Assistant’s Path In Russia: A Guide For The Profession. A book for and about Personal Assistants. Christina A. Maslova
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Название: Assistant’s Path In Russia: A Guide For The Profession. A book for and about Personal Assistants
Автор: Christina A. Maslova
Издательство: Издательские решения
isbn: 9785006257474
isbn:
ACUMEN
If you know that your manager is going to have a meeting in the office, think ahead – what might be needed for it? Will they need lunch and you should order food? Think for 2—3 steps.
Make plans in advance, so that you will not have to urgently order pizza, print out 10 copies of documents, and be sure at the same time that the office will not run out of tea or sugar, or the printer will be broken.
Use every opportunity to make your life easier.
In most cases your boss will forget to ask you to book table in the restaurant or set up the projector in conference room.
There is nothing worse than having to call your IT guys when partners or clients are already in the meeting room. At this late stage, your boss may think that they cannot rely on you.
Plus, you yourself will get annoyed to running around «in a lather» just because you didn’t think in advance.
Learn to do everything perfectly straight away and show your business acumen – it will save you from many problems.
STRESS RESISTANCE
Don’t panic! You cannot be protected from all problems and stressful situations will always be part of your daily work.
It’s important to react properly. My first advice would be: even though everybody is in a panic and don’t know what to do, keep a cool head.
If you cannot do this – my second advice is to breathe. Give yourself one minute to think about the problem. This will not add or take anything, but you will have chance to think about the sudden question or problem.
Also, always remember that you’re the face and voice of your manager: and it’s not the right thing to do, to run across the office shouting «Boss, everything is lost!».
You cannot afford to do this. Everybody around may be at the point of killing them-selves, but you must keep calm, even if every step you have taken has failed. It’s not the end of the world, is it?
In case it is, you will still not be able to change anything.
Seriously, if you are able to stop for a moment and think even in a stressful situation and stay calm, it will save your nerves and composure.
COMMUNICATION
A good assistant is a good communicator. The person with perfect communicational skills and ability to talk to people properly in any circumstances, regardless who stands before them – whether colleague, client, partner or guest.
Many assistants when their boss is out taking the role of deputy to answer some questions, or to write mail on their behalf. Also, some assistants are the bridge between their manager and colleagues, and proper communication is vital here.
On one occasion before a business trip, my boss needed to review the files which were to be presented. The preparation of these was the responsibility of our partners. They were late in delivering the work and promised to send the final version straight to us before the meeting, and told us that changes were small.
That wasn’t good enough, and I was forced to write an email to one of the partners with a request to send everything before the meeting. From one side I couldn’t push them, but on the other I needed the result.
The way an assistant walks during communication with people can be on a tightrope stretched on the height of several meters, and the only way to find balance is the ability to communicate properly.
Always think before you talk or write.
Take an example from politicians. They ALWAYS think about what they say.
In this case the article of Sharon Salzberg «Why is every important mail better to send to yourself first?» is very useful, to prevent a situation where you can regret having sent it. Sharon advises to wait several minutes and re-read the written text.
Of course, it’s not so easy. The research shows that self-control is not the skill which everyone of us has. If you want to be sure that you really need to send the message and it’s important one, send it to yourself first.
And then think – is it really what you want to send? It’s like answering the phone call, not straight away, but on the third ring.
Sharon wrote: «Even Gmail can send your message in seconds, in real life you have very less unsent buttons».
RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE
The only person worse than the assistant who doesn’t want to learn, is the doctor who doesn’t increase their qualifications.
You should be aware about everything in the company – from the terminology to its development strategy.
The assistant’s responsibilities written in a job description always include some out of ordinary ones.
Your position and efficiency in your job will depend on your understanding and knowledge of company’s processes.
This will help you to earn trust with your colleagues and the opportunity to lead additional projects, increasing your value as an employee.
Finally, it’s your reputation as a professional, who never
stops on the level already achieved.
I always say that the first 2—3 months should be the most intensive ones when you join a new company, because this is the time for you to find out the most.
You should read and communicate a lot. Ask a lot of questions despite how obvious they can be. It’s your way of adapting to the role.
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