How to respond to negative feedback

Hearing negative feedback is almost always an uncomfortable experience. You're allowing yourself to be judged and it can often feel like the best way to deal with it is to ignore it. But if you want to be an EA that continuously improves throughout their career, you need to get used to hearing negative feedback and know how to respond to it. Here are 3 tips how:

1. Give yourself time

Don't jump straight back in response. Whether it's coming from your Executive or a subordinate, take a moment to really let the feedback sink in before responding. Whether this means asking for some time to consider what's been said or just holding your tongue for a few seconds before responding, just make sure you're not reacting negatively.

2. Keep perspective

Negative feedback hurts the most when we unintentionally take it far more personally than we should. If someone is criticising the way you completed a task at work, does that reflect on you as a person? It's probably unlikely. Accepting that you're not being criticised personally can help you engage with negative feedback more objectively.

3. Seek other opinions

When you get negative feedback that's unexpected, ask some of your colleagues, friends or family what they think. Is there some truth to the feedback? Or is the person giving it to you mistaken? Remember, nobody is perfect, so just as you'll hear justified negative feedback throughout your career, expect to hear misguided feedback too. Getting other perspectives can help you sort which is which.

How to effectively manage your deadlines

We've all been there - a project is due by the end of the week, but you're still madly trying to catch up on the three other things that need to be done. When deadlines catch up to you, they can eat you alive. As an EA, your Executive is relying on you to manage your time well to complete everything you need to, on time, every time. Here's how to do just that.

First, when you get an assignment, take some time to chunk it out into sequential steps for completion. Having one giant task with one giant deadline always on your mind is a recipe for procrastination. Creating bite-sized tasks with interim deadlines will make the task much more manageable, and make the path forward far clearer.

It's also a good idea to communicate with the people around you about the importance of the deadlines you're given. It's easy to imagine being given a task and being asked to finish it by a certain date, but in actual fact it not being needed that soon. If a deadline you're given doesn't work, ask if it's flexible - but do this sooner rather than later. Deadline negotiation the day before is never a good look.

Finally, always be aware of how much is on your plate. EAs are people that are constantly bombarded with requests, and the only way they can responsibly decide whether to say yes or no is knowing how much other work they need to do. Whether it's in a diary or just in your head, always be aware of how much free time you have, and consequently, how much more you can take on. Too much and it none of it will get done, so choose wisely.

Will the real EA please stand up?

Even though they're sure to be moving around a lot in their work, EAs are, at the end of the day, office workers, which means a lot of sitting. With this in mind, what are some of the benefits of a standing desk?

1. Reduce back pain

One of the most common complaints from people that sit for much of the day is chronic back pain. Standing desks have been shown to help reduce this. One study found that upper back and neck pain was reduced by 54 per cent after four weeks of using a standing desk. Furthermore, the positive effects disappeared two weeks after the trial was over and the desks were removed.

2. Lower risk of obesity

Perhaps unsurprisingly, standing at a desk is physically harder than sitting at one. Because of this, standing will help you burn a bit more energy. Weight gain has a lot to do with taking in more energy than you burn. When it can't go anywhere, it's stored and turned into fat. While standing at a desk doesn't burn huge amounts of energy (according to one study, an afternoon standing resulted in 174 more calories used), but combined with an active lifestyle, it can all add up.

How to get things done without nagging

It can be frustrating to be waiting on something to come back from a co-worker, especially if you need it to done to finish your job. But if you've already reminded and asked them a few times, it can start to feel as though you're nagging them if you continue to do so.

How do you chase something without being annoying?

1. Explain why you need it

One of the best ways to get something back quickly from co-worker is to explain why you need it. A study by Ellen Langer found that just using the word 'because' and providing a reason made people more compliant to a request made of them, even when the reason was fairly weak.

2. Talk to them face to face

Emails are easy to ignore. If you need something done soon, asking in person is a great way to speed things up - someone's far less likely to ignore you in person than they would an email.

3. Take stock of the situation

Unfortunately, sometimes things are going to be so urgent and the person you're dealing with so untimely that you're going to have to pester them incessantly. In these situations, however, it's important to not feel bad if you've given them plenty of time to do the task. You wouldn't have to be nagging them if they had done their job, so don't feel guilty about it.

How to actually unplug from work on holiday

If you really want to make the most of a holiday (and improve your performance when you return), you ought to unplug as much as possible from work. A holiday should be a time for you to be you, uninterrupted by the daily things you have to think about as an EA.

So, how do you really unplug from work on holiday?

1. Don't check your email

Remove your work email from your phone. Checking email keeps your mind, however slightly, tied into work mode and the whole point of a holiday is to escape that.

If you have a spare minute, you might be thinking you can save yourself time when you get back by whittling down the backlog of emails waiting for you on your return. And this is probably true, but it also misses the point. In order to come back to the job recharged and enthusiastic, you need to completely let go of work for a while.

If you're really concerned that something will occur, let everybody know a few weeks before you go. That way, there shouldn't be the chance of someone sending you an urgent email only to get an "out of office" reply. If you warned them, and they didn't prepare, then there's no need for you to check the inbox everyday for something important - you will have dealt with it before you left.

2. Make a list of the things you need to do on return - before you go

One thing that can stop you enjoying your holiday is thinking about the things you need to do when you get back to work. Save yourself this mental space and think about it before you leave. Make a list that you can leave on your desk telling you what you need to get to.

Tips for wasting less time in meetings

Is there anything more soul crushing when working as an EA than having to sit through meeting after meeting that goes nowhere and achieves nothing? Meetings should be events where things are decided and progress is made, not a source of collective dread for all involved.

Here are two tips for making sure your meetings aren't time wasters.

1. Agree on a goal - before the meeting

The worst kinds of meetings are the ones where nobody is quite sure what the purpose of the gathering is. Aimless meetings are always the ones that waste a whole lot of time for a simple reason - it's not clear to anyone when they should finish. When you have a clear goal in mind for a meeting, the closing time becomes much more natural and obvious because it's simply the achievement of the goal.

2. Let everyone have time to speak

When everyone is free to contribute at any moment, there's a huge risk of meetings going off on a tangent. Make a rule that each person has some time to speak uninterrupted at the start of the meeting should they choose to take it - go around the room and hear from everybody before the freewheeling discussion starts. That way, everyone's thoughts are on the table and there's less risk of lively conversation pulling the group away from the purpose of the meeting.