I am so jazzed! Yesterday I flew to San Diego (with Jill and Brian from ODI), to attend the ATD International Conference and Exposition for 3 days. This is the training industry’s premier event with about 10,000 attendees, 300+ breakout sessions, and more than 600+ exhibitors. It’s amazing and can be overwhelming. [Read more…]
Meeting new people as an Administrative Professional is cool! Think about all the people you have met because of the people you support and where you work. Where else would you meet such a broad range of individuals? Many executive assistants and administrative assistants work with a variety of cultures. Even in my “good” old days as an executive assistant, I worked with people from Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and France. [Read more…]
During a class I was teaching, a high-level executive assistant that I admire said to her peers, “At our company, we insulate ourselves. We think we are the best executive assistants alive, but we are not. We have much to learn.” This executive assistant is a seasoned professional with 25+ years of experience in the administrative profession. Her statement came after she had attended the Office Dynamics Annual Conference for Administrative Excellence where she interacted with hundreds of executive and administrative assistants from around the globe. It took courage for her to admit that which shows that she is a mature individual. [Read more…]
Organization skills are the one thing most successful business owners have in common.
Without the ability to organize your work and your resources, you could be twisting in the wind in no time. You may have been able to muddle along back in the day, but in today’s competitive environment, you need to work any advantage in your favor.
Fortunately, there are at least 9 ways to improve your organization skills without too much effort on your part. [Read more…]
In Utopia, burnout would be a term no one ever used or heard of. Everyone would be matched perfectly with the career they not only enjoyed but knew exactly how to succeed at. Unfortunately, burnout is real, it’s draining, emotional, stressful and typically affects both professional and personal lives. As an administrative professional for the past 20 plus years, I have learned how important it is to avoid burnout in one of the largest career fields in the world. One key point is keeping day to day tasks fulfilling even if you are not matched with your ideal position. Another key is personalizing the position with your uniqueness. [Read more…]
It’s almost instinctive to yell back or to be offended at someone who is yelling at you—be it a co-worker or a manager. But yelling back or arguing accomplishes little. It can destroy a business relationship and certainly dims your professional image. So before you respond to a verbal attack, keep these things in mind. [Read more…]
I’m not sure if you know that 80% of my work is onsite training for administrative office professionals so I do a lot of traveling, in fact, 100% of my clients are out of state. From this point forward, I will be traveling extensively through September. [Read more…]
Happy Administrative Professionals’ Day!
The team at Office Dynamics is grateful for each and every one of you. You have enriched our lives, challenged us to think big, and honor us by supporting our work. There is no greater joy for us than to serve you.
It is my hope that you will always hold your head up high in this profession. For decades I have said being an administrative or executive assistant is a Career of Choice. There are millions of good assistants who love what they do and have committed themselves to this highly-valued work. Do you really know how special you are to your executives and organizations? I hope so and not only on this day but throughout the year. [Read more…]
A message from Joan Burge, Founder and CEO of Office Dynamics International:
The professional world of administrative and executive assistants and support staff is an exceptional melting pot of backgrounds, experience, knowledge, gender, age, education and personalities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2017 there were 22 million administrative support occupation positions recorded in the United States alone! Worldwide the number rises to make the profession one of the largest groups ever! This unique blend offers countless opportunities for multigenerational communication and cross-mentorship. [Read more…]