Today’s blog is one in a series on education, best practices and industry hot topics related to careers in Administration, including but not limited to those working as Executive Assistants, Admin Assistants and Office Managers. Today’s Admins handle duties that have no limits in scope and as the greater Philadelphia’s most trusted Corporate Transportation partner, Kevin Smith Transportation Group is invested in supporting those who work to make sure their companies run smoothly every day.
If you want to hire your own Personal Assistant to book ground transportation, call 610-222-6225 and speak to one of Kevin Smith Transportation Group’s Corporate Concierges who can assist you with everything from Airport Transportation, Executive Black Car Service and Employee Shuttle Services.
If you’re overwhelmed by the challenges you face as a professional administrator, know that you are not alone. Working with many executive assistants for some of the largest companies in the greater Philadelphia, PA area, we see many of the challenges they face on a daily basis.
But, for the most part, they manage to conquer the biggest challenges through experience, trial and error, extreme organization, and a handful of must-have apps. Hopefully, those lessons learned can help you to slay your own work dragons and be more efficient.
Based on the feedback shared by many of these Rockstar Admins, these are the biggest challenges admins face on a daily basis, and some helpful tips.
Challenge #1: Not Enough Time. Solution: Prioritize
The common refrain of all busy admins is that there just isn’t enough time. This is why it is so important to time track and prioritize. Most of an admin tasks now are routine, so you know exactly how long each takes.
It’s become a time management exercise: how can I fit it all in given how long each item takes and how many hours there are in each day? Sometimes you’ll need to defer to your executives for help prioritizing. List all of the items on your to-do list and ask your executive to rank the items in order of importance.
Challenge #2: Too Many Side Tasks – You Find Yourself Wearing Too Many Hats. Solution: Outsource
Just because an efficient admin can literally do it all, doesn’t mean they should. Ironically, many companies outsource their financial and administrative pain points, but, ignore some of the time-consuming items.
We’ve heard of some Rockstar Admins who have convinced their executives to identify all essential functions and create an organizational map. This led to some of them hiring a new office manager and outsourcing some non-core functions, which freed up our Rockstar Admins to focus on their core responsibilities.
Challenge #3: Lack of Organization. Solution: Putting systems in place
Many of our Rockstar Admins we work with confessed that they are organizational junkies! When they were starting out, there were no systems in place; a few tools later, they have everything under control.
For example, many use a bunch of different apps for email, most notably Boomerang, which helps them keep their goal of a clean inbox and schedule up to 60 appointments per week. When many admins came on board, all of their documents were hard copy.
So they scanned for three weeks straight until they had digital copies of all of their documents. This took time, but in the long run this paperless solution is more efficient, easier to maintain, neater, and more environmentally conscious.
Challenge #4: Work / Life balance. Solution: Boundaries
How can you create boundaries and make time for yourself when your work is never-ending? Especially when you’re young and just starting out and trying to advance your career, it is so easy to fall into the trap of having no boundaries.
To create some semblance of work/life balance, you need to create a strict routine. in which the boundary lines are more pronounced and it’s harder for you — or others — to blur them. For example, one of our Rockstar Admins shared a story of when they went on vacation.
“I just went to London on holiday for a week. During this time, I agreed to work, but I set limits: 2 hours a day, 3 days a week for a total of 6 hours. The rest of the time? My time!”
Challenge #5: Boredom. Solution: New projects
Once you’ve got your systems in place, know how to schedule a high volume of appointments, and are set up for success, boredom can creep in. This is when many people find myself looking for new projects or optimization opportunities.
Most recently, some have started assisting with social media. This is a totally different area for many people and one some find really interesting. It’s forced them to learn new things and create new systems for social media management.
Sometimes the biggest challenge to being an admin can be how isolating it is. Sometimes you feel like you’re all alone behind the curtain, holding the pieces together, making sure that everything gets done.
At times like these, it’s important to remember how integral your work is to the success of your company and how there are lots of people within your organization who can lend a hand, and lots of people outside of the organization who are willing to share their insight and support.
If you want to hire your own Personal Assistant to book ground transportation, call 610-222-6225 and speak to one of Kevin Smith Transportation Group’s Corporate Concierges who can assist you with everything from Airport Transportation, Executive Black Car Service and Employee Shuttle Services.
Thank you for reading today’s blog on the Administrative Professional industry. Please visit us every week as we continue to publish tips, industry news and strategies that directly impact every Administrative Professional. Next week we will publish part 2 of today’s blog on Developing Administrative Skills.