On a typical day, you can find D.A. Benton giving image-building advice to top executives at IBM, Nabisco, Hewlett-Packard and other major corporations. She's one of America's top executive coaches.

Whether it’s a speedy way to create a bar chart or a trick for switching from one window to the next, keyboard shortcuts can help even the experienced admin knock out work faster. Here are a few of our readers’ faves:

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.

Hosting a termination meeting may be easier than having to tell an employee that he or she has offensive body odor. Here are six tips for handling the issue in your workplace:

Most timesaving “secrets” are the best practices you’ve been hearing about since the advent of paper clips. The trick is, you have to try them out to discover whether they match your work style. And then you have to stick with them to gain the benefits. Here are three timesaving secrets recommended by administrative professionals:

Stop yourself before saying any of these words, which can make you sound noncommittal, undependable or untrustworthy: 1. “Try.” 2. “I’ll get back to you.” 3. “We’ll see.” 4. “I guess … ” 5. “If.”

“Because,” “due to,” “since”—which one is the right one to use? Use "because" instead of wordier options, such as “owing to the fact that” or “on the grounds that.” You could also use it instead of the persnickety “due to.” Example: “It was canceled because of illness.” "Since" often means the same thing as “because.”

When creating a form letter or other document template, the field code feature in Word versions 97 and higher can come in handy. With dozens of field codes available, you can manage everything from inserting information that is automatically updated to creating drop-down lists that allow users to choose which information to insert.