Joan Burge's Administrative Blog

If you aren’t already implementing daily huddles with your executive I suggest you start now. Are you curious about what to talk about with your executive? Here are some ideas:

With the onset of Administrative Professionals Week one week away, I have been working with a few premiere contacts in planning special events in honor of this special celebration. Also, due to some new clients enlisting our services for on-site training, I have been fortunate to work with some very savvy administrative assistants who are taking the lead on the project. Regardless of the situation, each of these project leads have to work with a team who take on various aspects of the projects.

Jasmine and I have been working as a team for 3 1/2 years, but I can honestly say, we are way beyond a team. Jasmine and I are strategic business partners, sounding boards for each other, support systems, friends, bounce-ideas-off-each-other buddies, and much more. We can challenge each other and grow with each other. That is the way it should be--executives and assistants should make each other better and it goes both ways.

"I would be interested in hearing from other executive assistants with ways they “provide excellent service.” Whether it is communication, new and innovative ideas, or ways to work a program we use daily.”

Okay admins, I know you can help with this. Nancy wrote Jasmine a long e-mail for me to answer about how to handle office birthdays. It appears they have already covered the gamut of what to do, but still can't please everyone. Here are some of the things they have done in the past.

Red, green, yellow or blue - which are you? It’s just plain fun to learn about communication styles. But more important than that is you can really have an impact on others when you understand various styles.

This article posted today at AdminAdvisor.com today and we just had to share it with all of you!

As I’m sitting on a flight from Louisville to Houston, I am reflecting on the number of admins who have commented on our Blog since April 1, visited our web site since 1990, and are a part of the Office Dynamics’ family of admins worldwide and I ask myself – “Where is everybody else?”

Believe it or not, managers needs to be trained and coached on how to work effectively with administrative professionals. Since I started Office Dynamics in 1990 and have worked very closely with executives and managers in small settings and one-on-ones, I know for a fact that many of them just have never been enlightened on how to partner with their administrative professional and maximize their time and talents. I have been able to make a small dent over the years and see the benefits a team can derive.

I am excited to say that there is a company called Ragan Communications who also sees great value in bridging executives and assistants and creating a united front. Ragan has been around for a very long time. I have been fortunate the past few months to partner with them in many ways and now we are going to start the groundwork by presenting our first webinar for managers and executives (through Ragan.com). I'd like to encourage you to share this news with as many managers as you can. The hard part will be "selling" them on why they need this. I already heard one assistant tell me, "My manager said he doesn't need this kind of training." Every single manager needs this. No matter how good they work with their admin, there is always room for improvement. And the majority of managers don't know this. This is a great opportunity to use your persuasion skills! Here are the details:

Without a doubt, I’ve never heard anyone say they receive way too much appreciation! On the contrary, employees usually complain about NOT receiving the recognition they think they deserve. There are several reasons why people are hesitant to compliment someone on a job well done. Instead of focusing on this, however, let’s take a look at why people compliment those around them.