Good Administrative Professional or Great Administrative Professional -- Which are you?

Would you describe yourself as a good administrative assistant or executive assistant or as a great one? Give it some thought. Here are a few of my thoughts excerpted from my recent 30-page special report titled Going From Good to Great as an Administrative Professional:

Minute Taking Tips for Administrative Assistants and Executive Assistants

Not too long ago a customer bought The Effective Admin (TEA) minute-taking package which includes the 23-page publication from the TEA Tips Series called "The Ultimate Guide for How to Take Minutes and Notes at Meetings (for Administrative Professionals or Anyone Taking Minutes at Meetings)."

It's at this URL:

http://www.admin-ezine.com/meeting-minutes.htm

Not long afterward, the buyer sent me this unsolicited feedback: "I am so thankful that I purchased your online product; instead of going to a seminar. I am quite satisfied with the purchase, needless to say, no longer afraid to take minutes at a meeting!"

Although other administrative professionals have praised the minute-taking guide and found it useful, I never get tired of hearing such feedback because it lets me know I'm on the right track with giving admin pros like you practical tips and advice you can use.

If like the writer above, you find yourself in need of a little courage when it comes to taking minutes, you may find my minute-taking guide helpful too. While it doesn't cover every minute-taking style or situation around, it covers enough to get you started confidently taking minutes (or taking better minutes if you already take some) in a typical office setting.

It's too easy to go into a meeting and start writing everything you hear without being selective when you don't understand what minutes really are. In this publication, I remind readers that,

Why Administrative Professionals Participate in Professional Development and Training

Why do administrative assistants and executive assistants (and all administrative professionals of any job title) participate in professional development and training? These reasons may apply to you if you're an administrative professional reading this...

Some reasons may include:

• to refresh hard and soft skills

• to maintain existing skills

• to learn new skills

• to learn in-house specialized skills (e.g. computer programs customized to their company)

• to learn if they're up to date with admin industry standards (especially "lone" assistants)

• to learn best practices in the administrative professional field

• to become more efficient and make their bosses more effective through their support

• to get new ideas they can use in their workplace or for carrying out their job duties, projects and tasks.

• to stay inspired and energized on the job and in their careers

• to prepare themselves for new responsibility

• to prepare for career growth

• to get annual required CEU's to keep certifications

You may know of more reasons not on that list.

This list was excerpted from The Effective Admin special report called Administrative Professionals Investing in Professional Development and Training. There are at least five ways you can use the information in this report. Use it to...

1. ...understand what is professional development and training.

2. ...gain insight into what other administrative professionals think and do in regard to professional development and training.

3. ...understand what drives employers to support professional development and training.

4. ...help you plan and choose your professional development and training endeavors.

5. ...assist you with proposals to your employer for requests to fund your professional development and training resources.

Get your copy of this 54-page report at http://www.admin-ezine.com/descriptions-in-depth-special-reports.htm

Administrative Assistant Goals, Executive Assistant Goals

I often get consulted about setting administrative assistant goals and executive assistant goals. Here's a little blurb on the topic I posted elsewhere that I want to include for my Blog readers too:

Here are two guidelines to keep in mind when creating goals: 1) "Goals" and "vision" are not the same thing; 2) you "achieve" goals, you don't "do" them. So don't confuse goals with tasks or your to-do list (or confuse the vision you're trying to reach with your goals to reach it).

Also, the goals of an administrative assistant or executive assistant will vary per individual. Every administrative professional is a different person doing a different job in a different company. There is no "one size fits all" admins in regard to any type of goals.

See a description of The Effective Admin goal setting guide for administrative assistants and executives assistants here:  www.admin-ezine.com/administrative-assistant-goals.htm.

Administrative and Executive Assistants: Do You Want to Survive Or Thrive; It's Your Choice

Are you coasting along in your administrative assistant or executive assistant job, learning as you go? With the new year coming, perhaps it's the perfect time to light a fire under yourself. Perhaps it's the right time to get proactive and purposefully engage, or re-engage if you've gotten slack, with professional development and continuous learning opportunities. Get the edge in your administrative professional field. Stay abreast of what's going on with it.

No doubt, you learn day-to-day on the job. For many administrative professionals, that translates into this kind of talk: "I don't need to get a degree. I don't need to take any courses. I don't need to read any self-study material. I don't need to attend another seminar. I don't need to ...." You get the idea. It's the party of, "I don't need to do that because...."

Administrative Professionals: Learn it Before You Need to

Administrative assistants and executive assistants, take heed: Being "adaptable on the job" and "learning as you go on the job" are not the same thing. The first phrase describes a desirable attribute, especially per employers' criteria. That phrase is about adjusting to the conditions you find yourself in.

However, the second phrase is not necessarily a desirable attribute, particularly if you want to be a "top-notch" administrative professional. Read onward to see what I mean...

You Never Know it All, Administrative Assistants and Executive Assistants

A COMMON MISTAKE
What's a common mistake that some administrative assistants and executive assistants make in assessing their professional development, educational and training needs?

It's using "years of service" as a criteria to determine your executive assistant and administrative assistant training and development needs, especially when you have many, many years of service.

That's a mistake.

Even "bragging" about years of service can sometimes be a mistake (read onward for why).

Administrative Assistant Skills, Executive Assistant Skills

What administrative assistant skills and executive assistant skills are in demand by today's employers?

I get asked variations on that question regularly. Like you, I only know what's needed or preferred by employers by doing some research. Here are some tips for you to research what administrative assistant and executive assistant skills, attributes and knowledge are in demand now from employers. I'm also going to weigh in with some lists of what I see at a quick glance.

Administrative Assistant Training Decisions

If you're seeking administrative assistant training or executive assistant training and professional development on a budget (and who isn't on a budget these days), it can be tough to decide just where to invest your dollars. Even if it's not your personal funds but rather your company's dollars allotted for your training and development, you still have tough choices to make.

Perhaps you want to create a professional development and training plan for you, or for your administrative assistant and executive assistant team. But you want to make smart choices when choosing from the many advertised administrative assistant training and professional development options. How do you do that? Where do you start? And why is this such a tough decision? The choices are tough because...

Four Things to do While You're Still Employed

Here are four things to do now while you're still employed that will benefit you if you ever get laid off or lose your job for whatever reason. You should do these things now while you're comfortably employed with no expectation of ever being let go or job searching. This is a checklist for the currently employed administrative assistant or executive assistant (though the unemployed may find some useful tips in the details below too).