Be punctual: Find out from the client what are the normal working hours for the people you will need to interact with the most. Be available during those hours. Remember, the client is paying you to be available, not just for your skills -- the client can easily train their own personnel in the same skills. You are hired because you have those skills NOW. If you are late, let the manager know why. This actually deters tardiness, because consultants are loathe to talk to their supervisors unless they absolutely have to do so. After a point, the client will more likely let you go than listen to your excuses.

Be modest: Just as you cannot tolerate idle boasts, do not expect others to tolerate yours. Do the best job you can without trumpeting knowledge you have that others don't. Exception: if you firmly believe the clients interests are best served by your approach to a problem, remain steadfast in your opinion while carefully considering any alternatives that may be proposed - though, be aware that the decision on the path to take may not be yours to make.

Be quiet: Most firms have 'white' or 'pink' noise to cancel out ambient noise in the office. However, if you grew up having to shout to get attention, keep in mind you do not need to do so in the office. Raising your voice sends a negative signal to the person you are talking to. A corollary to this is: turn your beepers and pagers and other gizmos to silent (or vibrate) mode if you have company -- whether at work, or en route. There is nothing more irritating or stressful than a loud ring or a loud conversation (or half-conversation in the case of telephone calls).

Multi-task only when alone: You may have come across people who talk to the person across the desk, while writing something else. In today's world, where everyone's trying to 'get there' (though no one knows where 'there' is), people have to juggle more than one task at a time. When you are talking to someone, the best way to get them to open up and express their viewpoint (and to make them receptive to your own,) is to devote your attention to them entirely. Exception: you can multi-task if you are talking on the telephone - if you can handle it without drifting off from the conversation.

Be clean: 'Cleanliness is next to Godliness'. As a consultant, you are a de facto 'ambassador' for yourself and your employer. Behave like one. Be neat in your appearance. Project confidence. A carefully groomed look need not cost you - just pay as much attention to your looks as you would if you were going to meet that special someone everyday.

Be polite: For all our technological prowess, we are unable to read what is in another's mind. When verbal communication is the only way to express what we feel, we must be even more careful of what we say. Now, at a client site, even amongst yourselves, do avoid profanity and four-, and seven-letter words at all costs. It could save you a sexual harassment charge or two (in the United States, it is a crime for a man to use profanity when in the company of women and children - though this is rarely enforced, it can be used to substantiate a larger harassment charge. And before you gentlemen go ballistic about the law favouring the ladies, etiquette demands that ladies not use profanity at all, ever).

Be courteous: Courtesy begets courtesy. If you help someone even with just a kind word, they will return the favour. Do unto others, as you would want done unto yourself. If you are abrasive, you will soon be left alone. Need We say more?

Be firm: Some cultures have a tendency to be overly obsequious. You have to understand that some personnel at the client site may demand subservience, but you have to put your foot down, and restrict yourself to the duties set forth in your job description. You are here because of your skills, and in that capacity alone. If a request is beyond you, do not accede to it, unless you are returning a personal favour. Set your boundaries and you will find that everything will fall into place. Exception: If the person making the request is really a friend, and has helped you, by all means, help out to the best of your ability.

Have fun: If you do not enjoy what you do, it will reflect in your attitude to other people and situations. Try to have fun at work - the thrill of seeing your solution work, the simple joy of being around other people, the lessons of observing others at work - all these will reduce the stress of merely eking out a living and make your job more play than work. If you really wanted to do something else (like paint, cook, stitch, or...), take that up as a hobby, so that you will not feel that your work has taken the life out of you.