Hi,

I, too, am one of those that is experiencing difficulty chatting with
coworkers. I have started to move past the 'new' employee phase;
I've now been in my present job (my first after graduating from
university) for a little more than 9 months so I'm starting to feel a
bit more established. Even so, I still have a lot of difficulty
talking to my coworkers.

I think this is mostly due to not knowing what to say to people much
of the time. I can chat, somewhat sporadically, with the people that
sit near me, but if it's anyone else, forget it. And whenever I do
talk to someone, it's usually because the other person initiated the
conversation.

I desperately want to be able to overcome this, especially because I
have the same type of problem in my personal life. There's also the
nagging suspicion (fear?) that my shyness will prevent me from
getting promotions and/or raises at work. The only thing is, I'm not
sure where to begin.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Steve