The Effective Admin Blog by Karen Porter

How to Become a Better Administrative Assistant or Executive Assistant

2012-02-10T15:25:00.000-08:00

How to Become a Better Administrative Assistant or Executive Assistant Than You Were Last Year; the Road to Continuous Improvement for Administrative Professionals

It's a new year, and thus that time when you, an administrative assistant or executive assistant, may be asking yourself questions like, "What can I do to become a better administrative assistant or executive assistant this year?" or "What can I do to add value to my administrative professional role that'll be beneficial to my employer and make me a stand-out employee and administrative professional simultaneously?"

How can I get an edge and become a better administrative assistant or executive assistant this year than I was last year?

Here's how you can do that...

REACH OUT TO NEW KNOWLEDGE SOURCES FOR IDEAS: It's not about what you know now; it's about what you don't know, and furthermore, it's about what you don't even know that you don't know.

Did you hear that: You can't know what you don't know yet, much less know you need to learn it or could use it -- whatever that knowledge or idea may be.

So the solution to this dilemma lies in going outside of yourself and what you already know and have experienced and instead tapping into outside knowledge sources like The Effective Admin and implementing some of the new ideas and strategies you learn.

You can't know what knowledge and ideas you're missing out on until you go outside of yourself and your current world and start proactively looking for more knowledge and ideas that you can transfer to your administrative assistant or executive assistant role and workplace.

"Curiosity" is key to "continuous improvement" for administrative professionals. Get curious.

So many administrative assistants and executives don't do this because they believe due to years on the job, or years of service as an admin, that they know all there is to know and, in fact, pride themselves on their expertise in their administrative roles at their employers. They also may pride themselves on helping others in the company, as well as showing other administrative professionals the ropes, so to speak. People come to them for answers because they are the resident administrative expert...

...and they may be an expert in "what they know." But that latter phrase is the key phrase: "what they know."

Knowing what you know and not being curious to look for more knowledge and ideas -- even if you don't think you need any -- leads to stagnation in your administrative professional job and career.

And such "stagnation" is a job killer, perhaps literally in lean economic times, which will always come and go through the years. Who's more valuable in lean times? The administrative assistant or executive assistant who believes she or he already knows it all or the one who's curious and keeps reaching out for continuous learning and ideas -- and thus growing personally and professionally and growing more useful to your bosses.

The "stagnant" one or the "growing" one? It may depend on what attributes and qualities your employer values, but I think most in this day and age prefer the latter administrative professional if given a choice between two such admins.

So soon, you're no longer the resident expert when a new administrative professional joins your employer's team and brings new knowledge and ideas to your employer and workplace that never occurred to you (because you were busy showing everyone what you already knew...not anything new).

So the new administrative assistant or executive assistant gets the edge in that example. And you're left wondering how you went from being the love of the office -- the resident administrative expert -- to second best admin. How could that be with your years of service, years of experience? You earned that spot, that reputation, right?

But you see what actually happened, right? You stood still in terms of seeking out new resources and ideas. You knew what you knew, but it turned out there was more you didn't know -- and didn't even know you didn't know. So don't get overconfident in your role and job. Seek out more! That's how you get and maintain the edge as an administrative professional and how you become a better administrative assistant or executive assistant.

SWIPE THESE IDEAS AND USE THEM TO ADD VALUE TO WHERE YOU'RE AT: Start snooping around for new knowledge and idea resources related to your work, or others' work (and truly, even ideas not related to your work at first glance). Then gather new ideas from these external resources that you can bring back as value to your own company and managers and executives, and that you can use to maintain and improve your job performance and better manage your career as an administrative professional.

There is no copyright on ideas! You can swipe them!

Anyway, an idea is nothing until it's implemented or executed. As they say, "good ideas are a dime a dozen." It's the execution of the ideas that counts.

You can swipe and execute ideas I give you through The Effective Admin resources to use in your administrative assistant or executive assistant role at your employer and workplace. After all, The Effective Admin is the name of my business because I'm all about making YOU "the effective admin" in your office or workplace. I want you to shine!

CUSTOMIZE THE NEW IDEAS YOU GATHER: So go outside of yourself to get new knowledge and experience, and then customize that knowledge and information, even other administrative professionals' experiences, to benefit you and/or your employer.

It's that simple.

The ideas don't have to be big. The new knowledge doesn't have to be massive. Little bits of ideas and knowledge learned and tweaked here and there in your role and in your workplace add up.

Soon, you're not only the "resident administrative expert," you're the "progressive resident administrative expert" -- an administrative assistant or executive assistant who is seen as "innovative."

Soon your higher-ups and co-workers are saying: "That 'Sally' is one of the most innovative administrative professionals I've ever seen. She is always coming up with new ways to improve our department and company processes, etc. She is so creative! I wish we could clone her! We've never had an administrative assistant who thinks like that."

You've got the edge now! And your little secret is you're not "creative" at all -- you simply seek out new resources and knowledge that in turn acts as a catalyst to give you ideas to apply to your own administrative role and employer and in turn you customize those ideas and execute them. Nothing creative about it! You reached out for "what you didn't know you didn't know" by looking at resources like those produced by The Effective Admin and the Virtual Association for Administrative Professionals for administrative assistants and executive assistants.

YOU DON'T KNOW IT ALL --YET: So remember, you don't know it all; you haven't experienced it all -- no matter how long you've been an administrative professional, whether five, 10, 20 or 30+ years. I promise you don't know it all, haven't done it all, and haven't seen it all -- even when it feels like you have.

KEEP EVOLVING WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE ROLE AND WORLD:
The world evolves ongoing, the administrative professional role evolves. Keep learning and reaching out around you for new knowledge, resources and ideas. It's never-ending! Stay fresh through 1) reaching out for new information and then taking that information and knowledge and 2) customizing it and 3) applying it to your job, career, and employer's needs. Use what you learn!

Again, it's like this:
1) gain new knowledge, observe new ideas (even ones unrelated to your administrative role)
2) customize the ideas to fit your situation, your role, your employer, your department, your career, etc. (decide if and how this idea can work for you with some tweaking and changes, customization)
3) execute -- that is, apply the customized idea; implement it; transfer it to your job; put it into action.

You're a creative genius! Take a bow. You're an innovative administrative professional. You've got "the edge" other admins don't have.

ARE YOU COMMITTED TO BECOMING A BETTER ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT OR EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT ONGOING?
If you are 1) committed to best practices as an administrative professional; and 2) dedicated to continuous learning to maintain and improve your administrative professional job performance and manage your career, then check out Virtual Association for Administrative Professionals (VAAP) membership at this link:

http://www.thevaap.com/

Virtual Association for Administrative Professionals is an online location operated by The Effective Admin that provides self-study advice and resources for administrative assistants and executive assistants. You can download over 50 publications that offer practical tips and ideas administrative assistants and executive assistants can use on the job or in their administrative careers. It's help with your job performance and your career management -- all related to administrative assistants and executive assistants.

SOME OF WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Here is some of the SELF-STUDY ADVICE AND RESOURCES for administrative assistants and executive assistants that VAAP members received last year. You too can still get everything listed below (and lots more) if and when you become a member of VAAP. It's all there in VAAP archives that you can access once you are a VAAP member. I just keep adding to it year after year.

VAAP members got this information in 2011 (as well as lots more information):

***3 In-Depth Special Reports were released in 2011:

1) Going From Good to Great as an Administrative Professional (30 page report) -- Differentiating a "Good" Administrative Professional from a "Great" One so you too can go from Good to Great in Your Role

2) Perception You Want Others to Have of You as an Administrative Professional and How to Get it (26 page report) -- Perception Management

3) How Administrative Professionals Save Money for Their Companies (25 page report) -- Read how 13 administrative professionals altogether saved their companies more than $100,000.00. Swipe their ideas or use them to brainstorm your own money-saving strategies for your company. Administrative professionals can impact the bottom line at work.

***The first issue of VAAP News & Notes Newsletter, volume 1, issue 1, a two-page publication for VAAP members was released in 2011. More issues to come!

***Saying "No" - a supplement to The Effective Admin Tip Series #22 re. Assertiveness - Assertiveness includes saying "no" was released in 2011.

*** 6 (8 page) issues of The Effective Admin Newsletter were released in 2011 that included cover story feature articles on

1) How You Can be a More Proactive Administrative Professional

2) How to Manage Going From Underestimated Admin to Overestimated Admin

3) Five Criteria for Choosing Meeting Room Locations

4) Three Steps of Outcome-Based Development Planning for Administrative Professionals

5) Just Keep Getting Better: How to Use Flow Charts to Improve Administrative Processes

6) Four Things That Make a "Good" Administrative Professional into a "Great" One

All that knowledge and information is still available to you when you join VAAP. Check out the details and rates at

http://www.thevaap.com/

(c) 2012 Karen Porter; All rights reserved
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Karen Porter is a job performance and career success coach and advisor to administrative professionals and the founder and president of The Effective Admin and Virtual Association for Administrative Professionals: "My specialty is serving administrative professionals like you with job performance and career management advice. I have 24 years of experience interacting with the 'real' workplace and working administrative professionals."

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Good Administrative Professional or Great Administrative Professional -- Which are you?

2012-01-11T18:28:00.000-08:00

Would you describe yourself as a good administrative assistant or executive assistant or as a great one? Give it some thought. Here are a few of my thoughts excerpted from my recent 30-page special report titled Going From Good to Great as an Administrative Professional available to Virtual Association for Administrative Professionals (VAAP) members:

***If you often have the desire to go above and beyond in your job performance and in the way you manage yourself and your career, you may be leaning toward the traits of a great administrative professional.

***If you are excited every day about going to work in your administrative professional role and job, you may have the makings of a great administrative professional.

***If you feel you have room for improvement and room for learning in your administrative job and career, even after you’ve been in and on the job for decades, you have the makings of a great administrative professional.

Great administrative professionals are in motion constantly, even if it’s just motion in their brains some days versus actual physical motion during a day on the job. Greatness starts in one’s head with curiosity and desire (but not ego) and progresses with execution of work performance strategies and ideas for improvement. It takes thought and forward movement to become a great administrative professional.

Is that all there is to being a "great" administrative professional? Hardly! Get the full scoop in my 30-page special report titled Going From Good to Great as an Administrative Professional. It's included in Virtual Association for Administrative Professionals (VAAP) membership: click here for VAAP membership details . VAAP membership is for administrative assistants and executive assistants and similar titles (new or "seasoned" admins).

Whether you're a new administrative assistant or executive assistant or an administrative professional who has been on the job for years and years, find out what differentiates a "good" administrative professionals from a "great" administrative professional in this report and start "improving your game" at work -- for your benefit and/or your employer's benefit.

The information in this special report is as told to The Effective Admin by administrative professionals; plus commentary and advice from me, Karen Porter, job performance and career success coach and advisor to administrative professionals.

Be the best in your administrative role -- because you can.

Click this link now to see all special reports available to Virtual Association for Administrative Professionals members: http://www.thevaap.com/special-reports.htm

(c) 2012 Karen Porter; All rights reserved

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Karen Porter is a job performance and career success coach and advisor to administrative professionals and the founder and president of The Effective Admin and Virtual Association for Administrative Professionals: "My specialty is serving administrative professionals like you with job performance and career management advice. I have 24 years of experience interacting with the 'real' workplace and working administrative professionals."

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Minute Taking Tips for Administrative Assistants and Executive Assistants

2011-09-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago a customer bought The Effective Admin (TEA) minute-taking package which includes the 23-page publication from the TEA Tips Series called "The Ultimate Guide for How to Take Minutes and Notes at Meetings (for Administrative Professionals or Anyone Taking Minutes at Meetings)."

It's at this URL:

http://www.admin-ezine.com/meeting-minutes.htm

Not long afterward, the buyer sent me this unsolicited feedback: "I am so thankful that I purchased your online product; instead of going to a seminar. I am quite satisfied with the purchase, needless to say, no longer afraid to take minutes at a meeting!"

Although other administrative professionals have praised the minute-taking guide and found it useful, I never get tired of hearing such feedback because it lets me know I'm on the right track with giving admin pros like you practical tips and advice you can use.

If like the writer above, you find yourself in need of a little courage when it comes to taking minutes, you may find my minute-taking guide helpful too. While it doesn't cover every minute-taking style or situation around, it covers enough to get you started confidently taking minutes (or taking better minutes if you already take some) in a typical office setting.

It's too easy to go into a meeting and start writing everything you hear without being selective when you don't understand what minutes really are. In this publication, I remind readers that,
"When someone takes minutes at a meeting, they essentially 'create a permanent, summarized, orderly record of the discussion and/or decisions made' by the group at that meeting."

They don't transcribe what they are hearing. As I wrote in the publication: "Minutes are not 'transcription' of what was 'said' by each 'individual' in the group during a meeting. The words 'transcription' and 'minutes' are not interchangeable in this context. When you transcribe, you essentially take dictation or write every word that is said in the order it is said."

That's not minutes! If that were the case, you wouldn't be needed to take minutes because the meeting chairperson could just make an audio recording of the meeting and send it off to a service to transcribe for a few bucks. Minute taking involves more skill than that. Minute taking is a skill in itself.

If you're feeling a little frightened at the thought of having to take minutes now or soon in your career, brush up on what is minute taking and tips for taking minutes with The Effective Admin minute-taking package at

http://www.admin-ezine.com/meeting-minutes.htm

Everything in the packet described at that page is also available to my Virtual Association for Administrative Professionals (VAAP) members. That's items 8 (for individuals) and 9 (for companies) on this page (where it's also described as my "best value offer for you"):

http://www.admin-ezine.com/store.htm

VAAP is open to any administrative professional (or their companies). Many of The Effective Admin learning resources and opportunities are bundled into VAAP membership features so that you can neatly present your continuous learning efforts to your employer -- if needed -- by describing your initiative as, "membership in VAAP, an association dedicated to providing me with ongoing educational and informational resources relevant to administrative professionals roles, jobs and careers."

(c) 2011 Karen Porter; All rights reserved

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Karen Porter is a job performance and career success coach and advisor to administrative professionals and the founder and president of The Effective Admin and Virtual Association for Administrative Professionals: "My specialty is serving administrative professionals like you with job performance and career management advice. I have 24 years experience interacting with the 'real' workplace and working administrative professionals."
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Why Administrative Professionals Participate in Professional Development and Training

2011-06-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

Why do administrative assistants and executive assistants (and all administrative professionals of any job title) participate in professional development and training? These reasons may apply to you if you're an administrative professional reading this...

Some reasons may include:

• to refresh hard and soft skills

• to maintain existing skills

• to learn new skills

• to learn in-house specialized skills (e.g. computer programs customized to their company)

• to learn if they're up to date with admin industry standards (especially "lone" assistants)

• to learn best practices in the administrative professional field

• to become more efficient and make their bosses more effective through their support

• to get new ideas they can use in their workplace or for carrying out their job duties, projects and tasks.

• to stay inspired and energized on the job and in their careers

• to prepare themselves for new responsibility

• to prepare for career growth

• to get annual required CEU's to keep certifications

You may know of more reasons not on that list.

This list was excerpted from The Effective Admin special report called Administrative Professionals Investing in Professional Development and Training. There are at least five ways you can use the information in this report. Use it to...

1. ...understand what is professional development and training.

2. ...gain insight into what other administrative professionals think and do in regard to professional development and training.

3. ...understand what drives employers to support professional development and training.

4. ...help you plan and choose your professional development and training endeavors.

5. ...assist you with proposals to your employer for requests to fund your professional development and training resources.

Get your copy of this 54-page report at http://www.admin-ezine.com/descriptions-in-depth-special-reports.htm

Administrative Assistant Goals, Executive Assistant Goals

2011-02-15T17:51:00.000-08:00

I often get consulted about setting administrative assistant goals and executive assistant goals. Here's a little blurb on the topic I posted elsewhere that I want to include for my Blog readers too:

Here are two guidelines to keep in mind when creating goals: 1) "Goals" and "vision" are not the same thing; 2) you "achieve" goals, you don't "do" them. So don't confuse goals with tasks or your to-do list (or confuse the vision you're trying to reach with your goals to reach it).

Also, the goals of an administrative assistant or executive assistant will vary per individual. Every administrative professional is a different person doing a different job in a different company. There is no "one size fits all" admins in regard to any type of goals.

See a description of The Effective Admin goal setting guide for administrative assistants and executives assistants here: www.admin-ezine.com/administrative-assistant-goals.htm.

Administrative and Executive Assistants: Do You Want to Survive Or Thrive; It's Your Choice

2010-12-11T18:40:00.000-08:00

Are you coasting along in your administrative assistant or executive assistant job, learning as you go? With the new year coming, perhaps it's the perfect time to light a fire under yourself. Perhaps it's the right time to get proactive and purposefully engage, or re-engage if you've gotten slack, with professional development and continuous learning opportunities. Get the edge in your administrative professional field. Stay abreast of what's going on with it.

No doubt, you learn day-to-day on the job. For many administrative professionals, that translates into this kind of talk: "I don't need to get a degree. I don't need to take any courses. I don't need to read any self-study material. I don't need to attend another seminar. I don't need to ...." You get the idea. It's the party of, "I don't need to do that because...."

And here comes the rationalization for these administrative assistants and executive assistants: "I'm a quick learner. I can learn everything I need to know as I go and need to. This job just takes common sense. Been there, done that. I'm not some newbie you just hired off the street. I'm experienced, self-taught over xyz years."

Sure, that day-to-day, when I need "learn it by experience" learning is "continuous learning." But do you realize this is "reactive" learning?

I'll say it again: REACTIVE

Reactive = Not such a good thing (if you're claiming to be a professional in your field, a career administrative professional).

Great administrative professionals have skills like "anticipation" and "initiative."

"Reactive" doesn't quite fit in with that thinking. (And don't confuse it with being "adaptive" and "flexible" because it's not that either.)

The top-notch administrative professionals are "proactive." If you want to be a top-notch administrative professional, that means you have to deliberately create your own learning strategy.

Don't just wait until your boss tells you that you have to attend a seminar.

Don't just wait to learn something when you need to know it in your job. That will get you just what you have now: stagnation in your job and career. A reactive work style. A career that "just happens."

You want "growth" in your job and career if you see yourself as a professional in the administrative professional field. Otherwise, you're not a professional; you're just warming a chair in the office for eight hours a day.

However, don't get nervous by the word "growth": It does not mean growing out of the administrative field; it means growing while in it (though you're welcome to choose advancing beyond the admin profession if that's your idea of growth).

Growth means improving yourself.

Growth means becoming the best in your field and doing what it takes to remain the best for your entire administrative professional career (in this case, through proactive professional development and continuous learning and proactive career management).

Growth means stretching your capabilities and stretching your brain (knowledge, thought processes).

Ask yourself this: Did you learn anything new today in your job or field? And if so, did YOU define that learning opportunity or were you "forced into" it by reacting to something on the job (i.e. a problem, assignment, dilemma, boss's request, etc.)?

If you really have a "career" in the administrative professional field, then YOU define your professional development and continuous learning endeavors. You manage your career proactively. You don't do all your learning on a need-to-know basis. YOU are the executive of your career. You set the strategy for it and make the choices for what you will learn proactively.

So, are you leading your career management strategy and your professional development and continuous learning strategy, or are you simply reacting to your day at work? The answer will help you define your current status as a professional in the administrative professional field.

If you don't like the answer, then it's up to you to proactively plan to change it. You can choose to define your professional development strategy. Or you can choose to wait and see what happens today, or tomorrow, at work. You can choose to just passively survive at work, or you can choose to actively thrive in your field and career.
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Learn new tips and strategies that will expand your thought processes and skills in your administrative assistant or executive assistant role and career through The Effective Admin Tips Series. Currently, the series contains 22 publications full of specialized knowledge that can specifically help you become and remain the best in your administrative professional role and career. Plan what areas you will improve in and then use these tips and this guidance to work your plan. It's all self-study. You can read the material at home or at the office, mark it up with your pencil or sticky notes, and then transfer that knowledge to daily activities in your job and career.

Even the smallest change, the smallest tip you implement from The Effective Admin Tips Series, will be you proactively learning something and purposefully using it in your administrative professional role and career. That's a start in proactively defining and managing your continuous learning and professional development endeavors in your administrative assistant or executive assistant career.

Administrative Professionals: Learn it Before You Need to

2010-10-31T14:35:00.000-07:00

Administrative assistants and executive assistants, take heed: Being "adaptable on the job" and "learning as you go on the job" are not the same thing. The first phrase describes a desirable attribute, especially per employers' criteria. That phrase is about adjusting to the conditions you find yourself in.

However, the second phrase is not necessarily a desirable attribute, particularly if you want to be a "top-notch" administrative professional. Read onward to see what I mean...

Do you know what the slang term is for learning as you go on the job?

It's the phrase, "winging it."

Unfortunately while that phrase sounds "cool," it's actually nothing to be proud of.

Dictionary.com defines winging it in this informal sense as "to accomplish or execute something without sufficient preparation or experience."

That's the same thing as learning as you go on the job. Would you put that you're good at "winging it" on your resume?

Probably not, right? And that may sound like a silly question but let's consider how many people might highlight the fact on their resumes or in job interviews that they can learn quickly on the job. While that might be a good thing in certain jobs, it's not necessarily so for an administrative assistant or executive assistant. Much of the things you're expected to do in an administrative professional role, you really should be able to do (at least to some extent) before you accept the job.

For instance, let's take travel skills. Many administrative professionals who want to rise in the ranks see executives asking if they have knowledge and experience in coordinating travel. If the administrative assistant hasn't got this knowledge or much travel coordination experience, he or she still might think: "I can do that. How much harder can it be than what I'm doing now. Besides, I can learn it as I go."

But let's reverse the situation. Say you're that executive and you plan to take an elaborate trip, perhaps overseas, where you need to attend important meetings. Would you like to depend on an executive assistant to accomplish coordinating your trip for you who is "learning as she goes on the job"? Would you be willing to take that chance when you have to be in the right places at the right times to conduct company business or else deals can be lost and so can your job and reputation?

Probably not, right?

So you can see why that executive would want someone knowledgeable and with at least some experience in coordinating travel. So if you want that position and you have the "at least some experience" part, then you also better be brushing up on your travel coordination skills and touting them. You better not just think and say: "Well, I don't know much about coordinating travel, but I'm a quick learner. I can learn as I go on the job and get you where you need to go."

In that case, you might as well just be saying, "I'm good at winging it."

That's just one example of why if you have been winging it as an administrative assistant or executive assistant for one year, five years, 10 years or even more, it's time to stop.

Learn to master your chosen profession through training and professional development.

The best administrative professionals never stop learning.

They proactively seek out learning new things.

Being the best in your job and in your chosen career takes planning and preparation. It takes forethought. Look around you. The truth is that only a very small portion of the millions of administrative professionals globally can even say they are the best at what they do.

And their success secrets aren't about just what they did to be the best. It's also what they did not do. They did not and do not wing it. While they are adaptable in their jobs and roles, they do prepare for each and every step of their career and each task they do on the job as much as possible. They do this through ongoing training and professional development.

Top-notch administrative assistants and executive assistants tell employers about how they have, and they are, prepared to meet new challenges. They don't say that they're always ready to learn on the job and wing it. They talk about achievements in professional development and training.

If you're ready to stop winging it as an administrative professional and take charge of your actions, behavior, job and career, then take the next step right now...

...join the Virtual Association for Administrative Professionals (VAAP) to access self-study learning resources that will help you become the best administrative professional you can be. VAAP is owned and operated by me: Karen Porter, Founder and President of The Effective Admin.

Remember, learn it before you need to. This will give you an edge in your administrative professional career. Your current and potential employers will have an administrative assistant or executive assistant who knows how to do XYZ skill or task and not simply one who is willing to learn it on the job when and if needed. That's reactive, not proactive behavior. You can do better than that.

You Never Know it All, Administrative Assistants and Executive Assistants

2010-09-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

A COMMON MISTAKE
What's a common mistake that some administrative assistants and executive assistants make in assessing their professional development, educational and training needs?

It's using "years of service" as a criteria to determine your executive assistant and administrative assistant training and development needs, especially when you have many, many years of service.

That's a mistake.

Even "bragging" about years of service can sometimes be a mistake (read onward for why).

CONFIDENCE VS. KNOWLEDGE
It's too easy to think, "I've been an administrative assistant (or executive assistant) for 10, 15, 30 years and know it all." I'm experienced! After all, you feel confident in doing your job with those years under your belt. We all do.

But don't mistake "confidence" for "knowing it all." It's an easy mistake to make if you're not on the lookout for it. And you may not be if you become too complacent due to your confidence due to your years of service.

DANGER!
When you think you "know it all," you're in the danger zone of becoming too complacent with your professional development.

And by the way, that can be really, really dangerous if you ever lose your job and need to get in the job search routine again – and you won't have a clue usually when that's about to happen. Just ask some of the many administrative assistants and executive assistants who are currently unemployed due to the downward swing in the economy. Many never saw it coming!

Nobody ... and I mean nobody ... ever knows it all – no matter how long on the job. That goes for all administrative assistants and executive assistants.

LIFE MOVES (ONLY THE LIFELESS STOP MOVING FORWARD)
The world is dynamic. What's happening in it is dynamic. Your employer is dynamic – and often trying to be creative and innovative.

Your employer doesn't need a "know it all" taking up office space. Your employer needs an administrative assistant or executive assistant who proactively seeks out new information and ideas and works it into your company's and job's processes and procedures and brainstorming activities. He or she needs someone who shows initiative on the job and in your role -- independently.

DON'T JUST LEARN "ON THE JOB"
Prospective employers need ongoing learners. And by that, I don't mean administrative assistants and executives who "learn on the job" but rather ones who keep learning through professional development and training. So in a way, I mean ones who "learn off the job." What professional development and training do you do outside of the office (whether on your dollar or the company's check)?

WHO WOULD YOU HIRE?
Think about it. If you were an employer, would you want to hire the administrative assistant or executive assistant who says: "I know it all, I've done it all, I've seen it all, and I can do it all for you."

Or the one who says: "I know a lot. I've done a lot. I've seen a lot. And I can do a lot for you. Yet I know I still have and will always have a lot to learn – because me, you and this company are dynamic, not static. I want to bring you experience AND innovation and creativity – the total package."

The one you would hire and desire from those two choices is pretty obvious now, isn't it.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?
Today's employment is all about, "What can you do next for me," and not, "What have you done."

So you can't sit on your can when it comes to your ONGOING professional development.

You can't be dynamic, creative or innovative when you already think you know it all. That's taking a "static" position. If you're an administrative assistant or executive assistant saying, "You can't teach me new tricks because I've been at this umpteen years," then get learning.

TAKE THE CHALLENGE
Make it a challenge to find out about things you don't know (or forgot).

This will keep you innovative and dynamic in your job and also help you to avoid job burnout. "Knowing it all" (or thinking you do) leads to boredom on the job and no risk-taking. That means no growth, no excitement, no forward motion. That's a chair-warmer. Don't be just filling a chair!

Never "know it all."

I HAVEN'T BEEN HERE THAT LONG
Never brag about your "years of service" as an administrative assistant or executive assistant unless you can somehow do it in a way that makes you look dynamic and innovative.

Otherwise, that's "backward thinking." Today's administrative professionals and employers are into "forward thinking."

Today's employers don't just want a "reliable" administrative assistant or executive assistant; they want an "innovative" one.

Yet you can and probably should look in the rear-view mirror when you use your experience as a foundation for forward thinking. That means there is a need to look both ways, just like when you drive: know what's behind you but contemplate all the places you can go while looking forward. When you drive, you spend a lot more time looking forward than in the rear-view mirror, though, unless you're backing up and going in reverse. So talk (or brag) about where you're going, not where you just came from.

"BEEN THERE, DONE THAT" ISN'T MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD TO
So think what can I learn next, not what do I already know and what have I already done. "Been there, done that" makes you a "has-been."

Be a dynamic, forward thinker. Stress that, not that you've "been around the block" and keep circling it.

Current and prospective employers will love you for it!

They'll start wondering: "How does she know all these things? How does she come up with these great ideas?"

Never stop learning. That means invest in your professional development and skills training ongoing.

GET HELP MOVING FORWARD
The Effective Admin professional development, training and educational materials can provide you and all administrative assistants and executive assistants with ongoing information and ideas you can use at work and in your career -- so you'll never grow stagnant as an administrative assistant or executive assistant. You will be in demand.

Employers and co-workers will be praising you for what you are doing and not simply for what you've done. They'll be asking, "What's your next big idea?" and not asking, "How close are you to retirement?"

You never "know it all" as an administrative assistant or executive assistant. Don't retire on the job!

Check out The Effective Admin (TEA) Success Store for administrative assistants and executive assistants like you who need to refresh current skills and learn new skills and ideas. It provides exclusive informational products you can't find elsewhere (except at the Virtual Association for Administrative Professionals, which is owned and operated by TEA). All the materials there are self-study. Learn without traveling; do it on your time and at your pace.

Contact me if you have questions about The Effective Admin or VAAP products.

And feel free to leave your thoughts below about the importance of ongoing learning, innovation, and forward-thinking (or anything else in this article) as it pertains to administrative assistants and executive assistants.

Administrative Assistant Skills, Executive Assistant Skills

2010-08-20T19:01:00.000-07:00

What administrative assistant skills and executive assistant skills are in demand by today's employers?

I get asked variations on that question regularly. Like you, I only know what's needed or preferred by employers by doing some research. Here are some tips for you to research what administrative assistant and executive assistant skills, attributes and knowledge are in demand now from employers. I'm also going to weigh in with some lists of what I see at a quick glance.

One great place to start your research is with "help wanted" ads. These are found in various places, including online at companies' Web sites, recruiter or agency Web sites, and social media sites with job boards. Plus, you can still find some ads in print newspapers. And I'm sure there are other sources I haven't listed.

Look at dozens of these ads and create a spreadsheet with the information. Then you can count how often different employers are seeking the same (or different) skills and abilities in administrative assistants and executive assistants.

By documenting your research like that, you'll clearly see what administrative assistant and executive assistant skills and attributes are in demand. You'll see the facts in black and white and not just make assumptions based on what you've read here and there. That can be misleading. Sometimes it can seem like a certain skill is in demand -- until you actually thoroughly research and document how many times you see this skill or attribute asked for in various ads seeking administrative professionals. Your research may cause you to realize the skill isn't asked for as often as you thought, or just the opposite.

Sure, this research and documentation will take you a few hours, maybe even a day or more if you do a lot of research and really dig deep and far and wide; however, in the process, you'll learn a lot about what skills, abilities, and attributes employers are seeking in administrative professionals today. The lingo (terms and phrases) you pick up along the way may even give you fodder for your resumes and cover letters.

You may want to go deeper and differentiate your research details by categories such as position (i.e. admin asst., exec. asst., receptionist, admin. asst. 1, 2, 3, sr. exec. asst., etc.), industry (medical, legal, manufacturing, finance, retail, etc.), and geographic location (country, state, city, or region such as Southeast, Northeast, etc.). You also could delve into levels of knowledge (e.g. "advanced" software skills, "complex" travel planning skills, two-year degree, four-year degree, five years of on-the-job experience as an executive assistant, etc.). Another thing to track is any references to "busy" offices, overtime, flexibility with your hours, etc.

I superficially scanned some ads today, and below is some of what I found in regard to requested administrative assistant skills and executive assistant skills and attributes. This is by no means an all-inclusive list; it's a quickly created one from looking at a handful of ads placed by employers seeking administrative assistants and executive assistants. Here's what I saw in the ads:

Administrative Assistant Skills in Demand

(Some of these "skills" may overlap into what you might consider "responsibilities" -- but you still need skills to carry out responsibilities)

billing
calendar management and scheduling
communication
copying, collating, binding (desktop publishing, working with printing centers)
document management
editing
event coordination
filing (paper and electronic) maintenance and organization
Internet research
interpersonal skills
language (your grasp of grammar and vocabulary for oral and written communication usage)
meeting coordination and planning
note taking, minute taking
organization
presentation development and editing
prioritization
project support
proofreading
receptionist (e.g. even if you're not "the" receptionist, you're practicing receptionist skills when you greet clients by phone or in person and direct them to their destinations)
report compilation and writing
software expertise in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Word, and others
team support
telephone
travel planning and coordination (domestic and international travel)
Web conferencing coordination
word processing
writing (letters, reports, memos, e-mails, proposals)

Executive Assistant Skills in Demand

Often theses are the same skills requested for administrative assistants plus some more skills and attributes because usually an executive assistant position is a higher level than administrative assistant. Of course, that's not always so (unfortunately); some administrative assistants do the work of executive assistants and vice versa. Positions aren't always consistent company to company.

Overall, executive assistants should have the knowledge, skills and attributes of an administrative assistant plus the ability and desire to do higher-level performance.

What I'm about to list is not from the research of open position ads but an example of what I mean when I say executive assistants need "that and more":

experts or advanced in those areas listed under administrative assistant
supervision -- can train or supervise others
strategic thinking
ability to be their managers and executives by proxy
decision-making; judgment -- ability to make higher-level decisions and make more advanced judgment calls than administrative assistants
capable of accepting more authority and managing and utilizing it properly
can manage up and partner with executive

Other attributes and abilities in demand (these are from actual open administrative position ads):

Administrative Assistant Attributes and Abilities in Demand

can interact with internal and external personnel at all levels
can route calls and visitors (independent judgment)
confidentiality
deadline oriented
detail oriented
familiar with administrative practices
innovative (willing to learn new skills, apply new approaches, devise solutions, improve processes, inefficiency identification)
organized
professional
team oriented (e.g. ability to work with other administrative professionals collaboratively)

Executive Assistant Attributes and Abilities in Demand

all of the above
can manage multiple projects simultaneously
can support senior level executives
collaborative approach (team oriented)
can create efficient processes
diplomatic
friendly
professional
strategic view of how your work affects the company business
understands what's urgent, sense of urgency

Experience

Sometimes college degrees (of various lengths and types) are required or preferred for executive assistant positions. This is not a skill, attribute or competency; this comes under the category of "experience," just as does actual "on-the-job" experience (which also is often requested for executive assistant positions). A college degree is experience garnered through "formal education."

If you see an add that calls for a certain level of experience that you don't have and you want to apply for the job, then do so. There is no "law" saying you can't apply for it and put yourself in the most equivalent light possible to what's requested. If you're not considered, you'll only be out of some time used to prepare and send those resume and cover letter documents and do the research on the job or company. The employer will not hunt you down to say "you wasted their time." They'll either put your documents in the "learn more" stack or the "trash."

Meanwhile, don't waste your time mentally crying over the fact that an open position ad is requesting experience you don't have or think is fair to ask of administrative professionals. It's not your call. Open position ads (i.e. help wanted ads) are about what the employers want (which you have no control over). Find out what's in demand through your research and then determine your next step. That's a smart, proactive way to proceed.

As I said, those lists above of knowledge, skills and attributes in demand are not comprehenisve; they're random lists I made from looking at current ads for open administrative professional positions. I'm sure I could add dozens of more things to those lists. So feel free to add more administrative assistant and executive assistant skills, knowledge and attributes you believe are in demand by employers (to your personal list or the comment section below).

Do your research and comment below about what you see as in demand administrative assistant skills and executive assistant skills.

Administrative Assistant Training Decisions

2010-07-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

If you're seeking administrative assistant training or executive assistant training and professional development on a budget (and who isn't on a budget these days), it can be tough to decide just where to invest your dollars. Even if it's not your personal funds but rather your company's dollars allotted for your training and development, you still have tough choices to make.

Perhaps you want to create a professional development and training plan for you, or for your administrative assistant and executive assistant team. But you want to make smart choices when choosing from the many advertised administrative assistant training and professional development options. How do you do that? Where do you start? And why is this such a tough decision? The choices are tough because...

...that administrative assistant conference taking place on the West coast looks interesting. But so does the conference for executive assistants being offered at a Southeast destination the following month. You can't afford both. But wait...there's more.

There is an alternative to traveling further than your chair. It's a Webinar being offered next month that's filled with information and training for administrative assistants and executive assistants (or so it says in the descriptive sales copy). Hmmm. Could be interesting.

But you know what...those books for administrative assistants and executive assistants for sale at your nearest bookstore look useful too. However, once again, that fixed budget is getting in the way. You can't choose all of these administrative assistant training and development options. It's not financially possible.

So what's it going to be?

Should you do the conference, the Webinar, or the self-study books? Tough decision. They all look great; they all claim to be filled with information tailored to the needs of office professionals like administrative assistants and executive assistants.

So which is going to be most worthwhile for you in your administrative professional job and career?

And how much professional development and training do you need as an administrative assistant or executive assistant?

And the answer is...

"It depends."

Big help, right?

There is no "one answer fits all administrative assistants and executive assistants."

The answer depends on your specific needs. So, you have to define that first. Here's how...

When planning professional development and training, try "working backward." That means think of what specific outcome you want, what specific behavior you want to change, what specific problem you have, and so forth; then research for the solution (which would be the training, classes, etc.).

This helps you fine-tune your professional development path and narrow down your choices of which classes and training will be worthwhile to you (and your employer).

On the contrary, a lot of administrative assistants and executive assistants mistakenly do it the other way around. That is, they find classes and other training resources and then try to think of what value they'll get out of them.

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

That's like deciding you'll take a trip to Disney World and then deciding why the trip will be fun for you. You would never plan in that manner. That's the wrong order. Do an "about face" now!

I mention this point in the report recommendations section on p. 33 of the 54-page report called SPECIAL REPORT #4: Administrative Professionals Investing in Professional Development and Training.

This report may give you more insight when creating your professional development and training plan, and even with getting buy-in from your employer (if you're looking for your company to fund part, or all, of your training and development plan). But that's not all that's in this report. More details and cost for this special report, which is related to administrative assistant training and executive assistant training and professional development, are at

http://www.admin-ezine.com/admnistrative-professional-development.htm

This report may give you something worth thinking about and more clarity when deliberating your next move in your executive assistant training or administrative assistant training and professional development plan. Don't just "wing it" with your professional development and training as an administrative assistant or executive assistant. Spend your money and your time wisely (including that of your employer). Think it through. Analyze your needs, specifically. Work backward from your desired outcome to your solution. Only then will you know what professional development and training will be worthwhile for you at this time.

Four Things to do While You're Still Employed

2010-07-14T13:58:00.000-07:00

Here are four things to do now while you're still employed that will benefit you if you ever get laid off or lose your job for whatever reason. You should do these things now while you're comfortably employed with no expectation of ever being let go or job searching. This is a checklist for the currently employed administrative assistant or executive assistant (though the unemployed may find some useful tips in the details below too).

1. Build your network. Get out from behind your desk and purposefully mingle now and then. Get curious about other people in your professional network. Then you'll know their workplace or career needs and desires and how you can perhaps serve them -- before you want, or need, them to do you a favor, such as alert you to job openings, review your resume or be a reference.

Actually, you can even network while still seated behind your desk. How? Tune into online social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter. You can meet other professionals online and network with them there. Join discussion groups such as The Effective Admin group on LinkedIn (the group link to join is http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=2987736 ); it's for administrative assistants and executive assistants who want to start or join discussions related to administrative professional job performance and careers.

Also join nonadministrative professional groups so you can meet people in other positions (such as those at hire levels or lateral levels). Plus, you can learn new things (you didn't even know you needed to learn) from people not typically in your field. Then you apply those ideas to your administrative assistant or executive assistant job, career, and field. That's being innovative.

When you're in these online groups, be at least semi-active. Don't be a "wall flower." That serves no purpose in online networking or face-to-face networking. For instance, answer an online discussion group member's question now and then (just don't dominate a discussion board or conversation). Serve others. When doing so, you're also demonstrating your knowledge. If and when the time comes that an employer is researching you (including online such as through conducting searches in search engines and at social networks, which is happening more and more), your knowledge and attributes will be on display in your posts. You'll be more visible too. You never know from where or whom your next job offer will come from.

2. Research the job market. Read those online ads seeking administrative professionals, even though you are not currently seeking a job. What skills and attributes are employers asking for today? They may not be the same ones next week or next year. Don't stop reviewing the job market just because you are employed today, seemingly long term. You'll be behind the game of job searching if you're suddenly laid off.

For instance, I've seen some lively discussions in group forums on the usage of shorthand by administrative assistants and executive assistants and the need to know this skill, or not. Many administrative professionals in these discussions have pointed out how they use shorthand in the office to increase efficiency with note-taking or taking dictation from superiors (among other uses). That's a great use for shorthand...if you know it.

However, I challenge you to find a request for this skill in the majority of ads seeking administrative professionals. You won't. While it's definitely helpful for note-taking, and perhaps useful to flaunt with the right executive or hiring manager (some will certainly appreciate and utilize your shorthand skill), most employers today won't consider this a high-value skill. And therein lies the issue: You want to be a high-value employee with high-value skills. That's the image you want to portray at times.

So it's not always about what you think is a great skill to use and learn as an administrative professional but what the hiring managers and executives want in your skill set. It's about "them," not "you." What do they think?

Just today I saw an ad in the newspaper for an administrative assistant that said "individual must have experience in upper-level administrative support functions including extensive minute taking experience."

That statement was listed first in the ad; it's clearly something emphasized. So if you don't have that skill, but you have shorthand (which could help you take notes for minutes more efficiently), you're NOT in the running. I can almost guarantee that, even if you're interviewed. The first person who comes along with "extensive minute taking" skills will be ahead of you for the job offer (all other things equal, and even if they do not know shorthand). And even in a good economy and job market, several hundred people apply for a single administrative job opening. At least one or more of those candidates will have the exact skill set the employer is advertising for.

And, if you're wondering, the other skills requested in that ad for an administrative assistant were ability to set priorities and meet multiple deadlines; ability to independently compose correspondence and agendas; excellent grammar and communication skills; ability to manage multiple schedules; proficiency in Microsoft Office; well-organized; detail oriented; efficient in multitasking; and strong people skills.

How many of those areas are you strong in? Weak in? Those aren't atypical request by employers for administrative skills.

3. Continue your education. As someone who offers educational products for sale to administrative professionals, I can tell you I hear plenty of, "I wish I could afford your training publication on abc because it's a skill I need to learn (or refresh), but I can't afford it because I'm unemployed."

Don't wait to find out what skills and attributes the market is seeking in administrative professionals (noted in point 2 above) and then lament that you can't afford to pay to learn them (through a course, publication, or whatever).

Increase your know-how in those in-demand skills before you need them -- while you're still employed. Take those refresher courses and get those helpful books before you need them -- while you're still employed.

It may not be the most glamorous way to spend a weekend or a week but this proactive measure will mean you won't be later saying, "I wish I could afford your publication on abc because it's a skill I need to learn (or refresh), but I can't afford it because I'm unemployed."

As an administrative professional, you anticipate regularly at work and on behalf of your manager or executive. Start using the skill of anticipation personally in your own career blueprint. Ask yourself: "What if I'm unemployed tomorrow? What skills are in-demand by employers seeking administrative assistants and executive assistants and how can I learn them (or refresh mine)?"

4. Write your resume. Start it today. It's the best way to see how in demand and employable you'll be before you're unemployed, perhaps unexpectedly. Would you call you for an interview based on your resume? Why or why not?

What could you add to your resume to make yourself more attractive to hiring managers?

Accomplishments? Set some goals at work. Initiate a project. Volunteer for a project.

Skills? Learn them and find ways to use them now. Get certified in popular software programs. Teach a class in-house at your company on a certain skill topic. What better way to show you know it than to be able to say you taught x number of classes on it for x years to x employees.

Make yourself employable now before you're unexpectedly, or knowingly, unemployed later. Don't regret later what you didn't do now.

For those of you who are thinking, "I wish you'd told me this six months ago, or a year ago, before I lost my job," I empathize. Hindsight is always 20:20 -- for me and you. When you do get your next job (and you will), remember these four points I've covered in this article today.

If you need some help with writing your resume and cover letter, or practicing how you'll answer questions during an interview, here is a resource I recommend. I've used one of this author's books with his advice in the past to help me successfully improve my job interview skills -- back before I was a self-employed company owner. So I know he knows his stuff. It works. It worked for me.

Setting Administrative Assistant Goals

2010-06-24T15:53:00.000-07:00

An administrative assistant asked in a discussion forum about how to respond when asked by your manager to set goals for yourself within your company; what do you say when you don't want to move up in the ranks? I responded to that admin professional, but I want to share my response here for you to read too in case you find it beneficial if you have the same question.

I said: "When your manager or executive is asking you for goals, he or she is not necessarily talking about your personal career goals (though that's a possibility). Managers are often talking about performance goals or ones that affect the workplace. For instance, what goals can you set to help your manager or executive meet his/her goals? What goals can you set that will help meet company goals? Set goals that benefit the company and your manager or executive, not necessarily your personal career goals.

Be clear about whether your employer is asking you for your personal career goals or performance or workplace goals (or perhaps he/she is interested in both). I find sometimes people mix those up.

If it's personal career goals, I'd first wonder the "why" of the question. Am I being asked because I'm working in a company culture where it's expected everyone at every level (including admins) should be planning to grow and advance in roles within the company? Or am I being asked out of curiosity? Is someone trying to determine how I feel about my administrative career?

There are always ways to expand the role and responsibilities of a current level administrative position without rising in the ranks. Talk about ways you want to expand and grow in your current role to aid your executive's and company's goals. Emphasize that train of thought and not that you do not want to move up in the ranks"

In response to another person's reply with goal suggestions, I also added some input about being specific with your goals. I mentioned that a good goal is often measurable. So if you set a goal like, "to learn as much as I can about the organization," you're thinking too generally. How will you measure your goals or know if you met them? For instance, how will you know if you met the goal of "to learn as much as I can about the organization"?

It's better to be specific most of the time. You can start with general ideas like that but dig deeper to find the specific goals. For instance, someone suggested a goal could be "to identify areas in which I can add value to the organization." That's general, again. Dig deeper into the idea of "to identify areas in which I can add value to the organization." That's still a goal in the research stage. You want to find a specific "area" and then you can start setting a related goal for it. Dig deeper to find and set the goals.

Someone mentioned the possibility of using those "general" goals to fall back on "when put on the spot" by a manager asking for goals. So that brings me to this point: I receive many e-mails from administrative professionals "put on the spot" by their own doing; this is because they wait for a manager or other boss to ask them to set goals, or they start thinking about goal setting the day before the goals are due to someone requesting them (such as for usage in a performance review).

It's at that time I get the e-mail with a panic tone from that administrative professional: "My goals are due tomorrow. Help!"

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to be thinking of goals year-round so you're never "put on the spot." Anticipate that you will be asked at some point in the year to set goals.

And if you're not asked, you might want to be proactive and take the approach (especially during performance reviews) of discussing and setting some goals with your manager's or executive's awareness. It's a good career move. But goals also can keep you inspired and focused on the job and in your career. Goals can set you apart too as an "advanced" level administrative professional.

However, if by chance your manager does put you on the spot and says, "Let's talk goals," don't be put on the spot. Get your manager's input but tell him or her you'll have to put thought into the matter and get back to them at x date. Good goal setting is not done instantly.

I offer a goal-setting publication specifically to help administrative assistants and executive assistants set goals. Many of my clients have told me it has helped them to brainstorm goals and think about goal setting from a different perspective. This publication in which you can learn about setting goals for administrative assistants and executive assistants is sold at this URL:

http://www.admin-ezine.com/administrative-assistant-goals.htm

It is called The Basic Guide to Goal Setting for Administrative Professionals and it is intended to help you with personal or professional goal setting as an administrative assistant or executive assistant.

Telephone Tips for Administrative and Executive Assistants

2010-06-02T15:49:00.000-07:00

Answering the phone in the workplace as an administrative assistant or executive assistant is about a lot more than just saying, "Hello." In fact, I doubt most non-administrative professionals realize how much skill it takes for you to do it right and well.

There is a lot to know and learn about this skill for administrative professionals (and I believe answering the phone lines is most definitely a skill).

This is the topic of a new publication I'm creating for The Effective Admin Tips Series, a series of educational skills and competencies self-study publications I've been producing for several years now. It's #21: Top Telephone Tips, Techniques and Skills for Administrative Assistants and Executive Assistants. I'm almost done with the first draft, which means it will be available within the next week or so. It's packed with tips and guidance, and I just have to narrow the first draft down now to a quick and easy readable size.

This Tips Series publication will cover lots of items: why answering the phones is such an important duty, how to answer the phones, what to say exactly, how to say it, dealing with awkward calls (e.g. angry callers), safety and security issues relevant to the phone, how to interrupt your manager or executive with calls, screening calls or not and more.

So stay tuned for the release of Top Telephone Tips, Techniques and Skills for Administrative Assistants and Executive Assistants if you need to learn or refresh this skill. And who doesn't? Just the other day, I called a company and closed by thanking the person on the phone for giving me some information. Her reply: "Uh, huh. Bye, bye." [click]

That's not a good closing impression for her or her company. For starters, the proper response to, "Thank you," is "You're welcome," not "Uh, huh."

Anyway, if you sign up today to be a member of the Virtual Association for Administrative Professionals (VAAP), which is owned and operated by The Effective Admin, you'll get access to Top Telephone Tips, Techniques and Skills for Administrative Assistants and Executive Assistants automatically when it's ready (which it will be soon...as soon as I stop blogging about it and get back to completing it...momentarily, after I've finished mastering the art of procrastination here).

Member details for VAAP are at http://www.thevaap.com/

Meanwhile, below is just one tip adapted from this Tips Publication (still in draft format): Top Telephone Tips, Techniques and Skills for Administrative Assistants and Executive Assistants.

Three Ways to Get Numbers When the Caller Insists Your Manager or Executive has it

"Mr. Baldwin probably does have your number but he returns calls faster when he has the phone numbers handy with the messages. So if you wouldn't mind, please tell me the number so I can add it to your message and make it easier for him."
If the caller is insistent on not giving you the number, try to get it from past messages, your Rolodex(r), your manager's or executive's Rolodex or any other documents you think may have it included. Even if you know your manager or executive has the number, you want to add it to the message to make it complete. Don't make your executive have to take the extra step of looking it up. (Or just as likely, your executive will first ask you for it -- which makes you look bad if you don't have it.)
If you have the number handy, from past usage, simply repeat it back to the caller: "So as usual, Mr. Baldwin, you can be reached at 000-123-4567. Is that correct?" Even callers insisting, "He has the number," could be wrong. Mr. Baldwin may say, "That's correct," or he may say: "Oh, no. That's my landline phone number. I only use my cell phone number now for business. It's 000-321-7654."

Create complete telephone messages for your managers and executives (or other staff); that includes getting the caller's phone number -- whether the caller initially wants to give it to you or not.

Stay tuned for the complete Tips Series publication, Top Telephone Tips, Techniques and Skills for Administrative Assistants and Executive Assistants, to be posted at The Effective Admin Store soon.

The store is at:

http://www.theeffectiveadminstore.com/

The Effective Admin Tips Series -- Mix and Match 5 for $55

2010-06-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

Administrative professionals periodically ask me if they can order multiple copies of just one of the publications from The Effective Admin Tip Sheet Series (now called The Effective Admin Tips Series).

The answer was usually, "no," until today.
I've added a "Mix and Match -- Get Any 5 for $55" option. So if you like one tips publication there in particular, and you want to get several copies of it for administrative colleagues or employees in your office, you can use that option to order a single tips publication in quantities of five.

Or you can mix and match five tips publications from the series at a time (a great idea if you have some but are missing others from the series).

This ordering option is explained in the box called "Mix and Match -- Get Any 5 for $55" here:

http://www.admin-ezine.com/store.htm

Currently The Effective Admin Tips Series covers these topics for administrative assistants and executive assistants:

problem solving
time management
gaining more respect
office organization
goal setting
internet research
e-mail etiquette and management
meeting planning and coordination
event planning and coordination
minute taking
office ergonomics
travel arrangement coordination (domestic)
travel arrangement coordination (international)
partnering with your manager or executive and managing up
prioritizing your workload
web conferencing
audio conferencing
video conferencing
supporting multiple "bosses"