An administrative assistant recently posted this dilemma on our Admin Pro Forum: “I know my office co-worker chats on Facebook most of the day ... and now I have proof. Do I say something to the co-worker, or do I bring it up to the boss? I am usually not a tattletale, but there are times when I am overwhelmed with work and I know she’s chatting on Facebook and not getting her work done.” Forum readers weighed in with advice:

To help an audience tune in to your PowerPoint presentation instead of zoning out, stick to these four cardinal rules from communications coach Carmine Gallo when creating a presentation: 1.Stick to three or four themes. 2.Type should be no smaller than 30 points. 3. Use charts sparingly. 4. Divide the number of minutes you’re allotted to speak by two—that’s how many slides you should have.

Having employees handle their own pay and benefits administration is the Holy Grail for HR professionals. You’d like every worker to independently access forms and find answers to payroll and benefits questions online. But old habits die hard. Solution: Initiate a long-term, multimedia strategy using techniques that encourage employees to help themselves.

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.

Here are three great tools for creating to-do lists, collaborating on documents online, and viewing and modifying PDFs: 1. Best for tracking tasks: Doomi. 2. Best for word processing: Zoho Writer. 3. Best for viewing PDFs: Foxit Reader.

Employers that don’t enforce reasonable e-mail and computer-access policies—consider yourselves warned. Without such policies and practices, you won’t be able to use the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to punish employees who send information through your system to other persons or computers.

Instead of reinventing the wheel every time you repeat a task, create a template and then reuse it. For years, Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, has used templates to improve his productivity ...

We’ve offered advice before about keeping your professional and personal networks from overlapping too much. Now a new survey from OfficeTeam reveals that people are still uncertain about the rules of online social networking. Here are tips for blending personal and professional friends on Facebook:

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates uses digital tools to get things done. No surprise there, but are you using any of his top tactics?

If you find it hard to keep up with Facebook, Twitter and other social-media tools, you’ll love this idea for a New Year’s resolution: Stop trying to keep up with social technology. Alexandra Samuel, CEO of Social Signal, says you could spend half your life trying to figure out the latest, greatest tool—so don’t even bother trying. To refocus your relationships:

Have you tried these seven hot tools from Google? 1. Sidewiki. 2. Fast Flip. 3. Google Wave. 4. Google News Timeline. 5. Wonder Wheel. 6. Google Squared. 7. Flu Trends.

You see them all the time. The paragraph of legalese at the bottom of e-mails that attempts to provide protection from misdirected e-mails. Do they do any good?

So much to read, so little time. Could speed-reading boost your productivity? Two programs promise to improve your reading speed: EyeQ and The Reader’s Edge.

Your computer-usage policy no doubt prohibits visiting inappropriate web sites. But what if someone surfs forbidden sites using a computer that a group of employees has access to? In such cases, investigate but make sure to check out everyone’s story.

Keep internal office e-mail communications clear and efficient by asking everyone to stick to subject-line codes, says productivity expert Laura Stack. By using agreed-upon acronyms, people will know the gist and priority of an e-mail, without having to open it first. Example: Your team could use <AR> for “Action Required.”

Mobile coupons—text messages with discount codes sent to a cell phone—have become the latest time- and tree-friendly way to save money. No clipping and saving necessary. Sign up for good deals by subscribing to one of these mobile-coupon aggregators:

Tried Twitter but find the deluge of information-sharing too much to manage? If that sounds like you, these web sites and services can help you manage the chatter and enrich your communication:

The June 2008 issue of Fast Company features a cover story on ad agency Crispin Porter and the much-talked-about Apple campaign “PC vs. Mac.” On the cover is a photo of the agency’s creative honcho, Alex Bogusky, doing his best to look smug, self-assured, and ultra-cool.

Whether you’re plowing through an inspirational novel or a business best-seller, turn to these sources for transforming your hardcover into gigabytes: Sony Reader, Audible.com, eBooks.com.

California employees have a constitutional right to privacy. That doesn’t mean, however, that employers can’t monitor e-mail sent to and from company computers and servers. The key: a policy that makes it clear that transmittals are not private.

Avoid sending big files back and forth with your boss—try Dropbox, a virtual hard drive ... Hold a web conference free and invite up to 20 guests, with DimDim, which Inc. magazine calls the best in its class ... Print less by taking advantage of the less-popular settings in your Print dialogue box ...

I have a question about how to handle software training for our staff. We’re going to be upgrading all the PCs around the office over the next few months, and I’m worried that we’ll have a productivity slump. In particular with Windows 7 coming out, I have concerns that the new operating system and software will have a steep learning curve. We experienced that in spades with Windows Vista, and I don’t want a repeat. We have 18 employees who will be affected. Should we hire a trainer to come in? Send staff for off-site training? Rely on the software documentation and online support? I’d appreciate any advice.—Steve, NE

Layoffs, shortened workweeks, stressed-out workplaces … it all can lead to another byproduct of the recession: increasing workloads and work slippage. How are administrative professionals ensuring that, with stakes soaring higher than ever, no work falls through the cracks?

Delays, cramped seats, rundown hotel rooms—who needs ’em? Here are five web sites that can help you plan a trouble-free trip: FlightStats.com, Raveable.com, SeatGuru.com, TripIt.com, Packinglistonline.com.

Try these cool Outlook tips: Click-and-drag names to your Contacts list. Eliminate the auto-complete names that appear in the “To” field of your e-mails. Share calendars with others in Outlook 2007 ...