8 April 2009

April 22nd - Administrative Professionals' Day

It often amazes me that a day is set aside for our profession. Administrative professionals usually go about doing their work with little or no recognition. We do the behind-the-scenes work.

How often I have organized a conference or arranged a Board meeting and after all the organization and planning it goes off without a hitch. To those who don't know, it is because of the work behind the scenes that everything went smoothly. Unfortunately, if it doesn't go well is when it is noticed the most.

I like organizing and feel satisfied when everything comes together nicely, but it takes a lot of work to get there. You have to look at the little details and consider all the things that might go wrong and then work towards making it not happen as well as making what you want happen.

An organized person thinks everyone knows how to arrange things, but that is not the case. Have you ever been at an event that isn't well organized? The last Board dinner I arranged the person from the hotel who was assigned to us came up to me and said, "It is so nice when things are organized. You cannot believe how hectic it is when it isn't." He then proceeded to tell me about a previous event he was at where there was no organization. He said people didn't know where to sit and kept asking him, but he had been left with no instructions and the contact person was nowhere to be found. He said it was awful and he thanked me for making his job easier.

So pat yourselves on the back for all the work you do to make things run smoothly. That is a big part of the job.

Is your office doing anything for Administrative Professionals' Day? I think it is preferable for those who do set it aside to include all support staff as most offices now work in teams and everyone should be rewarded for a job well done.

Appreciation certainly goes a long way to making your day a little brighter and your workload seem a little lighter.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello - I have a question for you...Would you advise getting into the Administrative Assistant profession to the younger generation in this day and age? If so, what would you recommend in terms of training (university not included/possible). Would you recommend College or Vocational/Business school?

I am very interested in becoming a secretary: there is something so classy and respectable about a true Secretary - organized, intellegent and elegant...I'm considering taking Office Administration.

I know many sort of "fall" into this profession, but are there people out there who CHOOSE to go into this field?

Thanks-in-advance!

Patricia Robb said...

Yes, yes and yes, but I would definitely recommend college or business school as it gives you the edge. I am finding many young people getting into the admin field, but using it as a spring board for something else. It is great training for the office environment, no matter what field you end up in.

I wrote an article called "Thinking outside the job description box" that you might be interested in. http://secretaryhelpline.blogspot.com/2008/03/thinking-outside-job-description-box.html

We don't typically call ourselves secretaries anymore, but they do still exist. We are more appropriately called administrative assistants.

Patricia

Foley-In-Charge said...

Happy Administrative Professionals Week from the States....