Administrative Arts » Career Path

No Budget for Training? Do It Yourself

Jodith — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Today’s article is a guest post from Wendy Stoneman.

In my time with my current employer, I’ve been involved in training a few of our new admins. At some point in their first year they generally ask about training. Can they get some sort of training to improve their skills in a particular software program or office process? (Unfortunately, at our office the answer is “no”.)

Rarely though, is anyone referring to total immersion in a software program when they ask that question. Usually, they’re getting bogged down with a few tasks in a particular software – they can’t fix footers in Microsoft Word or rearrange pages in an Adobe .pdf file. They know this lack of mastery costs them time and energy and they simply want to resolve it.

Even without training programs or budgets for traditional or online classes, there are still ways to learn the tips and tricks you need to become more efficient. I recently became the Adobe Queen of my office. I’m certainly no expert, but I’ve mastered what I need to solve most issues I’ve run into with any Adobe .pdf file. Here’s the plan that worked for me:

Identify the area where you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck. I could’ve spent my time upgrading my knowledge of the accounting software (which I use occasionally) or becoming better at Word (which I use every day). I noticed though, that more and more of my work involved managing and manipulating .pdf files. It was an emerging trend and no one in the office was an expert – even our IT Helpdesk couldn’t help me. So, for my own satisfaction, and to make my life easier, I decided to learn more. Pay attention to your work flow – where are you losing time? What programs cause you the most problems? Maybe it’s not a program, maybe it’s your filing system or your calendaring habits. Somewhere, there’s an area for improvement. You already know what it is.
Start at the source. An internet search led me to the Adobe site and other sites/blogs specifically designed for training in Adobe products. I found a ton of online tutorials – just like the Microsoft site. I spent time watching those tutorials that discussed topics that I had encountered or thought I might encounter in the future. If you have a problem area, there’s probably a website or a blog (or two) with good how-to instructions and useful resources.
Invest in a good reference book. I bought an introduction to Adobe book that started with the absolute basics. I used it in conjunction with my tutorial viewing to really understand the capabilities of Adobe which would be useful for my work. I still refer to it regularly. Never underestimate the value of a good reference book.

So, stop waiting for Human Resources or the Training Department to come up with the perfect class or seminar for your needs. In this new world of work, it’s up to you to take charge of your training.

About the Author

Wendy Stoneman lives in Vienna, Virginia, and works at a mid-size law firm in nearby Fairfax, VA, where she is a legal secretary in the corporate law division. Wendy has worked in administrative roles for over 15 years in multiple industries all over the country.

For more information about working with Adobe pdf files, Wendy recommends these sites:

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My Job Changed, Why Not My Title

Jodith — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:00:00 +0000

I hear the lament over and over, not just in the administrative support field, but in just about every field and industry I know. It happens all the time.

The Job Changes

When you start a new job, you usually get a job description. We all know, though, that jobs have a tendency to change over time. As your boss learns what you can do, he starts adding on more duties. You, being the up and coming assistant that you are, offer to take on duties. Over time, the job just changes. Not the job title, though, and bosses often seem reluctant to change the job title. To understand why, we need to know something about job classification systems.

Job Classification Systems

Job Classification Systems are a means to classify jobs based on job descriptions. One of their primary uses is to group together similar jobs for purposes of regulating the pay scale, so all persons doing similar work receive similar wages. By making sure that all persons who do a similar job are making similar salaries, companies can protect themselves against complaints that they are treating disparate groups of employees differently when it comes to pay.

I know what you’re thinking. Shouldn’t this make them want to update your title and pay based on your job description? I mean, it would just make sense. For some reason, though, supervisors are sometimes loath to get involved in the process of updating job descriptions.

Consequences of Changing Job Descriptions

Bosses have several reasons for not wanting to deal with the whole title/job description topic. First of all, changing job descriptions and titles can mean changing pay scales and requiring higher salaries. This isn’t always the case, because pay scales within a career path tend to overlap. In other words, the high end of the Administrative Assistant pay scale may be within the low end of the Executive Assistant pay scale. Still, many bosses are afraid you’ll break their budget if they reclassify your position.

Another possible complication is that once your position gets reclassified, others in similar positions want to be reclassified, too. You also run into push back from Human Resources, mainly because of this issue. If Human Resources says that the assistant to a Director is only an Administrative Assistant and only assistants to VPs or higher are Executive Assistants, they will push the Director to make sure you are not working outside of your job description. Otherwise all the assistants to Directors will want to be Executive Assistants, and their classification system goes out the window.

You can see why your boss may just not want to open up the whole can of worms to start with. That doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t, though. If you are working outside of your job description, then it should definitely be looked at. It’s a benefit for you even if you don’t qualify for a higher salary at that point. It would probably give you more room in your pay scale to grow, and it would also give your resume a bit more oomph when you decide to change jobs.

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Becoming a Project Manager

Jodith — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:38:00 +0000

While being an Administrative or Executive Assistant is, for many of us, a career goal in itself, many assistants desire to grow into other careers. One job I’ve personally seen a number of assistants grow into is Project Management.

What Is Project Management

Project Management, in a nutshell, is about planning, organizing and managing the resources of a specific project. The Project Manager must successfully handle the resources, time, money and scope of a project to meet the outlined goals.

Projects are generally time delimited. They can run from just a few months to several years. Project Managers can work as freelancers, for a Project Management company, or managing multiple projects for just one company.

How To Become A Project Manager

While you can become a Project Manager through education, it does help to have some practical experience in the field. Most Administrative and Executive Assistants will have at least some project management experience. Most of us have managed smaller projects for our bosses, such as planning and executing events, supervising office moves, and even working on new technology rollouts. You can take that experience and work towards expanding your Project Management skills.

The blog, pmStudent, has a good article on getting started as a Project Manager. He talks about how to get experience and education, and provides some links to some great resources.

Are You A Project Manager?

Any Project Managers out there who started out as Assistants? We’d love to hear your experience and how you went about changing your career. Leave a comment and tell us your story. Note: If you are reading this by e-mail or in an RSS Reader, you’ll need to click through to the website to leave a comment.

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Tips for a Successful Business as a Virtual Assistant

Jodith — Wed, 05 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Today’s we have a guest post from James Mowery of Laptop Computers.

Working as a virtual assistant sounds like an easy way to make money working from home. In reality, it can be a roller coaster ride between times when you have too much work and times when you don’t have any at all. There are a few things that you can do to help your virtual assistant career become a little more predictable from month to month.

Don’t Rely on One Client Alone

Make sure that you have access to several different clients that are unrelated. Doing work for different clients protects you from the panic if work from one client should begin to dwindle away. Don’t overextend yourself, but try to find a balanced way to create backup plans in case you happen to lose a client unexpectedly. There are many reasons that jobs come and go, and the best way to stabilize your career is to give yourself plenty of options.

Maintaining a Reliable Schedule

The first step to building a successful business as a virtual assistant is to be reliably available. Set a schedule that works for you and your employer, and don’t deviate from that schedule. Your employer needs to feel that you are always available during business hours for any task that might need to be done. If you seem unreliable or are out of contact for long periods of time, your employer’s confidence in your work will deteriorate very quickly. Since you don’t have the luxury of face to face conversations, you have to foster a good working relationship through phone conversations and e-mail correspondence. Trust is more difficult to build when there is no personal interaction.

Marketing Your Services

The biggest obstacle to a successful virtual assistant career is finding employers in the first place. The idea of a virtual assistant is relatively new to the business world, so it is up to you to explain to prospective employers how the position works and why it is beneficial for both of you. You can use the internet as a valuable marketing tool to get your name and business noticed by more employers. Since a virtual assistant is not bound by geographical boundaries, you can market yourself to executives all over the country or even around the world. Create and maintain a polished, well organized web site that advertises your services and details your expectations as a virtual assistant. If you appear competent and organized online, an employer will believe that you are competent and organized in the office as well.

About the author: James Mowery is a computer geek that writes about technology and related topics. To read more blog posts by him, go to laptop computers.

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Get a $50 Amazon Gift Card with OfficeArrow Bronze Membership

Jodith — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:44:00 +0000

I’ve talked about OfficeArrow before and what a great community it is for Administrative Professionals. Well, in honor of Administrative Professional’s Day, OfficeArrow is giving away a $50 Amazon Gift Card to the first 100 people who purchase a Bronze membership. With the cost for Bronze only $99, that means you are getting the membership for only $49!

The Benefits

Look at the great benefits you get with a Bronze Membership:

On-line training by Learn.com – 10 different courses available at the Bronze level.
Online Library by SkillSoft’s Books24x7®: a collection of 75 videos and 25 e-books to help enhance your career.
Business Templates – over 100 templates to help you work more efficiently.
Podcasts, videos, and webinars by OA Experts.
Articles, tips and newsletters not available to free memberships.

Get Your Boss to Pay

The best part of this? Get your company to pay for the membership! This is a great training opportunity that will definitely be a benefit in your job, and it costs less than even a 1-hour seminar you attend in person.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to get a Bronze Membership at OfficeArrow and get a $50 Amazon Gift Card, too!

Fine Print and Disclosures

Active annual bronze membership required to receive gift card. Electronic Gift card automatically fulfilled via email 6-8 weeks after purchase date. OfficeArrow not responsible for incorrect member email addresses. Should a member cancel during the 30-day money-back guarantee period, no gift card will be issued. Offer good 4/12/10 – 4/30/10. Prior purchases excluded. Questions should be directed to: customerservice@officearrow.com.

Administrative Arts is an affiliate partner of OfficeArrow and receives remuneration for memberships purchased through links on this page.

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Ask the Admin: Measurable Goals for Assistants

Jodith — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:50:00 +0000

This question comes from Keira:

My boss has recently asked me to write a set of measurable goals for her based on my responsibilities but I’m not sure how to go about it – how can I measure what I do on a daily basis (answer phones, field emails/calls, event management/planning) etc?

It’s often difficult to come up with measurable goals when many of our duties are routine. There are some things you can use, though.

Training

This is an easily measurable goal. You either receive training or you don’t. You could, for instance, set a goal of attending two trainings in the coming year. Another possibility is joining a professional organization like the IAAP. You could also look at pursuing a degree, perhaps taking a class a semester. Another option is joining OfficeArrow (affiliate link), which includes free on-line training with a paid membership. Usually your department will have funds set aside for training which could be used to pay for any of these possibilities. Talk to your boss about it.

Deadlines

Although much of our duties are routine, we certainly have deadlines that we must meet. Set a goal of meeting deadlines 75% of the time. Then each year as you achieve your goal, you can set it a bit higher the next year. You might want to create a form for tasks with deadlines that the person requesting the task can fill out. This gives you the tracking data you need to calculate your success.

Job Tracking

I’ve often found when looking at performance evaluations and setting goals that neither my boss nor I realize just how much time is spent on various duties. Often a good first goal is to do a time study for your positions. Spend at least several months tracking the time you spend on various tasks. From there you and your boss can look at where your time is actually spent, and together you can decide where your position is heading and what your goals should be for the coming year. You may find you are spending way too much time on one task. Perhaps you need more training to do that task better. Perhaps that is a task that can be delegated. You don’t really know until you can pinpoint exactly what it is you do every day.

Look At Past Evaluations

Past evaluations can be a good clue as to where you need improvement. Look at items you were marked lowest and think of measurable goals that might go with those items. You may need to use some creativity to find ways to measure some performances. Think about the end result you need to achieve and then what needs to happen to achieve that result. Who needs to answer about your improvement or lack thereof. For instance, if you were taken to task about being a team player, perhaps you need a quarterly form filled out by your team members asking about your performance in that area?

Desk Reference Manual

If you don’t already have one, create a desk reference manual that details all of the procedures you use for your regular tasks. Having a reference manual is invaluable if you have to be out of the office and have a temp covering. Include things like filing procedures, travel arrangements, daily schedule, little details about how your boss likes things done. Whatever you do on a daily basis, document how you do it and include it in your manual.

Money Saving

Look at where your department spends money and see if you can find ways to reduce the amount you spend on certain items. Of course, if you are in a big company, you often don’t have a choice of venders, but you can look at procedures to see what they cost the company and if procedural changes can make a cost difference. Remember, time savings are money savings as well.

Whatever you set for your goals, remember not to set them extremely high the first time. Goals need to be achievable. Set them lower the first time, and then in coming evaluation periods, you can set them higher in each following period.

What Are Your Goals

What goals do you set for your performance evaluation? How do you make them measurable? Leave a comment and let’s learn from each other.

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Learn Office 2007 with Ribbon Hero

Jodith — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:00:45 +0000

One of the biggest problems with Office 2007 is that the interface of the programs is very different from previous versions of Office. Tasks you can usually do with your eyes closed have become absurdly hard in 2007 simply because we have to relearn the interface. Once you figure out the interface, you’ll find that Office 2007 is really a great set of programs, but you might pull your hair out learning it.

Well, the folks at Microsoft have finally come up with a way to help us learn the new interface. It’s called Office Ribbon Hero, and it’s a game to help you learn the 2007 interface and new functionality. It installs seamlessly with all of your Office programs, and you earn points just through doing your every day work. However, you can also complete the “challenges” within Ribbon Hero to go through tutorials teaching you the new interface.

Office Hero is still in beta, and it has a few bugs (some challenges don’t update properly), but I’ve really enjoyed playing and learning some really great functionality that I didn’t even know existed in Word 2007. I’ve played through most of the challenges in Word 2007, and I’m looking forward to playing in the other Office programs as well. If the game is popular, Microsoft is planning to release new content and challenges for it in the future, to help you lean to use more advanced functions in the Office Suite of programs.

If you want to learn the ins and outs of Office 2007, download and install Office Ribbon Hero. Remember, it’s important to keep your software skills top notch, especially in today’s challenging employment environment.

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Ask the Admin: Becoming a Virtual Assistant

Jodith — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:00:53 +0000

I received this e-mail from Andrea:

On my personal day off, I’ve been thinking about leaving my cubicle assistant job–where I’m basically working as assistant for a bank via a real-estate holding company–and making it a start-up business for myself. I want to become a virtual admin assistant with an added value of research assistant (so I can use my librarianship degree).

Any advice, such as your read of the market for such a business in this economic climate? Any insight is welcome!

Thanks for a very timely question, Andrea.

With the current economic crisis, many assistants are looking at becoming a Virtual Assistant as a hedge against unemployment. I’ll be honest and tell you that the field is very competitive at the moment with so many starting new businesses in this area. However, it is still a relatively untapped field, with many small businesses and entrepreneurs not yet understanding what a Virtual Assistant is and does, so there is definitely room for expansion in this field.

If you want to learn more about becoming a Virtual Assistant, here’s a couple of links that I’ve found very helpful:

I’ve found both of these communities to be extremely open, friendly, and helpful. You’ll learn a great deal from the veterans there about what it takes to start and maintain a VA business.

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Ask the Admin – What More Do I Need?

Jodith — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:00:14 +0000

I received this e-mail from Kathy:

I have a AA in Business Administration with a concentration in management, a bookkeeping diploma and a administrative assistant diploma and I still have a hard time getting an administrative assistant job. As for experience I would say i have the bear minimum because of where I live. What do I need to do in order to get an administrative assistant position?

It sounds to me that with your education you should be able to qualify for an entry level assistant position. You’d qualify for more with more experience, probably. The main problem at the moment is the economy. I know people with years of quality experience that have been looking for jobs for over a year with no luck.

You didn’t mention if you are getting interviews or not. My recommendations are based on whether or not you are. If you aren’t getting many interviews, the problem may be with your resume. If you don’t have much assistant experience, then you’ll need to tweak your resume to make your administrative knowledge and education stand out. I always recommend the same book to everyone for building a resume, and that is Regina Pontow’s book, Proven Resumes: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries and Changed Lives (affiliate link). I used this book myself a number of years ago to revamp my resume, and saw the number of interviews I was offered increase dramatically. It’s written with strategies for everyone, whether you have no experience or way too much.

If you are getting interviews with no job offers, then I recommend the book Job Interviews For Dummies (affiliate link), another book that I’ve used myself. It has a lot of great information about how to conduct yourself at an interview and strategies for every phase of the interview process.

Both of these books helped me tremendously in getting interviews and converting interviews to job offers. I highly recommend both of them.

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Mentoring a Young Executive

Jodith — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 09:00:21 +0000

At some point in your career, you are going to be working for someone who has never had an assistant before. One of the toughest, but most rewarding, jobs an Administrative or Executive Assistant can have is helping a young executive learn how to partner with an assistant.

Understanding the Need to Delegate

In my experience, new executives have two hurdles to cross. First, they are used to doing everything themselves. I’ve had several tell me that they didn’t really need an assistant, but their boss insisted they have one. They are used to managing their own e-mail, making their own travel arrangements, and setting up their own appointments. If they need a database, they create one themselves.

The key to dealing with these young executives is to help them understand that its not an issue of them not being able to handle those duties, it’s just that they no longer have time to handle everything themselves. It usually doesn’t take long for them to realize the truth of that statement. Many don’t realize that in going from front line management to managing managers, their time becomes a premium. They will be juggling more projects than they ever thought possible. After a month or two in the position, though, they generally begin to understand the need to delegate tasks. This brings us to the other hurdle for new executives.

Learning the Role of the Administrative or Executive Assistant

It takes time for new executives to learn to trust the abilities of their assistants. Many new executives who have never had an assistant before have a picture in their mind of someone who answers the phone, types, and files. They always need an adjustment period to realize just how much expertise we have as Administrative and Executive Assistants.

We know a wide variety of software for many different functions. We know how to set and monitor a department budget, take meeting minutes, research topics and write reports, and that’s just for starters. We can monitor industry publications for items of importance, give feedback on personnel matters, monitor social media for company mentions, and update the department website. The days when Administrative and Executive Assistants just handle phones and filing are long gone. In today’s business world, we are valued partners of our executives, and the earlier this is learned by a young executive, the more successful he or she will be.

As Administrative and Executive Assistants, it is our role to help gently, and sometimes not so gently, educate our executives on our role and how we can best provide support. As I said before, it’s a difficult job, but probably one of the most rewarding ones in our career.Similar Posts:

How to Organize the Boss’s E-mail

Jodith — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:00:15 +0000

Often as an administrative assistant (and very frequently as an executive assistant), you’ll have the job of monitoring and organizing your boss’s e-mail. This essentially entails reading through his new mail and either replying on his behalf, delegating the e-mail to one of her direct reports, or organizing e-mail that needs a response directly from the boss.

Microsoft Outlook gives you a number of ways to organize e-mail.

Folders - You can create folders for various categories of mail. These can be based on who sent the e-mail, the project the e-mail is about, the department it deals with, or any other logical pattern based on the needs of your boss. I frequently set up folders for newsletters he receives, since those are often lower priority, and getting them out of the inbox makes it less cluttered. Your boss may want you to set up a whole filing system for e-mails so old e-mails are easier to find. I had one boss that I not only set up the folders for, but it was my responsibility once a month to file the old e-mails into the folder system.

Color Coding – You have various ways to color code e-mail in Outlook. You can have the e-mail preview be in a different color, you can apply different colored flags to the e-mail, or you can color code by category (in Microsoft Outlook 2007 only). I’ve never been particularly fond of the color coding method, but for some people it works very well. Again, you can color code based on whatever system works for your boss.
Categories - You can also organize e-mail by applying categories. You can either choose from the default list of categories in Microsoft Outlook, or you can create new categories as needed.

Using Rules in Microsoft Outlook

Regardless of the method you use to organize e-mail, the use of rules can be very handy at doing some of the work for you. For instance, I mentioned earlier that I would create a folder for each kind of newsletter my boss received. I would set up a rule that when one of these newsletters arrived, Outlook should move it to the appropriate folder. You can make rules for all kinds of situations and with all sorts of effects, whether it’s moving the e-mail to a folder, changing the color, or applying a category. You can even use it to autoreply to commonly received e-mail that always get the same response. Using rules to organize e-mail is a great time saver for both you and your boss.

Do You Mange Your Boss’s E-mail?

How do you organize your boss’s e-mail? Do you have any tips to share to help us all out? Just leave a comment and share your e-mail tips. Remember, if you are reading this in e-mail or a feed reader, you’ll need to click the title and go to the website to leave a comment.

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How to Sabotage a Great Job

Jodith — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:00:30 +0000

You like your job. You have a good boss, and you’re really good at what you do. Think you can’t or won’t be fired? Think again.

It doesn’t matter how good you are at your job, certain behaviors can and will get you fired. And all of these scenarios are things you bring on yourself.

Gossip

It’s one thing to chat about personal issues at work. We all do it; it’s part of bonding. But when we start dishing dirt on everyone else, it’s called gossip, and it can destroy the cohesiveness of an office. And if you’re the one dishing the dirt, it can destroy your job and career. Do you think it won’t get back to the boss that you’re a gossip? Remember the Spanish proverb, “Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.”

Badmouthing the Boss

Closely related to gossip, but specifically about the boss. Let’s face it, as an Administrative or Executive Assistant, your relationship with your boss is a huge part of your job. If the boss thinks he has reason to not trust you, that relationship is likely irrevocably broken. There’s no faster way of breaking that trust than to bad mouth the boss to a coworker. And if you think the boss won’t find out, refer to the Spanish proverb above.

Breaking Confidentiality

Continuing on the theme of trust is breaking confidentiality. Your boss must be able to trust that what you hear and see in her office will not be discussed outside of the office. If she can’t trust that you will keep confidentiality, then she won’t feel comfortable sharing details with you that you need to know to do an effective job. And if you think she won’t find out you’ve blabbed, please refer again to the Spanish proverb.

While you may have no control over some issues affecting your job, these issues are entirely within your control. Don’t lose your job in a moment of loose lips. Guard your tongue and your reputation.

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How To Really Be on Top of Things as an Administrative Assistant

Jodith — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:00:42 +0000

What’s the chief characteristic of being a great Administrative or Executive Assistant? It’s knowing everything, or at least seeming like you do. The best assistants are those that can aptly handle managing the boss’s calendar, sorting his mail and screening her calls without having to always stop and ask for information or permissions. But how do you get to that miraculous place where you know all?

Daily Meetings – Not Just Recommended, But Required

Daily meetings between the boss and the assistant are absolutely required. Well, maybe not every day. When the boss is home sick or on vacation, you can let him be if it isn’t an emergency. But most days vitally need at least five minutes of face to face time with the boss (phone time if she’s traveling).

You can’t be the person in the know, the person who saves your boss so much time and effort, if you don’t know what’s going on and what’s important. Without that vital information, your boss may as well have a robot sitting at the desk doing things by rote. The heart of an administrative assistant is her intelligence and discretion, and mostly of all, her knowledge.

What Should We Discuss in Those Daily Meetings

At first, you may think there’s not enough to discuss for daily meetings. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll have trouble squeezing everything into those few minutes. Here’s a list of basics to discuss:

Review the boss’s calendar. That day, the coming week, and once a week or so go over the coming month. Let her know what new meetings you’ve accepted and what they’re about and any information you have that you think is pertinent.
Going over the calendar for the day, make sure the boss has all the files he needs. Review the next day and find out if he needs anything special for those meetings.
Discuss her priorities for the day and week ahead. Who he’s expecting to call or stop by. What issues may be emerging of which you should be aware.
Any particular duties for you that take priority that day.

As you and your boss become more comfortable with the daily face-to-face meetings, you’ll both start thinking of more to be discussed. One boss I worked for was the Director of Human Resources for a university. Part of my duties for him was to review industry magazines and websites for pertinent information (especially legal decisions) he needed to know. That was part of our daily discussions. What you discuss every day will depend on your industry, your boss’s position, and your boss’s personality and work style.

Tell Us About Your Meetings

Do you have daily meetings with your boss? If not, how often do you meet? What do you discuss in your meetings? Leave a comment and share with all of us, so we can all learn from each other.Similar Posts:

Managing Calendars Part 2: Scheduling More Than Meetings

Jodith — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:00:18 +0000

In my last post, I talked about using discretion in scheduling meetings. Today, we’ll go into other ways to manage your boss’s calendar to increase his productivity.

Keep the Calendar More Full Than It Looks

Let’s face it. If there’s a blank spot on your boss’s calendar, someone’s going to want to schedule a meeting there. The higher up in the company your boss goes, the more true that will become. This is where you come in.

Like I said in my last post, your boss can’t be ultimately productive if all he does is attend meetings. So to keep people from trying to schedule meetings for every moment of her day, you’ll need to tie up some of her calendar.

Scheduling Work Time

Sometimes, the only way you’ll be able to set aside work (that is, non-meeting) time, is to actually schedule time for it on your boss’s calendar. I like to schedule two hours of work time every day on my boss’s calendar. The time I schedule is going to depend on your boss. Some prefer work time early in the day; some prefer it later in the day. Some prefer one longer amount of time scheduled; some prefer two shorter time periods to be scheduled.

Whatever your boss’s preferences, be sure to set aside some time every day for work time. Now, that doesn’t mean that you won’t sometimes have to schedule over the work time. Sometimes meetings will take priority. But when that happens, always try to move the work time to later in the day or week.

Using Recurring Meetings

Generally, I use the recurring meeting function in MS Outlook to put work time into the calendar. It’s quick and easy to set up the time, and then you can change just the individual occurences if they need to be moved. Just open a blank meeting and click the “Recurrence” button on the toolbar to set up a recurring meeting.

Other Calendar Tips

Always leave 15 minutes or so between meetings. This gives your boss time to return urgent calls, make notes from the previous meeting, or review his files before the next meeting.
If the meeting isn’t in the office, give at least 30 minutes before and after the meeting for travel time, longer if the drive time is longer.
Remember, your boss needs to eat, too. It’s true, regardless of what office gossip may hold, he’s human just like us. So, always remember to schedule time for him to have lunch. Trust me, she’ll thank you for it.

Share Your Calendar Management Tips

What are your tips for managing your boss’s calendar? Leave a comment and let us know how you manage things.Similar Posts:

Managing Calendars: More Ways to Keep the Boss More Productive

Jodith — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:00:14 +0000

Last week we talked about helping the boss be more productive by properly screening calls. This week, let’s explore another way to help the boss be more productive: managing the calendar.

More Than Just Scheduling Meetings

“Managing the calendar,” you’re thinking. “Isn’t that just scheduling the boss’s meetings?” Well, scheduling meetings is just part of what it takes to manage your boss’s calendar. You aren’t just scheduling meetings, you’re doing something much more important. You’re managing his time!

It’s All About Time Management

Think about it. Your boss has so much more to do than attend meetings. If all his time is taken up in meetings, he’ll never get anything else done. Your job is to make sure she’s not so overwhelmed with meetings that she can’t get manage other work.

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Just Like Screening Calls

Just because your boss is invited to a meeting doesn’t mean he really needs to be there. Just like screening phone calls, you need to use your judgement here to figure out which meetings to approve and which ones to delegate to someone else.

When you first start a new job this can be quite difficult. Until you get a grasp of your boss’s priorities, it’s a good idea to review his calendar during your daily meetings. Go over all new meeting requests so he can decide which ones he needs to attend and which not. After a while, you’ll get a feel for what can be delegated and can’t, and you’ll be able to start using your own judgment, just like screening calls.

But What About the Rest of the Time

As I said before, managing the boss’s calendar is about more than just scheduling the boss’s meetings (or not scheduling them as the case may be). In Wednesday’s post, I’ll go into more depth about scheduling other necessities for your boss to keep him as productive as possible.Similar Posts: