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.
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Great administrators are known as those who do their best, work at the top of their game and who work like they are in a profession of choice. One of the strongest ways to send that message is when you choose to certify.
Certification is a choice to complete a full program of study. Besides the actual skills and competencies you learn through a certification program, it also demonstrates to those around you that you can set goals and achieve objectives – you can be trusted to go the distance.
A very important quality in business today is the “stick-to-it-ness” that is so lacking in society. People start and stop things constantly. We commiserate with those who have repeated annual resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking or stop gossiping; the truth is that very few people can actually dream, envision, research, analyze, decide, execute, complete, and succeed what they set out to do.
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Year after year, one of the biggest struggles executive assistants report to me is effective time management. Let’s face it: your days are chaotic. You’re pulled in a million different directions, and many of you have multiple leaders to support. Deadlines press down on you, distractions steal valuable time, and there never seems to be quite enough hours in the day to get it all done! I know what you’re up against. There are many things throughout the day that can waste our time. They may not seem significant by themselves but can add up to hours of wasted time!
Get Your Mind in the Right Place
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For more than 15 years I have been teaching assistants how to build a strategic partnership with their executives. I especially spend a lot of time on this topic in my World Class Assistant™ designation course. A strategic partnership is quite different from just building a partnership with your executive or just working as a team. An example of how they would be different is that in a partnership the assistant and executive will have weekly or daily huddles. In a strategic partnership, the assistant and executive meet quarterly to discuss (in detail) the upcoming quarter. They look at every facet of what is expected to occur, new projects, how much time might they be involved, who is going to manage what, and more. This quarterly meeting will last 2 – 3 hours.
There is a secret I want to share with you. As I reflect on my 20-year career as an assistant, I know something special takes place when you have a strategic partnership. It is more than the work you do. I call it The Anatomy of a Strategic Partnership. [Read more…]
Last week Office Dynamics International turned 29! I can’t believe my company is 29 years old. It has not been an easy journey, especially since I started a niche business of specialized training for administrative professionals of every title, age, and experience level. 29 years ago, there was no robust training for assistants.
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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.
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