Laughing all the Way to Work

OCTOBER 21, 2016

I have always had trouble knowing when to use the words 'then' or 'than'. Sometimes it is easy to figure out, but other times I struggle to figure it out. Well, today I came across a sentence where the person used 'then' and I was pretty sure it should have been 'than', but wasn't positive. Rhymes like '30 days have September', 'i' before 'e' except after 'c' (but there are exceptions), or what a school teacher I worked with taught me about when to use 'I' or 'me' in a sentence (if you can chang

Google 100

Google 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

JANUARY 30, 2016

When learning something new it is usually the little things that can seem overwhelming. I just learnt a new program to search patient names for information and medical records. I recall the person telling us how to use the program and it seemed complicated. Log in, enter your password, press F1 if you want to do this, F2 if you want to do that. When you get to this screen, look on the right hand side and press F11.

Medical 100

Medical Learning 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

DECEMBER 30, 2015

It's funny how as I have moved through my career from office to office the way I organize myself has changed. When I was at the law firm, I used tasks extensively and had a wait bin where I put things I was waiting on. I had a lot of trigger dates I needed to remember such as when to file a statement of defence after receiving a statement of claim, or putting in a reminder when the mandatory mediation kicked in.

Filing 100

Filing Travel Time Zones International 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

DECEMBER 28, 2015

During the holidays it is important to have people in the office to keep things going. I like working during this time because you can get so much done that you normally don't have time to do. Here are some of the things I will be doing: Cleaning out my desk drawers - I just started this job a little over a month ago. The girl who was there before me was there for 9 years and before they hired me there were two temporary people sitting at my desk so you can imagine the desk drawers were very dis

Staples 100

Staples Holidays Agenda Filing 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

AUGUST 27, 2013

'I found this great site with basic filing rules for names. I found it very useful so I thought I''d share: [link] I''ve also added it to my sidebar under Filing for your future reference.

Filing 100

Filing 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

FEBRUARY 14, 2013

If anyone missed my February minute-taking webinar, there is another one coming up on March 8th. If you are interested, please register here. In this session I want to provide tips and ideas on what to do before, during and after the meeting. I find there are three important things you need in order to take good minutes: You need to learn how to take the minutes and have a clear idea on what you need to record; You should have guidelines and checklists to ensure quality and so you won’t forget a

Confidence 100

Confidence Learning UPS 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

AUGUST 4, 2012

I once worked with someone who had body language that you could read like a book. Stern looks, sad demeanor, very angry looking at times, sighing, interrupting while you were talking, especially when they were not in agreement, by harrumphing, sighing and rolling the eyes. It was disconcerting, but they didn't appear to be aware they were doing it. When I pointed it out, they said, "I can't help the way I look".

Cubicle 100

Cubicle Phones Calendars Skills 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

JULY 14, 2012

I have been involved in conducting a few interviews for admin jobs and here are two of the main things I have noticed about those who are unsuccessful: resumes are out of date and not relevant to the job applied for and the person was not prepared for the interview. When you go for an interview you have to keep in mind that they really do want to hire someone, but you have to make it worth their while to hire you.

Temping 100

Temping Mentoring Resume Interviewing 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

JULY 8, 2012

The admin role is a service-oriented position. Basically we are there to serve management - whether that be one executive or multiple managers and staff members. Managing our time can become more challenging when serving more than one person. Not that the volume is greater, because as someone who serves the CEO of our organization, I know that is not the case, but because it is coming from multiple sources it can seem overwhelming.

Management 100

Management Goals Email UPS 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

FEBRUARY 4, 2012

The first time my boss asked me to take minutes I gulped and the fear took over. I'm sure many of you can relate and know exactly what I mean. As I was walking to the boardroom I chattered nervously to him that I hadn't taken minutes since high school. It ended up being a ploy to get me to the boardroom for a baby shower - Surprise!!! Whew, I had dodged a bullet, but I knew this, I never wanted to take a job that required minute taking.

Confidence 100

Confidence Mentoring Learning Interviewing 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

JANUARY 31, 2012

I use the Ctrl keys so frequently that I almost forgot a few good ones. To open a new blank document in Word, press Ctrl n. To open a document, press Ctrl o. Ctrl F4 will close the document, Alt F4 will close the document and the program. If you haven't saved the document, it will prompt you to Save, Don't Save or Cancel. Or you can press Ctrl s before you close it.

PowerPoint 100

PowerPoint 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

JANUARY 29, 2012

Someone at work was trying to paste something by right clicking and using the paste option. There were three options to choose from with a symbol for a paint brush, an arrow and the letter 'A'. She tried one and it wasn't the paste she wanted so she said in frustration, "I never know which one to choose." Each of the paste options do have a purpose, but for what we were trying to do I told her to just press Ctrl v and that would do it.

Keyboards 100

Keyboards Administrative Professionals 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

JANUARY 22, 2012

As many of you know, I have been in administrative work for over thirty years. As much as I've enjoyed it, a lot of injuries come with our line of work. Recently, I was being assessed by a personal trainer at the gym and was complaining about my weak arms and she asked what profession I was in. As soon as I told her what I did for aliving she gave a knowing nod.

Ergonomics 100

Ergonomics Stress 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

JANUARY 19, 2012

I thought this was an interesting post about office friendships. I tend to keep my personal and office life separate, but I do have many friends today that I first met while working together. I worked with one of my friends over 30 years ago. We both went our separate ways: I moved out west with my young daughter and started working for an oil company and she got married, started a family and continued to work at the law enforcement agency we had both worked for.

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IAAP Agencies Environment Holidays 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

DECEMBER 10, 2011

Office talk, or water cooler conversations, can be just that: what did you do on the weekend, what activities are your children participating in, what great new restaurant you tried, etc. etc., but what about when the conversation turns to gossip? Gossip can be vicious and in some cases even lead to disciplinary action or getting fired if you are the one doing it.

Gossip 100

Gossip Restaurants Forms Administrative Professionals 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

I've mentioned this before, but it is true -- proofreading is a lost art. I think people are over confident with spell check and forget that it can only do so much. Lists: I was working with someone and we were comparing a list to make sure we had all the right people with their names spelled right, correct title and address. The first thing I did was count the number of people on the list I was working from and then I counted them on the list I was getting the information from, it was out by th

Email 100

Email Filing Confidence Google 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

It's hard to believe it was 10 years ago today that this tragedy happened. It was certainly an event that changed a lot of things in our world and I'm sure each of us can remember exactly where we were on that fateful day. I heard one of the wives speak whose husband was a pilot on the second plane that crashed into the World Trade Centre. What an inspiration she was as she and her family dealt with the loss.

Management 100

Management 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

SEPTEMBER 4, 2011

Whether you are an Executive Assistant or an Administrative Assistant, email management of our boss's account has become a big part of our jobs. But with that job comes responsibility and accountability. Depending on what your boss's title is we are often privy to some very confidential information. Our boss either has allowed us access because he or she is just overwhelmed with email and has no choice, but also because they trust that we will keep the information to ourselves and not spread inf

Email 100

Email Restaurants Travel Management 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

MAY 11, 2011

I finally figured out my assistant meant follow up.

UPS 100

UPS 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

MARCH 29, 2011

I just finished a busy few months leading up to our Board of Directors meeting and it went very smoothly. I love it when things fall into place, but that doesn't happen without a lot of planning. To get ready the first thing I do is populate my to-do list with the tasks I need to do leading up to the event. I go through my checklist of what I will need to bring to the venue, anything I need to remember to include in the meeting package and just about anything that doesn't fit goes on my catchall

Agenda 100

Agenda Confidence Meeting Planning UPS 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

DECEMBER 5, 2010

I used to think it didn't matter if we went to the office party and rarely would go. I'm single and I don't like going to parties alone, especially the office party? At our local IAAP chapter dinner we heard a speaker from an etiquette protocol company Savoir-Faire and she suggested that it was very important to go to the office party because it was more about protocol and networking and how you are viewed as a team player than socializing.

Etiquette 100

Etiquette Business Cards IAAP Agenda 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

OCTOBER 9, 2010

Hi everyone, Contests are always fun and this one sounds like it could be interesting. I'm sure we all have some interesting office stories to tell and if you can win some money too, well that makes it even more interesting. So put your thinking caps on and check it out at this website: [link] If you are like me, you need to read some of the other stories just to get your creative juices flowing and there are some posted on the site just for that purpose.

100

100

Laughing all the Way to Work

OCTOBER 2, 2010

Sometimes I find meeting requests are not as clear as they could be. I like to see at a glance who will be at the meeting, what the purpose is and where the meeting will be held without having to open it. For instance: Subject: Patricia, Adele and Rita meeting to discuss Christmas Party Location: Large Boardroom, 5th Floor If it is a lunch meeting I enter the restaurant name, street address and whether a reservation was made.

Calendars 100

Calendars Holidays Agenda Administrative Professionals 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

I especially like it when the item is useful. I was asked to try out the Dymo 260P Label Maker and by doing so I got to keep it. I immediately brought it to the office to put it to good use. There are so many uses for it and I especially like the fact that it is a hand-held device and very easy to use. Even I didn’t have any problems making a label and that was before I even read the instructions.

Filing 100

Filing UPS 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

SEPTEMBER 20, 2007

One day I was particularly frustrated because of my overwhelming pile of filing. I had recently changed jobs and in this new position I worked for two busy lawyers and I was used to only working for one, so the filing had doubled. I was mentioning to my co-worker about this problem and she suggested a very simple solution that has helped me manage my filing pile.

Filing 100

Filing Legal Management 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

SEPTEMBER 22, 2007

I send telephone messages to my boss by email rather than writing it on a telephone message pad. That way it won't get lost in the pile and saves on paper. You could also open a folder in Outlook for Telephone Messages if that would be useful to refer back to. Voicemail Tips: Remember to put an Out-of-Office voicemail message on your telephone when you will not be in the office.

Holidays 100

Holidays Email 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

APRIL 24, 2008

Here are a few articles I wanted to pass along that I thought were very appropriate during Administrative Professionals' Week. Secretary Jobs Evolving Into Something More by Karen Robes in the dailybreeze.com In Celebration of Administrative Assistants by Jenny May in The News-Herald.com This blog post by Ellen Bloom from Los Angeles is my Beat is worth looking at just for the first photo.

Administrative Professionals 100

Administrative Professionals 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

NOVEMBER 2, 2007

Adding voting buttons to your e-mail message is great if you are sending a message that requires people to respond to a question and you want to track the responses. For example if you are having an internal training session and have a choice of times to attend, you can send an email with the details of the sessions with the choices. For example the voting buttons could be Monday 9 a.m.

Microsoft Outlook 100

Microsoft Outlook IAAP International Email 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

SEPTEMBER 28, 2007

Updated this article on April 29, 2008 [link] I am always looking for shortcuts and I found a neat way to speed up my typing using AutoCorrect. For example, if I type sbc and press the spacebar (or press enter) it automatically types SENT BY COURIER. Here are some others I use regularly: sbf - SENT BY FACSIMILE sbr - SENT BY REGISTERED MAIL p&c - PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL You can create an AutoCorrect for as many words as you like, but unless they are simple you will tend to forget what yo

2008 100

2008 UPS 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

FEBRUARY 9, 2008

I had an interview at 11, but I was busy with my job, my father was in the hospital and I was trying to arrange an engagement party for my daughter. I just didn’t have time to bring my clothes to the dry cleaner, and worse than that I had an inch of grey roots showing and I hadn't coloured my hair. I finally decided that they would just have to take me as I was because I didn't have the time to do everything I knew I should be doing to prepare for this interview.

Interviewing 100

Interviewing Job Hunting Confidence Salary 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

AUGUST 3, 2007

Updated this article February 13, 2008 [link] Unfortunately, in one job I had I was involved on the downside of government downsizing, but I feel that even during a seemingly bad experience, you can always learn something positive. The employer I was working for sent me on career counselling as part of the "downsizing package". One of the many things I remember, and have put to good use, was a workshop on resume writing.

Resume 100

Resume 2004 Legal Interviewing 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

APRIL 27, 2008

This is definitely good news for our profession. Here is an article from the Wausau Daily Herald where they quote Department of Labor statistics on the future growth of our profession. Click here to read the article. For a direct link to the Department of Labor report click here. Tags: department of labor statistics good news for the assistant professional assistant Administrative Assistant.

Administrative Professionals 100

Administrative Professionals 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

APRIL 27, 2008

I am always looking for shortcuts and I found a neat way to speed up my typing using AutoCorrect. For example, here are a few I have created. If I type sbc and press the spacebar (or press enter) it automatically types SENT BY COURIER. Here are some others I use: sbf - SENT BY FACSIMILE sbr - SENT BY REGISTERED MAIL p&c - PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL Your Autocorrect shortforms are case sensitive, so choose whether they will be lower case or upper case.

2007 100

2007 Forms UPS 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

APRIL 29, 2008

This is the time of year for spring cleaning and your office probably needs a good clean up too. Make your desk clutter free inside and out. You should have as much working space as possible. Have a place for everything and use it. Keep your drawers neat and tidy. Recycle extra staplers, scissors, highlighters and pens that you do not need. Use a drawer organizer so you can separate items and make things neat.

Filing 100

Filing Management UPS 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

MARCH 13, 2008

My boss occasionally asks me to change her out of office message for her on her e-mail account as she is rushing out the door on a business trip or on vacation. Another assistant’s boss asks her to change his voicemail message when he is out of the office. E-mail Out of Office When you are asked to write an out-of-office message for your boss you need to ask them a few questions: 1.

Retirement 100

Retirement Medical Phones Calendars 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

MAY 5, 2008

In one interview I went on it was stressed that they were looking for someone who had excellent communication skills, a great telephone manner and someone who was easy to get along with. They were looking for someone who would help strengthen the relationship between them and their client and they were wise to know that the administrative assistant could be that go-between.

Etiquette 100

Etiquette Stress Confidence Interviewing 100

Laughing all the Way to Work

MAY 6, 2008

I was on another blog and they had a section for 10 things they had done that they didn't think anyone else had done. I tried to think of 10 things I had done that others might not have done, but I could only come up with a few and even those I thought others probably had done. I did however come up with 20 things that I have learned from my mistakes over the years, both at the office and personally.

Learning 100

Learning Filing Travel UPS 100