Assistants, Don’t Let Collaborative Work Space Stop Your Education
Last week I was conducting a full-day workshop with 25 assistants. I had been telling them about our monthly free webinars as a way to continue their education after our live workshop.
One administrative assistant told me that with the new collaborative, open-space work environment, she had difficulty participating in webinars because she gets interrupted. Does this sound familiar?
Before I even could give a response, the other assistants in the room began to chime in with their solutions to this problem of the collaborative workspace harming the continued learning and development of the administrative professional.
Solutions For Online Learning In A Collaborative Space From Other Assistants
- One assistant jumped in and said she puts a sign up at her workspace indicating she is watching a webinar. The assistant also suggested, depending on the time of the webinar, you could attend during lunch (which many assistants take at their desk.) Not that you should sit at your desk and each lunch but we all do it.
- In addition to the sign, you could add wearing headphones to keep you from being distracted by the noise in your collaborative area.
- Another administrative assistant suggested going to one of the quiet workspaces or rooms while attending a webinar.
I was really happy to see the assistants working around the obstacles of the new open work environment.
- My answer to the dilemma was to sign up for the webinar and if it can’t be viewed during the workday, watch the replay at home. That is always an option…at least with the Office Dynamics webinar.
Do you have any tips for watching webinars or online learning programs during the workday? Or tips on how to prevent interruptions or get people to respect your learning time? Would love to hear your ideas – please share them in the comments below!
Joan Burge
