The Professional Assistant

How to Deal with Inconsiderate Co-Workers

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Do you find that some of your co-workers can be extremely annoying, rude or just plain inconsiderate? Do you want to walk over to their cubicle while their talking loudly on the phone and give them a piece of your mind?

This happens to the best of us all of the time. There's always someone that annoys us and tries to make our lives more difficult than it already is.

One of my readers asks:

I've been reading your blog for the past few months and really appreciate all the information and tips you provide! I'm not sure if you're covered this in the past, but I'm having a difficult time working so closely with another equal coworker. Try as I may, but she annoys the heck out of me. She's always humming, whistling, talking loudly on the phone, laughing hysterically (who knows at what?), etc. I don't know if you've ever encountered this, but she's one of those people that just rubs me the wrong way, like really grates on me. She's the office gossip, comes in about 15 minutes late several times a week and leaves the office for extended periods of time (assuming that she's taking unwarranted breaks) without repercussions.

Anyhow, I could go on but I'm sure you get the point. Any tips?

My answer to this is:

I've actually written 3 posts on this topic before. Please read the following posts on how to deal with situations such as these:

Fight or Flight: Dealing with a Difficult Colleague!

4 Ways to Cope with Difficult Colleagues

Co-Workers Annoying You?

Are there any other suggestions that you can provide to the rest of us? If so, please leave a comment.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Find Project Management Answers In A Flash!

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Do you have questions about project management, but can't seem to get a proper answer? Do you scour the Internet for some sort of clue to what you are trying to accomplish? Do you wish that a real human being would be able to help you out?

A great website for this is Ask About Projects. This site enables you to create an account and post questions that you have about any type of project or task that you are having trouble with. People in turn would log into their own accounts and try to answer your question as best as possible.

You can even vote on the answer whether it was helpful or not, so that others can benefit from the details. It even has tags that you can click on, which bring you to questions and answers of different categories that you are trying to find information on.

So the next time you need to find an answer or even ask a question about your next project, head on over to Ask About Projects and get your info sooner than later.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Make No Mistakes With Meeting Request Attachments in Outlook 2007

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

You sent a meeting request to a bunch of people. Your boss calls you up and tells you that you need to add an agenda to this meeting, but you don’t want everyone to get the meeting request again and have to accept/decline it. Trust me, people start to get irritated when this happens over and over again.

The other issue might be that they see a meeting request, usually don’t open it if it’s an update and decide to just accept the updated version. They don’t see the attached agenda or other attachment that you’ve added and go to the meeting oblivious of what’s going on or if they should have prepared for the meeting.

You can avoid this by using the “Forward as iCalendar” function in Microsoft Office 2007. This is a great way to send the meeting request as an attachment in a forwarded e-mail. You can also write a short note and attach any other files that you need to, to advise your meeting attendees of the changes. This way, they will be more inclined to read the e-mail properly.

To do this, open up your scheduled meeting in the calendar that you are using and click on “Forward as iCalendar”. Then just follow the regular flow of sending an e-mail to everyone.

So next time your boss asks you to send something after the fact for a meeting update, make sure to use the “Forward as iCalendar” function instead.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Administrative Procedures Manual - Does Your Department Need One?

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Does your department have an administrative procedures manual? Do you find that your staff are not being consistent with their memos, e-mails, the way they answer the phone, etc.?

I worked in quite a few firms, small and large, but my current one is the largest organization that I worked in - well, currently working in. As I worked in smaller firms, I didn't have to create an administrative procedures manual, as I was the only one that held this particular role. But once I moved to my current job, things changed quite a bit.

What happens if you are on vacation, sick or away from the office for any other reason? Someone needs to take over your responsibilities during that time. Also, if people are writing e-mails, memos, etc. all over the place, there is no consistency and makes everyone look bad, especially the company.

One of my readers asks:

The organization I work for has no administrative procedure manual. Every assistant uses his/her own format for memorandums, letters, personal letters, etc. There is no continuity and in my opinion, makes our town look unprofessional from the outside. I really don't want to re-create the wheel here. We have downsized and I'm doing the work of 3 people already. I want to implement a manual so that it might make things easier and more consistent for all of the assistants in the town. Any ideas?

My response to this is:

Wow, you are doing the work of 3 people? You have to share your secrets with us, if you are not feeling stressed, which I hope you are not. Ok, I had to squeeze that in. Sorry.

As for the real answer, try to create a template of e-mails, memos, letters, etc. that everyone can follow. Make sure that you specify colours, font type and size, margins, line spacing, etc. This way, everyone will have to follow the exact same details as are set out.

Another option is to create templates in Microsoft Office and either e-mail them to everyone or place them on a network drive for everyone to access. This way, everyone will be using the exact same documents, spreadsheet, etc. Just make sure to protect the documents, spreadsheets, etc. so that they don't get changed.

When you try to save a document as a template, make sure that you click on the drop down arrow in the Microsoft Office software that you are using and select template, when using the "Save-As" command.

Can anyone else think of any other ideas that you could add to this?

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Increasing Microsoft Excel 2007's Formula Bar Size

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:06:00 +0000

Do you find that trying to either write or fix formulas in Microsoft Excel can be a pain? Do you wish that you could expand the size of the formula bar to see more of the formula that you are working on?

I remember back in the day when Microsoft Excel 2003 and prior versions didn’t have this feature. Then we upgraded to Microsoft Office 2007 and voila! I was just playing around with the software and stumbled upon this great feature.

All you need to do is drag the bottom of the formula bar as far as you need it to go and release your mouse button! That’s it!

Now you have a larger area to work with.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Using Your Mail Trays Correctly

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Having trouble figuring out how to use your mail tray? Can't quite figure out how to get organized on how many you need and how you will use each one of them?

I have seem some people at my office only use 1 mail tray, as their inbox. Others have quite a few, which I am not sure what the purpose of all of them is.

I personally have 4 mail trays:

The "inbox" tray - this sits at the top of all of the mail trays and is used for anything that is coming in, hence the name.
The "pending" tray - this sits just below the inbox tray and I place all of my items that I can't continue with until someone gives me an answer to my question(s).
The "filing" tray - this is for all items that need to be filed away. You want to make sure that you spend at least a few minutes each day clearing this out (if you can), so it doesn't become overwhelming.
The "outbox" tray - this is where I place any items that I need to give to other co-workers.

I also have separate trays for all of the 5 managers that I work with, all labelled with their names, as these are higher priority than other items.

You don't want to have too many trays on your desk because it will create more trouble than organization. You will start questioning yourself of which tray items will need to go in, if there are too many. It's always better to keep things simple. I studied marketing in college and remember using the "KISS" method - Keep It Simple Stupid. And don't worry, I am not trying to offend anyone here. That's just how the acronym works.

Are there any other trays that you can think of that you would like to add to this list? Leave a comment for the rest of us.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Feeling Overwhelmed by the Mess on Your Desk? Fear Not!

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Do you have a large pile of papers on your desk? Is your desk disorganized and full of clutter? Do you feel that your mail tray's inbox keeps getting fed with more and more paper?

Don't worry, you're not alone. You wouldn't believe how many people come to me with this problem on a regular basis. You should also see some of my co-workers' desks. It looks like a whirlwind spun through and left nothing untouched.

One of my readers asks this question, which I have heard many times and started thinking, "Maybe I should write a post on this":

How can I clear my clutter to start with?

My answer to this is:

The best way to de-clutter your desk is to create 3 piles:

The "keep" pile - these are items that you want to keep no matter what. These are important documents to you or your manager and needs to be kept on hand at all times.

The "throw" pile - this would be items such as junk mail, things that you know you don't need any longer and can do without and items that are over 7 years old, as business requirements state that you don't have to keep anything past this time frame for legal reasons.

The "maybe" pile - this is the pile that you have to sift through and place into either of the first 2 piles.

If you can delegate any of these tasks to someone else, make sure that you do, as this will cut down on your to-do list. In terms of your mail tray being used appropriately, read my post entitled "De-clutter Your Desk: Ask Others to Use Your Mail Tray".

And in tomorrow's post, I will be writing about correct mail tray usage.

I hope that this helps the reader that asked this question as well as anyone else that is having trouble starting out with cleaning up their workspace and feeling overwhelmed. Don't worry, just do things in manageable chunks and you will get things done in no time.

Can you think of any other ideas that could help people their workspaces? Please leave any comments.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

What Topics Would You Like Me to Cover?

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Do you want to get your voice heard? Are there any questions that you might have but are afraid to ask?

I have been blogging for the last 2 years now (on and off, as you can tell) and have provided mounds of information to all of you during this time. I really enjoy helping you with your everyday and not-so-everyday tasks. I am always willing to listen to any ideas and comments that you may have for me, so I am extending a survey to you all to find out what topics, questions, concerns and/or comments that you may have for me.

If there is anything in particular that you would like me to cover, please let me know. If I don't know the answer, I will research it and learn it myself. If I still can't quite grasp it, I will let you know and point you in the right direction.

I currently take online courses through work once a month and try to write about anything interesting or new that I come across, on here. Of course, this helps me with my current job, but at the same time, I want all of you to benefit from what I've learned and hope that you will share your experiences with the rest of the readers here as well.

So don't be afraid to ask anything that you need help on. You'd be surprised on how many other people out there are probably thinking of the same thing.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

British Airways Flight Sale - Until November 19, 2009!

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:01:00 +0000

Does your manager fly quite a bit? Do you feel that you could get better airfare deals and service than what your current carrier offers? If you travel to Britain, this post is for you.

My sister-in-law has been travelling with British Airways quite frequently, as she is studying in Britain and lives here in Canada. She told me that the service is impeccable and the prices are usually quite cheaper than other airlines.

British Airways currently has great deals to several countries, such as London ($386), Cairo ($654), Dubai ($775) and Hong Kong ($1,195) all round trip, just to name a few. All prices are stated in Canadian dollars and depart from Toronto. If your manager travels from Canada or the US, the prices are really low. But remember, you need to book before November 19, 2009 to get these great deals. They even have hotel and flight packages.

The travel period includes November 17, 2009 - March 28, 2010 (excluding December 21-23 2009) and March 29 - May 23, 2010, except for travel to India where the travel periods are November 17 - December 10, 2009 and December 25, 2009 - May 23, 2010.

If you could travel anywhere involved in this sale where would you go and why? Do you have a dream destination? Let us know by leaving a comment. I would preferably travel to Rome, as I've never been to Italy, but would love to go sometime. Even a business trip would be nice, but of course, I personally wouldn't have a reason for that, but you might.

Here is some additional information on this sale:

200+ On-Demand Entertainment Options
Complimentary food and cocktails on all flights
World Class service
Comfortable in-flight experience: Ergonomically designed seat, complete with lumbar support, adjustable headrest and recline. They also provide you with blankets, cushions, eyeshades and flight socks to make your journey a more comfortable one.
Convenient and relaxing lounges at Terminal 5
Destination guides to help you plan the best holiday experience
MetroTwin, an online community that ‘twins’ London and New York and provides recommendations of the best places in both cities. Designed to be useful for time-starved, novelty-seeking metropolitans living in or traveling between the two cities.

So the next time you book your trip for your manager (by November 19, 2009 for this sale), make sure to book with British Airways.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Adhering to the "Closed Door" Policy

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Do you find that you get disturbed around your cubicle because of excessive noise? Do you wish that you could build walls around your cubicle just so that people would keep quiet?

I wrote a post entitled "Adhering to the 'Open Door' Policy", but this post is a little different, so please read on.

I am sure that this happened to many of you on a regular basis. Managers have offices and the rest of us just have cubicles. When they need to make a phone call or just have some quiet time to work, they close their door. Don't you wish that you could do this too?

If you feel that someone, in an office of course, is having a meeting or talking to loudly during a phone conversation, don't be afraid to walk up to their office and slowly and quietly close their door. Trust me, they will appreciate it and also get the hint that they should try to be more mindful of the rest of the staff in the immediate area.

Another interesting thing happened at my workplace, as we have any meeting rooms to our avail around our building. One of the Administrative Assistants in another department decided to place a sign on the meeting room area stating to keep the door closed during meetings, as noise travels and disturbs others as they are trying to work. This was quite humorous but at the same time, it made me realize that this was a great idea.

Give these two things a try and see how it works. Let the rest of us know if these methods worked for you and if you want to share other ideas, please write them here.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Dealing With Difficult Clients - Professional Advice For Professional Assistants!

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Do you get clients that are particularly rude towards you? Do you get e-mails or phone calls where they start complaining about something, yet you know that it's not your fault?

I am 99% sure that this has happened to you at some point in your life. You get a client call or e-mail you and complains about something. Somewhere down the line, they start to personally attack you and you feel as if you are in a state of shock, knowing that you personally didn't do anything wrong. The sad part is that there will always be someone that will try to make your life miserable, but that all depends on how you take it in.

Remember that you can always diffuse a situation like this. Here are some things you can do to take care of yourself and not get in hot water:

Keep a professional demeanour - Never get personal with the client. Always keep your cool and explain to them step-by-step of how you will handle the situation. The more professional you act, the more control you have over the situation.
Keep all correspondence via e-mail (if possible) - This will help you cover yourself if something happens. You can present any evidence that you and the client conversed about, so that you won't get in trouble. If you are having a phone conversation, jot down details of everything that happened, along with the date and time of the call.
The situation starts to escalate - Explain to the client that you will ask your supervisor/manager to intervene, as this issue is outside of your authority. You can also talk to your HR representative if you feel that the client has violated your rights as an employee.
If you run your own business - Consider dropping the client all together. You need to ask yourself if the client is worth keeping. I know that this can be a difficult decision, as if they bring in a lot of money, it could be your bread and butter that you are throwing away. But then at the same time, are you really happy with keeping this client? Will this client make other areas of your business suffer?
Keep a positive attitude - No matter how ugly things get, remember to keep a positive attitude. You can never control someone else, but you can always control your own emotions! Remind yourself that it's just a small blip in your regular work day and things will get better.

For further reading, check out the post entitled "7 Ways to Great Customer Service".

Do you have any more thoughts that you would like to add to this? Leave a comment and let us know.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

4 Easy Steps To Setting Your Microsoft Word Language Default

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Do you reside in a country that is outside of the US? Do you keep using the English - US spell checker in Microsoft Word, but can't figure out how to change it and make something else the default?

This happened to one of my colleagues. He was going crazy tryiing to figure out how to change the dictionary to English - Canadian and make it the default as well, so that he wouldn't have to change it each time he opened up a Microsoft Word file.

Here are the 4 simple steps on doing this:

Open Microsoft Word (ok, this was an obvious one).
Make sure that you have the "Menus" tab listed if you are using Microsoft Word 2007. If you are using the 2003 version, skip this step.
Then click Tools, Language, Set Language.
Click on the particular Language that you want your spelling/grammar checker to use, then click on Default and click Yes.

That's it! You now have your preferred language set as your default. You can also double click as many languages as you wish if you need to add any more of them.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Having Trouble Planning A "Non-Religious" Office Party?

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Do you have trouble planning your holiday office party? Do you feel that there are too many people opposing to different things that you plan such as religious issues?

I am sure that this happens within many organizations and each year, everyone has something to say about what they feel would be the "best" way to celebrate the holidays. Of course, you also have people that do not celebrate the holidays as they don't follow any religious followings and prefer not to have any religiousness tied into the celebrations.

Of of my readers asks:

I’m in the process of planning a Holiday Party for my office. It’s getting messy…really messy! Some people are very religious and have issues when others refer to their Christmas trees as Holiday trees. It’s been going further than that and someone brought up that Secret Santa is a Christmas event and shouldn't occur during our non-denominational party. I’m not even sure what to plan for anymore, nor can I think of how to bring up these issues to those who aren’t aware of it.

How does one go about planning a holiday party without making people feel as though it is religious AND without making people feel as though it is doing an injustice to their religion?

My answer to this is:

What I've done in the past with these types of parties is to get everyone's input on how they feel that the party would be best run, taking into account that there shouldn't be any religious ties to it. This way, everyone will enjoy themselves and not feel that they are being ridiculed because of their religion.

If people are not in agreement to exchanging gifts, then so be it. I would tell them that it's a nice thought, but there's no religious ties to it. If they feel that they want to give gifts, it should be because it's something that they want to share with the entire team, not because of religious reasons. It all depends on how everyone feels about this. You don't want to leave anyone out.

If all else fails, tell everyone that due to the lack of consensus, you are forced to not hold a party at all. This way, the onus will not be on you, as everyone else could not make up their minds. I know that this sounds harsh, but you want to make sure you cover yourself. Remember that you are trying to do something nice for everyone and if people don't pitch in, you can't act Superman / Superwoman and take care of everything.

You can also do some further reading on catering for your office party on my post entitled "Let Your Staff 'Cater' To Themselves", which talks about online catering that each individual staff member takes care of themselves. This helps you cut down on the number of tasks that you have to juggle.

Is there anything else that you can think of that would help people come to some sort of agreement with this issue? Please leave a comment and let us know.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

5 Easy Steps To De-Stress At Work & Home

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Do you feel stressed at work? Who doesn't! Do you wish that you can take a magic pill or wave a magic wand and make everything negative disappear?

You wouldn't believe how many times the general population feels this way. Stress is actually considered the number one health related issue in the world. What a concept! Yet employers don't realize this and wonder why people are taking way too many sick days. This can be filed under the "Things that make you go hmmm..." category.

Let me share a story on a more personal level, but trust me, this story does relate to work and does get to a point. A few days ago, one of my colleagues came up to me and asked a business related question and a personal question. Of course, I would never mention names, so let's keep it at that.

She mentioned that she heard through the grapevine (office gossip spreads fast) that I used to have trouble with insomnia in the past. This is true, as I used to deal with large amounts of stress and took sleeping pills for about a year. She was going through the same rough patch and asked me for some things that I did to get myself into better health.

Here are some things that I was able to do to get me through the stressful times:

Yoga - It's best to do this just before sleep. You can find tons of CDs that you can pop into your stereo and watch yourself fall asleep so quickly, you won't know what hit you.
Eating Healthy - Try to eat foods that have tryptophan in them, which helps the body relax, such as bananas, nuts (be careful if you are allergic) and turkey.
Exercise - Make sure that you do this at least 3 - 4 hours prior to bed. The earlier, the better!
Positive Self-Talk - Ok, I know what you're thinking. Don't feel like you are going crazy. Just keep telling yourself "I will sleep well tonight" and see how it works. It did wonders for me!
Breathe - This is so important. Taking slow, deep breaths can always calm you down, no matter where you are. If you feel that you are getting angry or stressed, take a few minutes to just breathe deeply.

I hope that these tips will help you to get de-stressed on a regular basis.

You can also read my article on the different types of stress entitled "Are You Eu-Stressing or Dis-Stressing?" for more tips.

And if you're wondering, it took me almost a year to wean myself off of my sleep medications and have been free of them for the last few years now.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Do You Have Permission to Change Shared Files?

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Do you find that too many people are accessing files on your company's network drive that they shouldn't be touching? Do you scratch your head and wonder what happened with the updates that you made a few minutes ago, just to find that they either have been changed or deleted?

This happened to me on many different occasions. One thing that always drives me nuts is when people start to mess around with files that I have been working on. Then they go into the file, start manipulating the data and save it. Of course, I ask them what changes they made and they don't have a clue. Doesn't this frustrate you?

One way to avoid this is to either password protect your files (the steps for this depends on what piece of software you use, if it has the capabilities). But then you need to remember the passwords, otherwise you can't get back into the file. Of course, this could be cumbersome.

The other option is to create permissions on certain folders within your network drive to have only certain staff members access the files within these folders. Ask your IT Department to help you out with this, as I was able to fiddle around with it a bit, but rather not give instructions here, since I might give the wrong information. I know that I write quite a few articles on computer related matters, but networking is not one of my strong points.

If anyone can provide details on how to go about doing this, please leave a comment for everyone to read.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Dealing With The Wrench Thrown Into Your Workday

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Do you feel that you have too many tasks to do? Do you feel overwhelmed most of the time, because of the tight deadlines and constant pressure to get things done?

This happens to everyone, including myself on a regular basis. I am responsible for running 3 events on a yearly basis and all 3 events are only a few months apart. The rest of the year, I can breathe a bit easier. But of course, I have other things to do that are usually considered "urgent" by my managers. I did mean to write managers (plural), since I do work with 5 managers currently. So you can imagine how hectic it can get at times. You can just see the hair pulling right now.

A while back, I wrote a post entitled "To-Do or Not To-Do? Taking Your To-Do List to the Next Level!" This post gives some great points about how to create a to-do list and follow it on a daily basis.

On the other hand, I recently read a book that helped me figure out how to prioritize my tasks better. It basically mentioned that you need to be aware that a wrench will always be thrown into your work to mess things up. It all depends on how you deal with the task that is given to you that is considered "urgent".

The other thing that I learned from it was that you can't prioritize "all" tasks each and every day. Things will get done when they get done. It all depends on what you feel would be most important to tackle first, especially when something gets thrown your way. Then deal with the smaller items when you pick yourself up from the floor and brush yourself off.

Trust me, this happens to be on a regular basis. But remember, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Old Internal Hard Drives - Portable and More Useful Than You Think!

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Do you have an extra hard drive lying around that you can't use any longer? Do you want to give it to your IT Department or would you rather use it for your own department's use?

I was thinking to myself the other day of what I could do with my extra hard drives that I have at home, since we do have an IT Department and they take care of these types of things, since I work for a large publishing firm. Some of you might work for a smaller firm or even for yourselves (which I admire - being an entrepreneur). Then I remembered reading about using old hard drives that you either can't plug into your computer any longer because you've upgraded, ran out of bays (spaces inside your computer to put your hard drive) or just don't want to use it any longer, since you bought a better one.

I checked around on eBay to see if there are any hard drive enclosures that I could use to create an external hard drive. I could use this as a back up drive or as an extra drive that I can carry around with me for other uses. I know that memory sticks are quite popular right now, but you can take any hard drive that is larger than your average memory stick and use it to your advantage. I understand that it's a little bulkier, but at times, you have so many large files, that this is a better option.

The way it works is that you follow the instructions on inserting the hard drive into the enclosure, plug the USB cable into the unit as well as the computer you want to use it on and voila! Instant back up!

So the next time you have an extra hard drive lying around, check out eBay for some hard drive enclosures and create your own back up drive that you can carry around with you!

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Keyboard Shortcuts Creating A Short Fuse?

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:25:00 +0000

Do you have instances where you need to copy and paste information in a hurry or need to copy and paste information over and over again? Do you want to stop using the mouse method where you click on Edit, Copy, then Edit, Paste?

There are many different keyboard shortcuts for various pieces of software, therefore, this post would be quite long if I added all of the ones that I remember. That’s another matter though – memorizing all of them.

There is, however, two tricks that I would like to share to help you conquer your fear of keyboard shortcuts:

You can visit Microsoft’s website to find out keyboard shortcuts of various pieces of software that they offer.
You can purchase a keyboard that has some common shortcuts printed directly on the keys.

These tips should help you with your work flow quite a bit. It’s amazing of how quickly I am able to copy and paste items and switch between screens to do this, just by learning a few keyboard shortcuts.

By the way, here are the shortcuts for the following:

Copy: CTRL+C
Cut: CTRL+X
Paste: CTRL+V
Flipping between screens: ALT+Tab

Update:

If you are using Microsoft Office 2007 products, press the ALT key and the corresponding keys that you have to press with ALT will show up on your screen.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Hoaxes, Scams: How Can You Tell If They're Real?

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Are you getting tons of junk e-mails in your inbox? Do you wish that you could figure out what is real and what is fake?

I get about 200 e-mails per day, roughly about 100 of those are spam. It's amazing of how people still try to con others into giving them a great loan, even if they have bad or no credit, virtual postcards that contain viruses and the unmentionable ones, which I am sure you can figure out.

Unfortunately, the best method that I've found to do this is to have a great anti-spam filter installed on your system. Check with your IT department to see if they have installed one. Most likely they have already, as this has been an ongoing problem for many years now. You can also purchase anti-spyware and anti-virus software here.

I wrote an article entitled "Phishing & Spam - Not Your Everyday Food Items!" that gives insight into how to deal with e-mails such as these. Another two websites that you should check out are Snopes.com and HoaxBusters.org.

These sites will tell you what is fake and real, a hoax and an urban myth or if it's legit. At times, it will even tell you where the hoax originated from.

So if you're interested in keeping your company from getting a nasty virus or are worried that you might get scammed, do some further reading into these sites. It can be quite valuable and sometimes even entertaining.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Let Your Staff "Cater" To Themselves

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Are you asked to help out with your company's catering for breakfasts and lunches? Do you find it difficult to find the time to ask everyone for what each person would like to have?

I remember the first time I had to cater my company's staff meeting. I was quite overwhelmed, since I've never done it before, but I could have used a bit of help. I did a little research in terms of what type of food people wanted, then checked restaurants for prices. It did take quite a bit of time, but in the end, everyone was very happy. They even called me "The Amazing Richard" since I walked in on a magic show that we hosted. As you can tell, I work for a great department that has some fun activities every year, but that's another story.

One of my readers suggested a great website called DiningIn. You can pick and choose the time, date, restaurant and food that each person is interested in. Each employee can either go on the website and fill out these details, so that you have one less task to do or you can send around an e-mail to everyone asking for their request.

Here are the 3 time-saving products that they offer:

Prix Fixe (MPS) allows our corporate customers with a regular need for food delivery to set delivery budgets and times, while employees can order online and enjoy great food they love, quickly and conveniently.
Group Ordering gives large and small companies an organized solution that allows individuals to place their own orders without wasting an administrator’s time.
The Corporate Concierge Team at DiningIn is always available to assist corporate customers with any ordering needs. A concierge specialist is always just a phone call away, ready to help you.

The only downfall is that these services are only offered in the US and in the following cities:

Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Philadelphia

So the next time you need to cater an office party or just a regular meeting, give this service a try. They also offer these services for home events.

If you're interested in booking restaurants for your manager online that makes things a complete breeze, check out my article entitled "Restaurant Reservations - Find An Open Table Online!"

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Dealing With Unreasonable Requests

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0000

You receive an e-mail, among the many others that you receive each and every day. Your colleague or boss calls or comes up to you exactly 2 minutes later and asks if you've read it. You think to yourself, "What?!? Is this person crazy?!?"

Has this ever happened to you? I am sure most of you are nodding your heads as you are reading this. It's amazing of how people don't have the common courtesy to give you your time and space to get to the request. I am sure that you are snickering under your breath at this point (I'm glad that I could put a little humour in your day).

The "Broken Record" Approach

The best way to combat this is using the "broken record" approach. Keep telling the person that you will get to it as soon as possible. If it's your boss that's asking for this information, make sure to read the e-mail right away. Remember that your direct supervisor always gets first dibs on you handling their requests. Everyone else falls into the queue afterwards.

You don't want your productivity to start falling. The more you multi-task, the less productivity you will output in your daily tasks.

Just remember to keep telling the person (in a professional way) that you will get to it as soon as you can. Even if they are starting to irritate you, keep a smile on your face (even if it's fake) and repeat yourself until they walk away.

Negotiating Time

If the person persists on bothering you, one thing that you can always negotiate is time. Ask them when it needs to get done and come to a "reasonable" compromise. This way, you will get more time and the requester will get their task completed in a reasonable amount of time.

Remember, you have the right to be human. You are not a robot and people shouldn't treat you as such.

Can you think of other ways to deal with these types of requests?

What's next?

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Too Many Applications Driving You Crazy?

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Do you have too many applications open on your computer? Have you passed by a co-worker's desk and noticed that they have 20 different things running all at once?

Believe it or not, this can lower productivity. You actually end up thinking that you are working harder, yet you are reducing your productivity by about 30%. That's quite a bit of work that you could be catching up on throughout your day, each and every day.

It's nice to have the grouping function in Microsoft Windows, but when you start seeing large numbers in each one of them, you know there's a problem. You start scanning through all of your items within that application just to find what you are looking for. Now you've spent more time looking for something as opposed to working on the task at hand.

I usually open all of the applications that I need for the task that I am working on at that particular moment. If I need to open more applications, so be it, so that I can do whatever it is I need to do to get the task completed. Once I am finished with the task, I would look at my next task on my to-do list and figure out what applications I won't need. I close all of them by either clicking on the "X" at the top-right corner or pressing ALT-F4 (keyboard shortcut to remember - can be very useful). Then I would open up the applications associated with the next task.

One piece of advise that I give myself on a regular basis so that I don't feel overwhelmed is to break your tasks down into manageable chunks.

What's next?

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Finding The Best Travel Deals - Online!

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Are you trying to book a flight, hotel or car rental for your manager? Do you feel like you are going to lots of websites to find the best deal?

I originally wrote a post on this entitled "Travel Plans" explaining that you can use Travelocity and Expedia to find the best deals. There's even a better site that helps you find the best deals on these and other airlines, hotels and car rental agencies. Visit Travel Zoo for the most up-to-date best deals you can find on the internet.

Here are some of the highlights for this site:

Free subscription to the latest deals
Flight, hotel and car rental specials
Deal locator (you can enter your ZIP code or city for deals in your area)
Submit reviews and review other users' reviews

Do you have any great deals or suggestions that you would like to share with everyone here? Write a comment and let us know.

What's next?

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Snacking At Work? Healthy Or Junk? Dilemmas, Dilemmas!

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Do you snack at the office? Do you bring your own food or do you run down to the vending machine/convenience store to get something?

Studies have shown that people start to gain weight on a slow, but regular basis because of this alarming trend. You think to yourself, "It's just one bag of chips" or "It's just one chocolate bar" and no harm done. Well, keep in mind that if you keep doing this on a regular basis, it will definitely become a big deal.

I lost about 30 lbs. in about 6 months because I changed my lifestyle. I didn't go on a fad diet like some people would, since you lose the weight and then gain it back all over again. You have to make a conscious effort to think and feel healthier about yourself. Once you try to set your goals towards this, you will see how easily and quickly you can become a better you.

So next time you feel like running down to the store or vending machine to get something, think before you act! Prepare a small amount of vegetables and fruits for each day. Plan out how much you think you will need. Also, another item that you can add to your vegetables would be hummus. You would be surprised of how light it is and how much better your vegetables would taste with it.

One place that my wife showed me online is Recipezaar's lunch/snack recipes, where you can get a whole range of healthy ideas for your meals. Give it a try! Let me know how you are doing!

What's next?

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips

Be Positive About Your Customer Service Issues

noreply@blogger.com (The Professional Assistant) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Do you find that when you contact a vendor because of a problem with your order of some sort that you get the dreaded automated messaging system, where you get lost with dialing all of the different numbers just to be able to get to the proper department or even a live person?

Then you finally do reach a live person and you are so fed up with all of the time wasted, that you start fuming towards the person on the other end of the phone. Now put yourself in that person's shoes.

Imagine that you were on the receiving end of the conversation. How would you feel? Would you prefer the client to calmly and rationally give you information on their issue? Would it also be nice for the client to call every so often to commend your company on something that they did right and went above and beyond the call of duty?

We're all human and should treat each other that way. Imagine how much more receptive the customer service representative would be if you tried to deal with your issue in a more positive manner. Picture how much more quickly you could get your issue resolved and both of you would feel better at the end of the call.

Just remember, you could be on the receiving end of these types of calls from your clients, so treat your vendors the way you would treat your clients.

What's next?

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant Tips