Cyndi Maxey, along with Kevin E. O'Connor, is one of the co-authors of 10 Steps to Successful Time Management, ASTD Press's newest release in the 10 Step series. In steps 6 and 7, "Pay Attention to Your Key Contacts" and "Connect and Get the Most of Your Time," Cyndi and Kevin talk about the importance of understanding who your key contacts are and learning to make connections with others. In those chapters, they provide tips and worksheets to help you do just that. However, if you find you'd like more tips, check out Cyndi's blog. There she provides even more ideas for getting the most out of your time, especially in terms of communicating with people. Here are some of the topics she has written about:

• How to ignite elevator small talk even when you are not in one

• Navigating the business social event

• How to talk to the boss

• Show up and speak up! How to manage holiday mingling.

And there's lots more.

If you'd like information about their book and get a sample chapter, click here.