Tips for becoming more reliable

Everyone has worked with someone who is completely unreliable. These coworkers are frustrating at best and can create unnecessary roadblocks to you completing your work. But what do you do if you find yourself becoming the unreliable one in the equation? According to Forbes contributor Chrissy Scivicque, there are a couple of concrete steps you can take to become more dependable in the workplace.

Keep your promises: Part of being unreliable stems from committing to things and then not following through on them. The most logical remedy to this issue is to avoid making promises you can't keep. Scivicque suggests thinking of promises as contracts, understand the terms and conditions before you agree and reject any stipulations that you can't meet. This can allow you to still accept new challenges but with realistic expectations.

Come to terms with mistakes: Despite our best efforts, there are always going to be times when we simply can't follow through on a commitment. Instead of avoiding the issue, confront it head on. Apologise for not being able to complete the task at hand, offer up alternative solutions and be humble about your mistake. Your co-workers will respect that you were able to own up to the error.

Weaving your way through office politics

Office politics are something we all have to deal with at some point in our professional careers. As an Executive Assistant, your proximity to the executive can put you in a compromising position. While it's difficult to escape office politics altogether, you need to be very careful about when and where you get involved. Too much involvement could harm your professional reputation but participating at a distance can provide some useful insights into what is going on throughout the office. This involves being diplomatic in your approach to the various power struggles internally. You can still be in the loop about office politics without contributing to negative rumours or hurtful commentary. Listen but try to offer more positive commentary than your counterparts. Remove yourself from conversations that are purely aimed at damaging someone else's reputation. Office politics are a reality of any office, the key is to learn how to navigate them without getting tangled up in drama.

Managing your personal brand

In the past, we've talked about creating a personal brand for yourself as an Executive Assistant. But once you've made one how do you manage it? In the digital era, it is important to keep track of what you put out into the world. Luckily, it is fairly easy to track and manage. Let's take a look at some quick tips for keeping control of your personal brand.

Google yourself: As a starting point, you should do a quick Google search of your name. This helps you understand your current online reputation. If a potential employer were to type your name into a search engine what would they find? Take note of what results need to be taken down but also consider what things you wish had appeared. Is there a blog post you should promote more? Do you want your LinkedIn to rank higher than anything else? All of these things can help your improve your brand overall.

Watch your social accounts: What are the privacy settings like on your social media accounts? If they aren't protected, do you want them to be? All professionals should be mindful of what they are posting on their personal accounts versus their professional ones. Privacy settings are a good starting point to shield more personal information. But remember, anything you put on the internet is never 100 per cent secure - be smart about your postings.

The four stages of project management

As an Executive Assistant a lot of your job involves managing projects. And while everyone's approaches vary a bit, Harvard Business Review asserts that all well-managed projects have four phases of management - all of which are scalable based on your needs.

Planning: The core of any good project rests on planning. This stage of planning, however, is more about big picture things. Instead of laying out day by day plans, sit down and make goals for the project ahead. What resources do you need to complete the project? What do you ultimately want to get out of it?

Build-up: This phase is about getting your tools together. Secure your team (if you need one), purchase resources and set timelines. Pay close attention to details during this phase. You want to have a clear path and the right resources to complete the project effectively.

Implementation: Now it's time to get to work. During this stage you need to commit to monitoring your progress honestly. Recalculate for bumps in the road and keep chugging along.

Evaluation: Once your project has been completed, evaluate the successes and failures. If there were other people involved, gather them for a close-up meeting. Discuss what could have been done better and where you think you excelled. This period of reflection can help improve future projects.

Can happiness improve your productivity?

There are a lot of things that contribute to productivity. Whether it be improving your time management skills or shutting off your phone during the work day, there are a lot tips and tricks floating around to help you make the most of your day. But, what if we told you that you could be more productive by simply becoming a happier person? A study by the University of Warwick found that when people were happy at work they experienced a 12 per cent increase in productivity. The experiment used a variety of happiness-inducing techniques such as showing comedy clips throughout the day or offering up free treats like chocolate or fruit. Regardless of the method, these little activities had a positive impact on overall productivity.

As an Executive Assistant it can be easy to get caught up in all the things you have to do in a given day and forget to focus on the little things that make you happy. To help your productivity overall, it's important to make time for things that bring you joy. Whether that means taking a walk during your lunch break or laughing with some of your coworkers, remember to take the time to smile.

How to strengthen the relationship between you and your executive

There are few workplace relationships more important than that of an executive and an EA. An Executive Assistant is responsible for the upkeep of an executive's entire work life. They know their preferences, their objectives and are directly linked to the majority of their day-to-day activities. Working this closely with another professional means there must be some kind of relationship in place - ideally a friendly one. How can you work to strengthen this relationship?

A big part of creating a stronger connection will involve observing your executive's preferences. Which conference room does he prefer to take his big meetings in? What professional mistakes seem to annoy him the most? How does he work? Does he like his desk to be organised or does he work better in a controlled sort of chaos? Taking note of these preferences and moulding your decisions for him based on them is a critical step in becoming an indispensable part of his work routine. This observation method also works for creating a stronger personal relationship. Take note of what books your exec reads or what kind of jokes he laughs at - find some commonalities between the two of you and test the waters. The stronger relationship you have with your exec the better.