According to a recent survey, 22% of employees say they use some form of social networking five or more times per week, and 15% admit they access social media while at work for personal reasons. Yet, only 22% of companies have a formal policy that guides employees in how they can use social networking at work. Here are seven key questions to ask when drafting a social networking policy for your workplace.

“A meeting is an event where minutes are taken and hours are wasted.” This old saying may be true in many cases, but it doesn’t have to be that way. A bit of preparation, discipline and solid follow-up can help you conduct more productive and focused meetings. Here are 11 guidelines.

As many companies cut back on expenses and, in some instances, cut staff, how do you maintain your edge and ask for what your department needs without immediately seeing your request denied? Tell a tale, become a storyteller and see your words make an impact.

Enhance people’s positive impressions of you by changing three little words, suggests Joan Burge, administrative trainer and founder and CEO, Office Dynamics.

Rudeness and incivility at work have a huge effect on performance, according to a Harvard Business Review study. For example, in response to rudeness at work, 48% of employees decreased their work effort, and 47% decreased their time at work.

You may have noticed more people than usual lurking outside your executive’s door. That’s because economic fears are prompting more employees to eavesdrop and gossip about what might happen next at their workplaces. The solution? The times call for stepped-up communication, says Steve Williams, director of research for SHRM.

When dashing off your next memo, report or e-mail, cut right to the core points. HR directors from half of the 120 major American corporations polled in a recent study said they consider writing ability when making promotions. "You can't move up without writing skills," one HR director said.

At some point in their careers, most people end up in the position of being left to do the work after flaky colleagues drop the ball. Anita Bruzzese (www.45things.com), who writes about workplace issues, offers these four tips for handling co-workers who drop the ball, and how to get them to pull their weight:

How can you be assured of enough face time with your boss to ask questions, convey critical information and dazzle her with your smarts—without coming across as a time drain? The key, advises author and workplace columnist Anita Bruzzese, is to be aware of what your boss wants and when and how she wants it.

The Secrets of Facilitation, 101 Ways to Make Meetings Active,  Instant Icebreakers ...

Break the ice quickly with a new team by trying this:

How well do you understand the general guidelines for preparing presentations? Take this quiz. And visit these web sites to find ways to improve your presentations:

Which is correct: "E-Mail" or "e-mail"? "Red, white and blue" or "red, white, and blue"? "A.M." or "a.m."? Would everyone in your office answer the same way? If not, you could probably use an internal style guide.

Complicated visuals cause listeners to ignore your voice while trying to decipher the slide. Here are three rules for better PowerPoints:

Your co-worker gets handed a pink slip, and now you feel awkward. So awkward, in fact, that you’re tempted to do nothing. But that’s the last thing you should do. Here's how to deal with the situation:

Employees everywhere are tapping their professional networks, as they look for new jobs or prepare for the possibility of a pink slip. The good news is that a number of strong associations already exist and can offer a string of networking benefits. Here are a few tips for

Giving employees critical feedback, negotiating with vendors, sticking up for your people (or your budget)—they’re all communications situations that require a certain amount of assertiveness. These 18 questions can help you pinpoint areas of weakness in your ability to express yourself. Use your results to figure out where you can improve.

If your boss micromanages and drives you crazy, forge a stronger relationship with him or her. For example, practice the "art" of communication, says Harry E. Chambers, author of My Way or the Highway—the Micromanagement Survival Guide. “Show that you’re in motion on priority projects by communicating in three specific terms: awareness, reassurance and timelines."

You know a presentation is going badly when audience members start tapping on their BlackBerrys. These days, especially, it isn't easy to capture and hold a group's attention.Keep your presentation clear and effective with these PowerPoint tips:

Straddling the line between “smart” and “smarty pants” can be tricky. How do you show off what you know—and become more visible around the office—without alienating people with a showy attitude? Here’s a strategy to employ at department meetings:

With competition for customers and clients keener than ever, your product related presentations can make or break sales. Close the deal by sharpening your pitch with the methods of Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs, a widely acknowledged master of presentations.

Say a company exec asks you to hire his relative or friend, or he not so subtly urges you to give the application “strong consideration.” You want to reject the candidate because he’s obviously unqualified. But you don’t want to commit career suicide. What do you do?

You've scrupulously avoided office gossip, but that isn't protecting you from being the subject of this week's chitchat. Wanting to jump quickly to your own defense is a normal reaction, but it might exacerbate the situation. Follow these steps to salvage your reputation and stop the gossip.

Knowing whether or not to tell your CEO that he has spinach stuck in his teeth is one sure test of your etiquette skills. (Answer: Tell him, but discreetly.) How would you handle the following two difficult or embarrassing situations?

Fancy-schmancy business-speak does not make for strong business writing. With that rule in mind, an editor for HarvardBusiness.org suggests banning these words and phrases from your writing: