According to a recent survey, conducted by professor Felice Batlan, of 142  legal secretaries not one said they would prefer to work for a female partner. In another study by the American Management Association, of those women surveyed, 95% said they had felt undermined by other women during their career.

Having read the various studies online I thought of two things; do the results show that sexism is still widespread in the workplace or do distinct differences between how men and women manage their assistants actually exist? Let’s face it not every female boss is Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada and not every man is the same as Dolly Parton’s sleazy boss in Nine to Five. These are extreme  and stereotypical examples. Nevertheless, I’ve worked for both men and women and there have been differences in their management style… on reflection, here are a  few of my observations

Female Managers:

• Female managers are more likely to see their assistant as an extension of themselves. This is both in terms of how you present yourself and also the quality of your work.
• Linking in with the first point, in my experience female bosses take your performance at work personally, if you make mistakes it can sometimes be hard for them to let it go.
• All of the women I’ve assisted have worked incredibly hard to climb the corporate ladder which is inspiring and very motivational. BUT don’t expect women to always champion other women especially if it is a predominately male culture with few senior roles available to female executives.
• However, on the whole my female managers have been a lot more interested in my career, job performance and general well being. They are aware that if you have a bad day at work there may be underlying problems at home and will ask you rather than ignore it!
• All of my female bosses have been great at delegating jobs and responsibilities to me. I’ve found they like to have an assistant and have used my skills effectively.
• I have never been asked by another women to make her a cup of tea!  

Male Managers:

• I’ve had some very supportive managers that are men and do want to know about your personal life but probably not too much detail!
• Surprisingly men can get quite emotional at work but will channel their frustrations by quite happily shouting and swearing at you and will not think that this might be offensive or rude.
•  In my experience men can be quite unorganised but are less likely to admit needing help on the big issues. Instead they will give you small and sometimes insignificant tasks which makes them feel like they are still delegating work.
• This may be just the industries I’ve worked in but most of my male managers have felt the need to correct my work even if there is nothing wrong with it or is based on a matter of opinion.
• Men are more likely to praise and reward good work and going beyond what is required of you.
• Unfortunately men do tend to be more senior and respected in the work place, which does make it easier for assistants  to do their job

Looking back over the years I’ve enjoyed elements of working with all of my managers so I’m not necessarily sure their differences were gender specific or personality driven. At the moment I assist three men and they couldn’t be more different in their approach. I’d love to know your thoughts on this one… I think when all is said and done it is really the luck of the draw if you get along with your boss!

In my last role I had a mentor at work who helped me enormously. She was a brilliant communicator, knowledgeable about the business and she had worked with my manager for a number of years at a few different organisations. We would meet for an hour each week, usually outside of the office, to discuss a number of topics including my workload,  how I planned to complete my task list, what I could do differently, best practice tips and what was happening in the business.

I would highly recommend having a mentor at work and although you might not have thought about it before the benefits can be considerable, here are a few that I encountered:

• I was learning from someone more experienced than me
•  I got an insider’s view on how to successfully get things done, especially as she had prior knowledge on how to best work with my manager
• I gained a fresh perspective on my work frustrations and how to effectively deal with other members of staff
• I received great advice on my career and the right choices to make in my job
• I had someone in my office who was senior to me but was my ally and supported me through some rough patches
•  My mentor helped me increase my networking opportunities by inviting me to various functions and events
• I worked better and more efficiently with a clearer idea of how to increase my productivity   

As PAs / EAs It can be so easy to get left behind in our careers, particularly as we are not the focus of the business and our managers have other senior members of staff to deal with. However, rather than leaving because we don’t feel there is anything more we can do in the role or we are not progressing, it is worth trying to speak to a mentor and getting some sound advice on what to do to improve our current job. I did and it really helped.   

Once you have selected a potential mentor ask them straight away – trust me they will be flattered! Finally here are a few personality traits to look out for in a good mentor,

•  A good knowledge of the business
• Positive and enthusiastic about your role and the type of work you do
• Decisive and focused on achieving goals
• Successful but have also learnt from their mistakes

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Here’s an excerpt:

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Along with the checklists there are other points you should take into consideration when working with new employees:

• Put yourself in their shoes

When you first started your role how were you introduced into the organisation? Was there anything that could have been improved and if so can you add this to your process for new employees?

• Work with senior management and HR

It is important that you know when recruitment for new jobs are taking place, this includes temporary and contract staff. Senior members of the team may not be aware of how much you have to do before someone joins the company, so share your checklists with them and stress that you need to know as soon as the role has been filled.

• Start early

As soon as you know the new starter has accepted their job you should be working through your induction checklist. Ideally you should have a month to get everything ready, although I do understand this can sometimes be a complete luxury!

• Don’t do everything yourself

I have one checklist for myself to work through before the employee arrives and one for the starter to use during their first two weeks at the company. One of my previous employees also introduced a ‘buddy’ system so that everyone took turns looking after new members of staff.

The induction of employees isn’t the most exciting task we have as support staff but remember that we are the first person the new starter will meet and so we sholud represent the company in a good light. In addition quite often we will be conducting the process for people that are more senior to us and so showing how organised and helpful we are can only reflect well and may lead to other opportunites with them in the future.

Do let me know if you think I’ve missed anything from my checklist and if you include anything else into your inducted processes.

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Preparation Checklist for New Starter

Checklist for New Starter (on arrival)

Assistants are the superheroes of the office, possessing extraordinary superhuman powers, their skills can go unnoticed until there comes a time when they are called upon to help protect their colleagues!

So what type of powers do we possess…?

Flexibility

Bending over backwards to help people is a common trait in an assistant and one of our key skills! The ability to adapt and change our plans is imperative and enables us to deal with the constant interrupts and additional work we receive every day.

Mind Reading

Knowing exactly what the boss is thinking without being told is a great skill acquired by many assistants during their careers. This ability does come with time but it keeps you one step ahead while looking super organised and proactive.

Gadgets

Most superheroes have a gadget or secret weapon and assistants are no exception. From advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office to always being able to fix the photocopier, being able to use all of the office equipment better than most of our colleagues is our secret weapon!

Invisibility

Organising meetings, managing diaries, paying invoices… everything runs smoothly in the office, the stationary cupboard is always stocked, the printer always has paper, board reports and presentation slides appear on the boss’s desk ready for them to take to their meeting. In their mind it just happens, but a good assistant is always busy working invisibly behind the scenes. It must be magic!

Super Human Speed

Yes we can spend 3 hours in the Indian Embassy waiting for your Visa while answering emails, coordinating the office party and finishing that presentation and of course we will pick up your dry cleaning and a coffee on the way back into the office. Assistants are excellent but a little bit of super human speed helps us to get all of our work finished in a 7 hour day!

Our super powers make us unique in business and this is why support staff are so heavily relied upon. Whatever super powers you possess (and I’d love to know what yours are?) remember with great powers there must also come great responsibility so wield your powers wisely!

Happy holidays everyone, thanks to all of you for reading my blog and I look forward to continuing this in 2012! Nicky x

Some directors I’ve worked for have quite often no idea what I do with my day. They know the basics -  that I look after their diaries and schedule meetings for them, they also know that I will complete ad-hoc tasks and projects as and when they ask. But overall they don’t know what I’m doing day-to-day. The main reason for this is because everything runs smoothly in the office, the stationary cupboard is always stocked, the printer always has paper, board reports and presentation slides magically appear on their desk ready for them to take to their meeting. In their mind it just happens, but a good assistant is always busy working behind the scenes.

It is easy to overlook the person in the office that makes everything run smoothly especially if your manager is incredibly busy. But do remember that you are an asset to your company and although you might not be the most senior person in your team they would be lost without you! So you should use your performance review to shout from the roof tops about HOW GREAT YOU ARE!

Here are some tips on how to prepare yourself for a performance review meeting:

• Before you even get to your yearly appraisal make sure you set up regular 121s with your manager. The 121 should be for the sole purpose of discussing you. It can be easy to let your manager use this time to give you work but it is important that you have at least an hour a month to talk about your role. You have control of their diaries so make sure you schedule in time with them and have an agenda with you so you can stick to what you want to discuss.
• Store all of your feedback, good or bad in a file throughout the year. It is easy to forget what you have accomplished. Also make a note of anything that you feel could have gone better. If you have set up regular 121s with your manager none of this will be news to them so use your examples to back up your thoughts on the year. 
• When you are setting up appraisal meetings for your manager and their direct reports make sure you give yourself the same about of time as the others. They may be more senior but you deserve to have equal time with your manager as they do. Don’t squeeze your appraisal meeting into a quick 10 minute chat.
• One of my managers asked their senior team to provide feedback on me prior to the appraisal meeting. This was a great way of hearing from my colleagues but at the same time it didn’t reflect an accurate picture of what I did everyday. The following year I asked other PAs to also provide feedback along with mid-level managers that I dealt with on a more regular basis. This gave a more rounded view.
• Be honest with yourself and your manager. If you are not happy in your job now is the time to discuss any problems you might have. If you have a good manager they will listen and offer a solution that will improve your role, if not then this might give you the final push to look elsewhere.

The performance review process can be quite daunting so being prepared beforehand will help you get the most out of the meeting. Make sure you stick up for yourself, it is too easy as a member of the support team to feel you don’t deserve a good review, promotion or pay rise but without you the senior members of the team wouldn’t be able to sustain their level of activity. Remind your manager how great you are and they would be lost without you!  

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1. Can you tell me a problem you have had to deal with?

You should refer back to your core PA/EA skills for this one. This question is asking you to demonstrate which skills you call on to resolve problems. I always use the following example

“ I held a training seminar and Committee meeting on the day that the second planned terrorist attack occurred in London in 2007. Fortunately the police managed to stop the would be terrorists but it did lead to chaos on the transport network. Many of the delegates were worried about getting home. For everyone that arrived for the seminar I was able to offer them a safe and calm environment. We wheeled TVs into the catering area so on the breaks they could keep up with events and make a judgement call if they needed to leave at any point. We also organised taxis  for people to get across London and offered them free use of our restaurant if they needed to stay longer than planned. Luckily the speaker arrived in time for the event, although a little flustered so we made sure everything was ready as soon as he arrived. The Committee meeting was one step too far and we cancelled that for another day. It was difficult and chaotic but remaining calm, organised and taking control of the situation as a team helped solve the problem which in the end was totally out of our hands.”

2. What have been your most significant achievements?

I like to mix a business and personal achievement together to answer this question. It is a nice question to be asked as you can reveal a bit more about yourself personally.

“I think my biggest achievement to date is completing university. My parent’s couldn’t afford to pay for me so I got a job in a bank and worked 4 days a week to support myself through my studies. It was hard work but I learnt a lot and had a great job on my CV as soon as I finished my degree”.

3. What do you see yourself doing in 5 years?

I’ve always found this question hard to answer in interviews because I’m still not sure what I want to be when I grow up! Some advise a previous manager gave to me was excellent and  I have used this as my answer ever since.

“I see myself working as an Executive Assistant because I do enjoy the job but I hope to have really perfected my skills and am in a position where I can utilise my talents but also still  challenge and stretch myself. I hope to still be learning new things in 5 years time.”

4. Tell me what you know about this organisation?

I hate this question, it always reminds me of those awkward interviews on The Apprentice! I think it is really obvious if you haven’t done your research and are trying to trick your way through this question. I  would strongly advise that at the very least spend some time looking at the Company’s website to gain an understanding of what they do. I also suggest you find out the names of the interviewers and see if they have a linked-in profile you can view, or just Google them to see if they have a biography available online. If you have a personal connection to the Company make sure to let the interviewer know. I was lucky that my mother had worked at a company where I was also applying for a role, it was a definite bonus point when I told the interviewer.

5. What do you think you can contribute to this company?

This is the question that allows you to really sell yourself. Look through the job description and pick out the key attributes required for the role, this should form your answer.

“I’m incredibly hard-working, focussed and organised so I am able to get through a lot of work quickly. I also  have advanced IT skills so I can support senior members of staff with their work while also managing a range of other tasks. I am proactive so I am good at finding ways of delivering better services and anticipating any problems that might come up. I can be very flexible so happy to help others in my team. I’m also quite sociable and like to organise nights out and other team building activities.”

6. Random question – what three words would your friends, ex-manager, family use to describe you?

Most interviewers will ask you a random question that is really only raised to see how you cope with the unexpected. I’ve been asked a few in my time and have normally answered with a humorous reply. One type of question that is quite common involves asking you to describe how other people see you. So for example in answer to the question “What three words would your friends use to describe you?” I would say something that reflects my personality but also refers back to the skills requested in the job description.

“Loyal, organised and trustworthy”

There are loads more questions that are likely to come up in an interview but hopefully this blog will help you be slightly more prepared. If you have researched the company and thought about answers to the standard questions you should walk into the interview with a bit more confidence and with some luck land that dream job.

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These days employers are inundated with job applications therefore you have to be prepared to sell yourself and stand out from the crowd.  So what happens when you do land that all important first interview?

I’ve always found the best way to prepare for an interview is to think about the subjects you will cover. Let’s face it, there are always going to be a set of standard questions you will be asked, so you should prepare the answer before you go in to the interview. I don’t think you should come across as false but I do think you should be rehearsed.

Over the next two blogs I will look at some of the  common questions interviewers ask and the answers I would give if I had an interview, the examples are personal to me but hopefully will help you think about how you structure your answers.

 1. Tell me about yourself?

When this question comes up, which it always does, I keep the answer specific to my career and very succinct (if you don’t know your career history know one will!)

 “After leaving University in 2003 I accepted my first full-time role at Deloitte and spent a year and a half there as a team administrator. During this time I came to realise that I loved working in the support staff team and moved from there to my next role as Personal Assistant and Administrator at the ICAEW. I worked at the ICAEW for 3 and a half years and in that time was promoted to an Account Manager where I looked after 12 Committees and supervised one administrator. Unfortunately I was made redundant but successfully moved on to my next role as a PA to the Business Assurance Director at  Lloyds Register. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this role and learnt a great deal but was fortunate to be targeted for my next role at BMS where I am currently Executive Assistant to the COO, CFO and Company Secretary”

2. Why do you want to leave your current job?

Unless you have been made redundant, which is a  common answer these days unfortunately, this question can result in quite a negative answer. There is the temptation to have  a bit of a moan about your current /previous employee but I really recommend you try to find a positive answer to this. Having conducted interviews in the past there is nothing worse than hearing someone complain about their last job, it just sounds unprofessional.

“For a long time I really enjoyed working for my current employee and I have felt that I learnt a lot from the role and also from my manager. However the job is limited and doesn’t provide me with much room to grow (you can expand this for what ever reason fits your circumstances) . I feel that this position will give me the opportunity to expand my skill set and also move forward in my career.”

3. What are your strengths?

You should refer back to your core PA/ EA skills for this one.  Also think about the environment you will be working in, if it is a fast paced commercial company mention that you are not easily flustered, if it is a traditional company with methodical and precise working methods state that you are organised and have a real eye for detail. During my most recent interview for an Insurance company, I said:

 “I’m very organised, I don’t get stressed out easily and can deal with most situations. I’m also very intuitive and can juggle lots of different tasks”.

4. What are your weaknesses?

This is a tricky question because you should try to sell yourself in an interview not dwell on your bad points. I always try to turn this question from a negative answer into a positive, note that you have a flaw but tell the interviewers what you have done to overcome it.

“In my previous role I had to work with a lot of strong-minded and opinionated consultants and found that I lacked the ability to be assertive with them and sometimes I felt they were able to get me to do work that I was uncomfortable with. After discussing this with my Manager I attended an assertiveness course and gain the training I needed to deal with them. I find it hard to say no. It is a work in progress but I am getting there”.

 5. What are the most satisfying and the most frustrating aspects of your present job?

Again try to remain diplomatic with this question. For the “satisfying” part of the question refer back to aspects of your role that will benefit your potential employee and for the “frustrating” part think about the new role and how it will  improve your career and working environment. Don’t make the frustrating aspect personal to anyone, make it about the company environment.

“The most satisfying aspect of my role is being able to help the executives make informed decisions that affect the rest of the Company. I enjoy working with and supporting successful people at the top-level of their career. The most frustrating aspect is the slow pace in the office and it can be difficult to get things done on occasions.”

 Have you had questions like this come up before in interviews, if so, how did you answer them? In my next blog I will look at a few more standard questions and share my thoughts on answering them.

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Dressed as an elf for the office Xmas party

I can not believe how quickly Christmas has come around again this year! Nevertheless, here it is, the ‘season to be jolly’, or in the case of many assistants  the time to be putting the final touches to the office Christmas party. It can be a stressful job, particularly if you are not used to organising events, and it can sometimes be pretty thankless as it is one task where it can be hard to please everyone. I’ve organised quite a few Christmas parties over the years for a variety of businesses so  here are my top tips and some examples of parties that I have planned.

Christmas parties for a… Sociable team

If you work in a team that is used to going out together and socialising after work you will know that this is a hard group to please when it comes to organising events. I spent three years working with a team that would look forward to the Christmas party immensely and would discuss it from around  August onwards. Everyone had an opinion about what the team should do and therefore it did become hard to make sure my colleagues all liked what was planned.  To counteract this I sent out a really quick email survey asking the team what they wanted to do and how much they were willing to pay etc. This was received well by the team and it meant they all got a little something they wanted out of the party.

For the sociable team I organised the following Christmas parties:

• Cocktail reception at a glamorous bar, dinner in a Moroccan themed restaurant (great for sociable groups as you all sit round small tables and can chat to everyone), after dinner drinks and dancing at a cool night club
• I hired the ground floor of a funky night club in London’s West End from 2pm onwards and had a three course meal served on a long table. Everyone came in fancy dress, there were party games, secret Santa and a fake awards ceremony with prizes handed out by our Director. We had our own space until around 8pm when the rest of the nightclub opened for other guests. We then stayed in the club until it shut in the early hours of the morning.

Christmas parties for a… Mixed team of friendly and reserved staff  

I worked for a company that had a mixture of young members of staff and those that like to socialise after work but also a number of quieter people who attended company occasions but wouldn’t be up to 3am dancing the night away. To organise a Christmas party for this group meant that I had to organise a variety of activities so that everyone enjoyed themselves .

For the mixed team I organised the following Christmas parties:

• A private room in a  beautiful historic venue, an hour of wine tasting followed by a traditional Christmas dinner, with the option to go to the local pub after dinner and then on to a few bars for those that wanted to carry on the night out.
• A medium-sized area in a restaurant with 2 round tables serving tapas food for everyone to share, following lunch  the guests moved into a second room to enjoy a few drinks and watch a live band. Again the option to extend the night was left up to those that wanted to.

Christmas parties for a… Quiet team within a small company  

Organising a party for a small team can be difficult especially if they are not particularly boisterous. The few times I’ve arranged parties for this type of office I have booked a table at a shared Christmas party. This works well because there are other groups at the venue, it keeps costs down and you can join in the spirit of things despite being a smaller company.

For the quiet team I organised the following Christmas parties (through an events company):

• Dinner, drinks and a comedy show purchased through a package christmas party
• Drinks, canapés and bowling at a quirky retro bowling alley.

 The main focus on the day should be that your colleagues have fun, get to spend some time together outside of the office and enjoy themselves. It is a great feeling the following day when everyone is talking about the party and looking forward to the next one!

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I conducted a short project, where I surveyed all of the consultants to find out what they needed from their accommodation. I also met with all of the Sales Managers at the hotels local to my office and discussed their corporate rates. In addition I met with a number of serviced apartment suppliers and from the outset it was clear that the apartments were considerably cheaper than the best corporate rate  I was offered at a hotel. We decided to make all of the consultants stay at the serviced apartments as it was considerably cheaper and still provided them with the amenities they wanted. Using this tactic reduced the department’s spend by over 40%.

I spent a long time managing the relationship with the serviced apartment supplier and also dealt with all of the positive and negative feedback from the consultants. Looking back on this it was easy to see that their were definite benefits to using serviced accommodation but also a few shortcomings. Here are a few…

Positives

1. Serviced apartments do tend to be considerably cheaper than hotels on a per night charge
2. The apartments are generally a good size, consisting of a separate bedroom, bathroom, living space and kitchen. In comparison hotel rooms at a similar price in London are very small.
3. It is easy to negotiate on the price per night with a serviced apartment as they do tend to discount on block bookings. I was booking 20 nights a month with one serviced apartment and got a fantastic rate because we were booking in advance and block booking weeks at a time.
4. Most serviced apartments come with a kitchen and with a little encouragement you can reduce the amount guests spend on dining and meals out. The consultants I worked with often cooked their own dinner and cooked for each other.
5. The living space in the apartment can also be used to hold meetings particularly as Wi-Fi is often included in the price

 Negatives:

1. It can be difficult to get good service while you are staying at an apartment. Some places do not have a reception or night porter and in these cases if there is a problem you are normally asked to phone a central number located away from the apartment.
2. In some instances there can be a lack of cleanliness in the apartments. I did receive feedback on a number of occasions from consultants that the apartments were not cleaned every day and the standard of hygiene varied quite drastically from floor to floor.
3. If you have negotiated a deal whereby you make advanced block bookings there is the possibility that you will miss out on those last-minute deals with other hotels and serviced apartment providers.
4. Generally the apartments do not provide additional facilities such as a gym, restaurant or spa. Having a bar in the hotel can be handy when guests are meeting clients or colleagues. It may feel strange inviting people up to your apartment!
5. Although most serviced apartments have all of the comforts you would find in a hotel there does seem to be something lacking. There are some great hotels in London which offer fantastic service and that real ‘wow’ factor and this is missing in serviced apartments . I must admit I would be happy placing colleagues and consultants in a serviced apartment but would be reluctant booking any clients in.

My final thought on this would be that like hotels the quality of serviced apartments can differ greatly. If are thinking of changing from hotels to apartments make sure you do your research, go and look at the apartments, meet with your account manager and always negotiate on the price.