Etiquette expert and author Barbara Pachter offers advice on how to say the right things at work. Connect: Professional Women’s Network is online community with more than 360,000 members that discusses issues relevant to women and their success. The free LinkedIn group powered by Citi also features videos interviews with influential businesswomen, live Q&As with experts and slideshows with career advice. To learn more and join the conversation in the largest women's group on LinkedIn, visit http://www.linkedin.com/womenconnect.

1. THE SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL
COMMUNICATION
Etiquette expert Barbara Pachter offers advice
on saying the right thing at work.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY

2. MEET BARBARA PACHTER!
Barbara Pachter is a speaker, coach
and author of 10 business books,
including the new Essentials of
Business Etiquette: How to Greet,
Eat, and Tweet Your Way to Success.
Her goal is to help professionals
communicate more effectively and
enhance their professional presence.
She has delivered more than 2,500
seminars throughout the world,
including the first-ever seminar for
businesswomen in Kuwait.

3. Barbara recently answered questions from
members of Connect: Professional
Women’s Network. Here’s some of her
most popular advice on how to
communicate effectively at work.

4. What tips do you have for tactfully resolving disagreements at
work, especially via emails or instant messaging? I encourage
not using these methods when there are difficult topics to
discuss. It’s very easy to have a harsh tone in email or text. If you
can, go see the person, or call him or her.

5. What rules should professional organizations follow when they
want to encourage or discourage social-media activity? People
need to remember that what they post and tweet can (and will)
come back to haunt. Companies also need to have a social-media
policy in place.

6. Within an organization, what method do you recommend for
encouraging professional communication and etiquette?
Management needs to role model how they want employees to
communicate and interact with one another. Having employees
participate in communication or etiquette training can also send a
message that the organization values effective communication.

7. What’s your take on cursing in the workplace? It comes from the
top down in my organization and spreads like wildfire. There can
be two types of cursing. One is cursing at someone, which is never
OK. The other is the occasional slip of the tongue. It’s better not to
do this, but no one is perfect and it can occasionally happen.

8. How can you help remote employees feel a part of the community?
There are many things to try, depending on your budget. If you have
the funds, you could hold an annual company retreat. Less expensive
options would be to send regular e-newsletters to all employees or to
hold some meetings via Skype or WebEx so people can see each other.

9. What advice do you have for repairing communication channels after
something has damaged the trust? Mistakes happen, and sometimes things
go wrong through no fault of your own, and it weakens relationships. Trust
is very important—and difficult—to reinstate. I come from the “school of no
excuses.” I suggest that people be honest, admit their mistakes, and explain
what they are going to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again. And then
do it.

10. What’s a polite way to request referrals and encourage business
acquaintances to send you leads? You could use a simple line, such as
“And if you know people who could use my services, please let them
know.” But I’ve always found that the best way to get business is to
get out there—go to meetings, meet people, offer to help them,
develop an area of expertise and blog or post about it.

11. When you’ve been asked for an estimate for a job but don’t land the
project, is it appropriate to ask why? If you ask a number of
questions, you may overwhelm the potential client. I would ask only
one general question, such as “Is there any information you can give
me that would have made me a better candidate for you?”

12. When colleagues are waiting for guidance from you, but you can’t
respond because you haven’t been given leave to discuss it, how can
you best communicate with them? Be as honest as possible. Explain
that you (or the committee, organization, etc.) are working out the final
details and that once everything is approved, you’ll let them know.

13. I’m a first-time author and will need to do speaking engagements,
radio interviews, and television segments to promote my book. Any
advice on how to feel comfortable with these? A few ideas: join
Toastmasters, take a public-speaking class at a community college or
adult-education school, or hire a coach who can teach you public-speaking
techniques and strategies.

14. JOIN THE CONVERSATION!
LinkedIn and Citi’s Connect: Professional Women’s Network is an online
community with more than 360,000 members that helps women
achieve the careers they want and discuss the issues relevant to their
success. Visit linkedin.com/womenconnect for more information and
to join the group!
For more great insights on implementing change in the workplace,
check out Barbara Pachter’s live discussion in Connect.
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2: Photo courtesy of Barbara
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