IT'S a problem nearly all of us have to face at some point in our lives. When meeting someone for the first time, how many of us really know the appropriate way to greet them?

So what should we do? Plant a kiss on the cheek or shake the hand? Which way do we lean? What if the other person goes for a kiss and we offer a handshake? By this point, can we even remember their name?

A survey of 1,200 workers revealed the daily dilemmas of office etiquette when meeting a client or colleague.

A fifth had accidentally clashed faces. One in 10 were so flustered that they ended up waving haplessly and a similar number allowed a colleague to sit through a meeting with lipstick on the cheek.

Colin Matthews, Tuckton-based psychologist from the British Psychological Society, said: "The more important and high pressure the situation, the more pressure they put on themselves to act in an appropriate way.

"Anxiety jumbles the thoughts and that affects the way that people act."

It seems we Brits are lost in translation. Compared with other countries we don't know what we are doing.

People in the Netherlands begin and end on the same cheek. For the Italians, kissing is restricted to very close friends or family only. And then there's the formal Maori greeting in New Zealand - grasping right hands and touching noses.

Without a traditional greeting, many British people find that they have to judge each individual situation and act intuitively.

Colin Tilley, 37, of Queens Park, who works at Equity Insurance, said: "I neither kiss nor shake hands, unless the customer implies it.

"I sense the individual by the body language. It often depends - older people seem to quite like the attention, females tend to vary and those who are younger generally don't like any formal greeting."

Lynda Sutton, 47, of Parkstone, assistant manager of Next in Bournemouth, said: "It's very English' to shake hands.

"I don't think people should kiss in a professional place - that's for friends and family only."

Kevin Marsh, 32, who works at the Nationwide branch in Bournemouth, said: "I would be worried about kissing a woman in an office environment. It's a bit intimate. I usually stick with a handshake."

The survey also found an embarrassed few who admitted they had ended up groping a colleague or client after opting for a kiss while the other one tried to shake hands. Nervous laughter and hurried apologies can often seem the only option when a situation is misread.

Chris Hall, 20, a student adviser at Bournemouth University, said: "I often get nervous, especially with people my own age.

"I generally wait to see what they are going to do, but I have been caught in a couple of awkward situations.

"Once I went to give a girl a kiss on the cheek and she really wasn't expecting it. It was embarrassing but I just tried to laugh it off.' David Clubb, managing director of Office Angels, who carried out the survey, said: "If you feel stuck by the kiss/shake dilemma, take your lead from the most senior person in the room.

"My advice would always be, if in any doubt, go for a handshake.

"A handshake is always considered professional and courteous, and being on the safe side of formal is never a bad thing in a workplace situation."

  • 2CR listener Emma from Bournemouth won the Headline Game with this headline on the Paul Bunker Show.