This session is about positioning.  Why has the Assistant role changed and how?  It looks at the role past, present and future to explain why it has developed how it has.  It explores the opportunities that this creates for you to become a true Business Partner to your Executive including developing the partnership, setting the ground rules, communication, adapting to style & maintaining a great partnership.

Executive and Administrative Assistants hold a unique position within their companies which allows them to participate in true cross-company collaboration in a way that almost no other job role does. So why do most administrative professionals continue to operate in silos when collaboration is so good for business? Could it be that this is because we are confused between collaboration and teamwork? The two are not only very different skill sets but are not in any way interchangeable.

Communication is key and essential to any role, especially within the role of an assistant. It is crucial that you have strong communication with your manager, to help build a stronger and more reliable working relationship.

With the skills from this session, you will be able to go back to your office and communicate more effectively not just with your manager, but other work colleagues as well. In time, you will see how it will help you to save time and build self-confidence within your role.

We will explore how success as an assistant begins with an understanding of yourself. During the session, we will look at, the Belbin Psychometric testing exercise to explore strengths, weaknesses and where you fit into your team, Johari Window — opportunities from self-awareness, your beliefs, values and behaviours, your Inner Voice, how body language can make a difference and how important communication is.

We will cover:

We will cover:

• Body Language & Voice
• Listening Skills
• Assistants as Connectors
• Productive Office Relationships
• Problem Solving
• Emotional Intelligence
• Different workstyles – flexible communication for different personality types
• Taking control without taking over
• Ongoing communication with your Executive

The relationship between an Assistant and their Executives is absolutely crucial to a company’s success but with the average age that most Managers get training sitting at 42, many Executives have never had training in how to manage their Assistants. It therefore falls to the Assistant to train their Executives how to use their skills to best advantage themselves and the company.

In this session we will explore:

• Why influential leadership skills are crucial to the role of an Assistant
• Strategically managing your Executive(s) and Key Stakeholders
• Developing the business partnership with your Executive
• Proactive vs Reactive Support
• Making the transition from support to strategic business partner.

Day two is the practical day of the course. Having spent day one looking at a change in mindset and positioning the Assistant as a strategic business partner, day two looks at the practical productivity, decision making and project management skills you will need to do this.

Much has been made in recent times of the emergence of the Assistant as a Strategic Business Partner. The term is THE buzz word in the industry. But how do you become strategic? What does it mean? How to you change your day to day role to become the Assistant that your Executive needs in order to deliver at the highest levels.

In this this session we will look at why Businesses still need Assistants but why the landscape has changed, how to develop your business acumen to best support your executive and what skills are required to be a true Strategic Business Partner to your Executive.

• Why Businesses still need Assistants
• How to Develop your Business Acumen
• Business Ethics

The Assistant’s role is to ensure that their Executive(s) are as effective as they can possibly be. In order to do this, their own productivity and systems must be operating at the highest levels of efficiently.

In this session we will look at systems and procedures including:

• setting boundaries
• email
• diary management
• the myth of multitasking
• managing more than one executive
• procrastination
• time management.

With the changes to the role, many assistants are taking on more supervisory roles: Executives can help empower their assistants by making it clear that the assistant has real authority. The message the executive should convey is, “I trust this person to represent me and make decisions.”

This session will visit some classic decision making and problem solving processes to ensure the Assistant has confidence to look at all the options and weigh up the alternatives.

Project Management seems to be overtaking the Executive Assistant’s world these day. Whether or not your company calls it “Project Management” and deliberately applies its terminology and principles doesn’t matter; the reality is that Project Management is now part of every Assistant’s working life.

We’ll look at:

• The difference between routine work and a project
• Managing stakeholders and their expectations
• Understanding how to prepare for and plan a project
• Understanding how to monitor a project
• Understanding the purpose and ways of evaluating a project

We will then organise an event from start to finish using the techniques we have used to determine ROI and manage the project from a budget.

And finally, we will talk about how you achieve all of this without blowing a fuse.

• Why is managing your stress important?
• What are the signs?
• Work:Life Balance
• How to avoid burnout

• Coffee/tea and pastries on arrival
• Mid-morning break with coffee/tea and snacks
• Lunch
• Mid-afternoon break with coffee/tea and snacks

Please alert us of your dietary requirements in advance so we can make sure everything is ready for you on the day!