So with just a week until Christmas, have you remembered to buy gifts for your colleagues and business partners? And what about your team?
A recent survey by Morgan McKinley of secretarial and support staff working in London’s financial services industry has found that a 71 percent of bosses have either never, or only occasionally, shown their appreciation for their hard work.

77 percent of the respondents to the survey said that they would be more enthusiastic about their work if their boss showed their appreciation more often - and I am guessing less likely to resign as research into retention consistently show that people leave jobs not usually because of financial reward or career progression, but because of the relationships - or should I say poor relationships with their boss.

And when it comes to Christmas gifts, 56 percent of the respondents either didn’t like the gift they received from their bosses last Christmas or didn’t receive one at all.

So what do you buy your administration assistant? Well the respondents to the survey indicated that the most wanted gifts were:

• Dinner for two at a top restaurant
• Luxury accessories or gift ‘experience’ vouchers
• Pampering/grooming products.

And the three Christmas gifts to avoid were:

• Chocolates
• Designer stationery
• Flowers/plants.

Taking a little time and thinking through what would really inspire your people and connect to their interests and passions as a Christmas gift takes little time and perhaps a little more effort than a job lot of hampers or buying a case of wine. However it will mean that your team realise that they are valued as individuals.

I always find that selecting a gift that is something that I know a member of my team would really enjoy and perhaps is something that they would not indulge or invest in themselves goes down a treat.

So if you haven’t finished your Christmas shopping you have just about enough time to find a gift that will inspire and excite your team.

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Earlier this week I received an invitation to join an online social networking community from an old college friend who is now based in New Zealand.

My heart sank - not because I had just heard from her - no it was the idea of having to join another online social networking group. So I carefully crafted my reply to say that I would love to stay in contact, but unfortunately I would have to decline joining the group as I am already on Facebook, LinkedIn, Ziggs, Ecademy and participate in a number of online forums, am on Twitter and Jaiku and author a number of blogs.

I knew that I could not do justice to being an active participant on another online forum.

It was a little like Christmas lunch - another social networking site was just one too many, like taking that extra mouthful of turkey and feeling like you were about to explode!

But I’m noticing I am not alone. I just heard from a friend they were about to unsubscribe from Facebook as they feel like they are spending too much time online and then Damien emailed me to say he was cleaning up his LinkedIn contacts but was staying on LinkedIn as he thought a number of people were there that he wanted to be connected to.

I often get asked which social networking site should we use - and my answer is that it always depends on your goals for being a member of a social networking community.

It’s no different to joining a professional association of face to face networking community. In fact it’s a good time of year now to evaluate which of the associations and communities you are a member of and if you want to continue to be a member of them in the forthcoming year - to help you, you can listen to a podcast I did about evaluating your networking plan here.

Let’s take a look at a couple of specific examples and why you might want to consider being a member. There are many similarities between the online communities so I am just going to highlight a couple of specific differences.

LinkedIn

This is one of the first social networking sites I recommend you upload your personal profile to, especially if you are in a corporate a position as you can:

• add your complete work history and career profile - it’s like having your CV or resume online

• you can search for people through your immediate contacts that you would like to connect to - for example when the Challenge Ireland round Ireland Yacht race was taking place in 2006, I got to know the organising team and supported them in connecting them with key contacts and with research all through a mutual contact on LinkedIn

• you can make your profile visible in a Google search - as you know from my many other articles and podcasts on building your personal brand online, it’s critical that we are found when people search for us by name in the search engines
• you can add testimonials and recommendations to your profile - consider this an online reference.

It is especially important if you are looking to progress in your career as Linkedin is certainly seen as THE professional online network and is used by executive search consultants and recruiters alike to find candidates for roles.

Facebook

Increasingly in 2007, more and more business leaders are moving onto Facebook. This is partly due to the publicity about Facebook and word of mouth, but the ease of use and ability to customise your profile has been another driver.

In Facebook you can:

• directly connect to people unlike on LinkedIn where you have to have a paid membership to directly contact people rather than through an introduction. I have been amazed at some of the world leading experts who have been happy to connect to my Facebook network.

• customise your Facebook page to reflect your interests and expertise, enhancing and reflecting your personal brand online
• use Facebook purely for personal networking as many people do, as at this moment in time your Facebook profile is not visible to the search engines so there is no risk that it will be found in a Google search - though my recommendation is to always make sure that whatever you write online you would be happy for anyone to find and read
• quickly scan information and news from your network and follow up with them if there is something of interest you want to connect with them about
• add your feeds from your blog to your Facebook profile.

I have found people are generally more active on Facebook which makes it feel like a more energetic place to be.

In summary, I find LinkedIn is used by people in leadership roles in business and those people actively managing their career as it’s a little more discriminating in terms of connections. I consider my connections in my LinkedIn network as people I would happily recommend and refer as I know their work.

Facebook is far more relaxed and is like a group of eclectic friends with perhaps business or social interests in common. I’ve found people who are world wide experts are really happy to connect on Facebook which is exciting and seems to level the playing field.

For me, the question of which social network to join really comes down to the time you have to nurture your online network and your purpose for joining a social networking site – but it’s like any network online or offline, if you invest in it you will reap results.

I predict that over the next 12 months more and more people will join social networking communities but they will become more discriminating about the ones they choose to use.

Just as we choose which professional association or offline networking community we want to join based on perceived value, return on investment (be that time or money), the ability to connect with key influencers (be they people who can support us in our career or may connect us to potential clients) and where people we like to be with hang out, you can use similar criteria to determine which online network to be a member of.

But remember that the same rule for networking online as offline is critical - it is about giving to your network, adding value and supporting them - that is what will enable you to build lasting relationships and friendships which is the platform for great career and professional success.

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It’s that time of year again and the office party is looming. But how do you make sure that one night letting loose with your work colleagues doesn’t mean disaster on the career front in 2008?

Remember, just because your boss is footing the bill for the annual team extravaganza, the Christmas party is still a business event and we still have to watch our business manners. Here are 10 business etiquette tips to survive the office Christmas party without becoming the talk around the water cooler for all the wrong reasons.

1. Make sure that you turn up – unbelievable I know, but many people dread the office party – after all why spend another 6 hours or more in the company of the colleagues you spend at least 40 hours a weeks with 48 weeks a year? Remember though it’s just one night and not turning up without a very good reason could have you labelled as uncommunicative and not a team player – certainly something you want to avoid being seen when you annual review takes place.
2. Check the dress code – make sure that you dress appropriately. The office party is not the time to wear an outrageous outfit – unless of course it is fancy dress. For women especially, remember that if you spend all year looking to establish your professional credibility and get taken seriously by your work colleagues, you don’t want to risk your professional reputation by your colleagues and bosses talking about what you didn’t wear!
   
   
3. Get connected – the office party may be attended by senior leaders in the organisation. Remember they are perhaps looking forward to the party even less than you are. However one of the reasons that many people don’t progress as fast as they would like in their career is that they have little sponsorship inside the company and they do not have an extensive network. Rather than spending all night talking to your friends from your team, make the effort to introduce yourself to the senior leadership team. Even your finance director who said “bah humbug” about the expense of this years party is more likely to become more affable when the party gets going.
4. Know the format – some Christmas parties are also the time to mark key achievements in the year and you might even find there are speeches made and presentations given. Make sure that you are aware of this before the party so that if you are one of the people to be honoured, you have a brief thank you speech ready but remember to keep it brief as your colleagues will want to get back to partying.
5. Watch the clock – remember to make sure that you know the time the party will be starting, and while it is fashionable to be late at events and no one wants to be propping up the bar for hours on end before anyone turns up, you certainly don’t want to arrive when desert is being served. And as for the right time to leave the gig, be careful not to get the reputation of Cinderella and be one of the first to leave the party, but equally make sure that you don’t get the reputation for being the last one standing at the bar at the end of the night – unless of course you are paying the bill.
6. Take it easy on the alcohol – yes the company may be footing the bill, but the office Christmas party is not the time to build a reputation for being able to drink everyone under the table. Enjoy yourself but be sure that you can remember what you did the next day. And don’t forget to organise a cab share – you definitely do not want to risk loosing your driving licence through drinking and driving.
7. Show thanks – at the end of the evening, do make sure you take the time to seek out the people who organised the Christmas party. They no doubt had to organise the event alongside a busy work agenda and were probably nervous that everything would be alright on the night. They will certainly appreciate the fact that the party goers take the time to say thank you for all their hard work.

Follow these tips to navigate yourself through the season of good cheer and you will be sure not to blot the copybook for your career success in 2008.

© Krishna De, 2007. All rights reserved.

Krishna De is an expert in Employer Branding and Personal Branding. If you enjoyed this article and would like to access further resources to build your personal brand and enjoy greater career success, visit her award winning business blog and podcast at www.bizgrowthnews.com

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In todays busy working week, I am begining to wonder if we have forgotten some of the basic good practice and good manners we were taught as examples of good business etiquette?

Perhaps I am becoming one of the “grumpy old women” portrayed on the BBC TV series, but it never ceases to amaze me that we seem to negatively impact our personal reputation and personal brand through forgetting to pay attention to our own business etiquette.

Here are three things I think are becoming increasingly common and yes if this were the “grumpy old women” TV show I’d be ranting:

1. Not offering refreshments - as a matter of good business manners, if you are meeting someone in your office, expecially a new client or business contact, please do not forget the pleasantry of offering your visitor or potential client a drink. It breaks the ice and shows you are attentive to their needs.
2. Leaving on your mobile phone in meetings - yes I know we are have high pressured jobs and have to be “on call” with our phones on, but please if you are in a business meeting, turn off your mobile phone. If you do need to take a call, tell the other people you are meeting with that you are waiting for an important call and is that OK if you are interrupted.
3. Not saying thank you - whether it is an email reply you get from someone in response to a question you raised, or perhaps someone has sent you an email with a useful contact or article, please, please, please remember to take 30 seconds to send your colleague an email to say thank you. Yes I know we receive a lot of email, but it really is business etiquette 101 to say thank you and helps you nurture your network.

And if you are a grumpy old woman (or man) and want to meet other grumpy old women in Ireland, you can book to see the “Grumpy Old Women Live Show” which is taking place on the 1 November at the Helix in Dublin. I wonder if they are looking for any understudy’s?

So what are your hot spots in terms of business etiquette?

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Did you realise that many of us spend over 40 per cent of the working day on e-mail with at least a third of that time on non productive unprofitable email according to a survey by Cohesive Knowledge Solutions.

Would you like to know how to manage your email most effectively, reduce the number of emails that you receive and discover how to clear out an overflowing email box?

Then join me today on ‘Biz Growth Live’ where I will be in conversation with Vicki Halsey, co-author of ‘The Hamster Revolution – how to manage your email before it manages you’.

I promise you this is a call not to be missed as Vicki has some tremendous ideas that we can put into action straight away including:

• four simple high impact strategies for managing email
• how to manage your email inbox even if you have thousands of emails in your inbox
• tips to file and retrieve email quickly
• how to influence others we work with and coach our colleagues to imporve their email practice.

If you want to join me for this no-cost teleseminar which takes place at 1pm ET (6pm Dublin and London) today the 30 April 2007, you still have time to register.

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