Administrative Assistant's Update

7 Administrative Assistant's UPDATE Tilting the office treadmill in your favour McGill researcher, a former runner, studies sources of pain Every day, while we're sitting – in some cases standing or even walk- ing on a treadmill – in front of our office computers, researchers are looking for ways to help us stay (or become) fit and healthy in a work environment that has been charac- teristically sedentary. For example, in the August issue of Administrative Assistant's Up- date, we called readers' attention to eOfficeErgo: Ergonomics e-Learning for Office Workers, a downloadable training course recently devel- oped by the Institute for Work and Health. The course was designed to help participants learn more about ergonomics and develop skills to survive prolonged periods of sitting at a computer. Field trials indicated that comple- tion of the course did indeed lead to improved practices and postures, and that the training was even more effective when followed up by in- person reinforcement activities. Another example of current research is a study at McGill Uni- versity that seeks to discover what happens to upper-body muscles during "walk-and-work," when workers walk on a treadmill while working at their computers. It seems generally agreed that tread- mill exercise burns calories and can contribute to weight loss. Also, the treadmill contributes to enhanced blood circulation, although it is not known the extent to which the up- per limbs benefit. At the same time, the walking can cause injury. The McGill study, led by Julie Côté, kinesiology researcher and associate professor in the Depart- ment of Kinesiology and Physical Education, uses muscle-activity sensors to measure the effect of walk-and-work on neck, shoulder, hip and lower back muscles. It is also studying symptoms such as pain. "We found that there seemed to be some beneficial effect in avoid- ing the same [rigid] activation" in the upper body muscles, she says, and that the walking helped those muscles work more effectively because of the varied activity. Thus, while "the jury is still out" on her team's long-term walk-and- work investigation, she says, there is no doubt that office workers need to develop strategies for making minor changes of position every few minutes. A former middle-distance run - ner, Côté went to the World Uni- versity Games in Japan as part of the Canadian National University team. "Whether you're a computer worker or a middle-distance run- ner," she says, "injuries happen when you tense a particular muscle or group of muscles for too long, and the blood can`t flow into the region as it should and regenerate the muscles. Bodies are made to move." your moment. Ask for time alone with the person. No public humiliation. What you need to say is between the two of you. There is great power in speaking to the elephants in the room by asking the questions, "Can we talk?" or "I can see something is bothering you. What can I do to help?" 3. Stay calm, clear and direct. Be specific and factual in your examples. Say "It made me feel X when Y happened yesterday and Z happened last week." 4. Allow the other person to save face. Say, "I know that you might not know how this impacted me so I felt it was important for me to tell you." Speak only for yourself and not for others. 5. Prepare something in writing to clarify what you are saying. Putting these ideas on paper communicates the seriousness of the issues. 6. Stop talking. Once you speak your mind, be quiet and wait. Tolerate the awkward silence until the response comes. Even if the person does not come around all the way, your relationship is forever changed. You are now known as a person who will not stay quiet when there is a problem and that is a very good thing. Awesome things happen when you find your voice to speak up about the things that matter. Most of all, you matter. I am rooting you on. Bonnie Low-Kramen, who was a personal assistant for 25 years to Oscar winner Olympia Dukakis, is the author of Be the Ultimate Assistant. A co-founder of New York Celebrity Assistants (NYCA), she offers training workshops in Canada and the United States, with one scheduled in Toronto on October 3-4 (see Calendar, page 8). She can be reached at http://www. bonnielowkramen.com. Continued from page 6

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