, the informal ranking method is applicable. The position of the main host seat remains unchanged, and the position of the deputy host usually remains unchanged (this is more convenient for urging dishes or running errands), and the VIPs sit on the right and left sides of the main host seat in order, and so on.

Of course, special factors should also be considered and handled flexibly. If the status of the main guest is higher than the host, to show respect for him, the main guest can be placed in the host's position, the host sits in the main guest's position, and the second host sits on the left side of the main guest. As for the arrangement of male and female guests, according to foreign habits, they are arranged interspersed. China is accustomed to arranging according to each person's position and identity, so as to facilitate conversation. If a wife attends, she is usually arranged together with the hostess of the banquet. For example: the male main guest sits on the upper right of the male host, and his wife sits on the upper right of the hostess. If the host's wife does not attend, other women of equivalent status can be invited to act as the second host, or the main guest and his wife can be arranged on the left and right sides of the host.

(Chapter 2378: The Knowledge of Treating Guests)! ===== CHAPTER 4392 =====