career advice Archives - Office Dynamics - Executive And Administrative Assistant Training

January 23, 2017 By Joan Burge 1 Comment

Tactfully Voicing Your Opinion In The Workplace

I hope you had a great week last week and were able to apply the tips I had for communicating with people from different generations. In case you did not read the last two Monday Motivators, I have been writing a 3 part series on communicating for business success. The first one was, Be a better communicator at work and the second was, Bridge the Generational Communication Gap.

Today I am focusing on tactfully voicing your opinion, which is another topic I cover in our World Class Assistant Certification course.

Throughout my career as an employee—a few decades ago—I had the need to voice my opinion to my manager, colleague, vendors, peers, and others. As a business owner, leader, trainer, coach…I still have situations occur when I need to voice my opinion. We all experience this in the workplace. For some people, it is easy to voice their opinion and for others, it is hard.

The caution is just because someone has the courage to speak up, it doesn’t mean they are presenting it in a way that will be acceptable to the receiver. If we want our voice to be heard and to be taken seriously, we have to think about how we communicate and present our case.

Step #1: Consider these factors. Before you even express your opinion, there are some factors you should take into consideration, such as:

What is the other person’s sensitivity to the issue or situation?
What is my experience level in the area in which I want to express my views?
Is it too late to express my opinion?
If the receiver is from a different culture, how will they accept what I have to say?
Are there generational differences between me and the person to whom I want to express my views? How might that impact their willingness to be open to what I have to say?
My mood? Am I in a low mood? A grumpy mood? Frustrated? That probably is not the time to express my opinion. This could dramatically affect the outcome.
Why am I even having this conversation?
What is my motive in voicing my opinion? What do I hope to accomplish?

Step #2: Think about the words you will use. Resist rattling off what’s on your real mind. You want to maintain professionalism and have the receiver be open to your suggestions or views.

Step #3: Gather facts to back up your opinion. For example, if Joe in another department consistently turns in a monthly report late, you will have a lot more leverage or chance of getting Joe to change if you were to say something like… “Joe, the January report was due on the 18th of the month; I received the report on January 25. In February, the report was due February 14; I received the report February 19.” Do you see having facts is more powerful than saying, “Joe you are always late with the monthly report.”

Step #4: Make sure you aren’t personally attacking someone. Stay focused on the point or issue at hand or situation. It does us no good to verbally attack a person.

Step #5: Select the best time. Timing is important. Maybe you wish to express your thoughts in a meeting to one of the attendees but you would be better off waiting until after the meeting or even the next day. Again, if we want people to be open to what we have to offer, we need to consider if this is the right time.

Step #6: Clearly explain your point of view. Two people can be right and not be in agreement. What do I mean? I see it all the time when I coach executives and assistants. Each person has their view of a situation, expectations or performance. The executive is right and the assistant is right but they have different view or stories about what happened. Take time to explain your thoughts.

Step #7: Consider your relationship with the other person. How long have you known this person? How will they take your feedback? Are they a superior? (You can still voice your opinion but very carefully.) Do they work within your organization or outside your organization?

It is both important to express our views and maintain another person’s self-esteem. I encourage you to work on this vital business skill.

Have an awesome week!

Joan Burge

Come see me live in Chicago for Administrative Professionals Week!

Photo Credit: Designed by Katemangostar / Freepik

September 19, 2016 By Joan Burge Leave a Comment

Do you have the courage to be the best?

It takes courage to be the best at what you are good at. As children, we are each gifted and talented in different ways. All of these are good and carry the capacity to change the world and enable us to live happy, fulfilling lives. But something happens.

Somewhere along the line, we prize blending in over self-fulfillment to embrace our destiny. We are afraid to stand out and be good at something. We fear being noticed for what we are good at, so we shrink back and avoid opportunities.

What would it be like if you were the best “you” that you could be?

How would you be different than you are right now?
What would you be doing?
How would you be feeling?
What about your appearance would change?
How would what you say change?
How would your attitudes and thoughts be different?

It takes guts to live a showcase-worthy life. First, you’ll need to stop filling up all your time with random things that do not bring you any closer to using your talents. Something will have to go, and it could well have a remote control!

Next, you will need to meet some great new people who love that talent the way you do. Perhaps they like using that same talent or perhaps they appreciate it and are great fans. And you’ll need to experience using your talents. You’ll learn some new skills, understand your talents framework better, and begin to leverage yourself to use your talent. This will all be exhilarating and exciting because it will draw you so much closer, close enough that you can almost taste it.

There will be people along the way who tell you that since they cannot yet see the talent in you being showcased to its full potential that it doesn’t exist or is not worth the effort or time to try to do so. Perhaps most frightening of all, sometimes the person who tells you those very words will be in your own mirror.

Still, the courage to showcase your talent is worth it all. Because in the end, at some wonderful magnificent point, you will showcase your talent. You will actually use it and feel more in tune with yourself than ever before.

Why? Because more than receiving the applause, accolades, recognition, and more than any other single aspect (including being paid for it), is the delight you will have in yourself and in using your talent.

And you will be so happy and glad that you were courageous enough to go for it.

Wishing you a great week.

Joan Burge

August 8, 2016 By Joan Burge 1 Comment

Two Things You Need for Career Success

I had the fortunate opportunity last week to be a part of an incredible graduation and celebration for 39 administrative professionals graduating from our Star Achievement Series® who embarked upon this journey that started 3 years ago. Yes, I said 3 years. I was so impressed with these individuals who took 96 hours of training consisting of 3 levels of learning over a 3 year period. Talk about commitment, dedication, staying power, and determination—this group exemplifies all those qualities. The company who provided this opportunity to learn was Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP.

The lesson to learn, which is something we teach in the Star Achievement Series®, is that commitment and discipline are essential to career success. Here is an excerpt from one of our Star Achievement workbooks.

Discipline

We have to discipline ourselves to do the hard work to reap the rewards. Developing your discipline is a lot like working out. At first, the muscles of the body are flabby but in a very short time frame they become strong and carry you with endurance. [Read more…]

March 3, 2016 By Jasmine Freeman 8 Comments

What’s the best time management tip you’ve ever heard?

Question: “Our admin team is compiling one list each month of 10 tips to get better at a certain skill. We simply post these on our walls at work to always keep us in learning mode. This month’s list is about time management. For the first time, we’re not filling up a list very quickly—we keep rejecting ideas because so many of them haven’t really helped us that much in the past. Does anyone have any gems they can share?” [Read more…]

March 1, 2016 By Jasmine Freeman 1 Comment

Tips on Staying Focused and Disciplined When Working From Home

For many people, working at home is a dream come true. In addition to saying farewell to long commutes in bumper-to-bumper traffic, remote workers can pretty much wear whatever they want and often schedule projects around their families. Come tax time, they may be able to deduct a lot of their home office-related expenses.

Of course, there is a flip side to the often glorious world of telecommuting. You need to have a definite level of self-discipline and ability to say “no” to distractions such as the TV and friends who want to get coffee at the drop of a hat. For ways to stay focused and meet your deadlines, check out these tips: [Read more…]

August 17, 2012 By Joan Burge Leave a Comment

Creating a Win/Win for Admin and Executive

Win/Win a guest blog by Pamela J. Baird

How? That’s the question. What steps would we like our leadership team to take in creating stronger partnerships with their administrative partners? How can our organization simultaneously elevate performance, increase job satisfaction, and develop this integral portion of employees? Where do we begin? There is no formula. This is mostly based on feelings and you know how difficult that can be to understand.

I’ve had many assistants share with me the challenges they face on a daily basis and how their managers endeavor to make them more effective in their department. Administrative professionals are not miserable at work, but they don’t feel as enthusiastic as they once did. They would like some nourishing. In their professional direction. [Read more…]