Administrative Assistant's Update

NOVEMBER 2013 Taking a negative to a positive Joyce Grant When someone at work comes up with a new idea, is your first thought, "How can we fine-tune her idea to make it happen?" or "It's so obvious why that won't work"? It's kind of a glass-half-full scenario. Do you hear about a new way of doing something and want to pick it apart or support it? Or, do you just want to hear more about it before you make up your mind? At a recent admin conference, a keynote speaker talked about what often happens in meetings. One person will bring up a prob- Administrative Assistant's UPDATE Administrative Assistant's Update is published once a month by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. EDITORIAL OFFICE v joycegrant@sympatico.ca S (416) 656-7796 U Joyce Grant, Editor Administrative Assistant's Update Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. 1 Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Road Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 CUSTOMER SERVICE S (416) 609-3800 (800) 387-5164 T FAX (416) 298-5082 (877) 750-9041 v carswell.customerrelations@ thomsonreuters.com Contents copyright. All rights reserved. © 2013 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. Contents may not be reproduced without written permission. Brief extracts may be made with due acknowledgement. Annual subscription: $189. Publications Mail Registration No. 40065782 GST# 897176350 2 lem that needs to be solved by the group. Solutions will be suggested and almost immediately people in the group start coming up with reasons why none of the suggested solutions will work. Have you ever been in meetings like that? Free coffee, free publicity Imagine if someone said this during an admin meeting: "The new coffee shop across the road wants to give out free coffee in our lobby. They're also going to give coupons to any of our employees who give them their email address." What would your first thought be? Would you put up your hand and say, "They're just trying to get free publicity. They're using us." Or, "The lobby? We can't clog up the lobby! The fire marshall would never let us use the lobby for that." Or, "Our employees aren't allowed to give out their email addresses—that contravenes our policies." In many organizations, new ideas are shot down before they even have a chance to blossom. Certainly, most new ideas don't come out fully formed; they tend to be rough around the edges. But the great thing about admins is that they can usually put their heads together to come up with a way to make things happen. Even if your first thought about a new idea is why it won't work, try to put that worry on a back-burner. Instead, turn your thoughts to the positive: "Free coffee for our employees? They would love that." Fortunately, positivity is contagious. It's a bandwagon that can be easy to jump on. "If we can't use the lobby, what about the courtyard? Or the big conference room just off the lobby? We could book it for an hour or two before and after work." Before you know it, everyone's looking for ways to make the good idea happen. Photo: shu tterstock.com /magicoven FR OM TH E E D I TOR How to turn the tide If you're looking for a way to make a negative meeting into a more positive forum for ideasharing, try joking that, "Hey, this is a project that would look good on our resumes." People in the group may laugh at first, but your point will stick with them. Expand on the idea Another way to get a negative crowd to change is to suggest an idea that is beyond the original suggestion. Let it be shot down, and pretty soon the group will be "settling" on the original idea. "Hey, I wonder if we could get them to offer a whole range of specialty coffees. I'd love a free moccachino." "Moccachinos? Those things are six bucks. There's no way they could do that. Let's just stick with normal coffee. It's free—that's good enough."

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