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OK, time to fess up. I don't care how nice you are, there's someone at work who is driving you nuts. It's either the guy who clips his fingernails while on the phone and leaves the droppings all over the floor, or the woman who complains nonstop about her worthless, freeloading kids. It could be the person who constantly interrupts, butting into your conversations or the guy who has to always trumpet his every success, no matter how small.
I once worked for a company where anyone who needed help in a certain area could call on one of their senior administrative assistants, trainers or IT specialists who would come to your desk and walk you through a problem. We called this “at your side” training. When I started at a new employer I thought the concept of having an “at your side” was everywhere.
Our old friend the spider gets a lot of bad press. For example he/she has been used as an example of the weakness of centralised leadership models versus so-called “leaderless organisations” in The Starfish and The Spider. However spiders can teach teams, enterprises and networks two very important lessons: Strategic Readiness and Appropriate Response.
E-Mail me or follow me. Benefits of Online Software for Small Business. Concentrate on your business, not your office. How to be successful and eco-friendly. Making your small business carbon neutral. Outsourcing Options For Small Business Focus on your business, timeshare professionals. Build your own network! Community for small business outsourcing and cost control.
Payroll compliance is a cornerstone of business success, yet for small and midsize businesses, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of federal, state, and local regulations. Mistakes can lead to costly penalties and operational disruptions, making it essential to adopt advanced solutions that ensure accuracy and efficiency.
There is a new site for admin assistants called Admin Secret. Come on over and visit and become my friend online. What a great place to network and check out the job market. The Department of Labor predicts our profession will have the greatest growth and I believe sites like this will be the perfect place to connect. I'm excited to be one of their featured writers so look for my articles.
When I was a hairdresser, the last thing that you wanted to hear your hairdresser say was, “Oops!”. Here are some things that a boss would probably not want to hear from their assistant: Uh oh! Was I supposed to send that? Did you mean now? Sorry, I forgot. I think that's their name? Oh my goodness, I sent the e-mail to the wrong person? I thought you said by regular mail.
I'm going to ask you a very tough question: When was the last time you asked for help? I'm not talking about a desperate cry for aid when you're, say, about to drop a cardboard tray of Starbucks, or when you ask your friend to hold the door while you bring in the groceries. No, I'm talking about asking for help at work. When was the last time you said: "I can't get all this done by myself -- can you help?
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I'm going to ask you a very tough question: When was the last time you asked for help? I'm not talking about a desperate cry for aid when you're, say, about to drop a cardboard tray of Starbucks, or when you ask your friend to hold the door while you bring in the groceries. No, I'm talking about asking for help at work. When was the last time you said: "I can't get all this done by myself -- can you help?
Someone I know often calls me at the office and can't understand why I can't chat. This person is a dental hygienist and I tried to make a comparison to her job so she would understand why I couldn't take lengthy personal calls at work. I said, "If I called you at work in the middle of the day, would you be able to come to the phone and chat?" She replied, "Absolutely not, I am working with patients, of course I can't talk, but you sit at a desk all day".
Let's face it. Many young people nowadays have tattoos and piercings and they are coming into the workforce. I remember the first time I saw a young lawyer with an eyebrow piercing. I thought she was brave to wear it in a profession that was very 'old school', but now I am seeing it more and more. At the gym I saw a young woman with a tattoo on her arm from her wrist to her shoulder.
Eight months ago I wrote a column for Gannett News Service and USAToday.com about ex-military personnel having a tough time finding private sector jobs in this country. I also blogged about the problem, and several others bloggers joined in, including Jason Alba at JibberJobber. Since then, Alba has launched JibberJobberUSA , which is designed to help those returning home from deployment.
Have you ever accepted a job and then realized you made a huge mistake? Many people have been in that position, but how about this one: You accept the job and before you even begin , you decide you've made a mistake and want your old job back. Ever had that happen? For example, just a few days after University of Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan accepted a job with the Orlando Magic as its basketball coach, he changed his mind.
Speaker: Tim Buteyn, President of ThinkingKap Learning Solutions
Join this brand new webinar with Tim Buteyn to learn how you can master the art of remote onboarding! By the end of this session, you'll understand how to: Craft a Tailored Onboarding Checklist 📝 Develop a comprehensive, customized checklist that ensures every new hire has a smooth transition into your company, no matter where they are in the world.
With the advances made in technology, the ability to set up a home virtual assistant business has become quite doable and in many cases, very profitable. We have the technology to get voicemails, faxes and transcriptions by e-mail and with the addition of a business line you can easily re-direct business calls to your home and no one would know that they were calling someone’s home and not the office.
A while ago I wrote about what I learned about life and work from my dog. Since then, I've been trying to figure out what my two cats, Spike and Ace, have to teach me. So far, I'm stumped. But the more I think about it, maybe that is what they have to teach me. They don't really care if I don't get them. They don't care what I think. They plan their days around naps, eating, the litter box and maybe a little playtime with one another.
I could relate to all of these e-mail annoyances. I passed this link to my bosses and the other assistants in my office. Tags: how to use e-mail professional assistant e-mail bossiquette assistants get annoyed Administrative Assistant.
Click here to read a great article on things we should be thinking about when using the Internet at work posted by Chrissy on The EA Toolbox. Tags: nettiquette professional assistant Administrative Assistant using the web.
Unlock your full potential with our comprehensive guide on productivity. This detailed resource explores the three fundamental pillars of effective task management: Todo List Mastery, Time Management, and Habit Optimization. Learn to capture and prioritize your tasks effectively, schedule them using proven strategies like the Pomodoro Technique, and maintain your productivity through consistent habit tracking.
Here is a link to an article about an interior designer's personal assistant and all she does in a day. It was like reading my daily journal. We are busy, busy.It is nice to see the assistant’s role appreciated for what it is. In this case Kelly Hoppen's assistant Olivia Lewsey is a 'Jill of all Trades'. Tags: interior designer's personal assistant professional assistant Administrative Assistant busy day at the office.
When I was a kid, my sisters and I used to make fun of my mother's habit of mangling names. For example, Bob Burke would be called "Bill Bark" by my mother. "Bob Burke, Mom!" we would say, laughing and shaking our heads. "Bob Burke!" What little smarty pants we were. She should have locked us in our rooms overnight with only bread and water until we learned more respect.
I just got my new driver’s license. This was the year I needed to have my photo taken and I take a horrible posed picture. When I am posing for a picture I am too conscious of how I look and I end up trying too hard. How come when I comment how bad my photo is and a co-worker asks to see it they normally shrug and say, “Looks just like you”? Thanks a lot.
A lot of people are promoting their personal or career brand these days as a way to make themselves more memorable and more successful. There's one problem, however. Some of these personal branding strategies make us a) want to run and hide or b) smack the person across the nose with a rolled-up newspaper. More than a decade ago Tom Peters' call for "You, Inc.," resonated with many people.
Sharing your authentic self in a virtual interview can be an unwanted challenge. How do you break through the digital barrier when conducting a virtual interview and share your exceptional self? Think in unconventional ways to elevate the virtual interviewing experience.
1. I don’t have any friends, therefore I blog. Nope, I have lots of family and friends. They are all supportive of my blogging efforts and cheer me on. They don’t read my blog however because they can get it first hand.See #2. 2. I love to talk and no one will listen, therefore I blog. I talk to my friends and they listen. I talk some more and they walk away.I blog to avoid boring my friends. 3.
“It’s almost a time warp. All the predatory and demeaning and discriminatory stuff that went on in workplaces 20, 30 years ago is alive and well in these professions.” -- Sylvia Ann Hewlett, found of the Center for Work-Life Policy, speaking about women in science, technology and engineering "There's a lot of happy talk around that we're going to have slowing in the rate of growth in young workers and, therefore, employers are going to want to hire older workers just at the time that older worke
Assistants who have come from the days of being a secretary seem to have brought along with them the mindset that “I am just a secretary”. At one time being a secretary was a low paying and underappreciated profession. The secretary however was often the glue that held the office together and many times that idea was shown in movies or television shows that portrayed the office.
I'd like to meet just one person who came out of performance evaluation saying, "Gee, that was a swell experience. Can't wait to do it again next year!" Managers hate performance evaluations. Employees hate performance evaluations. They stare at each other across a table and try and remember all the Oprah shows that talked about how to read body language.
New vaccine mandates and testing policies will affect employers with more than 100 workers. Get Paycor’s free, customizable vaccination policy template to communicate critical details and new requirements to your employees. Get Paycor’s Template today!
Recently I was having a discussion with some friends about the term "overnight success." We all agreed it was a load of crap. I mean, who really has overnight success except people in novels or movies? Most of us labor -- unknown -- in the trenches for years and years before we receive recognition for our wonderfulness from anyone except the family dog.
This is a handy office reference book that would be a valuable resource for any administrative assistant, particularly those just entering the workplace. It covers just about everything you would ever come across in today's office and is the only office handbook recommended by the International Association of Administrative Professionals ( IAAP ). You can order it on Amazon.com by clicking on the link on the right-hand side bar of this blog (scroll down), or by going directly to www.amazon.com.
I take my jacket off for the third time this morning and tell a co-worker again how hot I am. I calculate that I have about 13 years before retirement so I better get used to it. I have to work and I am going through menopause. My doctor tells me some women can experience symptoms on and off into their 70s. I wonder what the younger women and the men in the office must be thinking as they watch the older assistants heat up.
Every day I check my Statcounter and that is how I find out what people searched to get on my blog. Someone recently queried whether they should use a staple or paperclip on correspondence when they are enclosing documents. I spoke to a few assistants and we all agreed. Business correspondence with more than one page should be stapled. The enclosures should be paperclipped or clamped to the correspondence, not stapled to it.
Payroll optimization can be one of the most time-consuming and complex factors of small business management. Yet, organizations that crack the code on streamlining employee compensation often discover innovative avenues for growth. With the right strategies in place, outsourcing and streamlining payroll processes can result in substantial time and resource savings.
Would you like to be the next Tiger Woods? It's possible. Woods is a competitor. He doesn't let anything get in the way of sinking that little white ball into the hole every chance he gets. He wants to do it more times than anyone else on the golf course that day. He's passionate about what he does. While you may not be able to play golf like Woods, there is no reason that you cannot feel that same passion for what you do.
An Executive Administrative Assistant got proposed to in a BIG way using very high tech. Congratulations to Renesha Salim from Trinidad Tobago. Click here to read the article: Tags: Admins in the spotlight professional assistant Administrative Assistant.
At many offices I have worked in I have noticed that many times when a seminar or event for staff is organized, the people who organized it don't show up. If a function is set up at work and the managers don’t show any interest, what does that tell us about how important it is to the company and whether we listen or not? If you are a leader and are in a role of mentoring or supervising employees then you need to set the example and show up.
"If you go down the hall to vent to an associate, that's okay. But if the next step is to go upstairs and vent to someone else, then you're holding onto the incident, and it can become very disruptive." -- Matt Grawitch, St. Louis University professor who studies workplace stress. "Once a CEO is startled by seeing your cleavage , an image is set in his mind that is not going to disappear." -- Michele Royalty, a recently retired executive "There are profound differences between acceptable work be
Speaker: Tim Buteyn, President of ThinkingKap Learning Solutions
💢 Do you find yourself stuck in never-ending review cycles? Are you wondering if your Subject Matter Expert actually got that last review request? Are you having trouble trying to decipher impractical or conflicting feedback? 💢 If any of these scenarios sounds familiar, you may benefit from a crash course on managing SME relationships!
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