Executive Secreaty Magazine: Weekly Newsletter - IYOTSA 2014

Dear all
This year is off to a flying start, full of opportunity and promise. Can you believe that January is gone already? That has to be the fastest 31 days so far.

That leaves us with just 11 months to put into place the game-changing initiatives we promised ourselves for the International Year of the Secretary & Assistant. The world has changed for Assistants in the last five years and every Assistant on the planet should be aware of IYOTSA and its key message, that Assistants are no longer just ‘assisting’. They are actively ‘doing’ as business people in their own right.

We promised you that in 2014, we would help you to correct some of the stereotypes that exist around you as Assistants in your businesses, help you work towards recognition of your role, get training and encourage your businesses to get you out into the community & networking with your peers.

All this is happening, but we need your help. Our cover story in the new issue of the magazine is an in-depth guide to IYOTSA and we have decided to make the link public so you are able to share it with as many as possible in your businesses and networks. It is one of our three "Articles of the Week" at the bottom of this newsletter.

In addition, I was invited by new community website, Officepal.com to give a webinar interview on the subject of IYOTSA. They have kindly shared the video recording of the webinar with me and you can see the interview in full by clicking here. Officepal is a big supporter of IYOTSA 2014 initiative and they have planned several webinars/trainings around various themes of IYOTSA charter. Stay tuned to for more information. We believe that the IYOTSA initiative can help change the face of administration profession and we would like your help in getting the message across to every admin on this planet. Please share this link/video (https://officepal.com/pd?discussionId=1258) with every admin you know - so they can learn more, participate and benefit from IYOTSA initiative.

A reminder that I am happy to attend any event, anywhere in the world in 2014 and speak or Chair for free, as long as my travel and accommodation are covered. We have a very small window of opportunity to make a difference and I want to grab it with both hands. Whether you are running an internal company networking meeting, a conference or an Association meeting, whatever the event and however many people you have in attendance, I would be delighted to come and speak to them.

Please contact me if you would like me to come and speak at an event that you are hosting.

Speaking testimonials are available at my LinkedIn profile
www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=25058950&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile.

I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible in the next 12 months.

Feel free to share this newsletter with anyone else you think might benefit - we are always delighted to welcome new recipients.

SO HERE IS THIS WEEK'S FREE RESOURCE

This newsletter is always packed with free resources. On the LinkedIn group, we often ask you to recommend your favourites and one that comes up, time and again is www.gcflearnfree.org.

GCFLearnFree.org creates and provides quality, innovative online learning opportunities to anyone who wants to improve their skills in a variety of areas needed to be successful in both work and life. By delivering over 750 different lessons to millions of people in over 200 countries and territories ABSOLUTELY FREE, GCFLearnFree.org is a worldwide leader in online education.

View one tutorial. Complete a whole class. They believe there's freedom in the ability to learn what you want, when you want, regardless of income or circumstances.
AND HERE ARE THIS WEEK’S AWESOME SPECIAL OFFERS

ASAP WEBINARS

We would recommend that all our readers join the ASAP as a member. Registering for membership is easy and FREE and they have many excellent free resources. Click here to join.

Our friends at ASAP have put together a very special webinar offer for all Executive Secretary Newsletter subscribers:

Take un-limited live or on-demand webinars at any time in 2014 and get $25 off each webinar! (ASAP webinars are $99) Please use coupon code EXECSEC25OFF to get your discount

ASAP also produces the annual Administrative Professionals Conference (APC) - see http://www.apcevent.com

ASAP members receive a $200 discount on their APC and EAS registration fee.

IF YOU’RE BASED IN THE MIDDLE EAST...

Marcus Evans’s ‘World Class PA Forum’ will be gathering the region’s PAs, for an interactive, inspirational two days in Dubai this February. Highlights of the conference includes a half day workshop on communication with bosses, a role play session on scenario management , an exclusive demonstration lab to boost your professional image and a mini think tank session to present solutions and not problems to your bosses. You would be sure to take home the lessons in the presentations available on multi-tasking, stress management and time management.

Marcus Evans have very kindly offered readers of this newsletter a 10% discount off a ticket to this prestigious conference.

For more details please click here and to claim your discount, just put ‘Executive Secretary Newsletter’ in the comments box.

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY LIVE, LONDON

We know that some of you can’t make the whole weekend in March, so we have put an offer in place for the next week only on the two half-day Friday workshops. Book both workshops and get a £100 discount, taking the cost from £199 each to £298 for the two.

Here are the speakers & topics:

Shirley Taylor
Supercharge Your Business Writing With the WOW Factor!
Half-day masterclass

Do you realise that what you write and how you write is very often the first impression of you that people receive? Do your business writing skills create a WOW or a WHOA?

The typical executive today spends approximately 20-25 per cent of their time writing. Yet, writing is a skill that few people seek to improve. With so many emails, letters and other documents to write, and time being an issue, writing effectively can be very demanding. However, the truth is that your writing skills can have a significant impact on your effiiency, productivity and business success.

We now communicate with people from all over the world, and much of the time the only way those people can form an opinion of us is by looking at the way we write. Shirley will show you how to create a WOW with your writing!

Best-selling author and communication expert Shirley Taylor will show you how to create a WOW with your writing!

Highlights:

• Why you must build a WOW into all your communications
• Common errors that make readers go WHOA!
• Are you writing for yesterday or today?
• 5 simple steps that will supercharge your business writing
• WOW your readers with the WOW Factor
• Questions to ask before you click send

Vickie Sokol Evans
Simplify Your Life Using Office Themes
Half-day masterclass

Time-saving Secrets to Transforming Your Documents, Spreadsheets and Presentations into Professional-Looking Masterpieces

Whether you’re a graphic designer or you are like me — seriously lacking any design skills — the last thing you want to do is spend unnecessary time getting your documents to look GREAT! Introduced in Microsoft Office 2007, Office Themes are available across all Microsoft Office applications and allow you to create professional-looking and branded documents with ease. In this session, understand what makes up a Theme and best practices for automating your work so that you can work less.

• Leverage existing themes across all applications
• Customize an existing theme
• Create a new theme to match your company
• Save your custom themes and share them with others
• Discover the #1 mistake people make when changing fonts in their document that costs them valuable time

For full speaker biographies, more information or to book, please visit www.executivesecretary.com/live. To claim your discount simply type ESNEWS in the ‘Where did you hear about us?’ box

THE NEW ISSUE OF THE MAGAZINE IS OUT NOW - LAST FEW DAYS TO CLAIM 30% OFF!

The January issue came out on Friday and is packed full of training and inspiration from the world's best trainers of administrators. We have been offering a 30% discount on an annual subscription throughout January, so click here to buy now and take advantage of the discount before the offer runs out on Friday.

The website prices are preset with the 30% discounted special offer until then.

Articles include:

Leadership and Strategic Process - Doug Van Dyke
Get Connected: Seven Reasons Why all Admins Need Social Media - Julie Perrine
Work 24/7 - Just because we can, should we? Marsha Egan
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants - Bonnie Low Kramen
The Changing Face of Education - E-Learning - Natalie Lloyd
Be Results Drive - Joan Burge
Profile: Deborah Shaw, Kelly Engstrom & Kimberly McFarland, the three Presidents of the Associations for Celebrity Assistants in London, New York & LA

And this is only a tiny selection of the full content available.

PDF VERSIONS OF EXECUTIVE SECRETARY MAGAZINE TO SHARE

You may be interested to know that we now have a new facility which allows you to download PDF versions of all the magazines (as well as of all the archive editions) directly from our website when you subscribe. You are also now able to search the website by author as well as by topic. To subscribe, visit www.executivesecretary.com

You can also subscribe as a company to a PDF licence version, which allows you to share the magazine and all the training in it between all your administrative staff. Contact me if you would like details at lbrazier@executivesecretary.com

 

To stay up to date on a daily basis with what's going on, you can join the LinkedIn group by clicking here or follow us on Twitter at @lucybrazier, and join in the conversation. We are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/executivesecretary. Feel free to share anything you feel we, and the rest of the community should know about with us.

Shout loudly if you need any further information on any of the above or if you have information that you would like us to share with our community of over 18,500 Assistants from all over the world.

 

Lucy Brazier

CEO, Executive Secreatry Magazine

Volete farvi notare?

M.A.C. - Manager Assistant Certificata

Se state cercando dei modi per emergere e farvi notare in mezzo alla marea di candidate alla ricerca di un lavoro, continuate a leggere.

Il Programma di Certificazione della Manager Assistant (M.A.C.) è quello che vi serve per mettere in evidenza le vostre capacità professionali e l’esperienza che avete accumulato nella vostra carriera.     

A chi è certificata M.A.C. vengono riconosciute competenze sia nell’ambito delle hard skill che in quello delle soft skill grazie a un percorso formativo di crescita e sviluppo che inizia e termina con un esame.

Seguendo il programma potrete migliorare le vostre qualifiche professionali, accrescere le competenze e conoscenze e aumentare la vostra autostima affrontando e superando con successo gli esami.

Tramite il Programma M.A.C. è inoltre possibile ottenere il Professional Administrative Certificate of Excellence - ASAP's PACE Program, seguendo un numero limitato di corsi on-line in inglese.

 

ASAP - PACE Certified

La Certificazione M.A.C.  attesta che la Manager Assistant certificata ha un’eccellente capacità di gestire e organizzare una segreteria di direzione, una preparazione adeguata nell’utilizzo del pacchetto Microsoft Office, buone basi di amministrazione e contabilità e in modo particolare, che è perfettamente in grado di comunicare ed interfacciarsi con tutti i livelli dell’organizzazione di cui fa parte, come alter ego del suo manager, creando e coltivando ottime relazioni con i superiori e i colleghi.

L’esame d’ingresso al Programma M.A.C. è basato sulle conoscenze e competenze acquisite dalla Manager Assistant nella carriera professionale; durante il percorso le Manager Assistant seguono corsi di formazione per migliorare le aree in cui sentono di dover crescere e alla fine, sostengono un ultimo esame che certifica quello che hanno appreso e gli obiettivi raggiunti.

Quindi cosa aspettate!!! Certificatevi M.A.C.!!!!

 

Modelli da imitare

Pensate, per pochi secondi, a due o tre fra le migliori assistenti che conoscete.

Cosa ammirate e rispettate in queste persone?

Il senso di calma professionalità in mezzo a una tempesta, l’utilizzo coerente del buon senso, o la capacità di cambiare marcia e manovrare abilmente anche nelle più delicate situazioni?

anticipazione, comunicazione, creatività, discrezione, flessibilità, iniziativa

Forse le ammirate perché dimostrano grazia e integrità anche quando sono sotto pressione, hanno la capacità di parlare in modo sincero e dimostrano un grande impegno nei confronti dei colleghi e dell'organizzazione.

Queste assistenti sembrano essere, in qualche modo, sempre un passo avanti rispetto alle altre, capaci di anticipare ciò che è necessario agiscono in base a queste intuizioni prima che le altre si accorgano di tali esigenze. Le ammirate perché sono disponibili e generose nel condividere le loro conoscenze. Sono delle maghe della tecnologia, comunicano in modo eccellente e sanno dire “si” o "no" a seconda dei casi.

integrità, giudizio, lealtà, organizzazione

Anche se può sembrarvi che queste colleghe siano nate con queste doti, molte caratteristiche e competenze possono essere sviluppate per mezzo dello studio e della formazione continua. Le stesse competenze già in vostro possesso possono, anzi devono, essere continuamente migliorate e aggiornate. Allora, come acquisire e migliorare le abilità che ammirate nelle colleghe?

professionalità, lavoro di squadra, alfabetizzazione tecnologica,

gestione del tempo, etica del lavoro

Leggendo i pensieri di Maryellen Weimer, sulle caratteristiche dei buoni studenti, mi è venuto in mente che tali caratteristiche potrebbero essere applicate anche alle assistenti. Leggete l’articolo e scoprite se anche voi pensate di possedere alcune delle 7 caratteristiche dei “good learners” 7 Characteristics of good learners

Il coraggio di essere donna

Essere una donna, moglie, madre, e non per ultimo, assistente di direzione - così come vivere in un mondo spesso pazzo – vede la necessità di esercitare il coraggio quotidianamente.

Se vogliamo essere leader, se vogliamo fare bene e avere successo in ogni aspetto della nostra vita, dobbiamo capire come la paura e il coraggio possano lavorare insieme, mano nella mano.

Attraverso la vita e le esperienze passate, ho compreso che:

"Il coraggio è la volontà di agire a dispetto della paura."

Il coraggio e la paura sono collegati, il coraggio non è l'assenza di paura, ma piuttosto, necessita della paura per potersi esprimere.

Non c'è bisogno di essere coraggiose, se non abbiamo paura di qualcosa. Per fortuna, abbiamo paura di un sacco di cose sia nella vita di tutti i giorni, che nel lavoro. Non saremmo umane se non avessimo paura.

"La paura è solo una chiamata ad esercitare il coraggio".

Senza paura, non possiamo avere coraggio. Non possiamo agire coraggiosamente in ogni situazione se non abbiamo qualcosa da proteggere, qualcosa da onorare, qualcosa da dimostrare, o qualcosa per cui impegnarci. La paura è un invito all'azione e l'azione deve dimostrare coraggio.

Ma teniamo a mente che ci deve essere un sano livello di paura. "Tutte le cose con moderazione" è un detto che cerco di applicare alla maggior parte delle aree della mia vita. Non lasciate che la paura prenda il sopravvento causandovi una completa paralisi.

Siate coraggiose oggi. Guardate la paura negli occhi e vincetela. Non lasciate che prenda il sopravvento. Non lasciatela vincere.

Se vogliamo essere padrone del nostro complesso e sfaccettato ruolo di donna, abbiamo bisogno di capire quanto sia importante avere coraggio. Siamo state create per essere coraggiose.

Tempo rubato, come evitarlo?

Per quale motivo alla fine della giornata restano sempre delle cose da fare e sorge spontanea la considerazione: “Accidenti anche oggi non sono riuscita a finire quella cosa che mi ero ripromessa di terminare e mi tocca restare in ufficio fino a ore impossibili“.

C’è sempre un motivo per cui un’attività che sembrava potessimo svolgere in un paio d’ore, ce la trasciniamo da giorni.

Abbiamo lavorato tutta la giornata, abbiamo mangiato un panino al volo, abbiamo fatto solo una breve pausa caffè e nonostante tutto ci troviamo con un mucchio di carte sulla scrivania, documenti da archiviare, mail cui rispondere.

E’ vero, magari abbiamo dato anche un’occhiata (magari un paio) a Facebook o ai messaggini sul telefonino, ma non possono essere queste “piccole” interruzioni che ci fanno perdere tempo.

E quindi? Come mai non abbiamo mai tempo?

Alcuni studi hanno dimostrato che circa la metà del tempo lavorativo viene letteralmente consumato dalle interruzioni.
Per interruzioni Intendo: dare uno sguardo “veloce” alle e-mail, le telefonate non necessarie ricevute, una richiesta “fatta al volo” da parte di un collega che non ricorda una determinata cosa, come anche vere urgenze che non possono essere rimandate.

Mediamente un’assistente viene interrotta circa 60 volte al giorno.
Un manager ogni 10 minuti!

Ci sono diversi tipi di interruzione, quella che dura mediamente dai 3 ai 5 minuti, mentre altre possono essere più brevi, altre invece richiedono la nostra totale attenzione e concentrazione.

Se poi consideriamo i circa 8 minuti necessari per ritornare ad essere focalizzati come al momento esattamente precedente l’interruzione, facendo un breve calcolo, molto approssimativo, perdiamo almeno 3 ore della nostra giornata lavorativa a gestire le interruzioni.

Secondo voi, quante di queste interruzioni sono veramente urgenti e importanti? Probabilmente solo il 10% mentre il restante 90% ci ruba tempo prezioso!

Come difenderci da chi ci ruba tempo prezioso?
Il primo passo per risolvere questo problema è cercare di rimanere focalizzate il più possibile su quelle attività che sono realmente importanti per il raggiungimento dei nostri obiettivi. Ormai lavoriamo quasi tutte in open-space o in uffici che condividiamo con altri colleghi. Imparare a ignorarli e a non prestare attenzione alle loro chiacchiere è una strategia: non fatevi coinvolgere nelle loro discussioni se non avete tempo e specialmente se non vi riguardano.
Riconoscere le “interruzioni” e dar loro il giusto peso, magari riuscendo anche a ignorarle quando è il caso,  è un primo passo per farsi distrarre di meno e portare finalmente a termine quell’attività che ci trasciniamo da giorni.
Un altro è imparare a riconoscere alcune frasi che sembrano innocenti, ma non lo sono:

 “Scusa hai un attimo? Posso chiederti una cosa al volo?”
Questa probabilmente è la domanda che ci viene fatta abitualmente e di solito il “ladro di tempo” ha sempre una fretta indiavolata e se solo giriamo la testa verso di lui, siamo fregate, gli abbiamo appena dato l’autorizzazione a proseguire nella sua richiesta.
Poco importa se noi stiamo facendo altro o se neanche siamo la persona giusta cui chiedere! Non lo fa certo per farci un dispetto, quanto piuttosto per semplice pigrizia, magari potrebbe trovare l’informazione in una vecchia mail o cercando in Internet, ma è più comodo e veloce che il lavoro lo faccia qualcun altro.

Sono certa che vi è capitato più di una volta che, mentre siete al telefono, un collega si metta di fronte a voi e cominci a parlarvi e a chiedervi informazioni.

Per un certo periodo di tempo, dietro la mia scrivania ho appeso un cartello con scritto:

“Nonostante la natura sia stata molto generosa con me e mi abbia dotata di due orecchie, mi ha dato una sola bocca per rispondere, motivo per cui se sto parlando al telefono, non posso rispondere anche a te”.

Ad ogni simile interruzione, lo indicavo al rompiscatole.

Ma oltre a queste tipologie di interruzione ce ne sono altre migliaia, che volenti o nolenti distolgono  la nostra attenzione, rompono la concentrazione che ci eravamo create e che spezzano il filo del ragionamento che stavamo seguendo.

Ad esempio:

“Ti ricordi dove ho messo quel foglio?”
IO dovrei ricordarmi dove TU hai messo qualcosa? E poi cosa significa “quel foglio?” sai quanti fogli ho sulla mia scrivania che non sono neanche miei e che ho magari raccattato abbandonati nelle sale riunioni?

“Mi passi quel foglio/penna/documento/?”
Potresti cortesemente alzarti e fare il giro della scrivania? O magari solo allungare il braccio, hai un crampo?

“Come si chiamava quel tizio che ha fatto quell’ordine?”
Magari se apri il programma CRM o il foglio di Excel, come per magia ti appare la risposta, io manco c’ero all’appuntamento con il cliente!!!

Ma la più bella di tutte è questa:
“Scusa, dai una lettura veloce a questa mail e mi dici se va bene?”
Qui, oltre all’interruzione non richiesta si scatenano un sacco di altre dinamiche complesse da gestire.
Per prima cosa, scatta qualcosa… siamo lusingate che un nostro collega ci chieda un parere e ci dia così tanta considerazione e fiducia da chiedere cosa ne pensiamo.
Non ci succede spesso di essere interpellate, quindi interrompiamo tutto quello che stiamo facendo perché il nostro collega ha bisogno di aiuto, del NOSTRO aiuto.
Ci accomodiamo vicino a lui/lei, assumiamo un’aria concentrata, molto seria e professionale e cominciamo a leggere.

Ha chiesto il NOSTRO parere e quindi VUOLE il nostro contributo.
Allora cerchiamo di leggere le sfumature, di capire il messaggio tra le righe, di metterci nei panni di chi leggerà questa mail e, come in una partita a scacchi, cerchiamo di prevedere tutte le possibili mosse, immaginiamo scenari e stati d’animo, insomma ce la mettiamo tutta.
E, alla fine, ci rendiamo conto che quello che c’è scritto fa veramente schifo, probabilmente noi non avremmo mai scritto una cosa simile e vorremmo cambiare tutto, ma per gentilezza ci limitiamo a suggerire come cambieremmo una frase, come anticiperemmo una possibile obiezione, come eviteremmo di offendere l’interlocutore.

Ma mentre stiamo esponendo il nostro gentile punto di vista, il nostro collega, con un sorrisetto stirato in faccia ci dice: “Cara, è giusto quello che dici, ma ti manca questo pezzo per capire come mai ho scritto così…” oppure “Va bene, però il cliente quella volta al telefono mi ha detto che… e quindi…”
E alla fine, ci sentiamo dire: “Dai, grazie lo stesso. Adesso rivedo due cose e poi la mando.”

A questo punto ci sentiamo delle cretine, gli abbiamo dedicato il nostro prezioso tempo e lui ci liquida così? E la prossima volta che ci capita una simile richiesta, come dobbiamo comportarci? Far finta di niente? Non prestare attenzione alle richieste dei colleghi?
Direi che una soluzione semplice e diplomatica, è rispondere con tono molto cortese: “Dammi ancora mezz’ora così finisco questo lavoro importante e poi ti dedico l’attenzione che meriti”.
Vi renderete conto in breve, che nella maggior parte dei casi il collega non tornerà a disturbarvi.

C’è una frase che amo molto:

Mentally strong EAs don't worry about pleasing others. Know any people pleasers?

Or, conversely, people who go out of their way to dis-please others as a way of reinforcing an image of strength?

Neither position is a good one.

A mentally strong EA strives to be kind and fair and to please others where appropriate, but is unafraid to speak up.

They are able to withstand the possibility that someone will get upset and will navigate the situation, wherever possible, with grace.

 

 

Volete un aumento di stipendio? Volete essere più apprezzate per quello che fate? Dimostrate quanto valete!!

Arriva sempre il momento in cui vogliamo che tutto quello che facciamo ci venga riconosciuto. L’ideale sarebbe ricevere un aumento di stipendio, un bonus, ma a volte anche solo un riconoscimento, un ringraziamento, sarebbero sufficienti a ricaricarci le batterie e a farci ripartire con entusiasmo.

Ma come possiamo far notare al nostro capo che è arrivato “il momento”?

In primo luogo dovete ritagliarvi un po’ di tempo con lui nella sua complicatissima e impegnatissima agenda. Non cercate mai di introdurre un argomento così delicato a metà di un’altra discussione, perché probabilmente cogliereste impreparato il capo, cosa che non è mai gradita. Riservata in agenda la vostra mezz’ora, non cancellatela a causa di altri impegni o scuse, salvo convocazione da parte del CEO, rimanete ferme sulla vostra posizione. Preparatevi per l’incontro facendo un elenco degli obiettivi che avete raggiunto e delle proposte che avete fatto e concretizzato per cambiare e migliorare il vostro modo di supportarlo.

 

In aggiunta alla lista che è il primo passo per chiarire la vostra posizione, ecco alcuni altri suggerimenti per fare colpo sul vostro capo:

Speciali riconoscimenti

Avete ottenuto riconoscimenti e premi per la vostra professionalità o avete seguito dei corsi di formazione che certificano il vostro sviluppo personale e professionale? Se per esempio siete state ammesse al Programma M.A.C. segnalatelo e spiegate al vostro capo quanto sia importante per voi essere sempre aggiornate.

Dimostrate il vostro valore aggiunto

Se avete avuto la possibilità e/o la capacità di intervenire sulla riduzione di costi o sull’ottimizzazione di processi all’interno della vostra organizzazione, fate in modo che il vostro capo lo sappia. Presentategli le prove di quanto siete riuscite a far risparmiare al vostro dipartimento sia in termini di denaro che di tempo.

Presentatevi come una “problem solver”

Se i colleghi si rivolgono a voi dicendo: “Tu che sai tutto…”, se l’ultima volta che il capo vi ha chiesto di trovargli un’informazione, ce l’avete fatta in pochissimo tempo, insomma, se siete assistenti da “mission impossible”, quale migliore occasione per farglielo notare?

Dimostrate le vostre capacità di comunicazione

Avete creato report e presentazioni, standardizzato procedure, scritto articoli relativi alla professione? Se sì, preparatene una copia per l’incontro e parlatene al vostro capo, un’eccellente Assistente deve sapere padroneggiare sia la comunicazione verbale che quella scritta .
Le relazioni con gli altri

Non dimenticate di coltivare buone relazioni con tutti. Non dovete per forza piacere a tutti, ma dovete fare sì che vi rispettino:

Mentally strong EAs don't worry about pleasing others. Know any people pleasers?

Or, conversely, people who go out of their way to dis-please others as a way of reinforcing an image of strength?

Neither position is a good one.

A mentally strong EA strives to be kind and fair and to please others where appropriate, but is unafraid to speak up.

They are able to withstand the possibility that someone will get upset and will navigate the situation, wherever possible, with grace.

Voi rappresentate l’azienda per cui lavorate e in particolare il vostro capo, quindi create e mantenete rapporti professionali e cortesi con tutti, anche con chi non vi piace. Evitate i pettegolezzi e i commenti inopportuni, è vostro dovere essere sempre imparziali e non utilizzare la vostra posizione per fare un inutile esercizio di potere. Se vi comporterete in modo etico e responsabile il vostro capo lo noterà e non potrà che apprezzarlo.

 

Executive Secretary Magazien - Weekly Newsletter

Weekly Newsletter JANUARY 13th, 2014 Dear all, Welcome to a New Year and to a whole heap of new opportunities to expand your knowledge and resources. The great thing about the start of a new year is the chance to wipe the slate clean and re-evaluate what you are trying to achieve. I don't know about you, but I always feel hugely inspired for the first couple of weeks to set and stick to my New Year's resolutions but after that, they slip somewhat. Our fabulous article, below, about setting goals rather than resolutions, makes enormous sense to me and I can't wait to share it with you. And after months of preparation, it's finally here! The International Year of the Secretary and Administrative Assistant kicked off on 1st January and we have a whole raft of things happening in 2014 to increase the awareness of your role and the perception of what you do, in countries all over the world. Please see below for details of the webinar that takes place tomorrow, which you will be able to follow free of charge to find out exactly what is going on and how you can get involved. Feel free to share this newsletter with anyone else you think might benefit - we are always delighted to welcome new recipients. WOULD YOU LIKE LOTS OF FREE BOOKS? In the next few months (starting Jan 2014), UoLearn are running a promotion in association with Amazon. Their titles will be available as free kindle books for 5 days each. UoLearn are a small publishing company based in Lancashire specialising in skill based books like influencing skills, business writing, coaching skills, minute taking etc. To sign up, please visit http://www.uolearn.com/. ONE PROFESSION, ONE VOICE - FREE IYOTSA WEBINAR TOMORROW Every admin on this planet should be participating in IYOTSA 2014. We are campaigning on your behalf to get you the recognition that you deserve. Please share details of this webinar with your networks. We want as many to attend as possible. Officepal Webinar: IYOTSA 2014: What's In It For Admins?: A Conversation with Lucy Brazier on Jan 14, 2014 at 10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern, 6pm GMT, 7pm CET. Register Now. Here is the registration link: http://bit.ly/1ifCqr4. START THE NEW YEAR WITH A CLEAN INBOX The 7th International Clean Out Your Inbox Week takes place between 20 to 24 January 2014. This year’s promises to be one of the most exciting with new materials, daily challenges and incentives to take control of your inbox. And the Email (Winter) Olympics. Here is the plan for the week to help you reduce email overload and go for an empty inbox each day. Day 1 Monday 20 January – Why bother to keep the inbox clean Day 2 Tuesday 21 January – Start cleaning the Inbox Day 3 Wednesday 22 January – How to keep the inbox clean – downsize the number of emails you receive Day 4 Thursday 23 January – Brilliant email etiquette to keep the inbox clean Day 5 Friday 24 January – Pulling it together and moving forward Blogs will be posted each morning with an action plan for the day. There are free copies of Brilliant Email as prizes for the person either making the most progress each day or who has the best way of keeping the inbox clean. For more resource each day: Follow the initiative on Twitter using #cleaninbox. Join the Facebook page. PDF VERSIONS OF EXECUTIVE SECRETARY MAGAZINE TO SHARE You may be interested to know that we now have a new facility which allows you to download PDF versions of all the magazines (as well as of all the archive editions) directly from our website when you subscribe. You are also now able to search the website by author as well as by topic. To subscribe, visit www.executivesecretary.com You can also subscribe as a company to a PDF licence version, which allows you to share the magazine and all the training in it between all your administrative staff. Contact me if you would like details at lbrazier@executivesecretary.com EXECUTIVE SECRETARY LIVE - DON'T MISS OUT, BOOK NOW- £100 DISCOUNT FOR SUBSCRIBERS UNTIL THE END OF JANUARY! Our vision was always that if a speaker is invited to speak at Executive Secretary LIVE, then they have made it to the top of their tree, as one of the world’s top trainers for EAs. Our world class speakers are not just flying in to motivate and inspire you, but to provide essential training that will boost your knowledge, skills and productivity. We guarantee that you will leave the event with a plethora of practical tips, as well as immediately actionable ideas to increase productivity and impress. But above all, we want to inspire you to go back to your businesses and use what you have learned to add new dimensions to your role. We hope you will agree that we have put together a programme that is a mixture of both the inspirational and practical. This is a truly International conference. Last year, Assistants attended from 14 different countries, from as far afield as New Zealand, the US, Russia, Turkey, Europe and of course the UK. For full details of our exceptional programme, please visit www.executivesecretary.com/LIVE and quote ESSUB to claim your £100 discount.

A free webminar: IYOTSA 2014: What’s In It For Admins?

IYOTSA 2014: What’s In It For Admins?A Conversation with Lucy Brazier, Publisher of Executive Secretary Magazine and Global Brand Ambassador of IYOTSA 2014
	Lucy Brazier is the Publisher and Editor of Executive Secretary, a magazine aimed at senior and aspiring assistants and admin professionals. Lucy's ethos comes from a desire to want to help administrative professionals all over the world to be the best in their roles that they can possibly be. As a publisher, speaker, and chairperson, Lucy has transformed the way that thousands of assistants think about themselves worldwide. Lucy is also the global brand ambassador for the IYOTSA 2014 initiative.
About This Webinar The Year of the Secretary was first celebrated in the U.S. in 1984. On the 30th anniversary of the Year of the Secretary, PAFSA, an organization based out of South Africa, is leading the celebration of 2014 as the International Year of the Secretary and Administrative Assistant: IYOTSA. Over 100 secretarial organizations/associations around the world have pledged their support for IYOTSA 2014. The vision for this yearlong event is to change the world for Assistants across the globe so they are recognized for the work that they do. In this live video conversation with Lucy Brazier, you will learn: What is IYOTSA? Why is IYOTSA an important initiative for admins? What’s IYOTSA’s charter? How can IYOTSA help you? Job Description, Personal Development and Networking! How can you and your company get involved in IYOTSA 2014?
Title IYOTSA 2014: What’s In It For Admins? Date January 14, 2014 Time 10:00am – 11:00am PST (6:00pm - 7:00pm GMT)
Register Now
About Officepal Officepal is the world’s first business collaboration network for administrative professionals. Officepal enables admins to ask questions, get tips and advise, and share best practices. Officepal is a great way to connect with other admins in your city and across the globe. Admin professionals from over 1800 organizations in over 400 cities across 6 continents have already signed up for Officepal. To signup for Officepal, go to: http://officepal.com.

Some training suggestions for assistants - Practically Perfect PA

Quite often I am asked which courses I would recommend for assistants that are just starting in the profession and want to undertake some training to increase their skills and help them move up the career ladder.

I always say that it is extremely important for assistants to attend training courses throughout the year. We have a shed load of skills that have to be kept up to date so that we can do our job effectively. We have to be experts at IT, we have to have great people skills and we have to be assertive and confident to be able to handle all of the daily tasks asked of us! Not many other professions have that variety of skills. All of this means that we must, must, must attend training courses. I wrote a post about this a few months ago called Invest in yourself which turned into a bit rant because the big problem is that a lot of organisations don’t realise how important training their support staff is! Another factor is that they simply don’t have the budget for it, especially if they have staff that need expensive professional qualifications and CPD programmes. Of course there are also the boss’s that want their assistants in the office every day and don’t encourage them to attend any training.

So what training courses would I recommend for all of these instances? Firstly, let’s have a look at a few training options for those that do not want to spend too much of their company’s money!

Internal training and graduate programmes

If your company has an internal training programme which could be online do take the time to have a look at the options. There should be some training that relates to you directly, will improve your skills or will help you learn more about the business. Does your organisation have a graduate programme? If it does then ask to attend their initial training sessions on the industry. I did this when I first started working in insurance. There was so much jargon and codes of conduct, especially when working with Lloyd’s of London that I asked to attend an ‘Introduction to Insurance’ course which was in-house and specifically for the new graduates. I was the only EA on the course but it was so helpful and didn’t cost my company a penny.

Exhibition and trade shows

There are quite a few exhibitions and trade shows throughout the year that you can attend for free such as The Office* Show, The ExecSec Summit or The Office Management and PA show. You can meet with potential suppliers but also attend free training sessions. There are also trade shows abroad that will pay for your flights and accommodation if you can qualify for their hosted buyer schemes. EIBTM Barcelona is coming up in November and there are still hosted buyer places available. Other than you being out of the office for a day or two your company really doesn’t have much to lose.

Networking Groups

There are PA networking groups springing up all over the place these days, which is absolutely brilliant! Executive Secretary Magazine has a good up to date list on their website. If there is a networking group in your area I would highly recommend you join and go along to their events, most of which are outside of working hours.

There are also lots of ways that assistants can train at their desk, here is a quick list of possible resources:

• Webinars
• LinkedIn Groups and articles
• Business podcasts
• Blogs (like this one!)
• Professional publications such as Olé Magazine or PA Life
• Free online tutorials
• Books!

I have complied a list of books for assistants which you can buy on Amazon, there are some great resources on the site so do check it out!

If you are lucky enough to work for a company that supports your career development there are some fantastic courses you can take that will really help you pick up new skills and cement the ones you already have.

IT training

I would always recommend that you train until your IT skills are advanced. We spend so much time on (usually) Microsoft software so this should be something we are very skilled at. Also assistants are constantly asked by their colleagues for help on IT software so our managers should be fully aware that we need to have advance knowledge and this knowledge must then be kept up to date.

Most organisations that I have worked for offer Word, Excel and Powerpoint courses. Take these courses until you have completed each stage. Even if you feel you are already an expert it is worth taking refresher courses every now and again because the packages do change and are updated fairly often.

Outlook (or whatever email / diary system you use) is a fundamental tool for assistants. It is like a painter and his brush, or a footballer and his ball… Erm, hopefully you get my point! We can’t do our job unless we know Outlook inside out and back to front. This we must be advanced in! If you don’t feel that you are advance in Outlook training is essential!

Training for tasks

Once you have your IT skills up to a high standard then I would suggest taking some training courses for the specific tasks you are ask to do at work. For example minute taking, speed typing or preparing and writing reports. There are also tasks that assistants take on because the company doesn’t have a specific department or member of staff, such as:

• events management
• marketing
• business administration
• office management
• social media management

I think having some training on these tasks will really help you perform them to a high professional standard and will give your confidence a boost. If you think about it most of these tasks are professions in their own right so we really should be taking training courses to ensure we have the skills to actually do the job!

Personal Development

Over the years I have taken courses on assertiveness, confidence at work and how to influence people. Some were helpful some were not. I find some of the courses that are offered to assistants a bit hit or miss to be honest. But if you are lacking in certain areas and it is holding you back at work then it is worth finding a training course that will help your personal development. I would just say do some research so that you go on a course with real benefits! I did go on an internal course which was an introduction to Neuro Linguistic Programming. It was really useful and I would recommend assistants take an introduction to NLP so that they can perform at the same level as their manager.

To complete a diploma or not to complete a diploma?

Well I think it depends on a few things. Firstly do you already have a degree? Are you struggling to move from say a receptionist to an assistant? Is your company willing to pay for the course and if so what do they want in return?

I ask these questions because of my own experience. I got my degree and walked straight into an administrators role and then worked my way up to a personal assistant and then executive assistant. I didn’t need to have a qualification in the profession itself to get in the door and once I was in the profession my experience and working hard led me to better roles. I left university 10 years ago when the economy was a lot more buoyant so it may be really different now. Perhaps a qualification in the profession will help assistants stand out from the crowd. It will definitely show that they are serious about wanting to be an assistant.

I also think it is really important for any profession to have academic qualifications and accreditation programmes because it helps that profession be taken more seriously. So yes, I say if the opportunity arises for you to take a diploma then you should, especially if your organisation will pay for it. Although do really think about what your company wants in return for the course, normally they want you to agree to stay at that firm for a number of years or you have to pay back the course fees. If you have to pay for the diploma yourself think about all of the other courses you can take first that will help advance the skill set required to be a great assistant. If you already have a degree I think you should look at business courses such as a MBA rather than a diploma in administration. This would be worth it’s weight in gold for any assistant and their executive.

 

http://www.practicallyperfectpa.com/2013/training-courses-assistants-take/09/22/