Fortunately, most admins have strong partnerships with their managers or see ways to build that bond. But some admins are still struggling through their relationships with lousy bosses. Is the solution to quit? Not with unemployment rates above 10%. Here’s another option: Negotiate with your boss, the way the FBI negotiates during a hostage situation.

Boorish behavior and vulgar words are on the rise in U.S. workplaces. In fact, 38% of women say they’ve heard inappropriate sexual innuendoes and taunts in the workplace—up from 22% the year before. Such behavior can crush morale and increase turnover. Advice: Adopt a civility policy separate from your harassment policy.

Employees are often the best sources of ideas because they are closest to the daily details of the organization. But too often, employees are sitting on great cost-saving, business-generating ideas because they’ve never been specifically asked. Here are five strategies to help encourage input from employees.

Help a boss avoid “death by PowerPoint” by stealing presentation tips from the famously charismatic CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs. Jobs is a gifted speaker, not necessarily because he was born with talent, but because he sticks to several strategies. Jobs uses presentation software as a tool to visually complement his stories.

Question: “I’m not sure whether to trust one of my co-workers. 'Amy' is helpful and considerate to me. She provides useful information and makes friendly, encouraging comments. However, some co-workers say Amy stabs people in the back because she wants to climb the corporate ladder. If Amy really is a skillful manipulator, how do I avoid being hurt by her tactics, especially when management thinks so highly of her?”

Never forget that part of your job in giving a presentation is to build drama. The famously charismatic CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, is a gifted public speaker—not necessarily because he was born with it, but because he sticks to several strategies. With a Jobs speech, there’s always a “holy smokes” moment ...

Social media, such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter, are leading to confusion over what’s appropriate: Should your boss be your Facebook friend? Can you “tweet” about work? What would your firm’s VP say about your mentioning him in your blog? Some tips from etiquette expert and labor lawyer Joseph Clees:

When a control-freak boss monitors your every move, you and your co-workers may be tempted to rebel. Instead, don't let your annoyance show. “Getting visibly irritated when he leans on you will only make him think he needs to keep an even closer eye on you,” says Albert J. Bernstein, a clinical psychologist and author of Am I The Only Sane One Working Here? Here are more strategies:

Too often, people express themselves negatively without even realizing it. If your writing contains a lot of “no’s” and “not’s,” it’s a signal of negative writing. Using positive, self-assured, optimistic language is a better way to promote your ideas. Here are examples of negative sentences turned positive:

Good note taking is essential, whether in a meeting, a training session or a seminar. The mental concentration will keep you focused, and the very act of writing will help you remember what the group decides. Here’s how to do it better:

Question: “I work for a manager who thinks I can read her mind. She rushes up to my desk and says something like, 'Did he come pick it up?' Because I have no idea what she’s talking about, I ask what she means. Then she looks at me like I’m an idiot for not understanding. This happens all the time, and I’m starting to get really irritated. How do I deal with her weird communication pattern?”

Q. The Gregg Reference Manual says to use a comma to set off abbreviations that follow a person’s name, such as “Jane Doe, CPS.” I recently proofed a newsletter where some names did not have the comma. A: An argument could be made for doing it either way.

Talking with employees about their performance problems can be an uncomfortable moment for any manager. But it’s also a crucial part of the job and, if done well, will ultimately make a manager’s job much easier. Here are seven steps to planning and executing such discussions:

Ask a person if he likes criticism, and he’ll probably say no. Most of us would prefer constant praise. But most of us also want to know that people take our work seriously. We crave feedback that is thoughtful and thought-provoking. The trick is learning how to give and receive meaningful feedback. Here's how:

Take the guesswork out of a relationship with a new manager by having an up-front conversation about expectations. No doubt, you’ll need to talk about the nitty-gritty of your everyday tasks. But don’t leave the conversation at that. Get a big-picture snapshot of your role, so you can come to a better understanding with your new boss.

When Jim McKay hosted ABC’s “Wide World of Sports,” he wasn’t a network star with blinding good looks or a grandiose manner. The way he got through telecasts, he said, was pretending that rather than broadcasting to millions, he was talking to one person: his wife, Margaret. The result was an unusual intimacy with his audience that may work equally well for anyone who has to communicate news, especially bad news.

A new study estimates that nearly two-thirds of Facebook users access the site at work. On average, they spend 15 minutes on the site during work hours, and the electronic back-and-forth could represent as much as 1.5% of an employer's productivity losses. The good news: You can stop it.

At an administrative assistant gathering recently, one admin pro talked about how uncomfortable she felt drawing attention to herself. It’s not unusual among women: Girls are taught to sit up straight, mind their manners and not to brag. But these are the habits that can hold you back professionally.

First, set aside the stereotype that the federal bureaucracy is inherently dysfunctional. Sure, it’s got plenty of faults. But Uncle Sam’s best-run agencies can actually teach private-sector employers a thing or two about HR. Here are eight lessons employers can learn from the biennial agency-by-agency ranking of federal employers:

A co-worker comes to you to complain about her boss. How should you respond? It depends on the outcome you want. Before reacting, pause, focus on the outcome and then choose your reaction.

We’ve all been told a thousand times that to increase our influence and effectiveness, we need to write personal thank-you notes. Here’s the right way to do it, as evidenced by a 1991 note from George H.W. Bush to Goldie Hawn.

The hallmark of a good leadership story? Inspiring, motivational, memorable and short—like, two minutes short. In the age of Twitter, people don’t have time or patience for much more than that. How to build a 120-second narrative? Here are six tips:

Issue: You're responsible for securing sensitive employee information. Benefits: Privacy measures and policies protect employees from identity theft and privacy invasion. Actions: Refine your privacy policy, institute a proper ...

What should you do about a co-worker who takes advantage of a boss-less office? How do you bring this to your boss’s attention without appearing like a troublemaker? Here are some ideas for addressing a co-worker’s slacker behavior:

“My senior admin recently asked us what we should discuss during our monthly admin meetings,” a reader wrote. With time at a premium, this is a good point, as there’s an ever-increasing need for groups to get more real work done during regular meetings. Suggestions for making your next admin meeting more productive: