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Executive Assistants - When All Else Fails, Laugh

Posted by: Joan Burge on 5/5/2009

Last week was a trying week for all of us at Office Dynamics. I swear the computer gremlins were at work on all of our computers. It started on a Tuesday and continued for 4 days. One major event was our office Internet was down. Now you have to keep in mind, that we are a small business so we don’t have some big IT department we can pick up the phone and get immediate help from. I won’t go into the entire story but needless to say, it made for a crazy week.

On top of that, we had administrative assistants in town attending my World Class Assistant Part 1 class for 3 days. Several other little crazy/bizarre things were happening the entire week.

What we learned was we don’t always have control over situations. No matter how hard we tried to “fix it” or get others to help solve the problem, it was going at its own pace. Thank goodness Jasmine Freeman, Chief Executive Assistant, has a great attitude and knows how to go with the flow. She just worked around the situation and found creative ways to get her job done. We all had to adapt and smile.

I hope you can find more times to laugh or smile when things aren’t going the way you need them to or had hoped.

What are some of the techniques you use when you have to swim upstream?

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5 Comments

    • May 05 2009, 11:56 AM Tori
    • Pray. Take small breaks to read something motivational. Go for a coffee break and choose one of my 50,000 flavored coffee creamers which is fun and relaxes me. Make jokes to my next door cubicle neighbor. Exchange humorous sarcastic comments to my next door cubicle neighbor. Yell, "ARRRGGGHHHH" when my boss isn't around and throw my hands out with fingers grossly extended. Act crazy with a few co-workers and say, "My mind is going mush and has reached its capacity limit." Laugh hysterically, in a low level quiet fashion. Pace myself. Become a carb and just roll with it. HA! Get it?! ROOOOLLL with it...I crack me up....lunch time.

    • May 05 2009, 12:51 PM Admins Rock
    • Sometimes when things don't go just the way you want, I find myself trying to find a new (smaller scale) project. It feels like I'm starting with a clean slate when I work on something new. Believe it or not I get energized and then go back to those not so "easy to tackle" items and I find that my mind is in a much more positive state. Before I know it - the difficult task is complete.

    • May 05 2009, 2:28 PM SonnyCrockett
    • I have a co-worker - he is known as "Dr. Doom" - sour, down mood, always looks on the 'dark side' 'every problem is a major disaster',...however, his attitude isn't my attitude. I am upbeat, smile, remain gracious (but not a door mat). I won't let him bring me down anymore. I am responsible for my attitude & I choose to be happy.

    • May 13 2009, 11:17 AM geri marquardt
    • I take a deep breath and thank God for all things!! If it is something that I can walk away from for awhile, I do. I take on another task that I know I will be successful at--take that confidence and peace of mind--and go back to conquer the challenge.

    • May 18 2009, 1:12 PM Jessica
    • It has taken me a long time of practicing to get here, but what I try to do now is to take a deep breath, and remind myself that getting frustrated will not help the situation. I tell myself to remain calm and find a way to work through the situation and soon it will be over.

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