Expert insights. Personalized for you.
Every day I check my Statcounter and that is how I find out what people searched to get on my blog. Someone recently queried whether they should use a staple or paperclip on correspondence when they are enclosing documents. I spoke to a few assistants and we all agreed. Business correspondence with more than one page should be stapled. The enclosures should be paperclipped or clamped to the correspondence, not stapled to it. The only time I will staple it is when the attachments are cheques (1). MORE
An Executive Administrative Assistant got proposed to in a BIG way using very high tech. Congratulations to Renesha Salim from Trinidad Tobago. Click here to read the article: Tags: Admins in the spotlight professional assistant Administrative Assistant MORE
At many offices I have worked in I have noticed that many times when a seminar or event for staff is organized, the people who organized it don't show up. If a function is set up at work and the managers don’t show any interest, what does that tell us about how important it is to the company and whether we listen or not? If you are a leader and are in a role of mentoring or supervising employees then you need to set the example and show up. MORE
Small Business Start-Up Idea – C.V. Writing Service. by Stefan Töpfer on May 20, 2008. The competitive job market makes it important for applicants to have a résumé that stands out from the pile. Many people have trouble writing a MORE
Blogging about small business, working from home, self-employed, contractors, business start-up using online eco-friendly software combined with bootstrapping techniques and social networking MORE
I just got my new driver’s license. This was the year I needed to have my photo taken and I take a horrible posed picture. When I am posing for a picture I am too conscious of how I look and I end up trying too hard. How come when I comment how bad my photo is and a co-worker asks to see it they normally shrug and say, “Looks just like you”? Thanks a lot. I was speaking with someone about bad photos and he said a friend of his calls that her "mirror face". MORE
Here are some of My Favourites with their corresponding links. Some of these I use on an almost daily basis. MORE
I take my jacket off for the third time this morning and tell a co-worker again how hot I am. I calculate that I have about 13 years before retirement so I better get used to it. I have to work and I am going through menopause. My doctor tells me some women can experience symptoms on and off into their 70s. I wonder what the younger women and the men in the office must be thinking as they watch the older assistants heat up. MORE
This is a handy office reference book that would be a valuable resource for any administrative assistant, particularly those just entering the workplace. It covers just about everything you would ever come across in today's office and is the only office handbook recommended by the International Association of Administrative Professionals ( IAAP ). You can order it on Amazon.com by clicking on the link on the right-hand side bar of this blog (scroll down), or by going directly to www.amazon.com. MORE
Our old friend the spider gets a lot of bad press. For example he/she has been used as an example of the weakness of centralised leadership models versus so-called “leaderless organisations” in The Starfish and The Spider. MORE
For many people, it's always been tough deciding what to wear to work. If today's news is any indication of the confusion assaulting the workplace, I think we may be headed for real trouble. First, we have Rachael Ray being criticized because she wore a scarf that, according to some people, resembles the traditional Arab scarf known as a kaffiyeh. Ray sported the scarf in a new commercial for Dunkin' Donuts. MORE
I recently attended an IAAP dinner meeting and we had a lawyer speak to us about the proper disposal of confidential documents. As assistants we often work with information that is confidential and we need to use good practices when disposing of these documents. In Canada document disposal came to the attention of Ontario’s Privacy Commissioner in the filming of a mini-series in Toronto. MORE
I'm going to ask you a very tough question: When was the last time you asked for help? I'm not talking about a desperate cry for aid when you're, say, about to drop a cardboard tray of Starbucks, or when you ask your friend to hold the door while you bring in the groceries. No, I'm talking about asking for help at work. When was the last time you said: "I can't get all this done by myself -- can you help?" This is often a very difficult request for many people. MORE
OK, time to fess up. I don't care how nice you are, there's someone at work who is driving you nuts. It's either the guy who clips his fingernails while on the phone and leaves the droppings all over the floor, or the woman who complains nonstop about her worthless, freeloading kids. It could be the person who constantly interrupts, butting into your conversations or the guy who has to always trumpet his every success, no matter how small. ("I I just reloaded my stapler!") MORE
Here is a link to an article about an interior designer's personal assistant and all she does in a day. It was like reading my daily journal. We are busy, busy.It is nice to see the assistant’s role appreciated for what it is. In this case Kelly Hoppen's assistant Olivia Lewsey is a 'Jill of all Trades'. MORE
Can you tell when someone is lying to you? Most parents can tell in a heartbeat when their kids are lying. Maybe it's because we know them so well, or it's written into our DNA, but when they say, "I didn't do it," our radar goes off. At work, it can be tougher. These are people we may not know that well, although we spend lots of time with them. MORE
Would you like to be the next Tiger Woods? It's possible. Woods is a competitor. He doesn't let anything get in the way of sinking that little white ball into the hole every chance he gets. He wants to do it more times than anyone else on the golf course that day. He's passionate about what he does. While you may not be able to play golf like Woods, there is no reason that you cannot feel that same passion for what you do. MORE
When I was a hairdresser, the last thing that you wanted to hear your hairdresser say was, “Oops!”. Here are some things that a boss would probably not want to hear from their assistant: Uh oh! Was I supposed to send that? Did you mean now? Sorry, I forgot. I think that's their name? Oh my goodness, I sent the e-mail to the wrong person? I thought you said by regular mail. Was I supposed to save that document? I threw it in the garbage. MORE
There is a new site for admin assistants called Admin Secret. Come on over and visit and become my friend online. What a great place to network and check out the job market. The Department of Labor predicts our profession will have the greatest growth and I believe sites like this will be the perfect place to connect. I'm excited to be one of their featured writers so look for my articles. Patricia. MORE
Eight months ago I wrote a column for Gannett News Service and USAToday.com about ex-military personnel having a tough time finding private sector jobs in this country. I also blogged about the problem, and several others bloggers joined in, including Jason Alba at JibberJobber. Since then, Alba has launched JibberJobberUSA , which is designed to help those returning home from deployment. MORE
Have you ever accepted a job and then realized you made a huge mistake? Many people have been in that position, but how about this one: You accept the job and before you even begin , you decide you've made a mistake and want your old job back. Ever had that happen? For example, just a few days after University of Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan accepted a job with the Orlando Magic as its basketball coach, he changed his mind. MORE
A while ago I wrote about what I learned about life and work from my dog. Since then, I've been trying to figure out what my two cats, Spike and Ace, have to teach me. So far, I'm stumped. But the more I think about it, maybe that is what they have to teach me. They don't really care if I don't get them. They don't care what I think. They plan their days around naps, eating, the litter box and maybe a little playtime with one another. MORE
When I was a kid, my sisters and I used to make fun of my mother's habit of mangling names. For example, Bob Burke would be called "Bill Bark" by my mother. Bob Burke, Mom!" we would say, laughing and shaking our heads. Bob Burke!" What little smarty pants we were. She should have locked us in our rooms overnight with only bread and water until we learned more respect. I know now how disrespectful, how full of sass we were. I know that because my own children are now doing it to me. MORE
A lot of people are promoting their personal or career brand these days as a way to make themselves more memorable and more successful. There's one problem, however. Some of these personal branding strategies make us a) want to run and hide or b) smack the person across the nose with a rolled-up newspaper. More than a decade ago Tom Peters' call for "You, Inc.," resonated with many people. MORE
I'd like to meet just one person who came out of performance evaluation saying, "Gee, that was a swell experience. Can't wait to do it again next year!" Managers hate performance evaluations. Employees hate performance evaluations. They stare at each other across a table and try and remember all the Oprah shows that talked about how to read body language. MORE
Recently I was having a discussion with some friends about the term "overnight success." We all agreed it was a load of crap. I mean, who really has overnight success except people in novels or movies? Most of us labor -- unknown -- in the trenches for years and years before we receive recognition for our wonderfulness from anyone except the family dog. MORE
With the advances made in technology, the ability to set up a home virtual assistant business has become quite doable and in many cases, very profitable. We have the technology to get voicemails, faxes and transcriptions by e-mail and with the addition of a business line you can easily re-direct business calls to your home and no one would know that they were calling someone’s home and not the office. MORE
Click here to read a great article on things we should be thinking about when using the Internet at work posted by Chrissy on The EA Toolbox. MORE
I could relate to all of these e-mail annoyances. I passed this link to my bosses and the other assistants in my office. MORE
In 1985 I left the office to be a stay-at-home mom. By 1995 when I tried to get back into the administrative field the landscape had changed. In Canada it was becoming increasingly difficult to find a job where you didn’t need to know both English and French. Also, the technology had changed drastically. When I left we had just started using computers with DOS, a disk operating system. When I came back they were introducing the new Windows operating system. MORE
Someone I know often calls me at the office and can't understand why I can't chat. This person is a dental hygienist and I tried to make a comparison to her job so she would understand why I couldn't take lengthy personal calls at work. I said, "If I called you at work in the middle of the day, would you be able to come to the phone and chat?" She replied, "Absolutely not, I am working with patients, of course I can't talk, but you sit at a desk all day". MORE
Let's face it. Many young people nowadays have tattoos and piercings and they are coming into the workforce. I remember the first time I saw a young lawyer with an eyebrow piercing. I thought she was brave to wear it in a profession that was very 'old school', but now I am seeing it more and more. At the gym I saw a young woman with a tattoo on her arm from her wrist to her shoulder. I think she likes it, but what do her co-workers think? Click here for an article on just that. MORE
I live in Ottawa our nation’s capital. I don’t live in an igloo or take a dogsled to work and I don’t ski in July. I live about ‘10 clicks’ from work and take an OC Transpo bus to get there. Up here OC stands for the County of Ottawa-Carleton, not Orange County. The first thing most people do in the morning is get a ‘double-double’ coffee and donut at Tim Horton’s, or more affectionately known as ‘Timmy’s’. We can pay for it with a ‘Twoonie’ or two ‘Loonies’. MORE
I've been thinking about my “10 Things that I have done that others probably haven’t” list. At first I couldn’t think of anything, but then came up with the following: I once operated one of those huge bucketwheel machines used to scoop up tar sand in Northern Alberta, Canada. They are monster size. A six-foot man can easily stand in just one of the buckets. MORE
I once worked for a company where anyone who needed help in a certain area could call on one of their senior administrative assistants, trainers or IT specialists who would come to your desk and walk you through a problem. We called this “at your side” training. When I started at a new employer I thought the concept of having an “at your side” was everywhere. I found out it wasn’t, but I believe it should be. MORE
Assistants who have come from the days of being a secretary seem to have brought along with them the mindset that “I am just a secretary”. At one time being a secretary was a low paying and underappreciated profession. The secretary however was often the glue that held the office together and many times that idea was shown in movies or television shows that portrayed the office. Today’s administrative assistant is much more than a secretary, but we seem to have the same idea as in the past. MORE
I don’t have any friends, therefore I blog. Nope, I have lots of family and friends. They are all supportive of my blogging efforts and cheer me on. They don’t read my blog however because they can get it first hand.See #2. I love to talk and no one will listen, therefore I blog. I talk to my friends and they listen. I talk some more and they walk away.I blog to avoid boring my friends. I can’t get published, therefore I blog. MORE
The Small Business Blog
MAY 20, 2008
Small Business Start-Up Idea – C.V. Writing Service. by Stefan Töpfer on May 20, 2008. The competitive job market makes it important for applicants to have a résumé that stands out from the pile. Many people have trouble writing a
On The Job
MAY 27, 2008
OK, time to fess up. I don't care how nice you are, there's someone at work who is driving you nuts. It's either the guy who clips his fingernails while on the phone and leaves the droppings all over the floor, or the woman who complains nonstop about her worthless, freeloading kids. It could be the person who constantly interrupts, butting into your conversations or the guy who has to always trumpet his every success, no matter how small. ("I I just reloaded my stapler!")
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 17, 2008
I once worked for a company where anyone who needed help in a certain area could call on one of their senior administrative assistants, trainers or IT specialists who would come to your desk and walk you through a problem. We called this “at your side” training. When I started at a new employer I thought the concept of having an “at your side” was everywhere. I found out it wasn’t, but I believe it should be.
BioTeams
MAY 12, 2008
Our old friend the spider gets a lot of bad press. For example he/she has been used as an example of the weakness of centralised leadership models versus so-called “leaderless organisations” in The Starfish and The Spider.
The Small Business Blog
MAY 13, 2008
Blogging about small business, working from home, self-employed, contractors, business start-up using online eco-friendly software combined with bootstrapping techniques and social networking
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 30, 2008
There is a new site for admin assistants called Admin Secret. Come on over and visit and become my friend online. What a great place to network and check out the job market. The Department of Labor predicts our profession will have the greatest growth and I believe sites like this will be the perfect place to connect. I'm excited to be one of their featured writers so look for my articles. Patricia.
On The Job
MAY 29, 2008
For many people, it's always been tough deciding what to wear to work. If today's news is any indication of the confusion assaulting the workplace, I think we may be headed for real trouble. First, we have Rachael Ray being criticized because she wore a scarf that, according to some people, resembles the traditional Arab scarf known as a kaffiyeh. Ray sported the scarf in a new commercial for Dunkin' Donuts.
Administrative Professionals Pulse brings together the best content for administrative professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
On The Job
MAY 28, 2008
I'm going to ask you a very tough question: When was the last time you asked for help? I'm not talking about a desperate cry for aid when you're, say, about to drop a cardboard tray of Starbucks, or when you ask your friend to hold the door while you bring in the groceries. No, I'm talking about asking for help at work. When was the last time you said: "I can't get all this done by myself -- can you help?" This is often a very difficult request for many people.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 28, 2008
Someone I know often calls me at the office and can't understand why I can't chat. This person is a dental hygienist and I tried to make a comparison to her job so she would understand why I couldn't take lengthy personal calls at work. I said, "If I called you at work in the middle of the day, would you be able to come to the phone and chat?" She replied, "Absolutely not, I am working with patients, of course I can't talk, but you sit at a desk all day".
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 27, 2008
Let's face it. Many young people nowadays have tattoos and piercings and they are coming into the workforce. I remember the first time I saw a young lawyer with an eyebrow piercing. I thought she was brave to wear it in a profession that was very 'old school', but now I am seeing it more and more. At the gym I saw a young woman with a tattoo on her arm from her wrist to her shoulder. I think she likes it, but what do her co-workers think? Click here for an article on just that.
On The Job
MAY 26, 2008
Eight months ago I wrote a column for Gannett News Service and USAToday.com about ex-military personnel having a tough time finding private sector jobs in this country. I also blogged about the problem, and several others bloggers joined in, including Jason Alba at JibberJobber. Since then, Alba has launched JibberJobberUSA , which is designed to help those returning home from deployment.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 26, 2008
In 1985 I left the office to be a stay-at-home mom. By 1995 when I tried to get back into the administrative field the landscape had changed. In Canada it was becoming increasingly difficult to find a job where you didn’t need to know both English and French. Also, the technology had changed drastically. When I left we had just started using computers with DOS, a disk operating system. When I came back they were introducing the new Windows operating system.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 24, 2008
I live in Ottawa our nation’s capital. I don’t live in an igloo or take a dogsled to work and I don’t ski in July. I live about ‘10 clicks’ from work and take an OC Transpo bus to get there. Up here OC stands for the County of Ottawa-Carleton, not Orange County. The first thing most people do in the morning is get a ‘double-double’ coffee and donut at Tim Horton’s, or more affectionately known as ‘Timmy’s’. We can pay for it with a ‘Twoonie’ or two ‘Loonies’.
On The Job
MAY 22, 2008
Have you ever accepted a job and then realized you made a huge mistake? Many people have been in that position, but how about this one: You accept the job and before you even begin , you decide you've made a mistake and want your old job back. Ever had that happen? For example, just a few days after University of Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan accepted a job with the Orlando Magic as its basketball coach, he changed his mind.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 22, 2008
With the advances made in technology, the ability to set up a home virtual assistant business has become quite doable and in many cases, very profitable. We have the technology to get voicemails, faxes and transcriptions by e-mail and with the addition of a business line you can easily re-direct business calls to your home and no one would know that they were calling someone’s home and not the office.
On The Job
MAY 21, 2008
A while ago I wrote about what I learned about life and work from my dog. Since then, I've been trying to figure out what my two cats, Spike and Ace, have to teach me. So far, I'm stumped. But the more I think about it, maybe that is what they have to teach me. They don't really care if I don't get them. They don't care what I think. They plan their days around naps, eating, the litter box and maybe a little playtime with one another.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 21, 2008
I could relate to all of these e-mail annoyances. I passed this link to my bosses and the other assistants in my office.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 21, 2008
Click here to read a great article on things we should be thinking about when using the Internet at work posted by Chrissy on The EA Toolbox.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 21, 2008
Here is a link to an article about an interior designer's personal assistant and all she does in a day. It was like reading my daily journal. We are busy, busy.It is nice to see the assistant’s role appreciated for what it is. In this case Kelly Hoppen's assistant Olivia Lewsey is a 'Jill of all Trades'.
On The Job
MAY 20, 2008
When I was a kid, my sisters and I used to make fun of my mother's habit of mangling names. For example, Bob Burke would be called "Bill Bark" by my mother. Bob Burke, Mom!" we would say, laughing and shaking our heads. Bob Burke!" What little smarty pants we were. She should have locked us in our rooms overnight with only bread and water until we learned more respect. I know now how disrespectful, how full of sass we were. I know that because my own children are now doing it to me.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 20, 2008
I just got my new driver’s license. This was the year I needed to have my photo taken and I take a horrible posed picture. When I am posing for a picture I am too conscious of how I look and I end up trying too hard. How come when I comment how bad my photo is and a co-worker asks to see it they normally shrug and say, “Looks just like you”? Thanks a lot. I was speaking with someone about bad photos and he said a friend of his calls that her "mirror face".
On The Job
MAY 19, 2008
A lot of people are promoting their personal or career brand these days as a way to make themselves more memorable and more successful. There's one problem, however. Some of these personal branding strategies make us a) want to run and hide or b) smack the person across the nose with a rolled-up newspaper. More than a decade ago Tom Peters' call for "You, Inc.," resonated with many people.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 19, 2008
I don’t have any friends, therefore I blog. Nope, I have lots of family and friends. They are all supportive of my blogging efforts and cheer me on. They don’t read my blog however because they can get it first hand.See #2. I love to talk and no one will listen, therefore I blog. I talk to my friends and they listen. I talk some more and they walk away.I blog to avoid boring my friends. I can’t get published, therefore I blog.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 16, 2008
Assistants who have come from the days of being a secretary seem to have brought along with them the mindset that “I am just a secretary”. At one time being a secretary was a low paying and underappreciated profession. The secretary however was often the glue that held the office together and many times that idea was shown in movies or television shows that portrayed the office. Today’s administrative assistant is much more than a secretary, but we seem to have the same idea as in the past.
On The Job
MAY 15, 2008
I'd like to meet just one person who came out of performance evaluation saying, "Gee, that was a swell experience. Can't wait to do it again next year!" Managers hate performance evaluations. Employees hate performance evaluations. They stare at each other across a table and try and remember all the Oprah shows that talked about how to read body language.
On The Job
MAY 14, 2008
Recently I was having a discussion with some friends about the term "overnight success." We all agreed it was a load of crap. I mean, who really has overnight success except people in novels or movies? Most of us labor -- unknown -- in the trenches for years and years before we receive recognition for our wonderfulness from anyone except the family dog.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 14, 2008
This is a handy office reference book that would be a valuable resource for any administrative assistant, particularly those just entering the workplace. It covers just about everything you would ever come across in today's office and is the only office handbook recommended by the International Association of Administrative Professionals ( IAAP ). You can order it on Amazon.com by clicking on the link on the right-hand side bar of this blog (scroll down), or by going directly to www.amazon.com.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 14, 2008
I take my jacket off for the third time this morning and tell a co-worker again how hot I am. I calculate that I have about 13 years before retirement so I better get used to it. I have to work and I am going through menopause. My doctor tells me some women can experience symptoms on and off into their 70s. I wonder what the younger women and the men in the office must be thinking as they watch the older assistants heat up.
On The Job
MAY 13, 2008
Can you tell when someone is lying to you? Most parents can tell in a heartbeat when their kids are lying. Maybe it's because we know them so well, or it's written into our DNA, but when they say, "I didn't do it," our radar goes off. At work, it can be tougher. These are people we may not know that well, although we spend lots of time with them.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 13, 2008
Every day I check my Statcounter and that is how I find out what people searched to get on my blog. Someone recently queried whether they should use a staple or paperclip on correspondence when they are enclosing documents. I spoke to a few assistants and we all agreed. Business correspondence with more than one page should be stapled. The enclosures should be paperclipped or clamped to the correspondence, not stapled to it. The only time I will staple it is when the attachments are cheques (1).
On The Job
MAY 12, 2008
Would you like to be the next Tiger Woods? It's possible. Woods is a competitor. He doesn't let anything get in the way of sinking that little white ball into the hole every chance he gets. He wants to do it more times than anyone else on the golf course that day. He's passionate about what he does. While you may not be able to play golf like Woods, there is no reason that you cannot feel that same passion for what you do.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 12, 2008
An Executive Administrative Assistant got proposed to in a BIG way using very high tech. Congratulations to Renesha Salim from Trinidad Tobago. Click here to read the article: Tags: Admins in the spotlight professional assistant Administrative Assistant
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 12, 2008
Here are some of My Favourites with their corresponding links. Some of these I use on an almost daily basis.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 12, 2008
I've been thinking about my “10 Things that I have done that others probably haven’t” list. At first I couldn’t think of anything, but then came up with the following: I once operated one of those huge bucketwheel machines used to scoop up tar sand in Northern Alberta, Canada. They are monster size. A six-foot man can easily stand in just one of the buckets.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 11, 2008
I recently attended an IAAP dinner meeting and we had a lawyer speak to us about the proper disposal of confidential documents. As assistants we often work with information that is confidential and we need to use good practices when disposing of these documents. In Canada document disposal came to the attention of Ontario’s Privacy Commissioner in the filming of a mini-series in Toronto.
Laughing all the Way to Work
MAY 10, 2008
At many offices I have worked in I have noticed that many times when a seminar or event for staff is organized, the people who organized it don't show up. If a function is set up at work and the managers don’t show any interest, what does that tell us about how important it is to the company and whether we listen or not? If you are a leader and are in a role of mentoring or supervising employees then you need to set the example and show up.
100 
Let's personalize your content