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  • feedwordpress 13:00:04 on 2019/08/14 Permalink
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    Emotional Intelligence for Administrative Assistants 


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    I have grown to love speaking on and teaching assistants about emotional intelligence. This definitely is a skill every assistant needs to know. This is a skill you can use every single day!

    In our World Class Assistant course, we cover this topic and participants work on real work world case studies. They are scenarios that assistants can relate to. I reference Daniel Goleman for my classes and want to share this with you. Please quickly evaluate your level of emotional intelligence in each of the four dimensions.

    Daniel Goleman, author of Working with Emotional Intelligence says, “Emotional intelligence is the ability to sense, understand, and effectively apply the power and acumen of emotions as a source of human energy, information, connection, and influence.

    Daniel also says:

    False:

    • The common view is that emotions are things that happen to us.
    • Emotions don’t belong in business.

    True:

    • Emotions are an inner source of energy, influence, and information.
    • They are inherently neither good nor bad. It is what we do with emotions that make the difference.

    The 4 Dimensions:

    #1:    Self-Awareness (I know me.)

    • Recognize how your feelings affect your performance.
    • You are open to candid feedback.

    #2:    Self-Management (I manage me.)

    • Self-control.
    • Admit mistakes.

    #3:    Social Awareness (I try to know you.0

    • Pay attention to emotional cues.
    • Adapt communication style to compliment others.

    #4:    Relationship Management (I attempt to facilitate situations for a positive outcome.0

    • Step forward as needed, regardless of your position.
    • Model the change you expect from others.

    One of our top trainers, Julie Reed, has been teaching several of our World Class Assistant™ certification/designation courses. When I asked Julie, what were her favorite lessons from emotional intelligence, she shared the following:

    • I manage me. I am in charge of my attitude.
    • I choose to not react.
    • I am resilient; I practice positive self-esteem, and I chose to ignore the haters.
    • I am confident in my skills and aware of my weaknesses.
    • I stay true to my North Star.
    • I manage me – I hold myself accountable and, I mitigate risks to my reputation and build my credibility equity. This, in turn, has gotten me invited to the table, as an active participant, confidant, and leader.

    Which dimensions of emotional intelligence do you need to work on? Why not start today?

    Joan Burge

    training_for_executive_assistants

    What it means to be a World Class Assistant™:

    • You’re a career-minded administrative professional looking to build powerful partnerships with your executive(s) and organization.
    • You’re a power player who wants to reap more rewards from your efforts – and you’re not afraid to do what it takes to get there.
    • You’re committed to the administrative profession as well as your career growth and you’re eager to demonstrate this.
    • You’re a high-performing individual who wants to succeed both in your professional and personal life.
    • You’re ready to have the kind of breakthrough experience that takes you off the sidelines and puts you right in the middle of the game.

    What are you waiting for?

    Register Today!

    The post Emotional Intelligence for Administrative Assistants appeared first on Office Dynamics - Executive And Administrative Assistant Training.

     

  • feedwordpress 12:00:13 on 2019/08/06 Permalink
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    Set Healthy Boundaries at Work 


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    An important component to self-management versus stress-management is to set healthy boundaries in the workplace. In this article what kind of boundaries and with whom.

    As administrative assistants and executive assistants, you can often feel like setting boundaries might get you fired or your leader will think you are not a team player. Some people think when I’m talking about setting boundaries, it has to do with sexual harassment in the workplace.

    Boundaries can be set any time, any place, on anything, and with any person. I’ll give you a perfect example. I was at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas waiting in the security line and was in line to pass my carry on through the screening process. (Keep in mind; I travel quite frequently for business, so I know what I’m doing.) I was quickly placing my laptop in the bin, folding my raincoat up, taking off my shoes, and putting my purse on the conveyer when all of a sudden, this young woman who had been in line behind me, stepped right in front of me with 2 suitcases and placed them on the conveyer. She still needed to take off her shoes – and she didn’t know she was supposed to take off her jacket.

    You are probably thinking, “So what?” So what? It was rude that she thought she could just jump in front of me especially when she wasn’t ready. It was not as if she said, “May I go ahead of you?” I nicely told her that she couldn’t cut in front of me. Of course, she looked at me in shock and made a few comments. (I will spare the details of our back and forth dialogue.) She finally took her items and moved behind me and told me to have a nice day.

    A boundary in the office for an administrative assistant can be as simple as addressing a coworker or manager who constantly steps into your workspace and takes your desk supplies without asking and doesn’t return them.  If that bothers you, say something.

    Another boundary you might need to set is your accessibility after hours to your leader as far as emails go. This is becoming problematic for assistants all over the world. As I travel and talk to hundreds of administrative office professionals ranging from administrators to executive assistants, I’m hearing them say they are spending too much of their personal time (evenings or weekends) managing and/or responding to emails from their leader.  One administrative assistant said that her manager did not expect her to check business emails or take action on non-work hours.  But she wanted to get a jump on things or was curious as to what was going on or wanted to read emails on Sunday night to be prepared for Monday morning. The problem is… she started responding to her leader’s emails and taking action steps if required. Today, she is frustrated because she spends 50% of her weekend working. I told her, “You created the monster.”  It wasn’t required of her and while she thought nothing of it at first, it snowballed and now she will have to say something to her leader.

    • First, do not create situations that you will later regret.
    • Second, people will act as we allow them to. If you don’t say something when something isn’t right, then the person assumes it is okay.
    • Third, professionally communicate when setting boundaries yet be firm.

    Healthy boundaries are good for you and those you work with.  It teaches them how to work with you in a way that stimulates win-win situations. You enjoy your work environment and are more enjoyable to work with. You are confident, peaceful, in control (not walked over), respected, like a peer or business partner and viewed as a leader. Consider what types of boundaries you might need to implement this week.

    Learning Highlights
    You will learn: 

    • How to evaluate your current communication and boundary-setting style so you can build on your strengths and address areas for improvement.
    • Why assertiveness in the workplace matters, especially for assistants, how it benefits you and what it really means. (Hint: It is often totally misunderstood!)
    • How to recognize and minimize the risk involved so your message is received and your professional image remains intact.
    • How to appropriately set limits, voice your ideas and opinions, and articulate your needs using thoughtful, diplomatic communication techniques.
    • 7 essential action steps for becoming a more assertive assistant. (You will hear examples and learn specific language to use in common challenging workplace situations.)

    60% OFF until 8/9/19 – Use code: HEALTHY

    Purchase Here

    The post Set Healthy Boundaries at Work appeared first on Office Dynamics - Executive And Administrative Assistant Training.

     

  • feedwordpress 16:15:44 on 2019/06/12 Permalink
    Tags: , Conflict Resolution, , , ,   

    Getting Things Done 


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    executive_assistant

    Getting things done in the workplace is one of my favorite topics to speak on and write about. I have been passionate about this topic for 28 years. Administrative assistants continue to struggle with how to keep up with all the demands placed upon them in a time-compressed world and yet maintain quality.

    I will share with you some of my favorite tips. And you can get more tips on this subject by going to Office Dynamics YouTube Channel.

    Coping with Conflicting Priorities

    • Ask for specific deadlines. Do not accept the “a.s.a.p.” answer. How many times do you ask a manager or someone who is giving you a task, “How soon do you need this?” The typical response is “as soon as possible.” Change your question and you will get a different response. Instead ask the person, “By when is the latest I can get this to you?”
    • Early in the day, clarify with your manager(s) what are the most important priorities. I highly recommend doing this first thing in the morning as what you thought was a priority at 5:00 pm the day before, could have totally changed because your manager (like many others) is working at night and early morning. Always clarify the top 3 priorities for the day.  
    • When struggling with which “A” priority to do first, ask yourself, “What is the impact of not getting this done today?”

    Organizing Your Workspace

    An organized workspace reduces stress, gives the impression to others that you are on top of things, and saves you time.

    • Remember your workspace is a part of your professional image.
    • Your workspace is not storage space.
    • Place the most frequently used items closest to you.
    • Use desk trays to keep paper items and folders neatly organized.
    • Your inside drawers matter too.

    Neutralize Information Overload

    We are exposed to a tremendous amount of information in a day.

    • Don’t read everything that comes your way. Learn to scan information and determine which items really need attention.
    • Assess your information sources. Make sure the source of information is credible.
    • Use your highlighter to mark important information, deadline dates, or aha information. (electronic or hard copy)

    Tips to be Productive

    • Standardize your processes.
    • When given a project or task, try to get all the information at once. Many times, your manager just gives you bits of information. Be assertive and ask for more details or get the bigger picture to reduce back and forth time or going off on the wrong tangent.
    • Establish some quiet time throughout the day to re-assess your priorities.
    • Recognize the time of day you are most productive. At that time of day, do your most intense work or the work that will take a great deal of focus or brainpower.
    • Throughout the day, as you are doing your work, search for simpler and faster ways to do that task.

    Don’t confuse. . .

    . . . activity with results

    . . . hard work with results

    . . . efficiency with results.

    You can be active and very busy but running around in circles. A professional is someone who cares about the results, not just the activity.

    Visit Our YouTube Channel

    The post Getting Things Done appeared first on Office Dynamics - Executive And Administrative Assistant Training.

     

  • feedwordpress 18:08:16 on 2019/05/02 Permalink
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    How Do I Tactfully Voice My Concern? – Ask an Admin 


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    training_for_administrative_assistants

    Executive Assistants and Administrative Assistants have to deal with a lot. Whether that is working remotely, working with several managers or executives, and sometimes supporting an entire floor of employees! Usually, these difficult situations bring up situations that leave them asking, “how do I tactfully voice my concern?”

    Heather D. asks us:

    I am a Certified Executive Administrative Professional and have been an Executive Assistant (EA) for the last 15 years to a VP of my former employer where we had a very good Business Partner relationship. I have since been forced to leave that employer almost 2 years ago now due to downsizing and am in a different EA role with a quickly growing company reporting to both the CEO and CFO.

    The role posted was framed up that I would be supporting them in the day to day activities much like an EA role does however since the day I was hired I have simply been a  “taskmaster/office manager” doing miscellaneous office/employee relations type tasks with very little interaction with either the CEO or CFO including my mid-year and end of the year evaluations. Both senior leaders have grown with the company for the last 28+ years and have never had what we know to be a true EA and aren’t interested in my role evolving to that at all. They did, however, hire a VP of Sales this past July that I was told I would be supporting as well and that he is being groomed to replace the CEO within the next 1-2  yrs. As part of this VP’s onboarding, I got to know him well and he had a true EA in the last 15 years with his former employer and would like to have one here.

    The CEO, CFO and this new VP of Sales all agreed that most of my time should be supporting him and that the VP of Sales was given the go-ahead to rewrite my job description however I don’t report to him or sit near him and both of those are necessary, in my opinion, to do this EA role the most efficiently and effectively (not to mention an accurate job description). The problem is that this company is moving and growing so quickly with “multiple hot irons in the fire” all the time that neither the CEO or the VP of Sales has had any time to see this transition through and it has been about 2 months since they last told me this transition was happening.

    My question is should I be approaching my direct leader (who I have no interaction with), the CEO or the new VP of Sales (which is who I have been working 50-75% of the time for in the last 6 months)? How do I approach this respectfully and voice my concerns in a firm manner around the current reporting/relationship structure?

    Well that is actually a very tough question! How do you tactfully voice your concern as an administrative professional without causing trouble?

    Want to learn more about Ask an Admin and how to submit your own question? Click here! 

    The post How Do I Tactfully Voice My Concern? – Ask an Admin appeared first on Office Dynamics - Executive And Administrative Assistant Training.

     

  • feedwordpress 20:10:13 on 2019/04/04 Permalink
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    How to Help Your Manager Get Things Done – Ask an Admin 


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    training_for_administrative_assistants

    If you are an Administrative Professional looking for your questions to be answered by your peers, then this is the place for you! This is the best blog for advice for administrative assistants and executive assistants provided by Office Dynamics International.

    This week Renee C. asks:

    As an administrative assistant, how do you get your supervisor to complete his tasks and get things done, especially in a timely manner and meet deadlines? I’ve tried everything from whiteboards of projects to various types of folders with deadlines, to scheduling time in outlook, sending reminders (email, outlook, paper) to standing weekly meetings with him. Things don’t get done nor do they get done in a timely manner. I don’t know what other methods and/or processes to use.

    Wow! Ok, Renee is wondering how does an administrative assistant manage her manager or executive? Does Renee start with managing deadlines, learning how to schedule properly? Or does this frustrated administrative assistant need to build on her partnership with her executive? How do you help your manager get things done?

    We have several tools that actually can help with this but we want to see what you have to say!

    If you have a question that you would like to submit, please send it to officedynamics.aaa@gmail.com and include the name you would like us to use.

    If you want to subscribe to our blog so you don’t miss any posts, please visit https://officedynamics.com/blog/ and subscribe in the right-hand column.

    If you’ve submitted your response on our Ask an Admin blog post, please be patient to see your response and other responses. We have to manually approve them to prevent spammers and profanity. If you do not see your response right away, please give it time and revisit. We apologize for this but this is the best way we can keep YOUR blog clean! Thank you, everyone!

    The post How to Help Your Manager Get Things Done – Ask an Admin appeared first on Executive And Administrative Assistant Training - Office Dynamics.

     

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