Managing stress in the workplace

Being stressed at work can easily turn into a vicious cycle for Executive Assistants. In the worst case scenario you have a particularly stressful day, which causes you to make more mistakes, become anxious at work, lose sleep and get more stressed. Then you start the cycle all over again.

Avoid the stress hamster wheel by keeping these simple tips in mind:

    Avoid the source of stress

If a certain colleague or task is causing you significant stress, do your best to avoid them without compromising the work you do.

    Change your reaction to it

If that’s not possible, think about how you can change the way you react to the source of stress to make life easier. For example, if a stressed colleague is the problem, try and react to them with understanding and compassion, rather than frustration. This will quickly drain the stress out of the situation as well as improving your relationship with the person, making dealing with them less difficult.

    Take time off and recharge

If life’s starting to feel like a never ending to do list make sure you take time off during and after the work day to recharge. A few great options include: pre-work or lunch time exercise, time with friends at the start of the week, or long weekend trips away every second month.

Negotiating a pay increase

It’s perfectly reasonable to expect compensation for the work you do that is commensurate to your skill, experience and your role. If you feel like you’re due a pay rise the best thing to do is often to ask for one. Here’s how:

First, consider your timing. If your last pay rise was less than 12 months ago it might be worth waiting. If not, ask for a meeting with your Executive and prepare to be convincing. List all of the reasons you deserve a pay increase, including recent achievements, the value you bring to the business and why now is the right time for a payrise.

Research the salaries of similar roles in your location and bring those numbers along to the meeting as well. The goal here is to sell yourself and leave your Executive without a doubt that you deserve what you’re asking for.

With that in mind, there’s always a chance that you won’t get your payrise, in which case it’s important you don’t burn any bridges. Always be polite and understanding and if your Executive says no and offers a good reason why you should respect their decision. Even if you decide to leave your role, you never know when your paths may cross again.

Dealing with bottlenecks

Bottlenecks occur when one stage of a process consistently takes far longer than it should. There are two types of bottleneck - systems and performance-based. System bottlenecks are due to flaws in your processes and the way your business gets things done, while performance based bottlenecks are down to people not working as they should.

If you identify a systems-based bottleneck, it’s a great idea to map out the process to fully understand every step. To fix it, you can either suggest investment in automation software, or remove unnecessary steps (like manager sign-off) completely. This will simplify the process making it quicker and easier.

Performance-based bottlenecks can be trickier to fix. If an employee is taking longer than they should to complete a task, you could meet with them to discuss a different approach or allow them to share the task with others and focus their efforts on where their strengths lie.

Don’t feel guilty about taking your annual leave

A recent survey conducted by Galaxy Research found that two-thirds of Australians are scared of taking their annual leave. For Executive Assistants whose skills are essential to the smooth running of a businesses, that proportion could be even higher.

If you’re avoiding your annual leave you’re not doing anyone any favours, despite your best intentions. After a long period with no leave you may experience more stress, enjoy work less and your productivity may be affected.

Your employee’s payroll team will also worry as they see your leave accruing as a liability which they’d rather didn’t increase. If it’s been a while, don’t be shy, pencil in that annual leave and spend time doing what you want to do - whether that’s exploring exotic travel locations, or watching Netflix in your pyjamas.

Switching off after work hours

Close to nine out of 10 Australian employees check their work emails after hours, according to a study by YouGov Galaxy and commissioned by Red Agency. This is a symptom of wider issue where we fail to switch off after work, which is worsened by the fact that many employees can access all work communications from their mobiles.

Unfortunately this can hurt your social life, worsen stress at home and cause you to burn out from always being switched on.

Luckily the fix is easy. If you don’t already have one, request a work phone from management so that you can get some separation. Make it clear to your Executive what your plan is and why, then pop it on airplane mode as soon as you get home and institute a ban on all work after you leave the office.

Your Executive may be hesitant at first and you may need to switch on after work occasionally, or provide another contact number for emergencies as part of a compromise. However, if your Executive is reasonable, they’ll understand your reasoning and respect your space after work.

Improving your email communications

Executive Assistants must be expert communicators, which means mastering the art of email. To do so, keep the following tips in mind:

    Be spartan with your emails

Does this email really need to be sent? Think about whether you can scrap it and figure it out yourself, or whether it might be better suited to an instant message or face-to-face. Are there words in the email that don’t need to be? Shorter, more direct emails are usually better as whoever you’re contacting probably receives countless messages every day.

    Check your tone and be polite

Emails can be misinterpreted easily so think carefully about the way you come across. The compliment sandwich is a great way to package bad news, or urgent requests in a way that is easier to swallow for the recipient.

Instead of saying: “Hi, The project is past its due date. Please send by today 5 p.m. latest.”

Try this: “Hi, Thanks for your great work on the project. Could you please send through the final version as soon as possible so that I can meet my deadline at 5 p.m. today. Enjoy your evening.”

Always, always proofread
Your emails are an important part of your professional persona so it’s worth taking 30 seconds after composing a message to quickly proofread it. Look for obvious typos, unclear statements or anything else that seems out of place. Once this becomes a habit you’ll automatically proof every email without thinking, and you’ll never send a typo again.