Administrative Arts » Gadget Love

Office Supplies An Administrative Assistant Needs At Her Desk

Jodith — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:00:43 +0000

Let’s face it, as executive and administrative assistants, we never seem to have enough space in our desk to keep everything we need. Space always seems to be at a minimum. It’s hard to keep everything we need handy and still keep our desks looking neat and organized.

So what exactly do we need to keep either on our desk or in a handy drawer? Here’s a list of things I consider important to have easily available:

Stapler and staples – Do yourself a favor and get a decent stapler. Also, make sure you’re using the right staples for your stapler and that you’re using good quality staples. Good staples cost marginally more than bad ones, and you will probably end up saving money by not having to restaple your papers 5 times before the staple actually punctures the paper.
Tape – While you might not need tape every day, when you need it, you usually need it immediately. So keep your tape dispenser handy.
Ruler – Rulers are handy for so many things: as a straight edge for drawing lines, as a guide for data entry, even for actually measuring things. It may not need to go on your desk, but you need to have it handy.
Tablet or Notebook – I live or die by my notebook. I always have one handy to make notes and write things down so I don’t forget.
3-Hole Punch – Again, get a decent 3-hole punch, one that can punch more than 2 or 3 sheets at a time. Remember, the punches get dull after a while, so if the punches aren’t replaceable, get a whole new unit when it stops punching cleanly.
Pens and pencils – Keep a variety of pens in different colors available. Red is great for proofreading, blue is important for signing contracts, and black is just your basic utilitarian pen. Whether you keep them in a holder on your desk or in a drawer is up to you.
Highlighters – Again, keep a variety of colors handy. It’s helpful when analyzing data to be able to color code with highlighters.

Post-it Notes – Have a variety of sizes for different uses.
Post-it flags – Especially keep the “Sign Here” ones handy, but some plain ones in 2 or 3 colors are good to have as well.
Dictionary – Granted, you can look things up on-line these days, but when you need to prove your point to the boss, having the dictionary right there is handy.
Reference Manuals – Style guides, letter writing guides, industry references, whatever you need for the job you’re in.
File folders – I like plain manila folders myself, but some people like to use colored folders. I usually use colored folders for the ones I keep for the boss, i.e. “read this”, “sign this”, and “urgent-look at this immediately” type folders.
Calendar – Yes, I know, we have Outlook on our computers, but I don’t want to switch programs every time I need to look at a date.
Scissors – We always need to cut something.
Sewing Kit – Just one of those little travel sewing kits is great to have in your desk. You never know when the boss’s hem will come unsewed or a button pop off of his shirt. Always make sure the boss looks good when he leaves the office.

These are the things I consider to be the bare minimum of equipment I keep in or on my desk. Everyone is different though. What do you consider is absolutely necessary to have at your desk? Leave a comment and let us know.Similar Posts:

Working With Confidential Documents

Jodith — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:04:49 +0000

photo credit: ivoryelephantphotography

As you progress in your career as an Administrative Assistant, and especially as an Executive Assistant, you’ll be working more and more with confidential documents. Pretty much every interview you go on will ask you about your experience in handling these types of documents. Below are some tips for properly handling confidential files.

Handling Confidential Electronic Files

You should take precautions that confidential data isn’t seen while you are working with the electronic files.

Position your desk so someone cannot easily stand behind you and see your computer screen. I habitually set my desk up so that my back it to a wall.
Get a privacy screen for your monitor, which will limit the angle at which someone can view your screen.
Make sure to enable a password protected screensaver, so that any document you are working on is protected if you step away from your desk. I usually set mine for about 3 minutes. Annoying, but safe.
Ideally, lock your computer when you step away (in Windows, type Ctrl-Alt-Delete and then K to lock your computer).
Encrypt all confidential files. Find the file on Windows Explorer, right click it, and choose Encrypt (for Win XP and higher).
Delete your temp files regularly. Every time you open an attachment in Outlook, a copy goes to your temp files, including confidential documents.

Keeping Hard Copies Confidential

Put a cover page on all confidential documents.
Mark each page of the document with a SECRET watermark.
Remember, don’t print confidential documents to a shared or public printer.
Number copies of confidential documents and have each copy signed for so you can track each copy.
When not in use, confidential documents should be locked in a desk or file cabinet.
When you’re finished with a confidential document, shred it in a high quality, crosscut shredder. Strip shred documents are very easy to reconstruct.

One of the hallmarks of a good administrative assistant is the ability to handle confidential data. Assure your boss that you know how to properly handle confidential files.Similar Posts:

Keep Warm in the Office

Jodith — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:10:16 +0000

photo credit: zenera

I don’t know what it’s been like in your neck of the woods this winter, but it’s been unseasonably cold here. And with companies trying to save on utilities, keeping our fingers and toes warm in the office is getting harder and harder. I did some hunting around and found some great products for keeping us warm at our desks.

USB Heated Fingerless Gloves

I love this idea! These gloves plug directly into the USB port of your computer, which powers the heating elements. Plus, there’s a mitten part that fits over your fingers to keep them warmer when you aren’t typing. The temperature is adjustable to suit everyone’s needs. I desperately need a pair of these.

Heated Keyboard

That’s right, it’s a heated keyboard. Requires a plug for the heating element, which is under the keys, and has two settings.

USB Heated Slippers

Yes, you can even warm your feet with these gadgets. Just plug into your USB slot to charge the battery, and you can unhook them to walk around. Like the gloves, these slippers have an adjustable temperature range.

USB Heated Shawl and Lap Blanket

And just in case the rest of you is cold, too, you can get the heated shawl powered from your USB port. It always amazes me the things people come up with.

Isn’t technology wonderful?Similar Posts:

Business Card Scanner

Jodith — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:27:24 +0000

So, your boss just came back from his big conference and handed you a double handful of business cards to enter into his contacts. You could spend hours typing them into Outlook, or you could use a business card scanner to enter them.

I investigated a number of business card scanners on Amazon.com, and found a number of good models. I’ll talk about the top three based on customer reviews.

The CardScan Personal v8 Card Scanner

The CardScan v8 got the best recommendations for the price, with a solid 4 stars. While another scanner got a slightly higher rating, it is a much more expensive scanner. In addition to it’s light weight and small size, reviewers liked it’s speed and many especially liked the contact management software that came with it. While the character recognition software isn’t perfect, most reported that they had to make very few corrections to the scanned information. Additionally, the scanner records both sides of the card, in case you made notes on it, and it is compatible with Microsoft Outlook, functionality that is not available with all card scanners.

Overall rever: The CardScanner v8 is fast, reliable, portable, and above all, reasonably priced.

CardScan Executive v8 Compact Business Card Scanner

Another choice is also a CardScan model. The Executive v8 rated slightly more than 4 stars, however it did have about half as many reviews. Most reviewers liked the quality of the scans and said the OCR software worked extremely well. They all liked the user interface, and the interactivity with Outlook got high marks. The downside of this scanner? The price. It’s almost twice as expensive as the CardScan v8.

Neat Business Cards Mobile Full Color Card Reader/Scanner

At the other end of the spectrum is the NeatReceipt Neat Business Card Scanner. This scanner was rated at 3.5 stars, mostly due to problems with compatibility with Windows Vista and XP SP3. Read the reviews and technical information carefully before you buy it.

While it seems to have more problems reading the text, the OCR still seems to be fairly accurate, and most reviewers claim the Outlook interface is superior to that of the CardScanner software. The best news on the Neat Card Reader? The price. It’s significantly cheaper than the CardScanner v8 and vastly less expensive than the Executive v8.

Whether you go for the very high end or the lower cost scanner, a business card reader can be an indispensible asset when supporting any executive.Similar Posts:

Gadget Love: Keyboard Organizer

Jodith — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:40:57 +0000

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I love, love, love gadgets. I can’t help it. It’s the geek in me coming out.

Today, Brian over at TheJobBored introduced this great new desk accessory. It’s a keyboard…It’s a desk organizer…It’s a KEYBOARD DESK ORGANIZER!

I think I’m seriously in love. If they make one in an ergonomic keyboard format, I will be buying one immediately.

With the advent of computers and retractable keyboard trays, we’ve lost that really nifty center drawer where we all kept our pens, paper clips and other accoutrements of our trade. This keyboard would help solve that problem. We’d have our center desk drawer back! What administrative assistant doesn’t dream of that?

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