Ch-ch-ch-changes

The organization I work for has been stable for several years.  What I mean by stable is major initiatives started and completed and no major change in leadership.

All this lulled me into a false sense of security.  Yes, I know that I've broken the cardinal rule of employment.  I had grown comfortable in the status quo.

Not to fear, the familiar feeling of being unbalanced and striving to keep all things in sync has once more begun to consume my life.

I am unamused with the person who cursed me with "May you live in interesting times."  When I find them?  I'll never tell.

Annual Increases

It's Annual Increase time and time to see what your worth in your company's eyes. If you don't have a proper perspective, your own personal worth can hinge on this number.

Here are the hard lessons learned in this Admin's illustrious career:

1. The company will always pay the shareholders first.
2. If the manager think you won't fight about a minimal increase, that's what you'll get.
3. A minimal increase is not a reflection of your worth, rather a reflection of poor management decisions.
4. No matter how poor the economy is, there are jobs out there that will pay you what you are worth.
5. Networking is always a must.  Your next job will depend on it.

My current salary may not reflect my worth, but my next job definitely will. 

The End is Near!

Year end reports, deadlines for the year's expenses, accruals and more!

December isn't just about that giant, jolly red elf and using vacation time.  Absolutely not!  No, its about getting ready for the next year by making sure the previous year's 'i''s and 't''s are dotted and crossed.

An Admin is aware of all the deadlines.  We put reminders on calendars, we send emails, we use sticky notes and smoke signals.  Sometimes we even stand on our heads in order to get people to do their part in the year end preparation.

As our colleagues act surprised by the pile of year-end to do's that end up on their desk, the Admin will calmly smile through the tempest in a teapot.

Managing Expectations

A good Admin will always ask for a deadline for when a task or project is due.  That way we can prioritize what we have on our plates.

Sometimes, one person's deadline must fall secondary to another high priority deadline due to management seniority or urgency of the project.

Woe be unto the person who submits a project and says, "I know you'll have this done in 5 mins, so I'm just going to send out an email saying its done!" As they scuttle out the door.

Just because you say it will be done and run, doesn't mean it will happen.  Sending out a preemptive email only makes YOU look unaware.

We Admins will manage our work loads. Thank you very much!

A Jury of My Peers

A good friend of the Admin Gal recently pointed out  her frustration of meetings that run over their allotted time.  Admin Gal realizes this is a common theme in this blog.  But with so much material and so many people to help, how can this topic not be revisited regularly?

Meetings are an opportunity for people to come together for a common purpose to come to a decision. Or realize that they won’t come to a mutual desired outcome.  Normally, attendees come prepared ready to make the needed decision or touch base on the current milestone.  All of this can be done with in the allotted meeting time.

Here is when things can go terribly, terribly wrong.  Sometimes, when an attendee feels slighted, for what ever reason, they decide to hold the meeting hostage.  If you will, a meeting filibuster.  Not letting anyone get a word in until they’ve made their pointless point.

5, 10, 30 minutes later.  Everyone’s schedules are in disarray,  other meetings have been held up because of this person’s axe to grind. AND no decision has been reached.

This is where you wonder if a jury of your peers would truly understand if you went postal?

A Word to the Wise

Dear Sales Person, Employee, and/or Person in General,

Administrative Assistants around the world are not creatures who sit around doing nothing.  We are productive members of any business environment.  We contribute to ongoing projects, we maintain office order, calendar cohesion, document management, personnel moral, in addition to a myriad of other tasks and projects that are assigned to our functions.

Copying our supervisors on an email about a task that is not priority will not miraculously cause it to surface to the top of the list.  Flagging any correspondence with ‘HIGH PRIORITY’ only indicates your own sense of inflated ego.

To the sales people in specific, if an admin tells you their boss will not be meeting with you now or in the future – that is the truth.  Sending the boss an email with available dates and times and copying the admin is the epitome of classlessness.  Be prepared to be shut down.

We work with our bosses to prioritize our projects and tasks to benefit them, not for someone who is not in our organizational structure.  While the persistence and ingenuity can be admired, the audacity can only be considered appalling.

A word to the wise, flagging, prioritizing, or copying our supervisors/bosses with your projects and tasks only makes us annoyed.

Sincerely,

The Admins

Time's Up!

As an admin, there are many things I tolerate in the commission of my duties.  Cluelessness, Obliviots, etc.  Normally I can manage around all of this, but there are a couple of things that tend to send me over the edge.  One of those things is meeting management.
The reality is when facility resources are limited keeping meetings on time it ABSOLUTELY essential.
The situation that I find myself in is difficult. I don't like being a bad gal.  But I can be a spectacular Bad Gal if the situation calls for it.  Sometimes I need to knock on doors and remind people that they are running over and delaying other meetings.  I give them a  2 minute high sign.  If they can't wrap things up in that time, they will then need to adjourn and table the discussion for another time.
When the meeting run past the allotted 2 minute mark, well then I get mean.  I'll leave the rest to your imagination.
Here are a few helpful hints when running a meeting:

1. Be aware of your subject matter - Are you scheduling enough time? Do you have an agenda to keep everyone on task?
2. Know your people - Are they talkers?  Do you need to account extra time to accommodate?
3. Is the conference room you've scheduled booked immediately after?  - Be courteous to the next group.  They are on equally tight schedules.

If you can at least follow these few strategies when planning your meetings, you will have successful meetings.
More importantly, you won't have me knocking on your door saying 'Time's up!'

Calendaring Conundrums

A certain madness is evident when maintaining a calendar for an executive.  When that duty mushrooms into multiple dynamic calendars, well, insanity is the next level of mental acuity.

I only state this obvious, need for a flexible state of mind because of the host of reschedules that happen on any of the given calendars we manage.  If we the admin lose track of the delicate thread that binds all the calendars together, it is even easier for those whose calendars we manage to become unraveled.

For example, I moved a meeting that affected the leadership team.  This meeting was not of pressing urgency as it was a month out on the schedules.  Every last one of the leadership team called me to verify that the meeting would indeed not be taking place tomorrow.

Honestly, the reschedule date is in the subject line. Sigh.

Consultant vs. Vendor

There are many types of relationships in the business world.  Some more permanent than others.  Over the years, I have found the relationships that I develop with my preferred vendors have seen me through thick and thin.

Unfortunately, those relationships can be threatened by the introduction of a new player in town.  The Consultant.

Consultants are people that are paid by the company to tell us how to do things.  Yes, that’s right, we pay them to tell us what to do.  That means the consultant generally comes already equipped with a healthy ego and a sense of entitlement.

They invade the work place like ants at a picnic.  Sticking their noses everywhere, playing merry-hob with calendars and demanding resources like they were executives.

Here is a warning to my fly-by-night consultants. MESS NOT WITH MY VENDOR RELATIONSHIP, LEST YE FEEL THE WRATH OF THE ASSISTANT!


You, the consultant, are here for only a short time.  Your demands are petty and short-lived.  I have to live with the mess you leave behind.

I know where your monies are sent.  I know the admins at your headquarters. I am not afraid to make your collective lives miserable!

Experiments in Software

Like all companies, in these hard economic times, mine is on the look out for the best deal on anything.  Recently we started taking a hard look at our email delivery system.  We currently use a system that is so half-a#$$ed backwards that no reputable hacker would want to be known for hacking it.  I break the email system on a regular basis. I'm not doing anything special.  Just using it.  But then I am an Admin...
I'm on a first name basis with the third-tier tech support for this software.  In fact, when my name comes up I'm pretty sure the conversation goes like this:

Expert #1: OH NO! It's HER!  I'm not picking up the phone!

Expert #2: I took her call last time. It's YOUR turn!

(Picture me on hold, tapping my fingers on my desk!)

The argument continues, fisticuffs erupt. 

FINALLY! Someone picks up the line.

Expert #3:  (who had to break up the fight, answers breathlessly) Hello XXXX, how can we help you today?

But I digress.  We are currently in the beginning of a email pilot.  I and an intrepid group of Executive Admins have been carefully selected to push this system to its limits and beyond.  I've spent the last week in training.  I'm bleeding Blue, Red, Orange, Blue, Green, and Red.
The pilot hasn't even started AND, I've already broken the calendar.  The next thirty days are going to be fun!

Jenga!

Sometimes I liken my job to a fast paced game of Jenga. You know that game that starts out with a tower of wooden blocks, each player strategically removes one, then places it on the top of the tower.  The object of the game is to not let the tower collapse on your turn.

The tower wobbles as you gently pull the block out of the position you have chosen.  If you' re lucky, it is an easy block.  But if your opponents have played the game well, all you have left are blocks that are critical to the the structure of the tower.  Anything you remove with bring the tower crashing down.

The thing is that the inevitable outcome of the game is the collapse of the tower.  And so it is with my job.
So many of my responsibilities and duties often rest on one block, one person.  When that block is removed, everything can come crashing down around my ears.  Does this mean that I've done nothing to shore things up?  Or make contingency plans?  Of course not, I've been planning for these moments so the impact is not as significant.

It always stings when the blocks come tumbling down around my ears.  In the end, I always build a better structure

Calendaring

Calendar: A list or schedule of planned events or activities giving dates and details.

An Administrative Professional: Person who creates and maintains said calendar in a timely and efficient manner.

Executives:  The Spanner in the Works!