BEST QUOTES FROM 2006
Out of the mouths of experts from around the country come personal takes on Office Romances, Women in Business, Listening, a Healthy Work/Life Balance and Managing Conflict. In some of the best quotes from our twenty-four Your Workplace articles of 2006, these experts tell it like they see it.

 Office Romances

"Office romances are rife with hazards. It can affect how people view you as a professional as well as how you perform... You have to understand that you can't revert to high school behavior. That means no passing notes or whispering with your girlfriends at the water cooler. You have to take the relationship completely out of the workplace, outside the building. You also have to be an actor. No goo-goo eyes. You have to put a mask on and do your work. Always remember you have a job to do. That's why you're there."
- Jill Bremer, an etiquette and image consultant for the Oak Park, Ill.-based image consulting firm Bremer Communications. www.bremercommunications.com

Women in Business

"For America to compete, we must have the best and brightest in our corporate boardrooms. Women bring a different perspective to business challenges. Diversity of thought brings the best answers."
- Lynn Utter, chief strategy officer for Coors Brewing Company, McCombs School of Business article.

 Listening

"Good listeners need to take in more than just words. They need to observe the body language of the speaker because that can give them additional information about the person or the situation...It's difficult to overestimate the importance of listening or the damage that can result from a failure to listen."
- Westaff Human Resources Manager Gail Jern

 Healthy Work/Life Balance

"It's in an employer's own enlightened self-interest to help employees with child care issues, flexibility and creating that healthy balance between work and home. "It pays huge, huge dividends when employees feel that these issues are important to their company. Happy and loyal employees will always go the extra mile."
- Peter Burki, CEO of LifeCare®, Inc., a Westport, Connecticut-based specialty health care organization

 Managing Conflict

"In a world where relationships matter more than ever, mediation skills matter more than ever. Companies can locate anywhere. People can work anywhere. Clients can stay with you or go with a competitor halfway around the globe. So, whether you manage employees or clients or both, it's critical to learn the art of bringing harmony out of conflict."
- Mediator Jeffrey Krivis, author of Improvisational Negotiation: A Mediator's Stories of Conflict about Love, Money, Anger-and the Strategies That Resolved Them, press release from Rocks-DeHart Public Relations