What do you think about Admin Professional Week?

As many of you know, this weekend is the Easter weekend, but it also starts Admin Professionals Week, with the actual day being on April 27th. You will see from the article on the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) website, they are suggesting the theme should be celebrate all office professionals and I agree with that. I never did like being singled out as we have gone so far away from being just a secretary to being an important part of the team, whether it is directly supporting management or whatever area you are in. The admin profession has changed so much over the years that we not only support the manager, sometimes we are the manager.

The organization I work for recognizes our small team of admins for the work that we do and rely on us to contribute by providing excellent support services, but it didn't happen overnight. It takes a lot of hard work to shake off the old stereotype into a new professional one. Here are some things you can do to bring that about:

• Bring your level of service up a level (or two if necessary);
• Act the way you want to be treated. If you want to be recognized as a professional, act like one;
• Acquaint yourself with the goals of the organization and determine how your position aligns with those and work towards accomplishing them from your job. It takes a lot of little things to accomplish the big goals, so nothing should be discounted, including answering the phones and greeting clients or new customers at the reception desk;
• Show management that you are paying attention by contributing intelligently at staff meetings with answers and suggestions that show you have the best interests of the organization in mind;
• Take your performance appraisal time seriously and complete it with thought and not just something you have to do every year;
• Present yourself as a professional working towards completing your tasks in a timely fashion;
• If you don't have an Admin Team, think about starting one and organize yourselves in a professional manner by setting an agenda, recording the minutes and meeting with a goal to increasing the efficiency of the organization. It will be noticed!

8 Ways Cell Phones Can Harm Your Health

Here is a link to an article that you might be interested in regarding the use of cell phones as it relates to your health.  Since we all use this technology I thought it would be a timely reminder that moderation is probably the best rule of thumb:

http://radiologytechnicianschools.net/8-ways-cell-phones-can-harm-your-health/

Minute taking webinar April 26

Hello everyone,

Once again I am giving an effective minute-taking webinar.  If you are able to join me, please do on April 26.  For more details, please click on the link.

See you on the Web...

Patricia

Reply to Comment

Someone by the name of Cass posted a comment to my last post (please read it for context) and I thought I would reply as a new post so everyone would have the benefit of joining the dialogue as I think it is a common problem among assistants.  The more organized you are, the less work it seems to others so the less recognition you get.  Or sometimes assumptions are made that all the group helped, when it really was only one or two.  Anyway, here is what my practice used to be at my previous job where I organized a lot of events.  It was a large law firm and had a lot of Departments that I realize most organizations would not have, but I think you will get what I am saying.

One of the first things I did when I had a date for an upcoming event was notify those who would be affected: The Mailroom Staff (to give them a heads up that there would be printing and binding required and extra supplies would need to be ordered such as name tags, binders, paper, etc.), the Finance Department (to give them the codes to charge things to and dates I would need cheques), the Marketing Department (so they could start designing the invitations and preparing for the RSVPs), the IT Department (so they would be on call when I needed them when something just wasn't working right) and my neighbouring co-workers so they would know what was on my plate and could help as needed. I found that letting them know ahead of time really helped as I went through the stages of organizing so they were aware of it from the beginning and last-minute requests could be anticipated.

Since I was the lead for the event, immediately after it was over I would send a thank-you email to everyone who had helped and would cc my boss, the HR Director and the bosses of the people who helped. This usually sparked a few emails back and forth congratulating each other on a job well done and left a great team feeling among the group.  You can be sure the next time an event was organized everyone would be more likely to be back on board again to help where needed. 

I find if we leave the thank yous to our bosses, they don't always know what and who were involved to get the job done.  They just know it got done and everything worked out.  Sometimes we need to take the initiative ourselves and then we can be sure the right people are recognized and nobody is missed. 

I personally prefer my boss not do the congratulations because he undoubtedly will do just as Cass mentioned in her post, forget some people and thank others who had nothing to do with it, but if the boss is going to do it (and there is something to be said when the head of an organization recognizes the efforts of a particular group),  make sure they get input from you so all the appropriate people are thanked.

If anyone has any other suggestions or ways they have handled this common problem, I'd love to hear your comments and I think the Admin community would benefit from hearing your experiences and ideas and just to know they are not the only ones this happens to.

Becoming better organized

I just finished a busy few months leading up to our Board of Directors meeting and it went very smoothly.  I love it when things fall into place, but that doesn't happen without a lot of planning. 

To get ready the first thing I do is populate my to-do list with the tasks I need to do leading up to the event.  I go through my checklist of what I will need to bring to the venue, anything I need to remember to include in the meeting package and just about anything that doesn't fit goes on my catchall list.  I prepare meeting templates for all the meetings I will need to take minutes at and fill it in as much as possible beforehand from the agenda.  Having meeting templates is such a timesaver, even though it does take a few minutes to create each time, but well worth the effort.  For those who have never tried it, the meeting template is just your agenda, turned into a minute template.  You know what items you will be dealing with, so you can pre-populate the minute template and then it is just a matter of filling in any discussion, action items and/or motions.

Once I have done all that, I can then feel confident and prepared -- because I am!  It's not magic, although I find the better you organize the more people think it was easy and seem to think it just all happened, which is the furthest thing from the truth.  It should get easier though -- or should I say, when it is better organized, you will be more prepared and therefore more confident that you have not missed anything.  My definition of a successful event is when it goes smoothly without a hitch. Or if there is a glitch, it is fixed quickly and professionally.

My boss is very appreciative no matter how easy things seem to go, which is very nice, but not always the case.  I have been told by various friends of mine that they are not always acknowledged or get noticed for the efforts they take to make things they organize a success.  It is not that they want the recognition, but a pat on the back certainly goes a long way to making you want to make the next event even better.

If you are a boss and something your assistant organized goes very smoothly, please recognize that it didn't just "happen", but that your assistant just made it look that way by being prepared. 

Also, if you are not the only one working on a project or event, don't forget to acknowledge the team effort, as it takes many pieces to make the whole thing work.  You may have done the bulk of it, but without the little things getting done, your job would have been harder so don't forget to say thanks.

Now onto the next meeting...

Where has the time gone?

My daughter and her Dad used to play a game and when either of them would say, "Where has the time gone?" they would make a joke of it and come up with some crazy ideas about where it might have gone.  It was pretty funny at the time and everytime I hear someone say that, I think about it.

Time is a strange thing.  Last week I was on the treadmill at the gym and had two minutes left to run, but it felt like forever and each time I looked down it seemed like time had stood still.  As well when I was waiting for some anticipated vacation time, the time went so slow, but when I actually went on the vacation it just flew by.  What's with that? Or when my little grandson was crying in the middle of the night it seemed like a long time, although it might only have been less than 10 minutes. On Friday, I was madly trying to get out the door to meet up with my carpool and it just didn't seem like I had enough time left in the day to get everything done and out the door on time.  So how do you manage time when it can seem to go either too fast or too slow? 

I find that many times when time is crawling it is because I am in a hurry for something to happen and when it flies is when I am doing too many things and need to get it done in a short period of time or have left it for the last minute.

Sometimes we look at others and wonder how they do it as they seem to have it all together and never seem to be frazzled. It is good to remember that time plods along the same for everyone each day, no matter how it feels at the moment.  It is usually how much we try to cram into that time that makes the difference, as well as whether we have a plan on how and when we are going to accomplish what we need to do.  For instance, on my Friday rush out the door, I hadn't prioritized my day as well as I should have and then was left with some last-minute items that had to be done before I left for the day.  This is when time management helps and can be the difference between pulling your hair out, making all sorts of small unnecessary errors or competently managing your day.

A to-do list is helpful to parcel out what you need to get done in small time slots.  You can also use the Tasks feature in Outlook in the same way to help you manage.  When you have interruptions, which undoubtedly will happen, once you have handled whatever it is, you need to revert right back to your to-do list and continue working on the task.  Try not to get distracted or you will end up scrambling to catch up.  For larger projects such as transcribing minutes or planning an event  or other such things, it is a good idea to block time in your calendar so you can set aside a time to concentrate.  Close your door if you have one or put a note on your cubicle space with "Please do not disturb" on it. 

During this time of planning you can set up checklists of things you will need to remember to do on the day of the event, or to include in the meeting package, or whatever it is you have to do.  This way when you are in the time crunch, you will have done this pre-planning during a calm time and won't miss anything.

What about those times when you  have boring jobs that you just wish you could leave, but know they have to be done and then time drags, or you drag your feet and avoid doing them.  When you finally get around to doing the task at the last possible minute you hardly have time to do it. Again, I would suggest you put these tasks on your to-do list and schedule time to do them.  With something like filing or expense claims, it normally doesn't have to be done right away, so block a time and  break it up so you are not doing filing and the claims back to back.  Try to do something more interesting in between.  Usually these types of jobs have to get done, but are not normally rush jobs and can be done over time.  If you plan properly by the time it is due you will have everything well in hand.

There are also times when time clashes and you have one thing that is going very slowly (your computer) and you only have a few minutes to get the job done.  When you are planning your to-do list give yourself enough time to get the job done and add some buffer time. For instance, if the meeting materials need to be packaged by Friday afternoon and get out the door, don't wait until that morning to do it or you run the risk that the computer will freeze up, the photocopier will jam or there will be a major snow storm and the courier won't be able to deliver your package on time.  Plan to have it done a few days ahead of schedule, then if something happens you know you have a day or so of wiggle room and won't panic.  The same goes if you are waiting for something from someone.  Don't tell them you need it on the day you actually need it.  Ask for it a few days in advance and then if they are late it won't impact on your planning too much and gives you a bit of time to bug them for it.

Time requires good management or it can get away on you.  So stay calm and plan your day.  It will go much better.  Sigh!

Who's the Leader?

When dealing with meetings a good question to ask yourself is what is your role in it?  Are you the leader or are you just providing your boss's availability?

If you are organizing the meeting, then you are responsible to send the initial email out requesting the participants to attend.  You will need to give them as much information as possible so they can make an informed decision about attending.  If you know their assistant's email address, I always copy them on this initial request.  If you don't have their email address, many bosses will copy their assistants when they reply to the initial request and you should keep a note of that and include them in any follow up emails.

The people invited need to know the purpose of the meeting, you should provide three or four dates and times for the meeting, they need to know who is calling the meeting and why their attendance is needed. Once a date is agreed upon, you will need to book the meeting room, confirm the details with the participants, make sure they have the materials they will need and if the meeting is cancelled, you need to make sure you undo all of the above and cancel the room, notify the participants, re-schedule if necessary, etc.  You are the leader in this type of meeting. 

If your boss is to be a participant in a meeting then your role is less involved, but you need to follow up nonetheless.  If you receive an email for a meeting request, but it doesn't have any information about the purpose of the meeting or information about whether it will be a teleconference or provide the location and time, then those would be good questions to go back with.  Once you have all the information, you need to bring it to your boss and ask him or her if they need to attend.  If they do then you need to provide the meeting organizer with the times your boss is available and if it is out of town and your boss will not be in that city, you can ask if your boss is able to participate by teleconference and what are the call-in numbers?  Once the meeting is organized you should make a note and diarize it a few days before the meeting to follow up to make sure the meeting is still on and that you have received all the materials needed (agenda, background materials, etc.).

Sometimes your boss will send you an email request for a meeting that they received in their Inbox and ask you to get back to the meeting organizer with his or her available times.  In this case, you know right away they want to attend, all you need to do is provide their availability and get any information you are missing such as the location, time and whether it is in person or by teleconference.  If the purpose is vague, I usually go back and ask that as well.  If you manage your boss's Inbox then one of your roles when you find emails such as this is to ask them if they want to attend and if they would like you to get back to the meeting organizer with their availability and then take it from there.

In my organization we deal with government and many times we will get a request for a meeting with my boss and ask for his availability.  I will first check with him to make sure he needs to be at the meeting and if anyone else from our organization needs to attend with him.  Once I have all the information then I can get back to the person requesting the meeting to give available times, request the agenda and meeting materials and give the names of the people from our organization who will be attending.  My role then becomes the leader, at least as far as internal participants are concerned.  I will be the one who needs to make sure to pass along the meeting materials to them and ensure they have all the details about the meeting and if the meeting is cancelled to make sure to notify everyone.  You should also ask your boss if a pre-meeting will be needed as oftentimes if they are meeting with the government they want to make sure they are prepared and have all the information they think they are going to need.  You will be the one who will have to organize that meeting.

If you know your role in the meeting then it makes it easier to determine what your next steps need to be.  If you are ever unsure -- ask!  Never be afraid to ask questions.