Is the way to increase productivity standing right in front of you?

There has been plenty of discussion about how standing desks may or may not help improve your health, fitness and posture, but a recent study by the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Public Health has found a potential link between standing and increased productivity.

While Executive Assistants these days may spend as much time working on devices out in the field as they do at an office desk, the time spent sitting in front of the computer is still considerable. If this time could be made more productive with a simple change like a new type of desk, it's something that should be considered.

The study followed two groups of call centre employees - one using traditional seated desks, the other using stand-capable desks that could be raised or lowered at will. Those at the stand-capable desks were found to be nearly 46 per cent more productive than their seated counterparts, Eurekalert reports.

Gregory Garrett, one of the lead authors of the study, suggested that some of the increase in productivity may come from decreased physical discomfort. Nearly three quarters of those who used stand-capable desks during the research period reported increased comfort by the end of the six-month study.

Whether you want to increase your productivity or are just looking for a more comfortable workstation, it might be worth investigating options beyond your traditional desk setup.

The future of staff management could be AI

We think of a field like HR as being fundamentally about people - that H stands for human, after all. But recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are pointing towards a near future where at least some of these roles are filled by sophisticated programs called chatbots.

As the MIT Technology Review explains, chatbots are computer programs designed to have functional conversations with people. Boston-based company Talla has already launched one that helps manage to-do lists on the communication platform Slack, and the company has plans to develop a more sophisticated version that will help train and manage new staff, and eventually act as a general workplace assistant - albeit a digital one.

For Executive Assistants, it will be interesting to see not only how software like this can be incorporated into your scheduling and resource management duties, but also into interactions with other staff - including your executive. Which duties require a real face-to-face conversation, and which could be automated?

You don't need to worry about bots being a threat to your job security just yet, though - there are still some things people are much better at doing than computers. Most importantly, humans are still far better at language, using context and their base knowledge to understand ambiguous or unclear statements. For now, at least, those best suited to dealing with people are still people.

The benefits and costs of a shorter working week

A recent experiment in Sweden has just released its findings on the pros and cons of a six-hour workday. The city of Gothenburg carried out the experiment with around 80 employees at a retirement home, Business Insider reports. To reduce the staff's hours, the city government hired 17 additional workers to cover shifts.

According to the study results, the workers claimed they were happier, felt less stressed, and enjoyed their work more on the reduced timetable. But the price of this increased engagement was the most obvious of costs - the city government had to pay about 22 per cent more in salaries to cover this larger, less-burdened workforce, and Gothenburg ultimately decided that the financial cost was too much to be justified by the benefits to workers. But Business Insider notes that there are companies such as Amazon and SteelHouse that are investigating the potential of shorter work weeks, and how they could improve employee wellbeing and productivity.

The role of an Executive Assistant, like many corporate positions, can easily encroach beyond the standard 40 hours a week. The extended hours and constant demands for attention can lead to long-term issues like fatigue and burnout, issues that we have to be aware of. While shorter hours may not be a feasible option for many corporations, if nothing else the Swedish study demonstrates the benefits of downtime to professionals.

Forget about the clock for better time management

Time management is a crucial skill for Executive Assistants. Not only do you need to stay on top of your own schedule, you also need to manage that of your executive, while juggling both with others in the company. But to get organised to make the best use of your time - and theirs - you may need to pay less attention to the clock.

Entrepreneur Magazine suggests that there are two kinds of time - clock time and real time - and that you need to keep this distinction in mind when developing your time management skills.

Clock time is measured in consistent units of minutes and hours. Real time is experiential, and relative to you. An hour of something fun can fly by, but five minutes of tedium feels like it lasts for years.

To manage your time more effectively, you should focus less on how long something takes you in terms of clock units, and more on your experience in real time. If it's an activity that feels like it goes quickly, it means you're more engaged with it. If it drags, it's because you're struggling to get your head in the right place to deal with that particular task.

Arrange your time so that these difficult tasks are given more of your peak time, when you're fresh and alert. It may be that your complaints that there aren't enough hours in the day are unfounded - rather, it's a case of redistributing those hours more judiciously. The same goes for your executive: learn when they are at their best and when they aren't, so that you can organise their time by quality rather than purely by quantity.

Overcoming the threat of complacency

Sometimes you're better off not getting too comfortable. Forbes points out that given how much change and disruption we've seen in just the last few years, both in business and in the world at large, it would be foolish to assume that things are going to remain how they are for too long. When things change, will you be ready to change and adapt with them? Or will you be stuck in your ways with nothing new to offer?

The problem with complacency is that even if you're comfortable to stop developing and stay where you are, the world around you is not. The role of an Executive Assistant is constantly evolving, and to successfully fill it you'll have to as well. E-learning designer Alexander Salas offers the following suggestions to avoid career complacency:

• Be knowledge diverse: The more fields you have an understanding of, the more valuable you will be as an Executive Assistant - not only because you are able to turn your hand to more aspects of the role, but because you will have a better understanding of how different professions relate and interact. This will help your management and facilitation skills.

• Be tech savvy: This is an aspect of the previous suggestion, but one that is particularly important given the increasingly large part technology plays in major disruptions. An up-to-date understanding of where technology is - and where it's going - will help you considerably.

To avoid becoming too complacent in your current situation, Forbes recommends making continuous growth and development a personal priority. This will put you in a good position to deal with the new challenges you face as the business environment changes.

How confrontational is too confrontational?

In an ideal world you and your executive will find yourselves in a working relationship that hums along nicely without too much disagreement. But in reality, this relationship will be a constant give-and-take of problem-solving and compromise. There will be situations that arise that can't be solved through the normal channels of communication - problems that you'll need to speak up about to solve. But when you do, just how loudly should you speak?

You may feel hesitant about confronting your executive about problems, especially those that you feel they're responsible for, because you're worried about how they'll react to the criticism. On the other hand, treading too lightly can mean that these issues are never resolved, and you develop unspoken resentments that cause follow-on problems in the relationship.

Successfully raising a difficult issue with your executive will be a matter of balance - of finding the level where you can be honest without being disrespectful, as Fortune Magazine puts it. The American Psychological Association agrees, saying that the chance of poor reaction or retribution on their part will be reduced by your ability to talk with your executive in a non-emotional, non-defensive manner. Getting upset and attacking them will only lead to defensive counter-attacks on their part.

An effective relationship between executive and assistant has to be one of ongoing dialogue. While raising unpleasant issues seems daunting, it can lead to a better understanding in the workplace.