Administrative Assistant's Update

Administrative Assistant's UPDATE Manners still matter Politeness isn't just socially acceptable — it's good business By Helen Latimer Recently I was re-reading a book about manners in the workplace and it reminded me of the power of those of us in administration to make or, let's be truthful, break, a company's reputation. We all know by now that customers are to be treated with professional courtesy. This doesn't mean giving in to every demand or allowing customers to mistreat or abuse us. It does mean maintaining warm and professional relationships, honouring our commitments and ensuring Productivity myths According to lifehacker.com, some common productivity myths. Myth: If you had more time you'd get more done In fact, working longer hours and pulling all-nighters generally results in lower productivity and an unhappier lifestyle. With more time, you may actually get less done. Instead, take breaks that allow you to regroup and recharge. Myth: Multi-tasking is necessary Multi-tasking actually slows you down because you tend to make more errors. It stresses you out and you end up doing more work. Instead of multi-tasking, be flexible and adaptable. Concentrate on doing one thing at a time, but be able to move to another task when it's necessary. Myth: Procrastination hurts productivity Studies have shown that being bored can push you into being more social. Also, daydreaming can improve your focus when you eventually get back to work. Downtime is essential. Myth: Organized people are always more productive If you're comfortable in chaos, don't fight it. Studies show that for some people, working in a cluttered office helps them think better, make better decisions and be more creative. Often, a clean and superorganized space is a productivitykiller, where very little work is done for fear of messing things up. Myth: Productivity is about getting boring things done The goal of productivity is actually to free up your time so you can spend more of it doing the things you enjoy doing. Tasks that are boring or unimportant should be either finished off quickly, or delegated to someone else. Spend your time doing what makes you happiest and what you're best at. Read the whole article here: http://bit.ly/11nECXl In the article author Alan Henry includes research for each of the myths, as well as more information about how to handle the situations. problems are resolved promptly and in a way that's fair to everyone. We don't always remember our manners when the customers are internal. I've seen emails between employees that never should have been sent, that if read aloud would be considered aggressive in tone and often, outright rude. As administrators, we're often working as part of a team or teams, creating and receiving tons of communication, written and oral, in any given day. Some people think good manners are old fashioned or take up too much time, or are no longer necessary. They remind me that workplaces are more informal now, not so hierarchical. To that, I say nonsense. A colleague of mine was the assistant to one of the company's senior executives. She felt that part of her role was to protect her boss's time from being wasted and boy, was she a tiger about it. People went out of their way to avoid having to talk to her. So instead of scheduling a face-to-face meeting with the boss (which meant going through Ms Tiger), people waited until he was in the hallway and tried to connect with him on the fly. Inefficient and annoying for all concerned. Instead of being polite when people requested time with the boss, my colleague would sigh and ask all sorts of questions so she could evaluate whether your request merited, in her opinion, a meeting. Her tone radiated impatience. Continued on page 4 3

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