Take a look at these recent statistics highlighting the extent of time mismanagement in the workplace:
• Approximately 21.7% of leaders work 60 hours a week or more, indicating a substantial time burden.
• 60% of CEOs view time spent on administration as wasted.
• A staggering 82% of leaders lack an effective time management system, leading to inefficient task handling and reduced productivity.
And yet their greatest time management tool is right under their nose and they are missing it!
Administrative professionals are uniquely positioned to alleviate these time management challenges.
When leaders entrust administrative tasks to skilled assistants, leaders can reclaim time for high-impact decision-making and strategic planning.
Assistants proficient in time management can implement systems and processes that streamline operations, reducing the time leaders spend on non-essential activities.
And there’s a knock on effect to both of these things. Delegating effectively can prevent leader burnout, ensuring elevated and more sustained performance and well-being.
So how do you bridge that Utilisation Gap?
Despite the clear benefits, many organisations fail to fully leverage their administrative professionals.
Unusually this is for three main reasons
Firstly they have no idea how to utilise their administrative functions properly. They have never been shown how. And because they view assistants merely as support staff rather than SMEs in administration and an integral components of the leadership team, the opportunity to use their skills to free up time for their executives is lost.
Secondly, there is a lack of training for assistants to help them acquire the skills that would align with organisational needs.
And finally there is inadequate dialogue between leaders and assistants about expectations and capabilities.
So how do you harness the full potential of your assistants?
Firstly, reframe how you are looking at administrative function. If you can both do something, it should be them doing it – freeing you up to do more of the things that only you can do.
Then, invest in training to enhance the skills of administrative professionals, enabling them to take on more complex responsibilities.
And finally work on establishing regular, transparent discussions between leaders and assistants to align on objectives and expectations.
By embracing these strategies, leaders can use their assistants to transform time management from a persistent challenge into a structured, efficient process, driving both personal and organisational success.
As an aside, if any organisation would like to optimise the collaboration between their leadership team and administrative professionals, I offer a comprehensive two-hour training session for leaders designed to clarify the ways in which you can use your administrative function to fundamentally enhance your productivity and effectiveness in the coming year.
