Apart from the military, where soldiers respond to their commanding officer's orders with an instant "Yes, sir!", there are still some instances when you might see or hear "Sir" and "Madam".

1. In a letter where the writer doesn't know the reader's name
It's preferable to find out the name of your reader rather than writing a default "Dear Sir / Madam". Even where it would be impossible to do this (for example, if a company is writing to all of its customers) alternatives exist. For example, "Dear customer" (from company to customers) or "Dear (institute name) member" (from an institute to its members).

2. From customer service personnel
Airport, hotel and restaurant staff, shop assistants, or people working directly with the public, are likely to call male customers "Sir" and female customers "Madam". It's often used when you want to address someone personally, such as when they're standing in front of you, but when you don't know their name.

3. Ironically
"She's a (right / little) madam" is not a compliment! We could use it to refer to a young girl who makes too many demands of her parents, or perhaps to a "difficult" female customer or boss.

For many English people, being forced to stand or sit so close to complete strangers is an uncomfortable experience. We just don't like having our personal space reduced. This probably explains why we rarely speak or acknowledge other passengers, unless something out-of-the-ordinary happens.

Here are some "commuting etiquette" tips if you're travelling around London.

- Other passengers are unlikely to have conversations unless they know the person. Don't greet or start a conversation with someone you don't know.

- If you need to ask someone something (for example, which platform it is for a particular station), start with "Excuse me" to get the person's attention. Don't forget to say "Thanks" or "Thank you" after you get the information.

- Avoid making eye contact with other passengers. Most people read something, listen to music, or look slightly downwards on the tube. If you accidentally catch someone's eye, the chances are that they'll look away immediately.

- Don't feel offended if you say "Sorry" to someone (perhaps because you've been pushed against them or you've accidentally trod on their toes) and they don't reply with a standard "Don't worry" or "It's OK". For most people, the daily commute is something they have to get through, and they understand that it's often an uncomfortable journey. They'd rather suffer in silence than make conversation with another person!

- Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, let people off the train before you get on. Don't block the doors (stand to one side) and go right inside the carriage rather than just standing immediately in front of the doors once you get on. Oh, and stand on the right on the escalators to let people pass you on the left.

Do you have any more tips for commuting etiquette?

Here are some etiquette tips for using new communication tools.

Email
Many people are bombarded with emails at work, so your important or urgent email needs to stand out from all the others.

- Make sure you use a descriptive subject heading and not just a Re:Re:Re type heading.
- Don't send spam or forward "pyramid" emails (the ones asking you to forward it onto all your contacts).
- Don't use email to push your religious or political beliefs.
- Wait at least a few days before you follow up an email and give the recipient time to respond.
- Send longer, clearer emails with all the information your reader needs, rather than numerous, shorter emails that will fill up an inbox.
- Use bullet points and white space in your email to help the reader scan for information.
- Remember to send attachments if you say you're going to send them!

Twitter
A great marketing tool for your products and services, and also one of the most immediate ways to stay in contact. But make sure that what you tweet is useful, and remember that you are taking part in an informal conversation. It's not just you shouting at everyone else in the twittersphere!

- Balance your tweets. Don't just market your products, but answer questions, pass on tidbits and so on.
- Don't tweet stuff that's banal or uninteresting.
- Limit your tweets. If you send out too many updates each day, your important messages probably won't stand out.
- Learn txt language and abbreviations for common words.
- RT or use the @name to show that you are passing something along or replying to someone else.
- Highlight and share information from other people to help the conversation.

IM
The fastest way to communicate apart from the phone or face-to-face.

- Wait at least a few seconds for your partner to reply. Don't forget that people on IM are generally multi-tasking and may be on the phone or away from their desk.
- Say goodbye before you sign off and close the application. Phrases like "Nice chatting, catch up later", or "Need to go – will speak later" are ways to show you need to sign off.

Phone
One phone conversation can eliminate 30 emails. You know you've got the person's attention, and you can probably solve more problems in a short phone call than you can with email.

But if English isn't your first language, you may worry that you'll make mistakes on the phone. Check these articles and posts for help with telephoning: Making telephone calls, Managing phone calls, Using a mobile phone, and Phrasal verbs for phoning.

In New Zealand, less than half of all employees have trust and confidence in their leaders at work. Less than half feel their leaders' management style improves their productivity, and more than a quarter of employees aren't clear on, or don’t care about, their organisation's goals

The article blames poor work culture and a lack of workplace leadership for costing the New Zealand business sector more than $2.6 billion a year.

What's your opinion? Do you think that your bosses help you to improve your productivity? If they don't, what could they do to provide a better leadership?

Some interesting reading on why current management techniques don't work can be found in this review of the new book by Charles Jacobs, Management Rewired: Why Feedback Doesn't Work and Other Surprising Lessons from the Latest Brain Science.

When you write a complaint, remember these tips:

- be factual and precise. Say exactly what the problem is, and how it is contrary to your expectations.
- don't use sarcasm or emotional language. Use a neutral rather than angry tone.
- be clear about what you want to happen. State how much compensation you want.
- be polite and avoid threats unless you want to take legal action.

How to start
I am writing to complain about…
I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with…

Saying what you want to happen
In view of the above, I expect a substantial refund.
Under the circumstances, I feel that a refund of XX is appropriate.