Administrative Assistant's Update - sample

AUGUST 2016 P R O F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T F O R C A N A D A ' S O F F I C E S U P P O R T S T A F F Administrative Assistant's UPDATE UPDATE PM #40065782 INSIDE Automate the admin? � � � � � � 2 Office support positions seen as high risk in next 10-20 years Minute-taking tips � � � � � � � � � 3 It's not a narrative; it's a record of decisions made Managing multiple bosses � � 6 The onus is on the admin to size up the situation and manage risks LinkedIn management � � � � � 7 Managing boss's profile is simple, but demands regular attention By Jennifer Lewington At the University of Calgary – like any large organization with thousands of employees – senior leaders are spread out across the enterprise. That can leave admins isolated, working alone in support of their boss and physically disconnected from their peers. As a result, they are less able to contribute to the overall success of the enterprise. In some organizations, mentoring is a tool to promote knowledge-sharing and break down institutional silos. Three years ago, when Courtney McVie took over as executive director to the provost at the University of Calgary, she saw an opportunity to foster collaboration among the sup - port staff for six deans who report to the provost. Across the university, faculty deans run their own offices separately, ac- cording to their needs, but report to the provost on policies and other issues that affect the entire campus. "We have all these people who are the right-hand men and women to the deans that we could bring together," says McVie. Initially as a pilot, she invited the deans' admins to meet informally to build relationships. Now, every two months or so (less frequently in sum- mer), admins meet with each other for an hour or so when their own bosses are busy elsewhere, often with the pro- vost. That timing makes it easier for the admins to get out of the office without feeling under pressure to be on-call for the boss. The get-togethers can be informal social events, such as lunch, or profes- sional development opportunities for admins to learn new skills like how to use Skype for business and send- ing messages. A particularly stressful time for admins is the renewal of a dean's term, usually during year four of a five-year appointment, with heavy demand for documents and other material required to assess the dean's performance. At the meeting of admins, those un- familiar with the dean review process The merits of 'early to bed, early to rise' Sleep researchers confirm what Benjamin Franklin knew two centuries ago: "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." Fast Company author Jill Duffy, citing a sleep deprivation study in the journal Sleep, reports participants permitted eight hours of sleep showed superior cognitive performance to those who slept for only four hours. Those restricted to six hours of sleep flagged in the final days of the experiment, unaware they were performing as poorly as those who had gone without sleep for two days. Source: Fast Company Mentoring, collaboration build admin muscle Credit: america365 (Shutterstock) Continued on page 4 Courtney McVie

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