Professional Assistant Blog

FEBRUARY 19, 2008

Home About Me Advertise Adhering to the "Open Door" Policy By The Professional Assistant on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 Filed Under: Meetings , Prioritize I n my last job, I had my own office. If it was my boss that showed up, well, that’s a different story. If it was my boss that showed up, well, that’s a different story.

Policies 100

Policies 2008 Cubicle 2007 100

Ian's Messy Desk

OCTOBER 20, 2010

Home About Contact Me Links Sitemap Memory Makeover: Tips to Spruce Up an Absent Mind Posted by Ian McKenzie Written on October 20, 2010 If youre new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Think you can successfully study the details of a report while talking on the phone and reading your horoscope? Thanks for visiting!

UPS 100

UPS 2006 Keyboards Ergonomics 100

Ian's Messy Desk

NOVEMBER 10, 2010

name, address, phone number) will be used. Follow up with creditors if bills don’t arrive on time. Refuse to give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the internet unless you have initiated the contact or you know who you’re communicating with. Ask to use other forms of identification.

Credit Card 100

Credit Card Holidays Policies Ergonomics 100

Ian's Messy Desk

MAY 28, 2010

Test you telephone skills with this simple quiz: How quickly should you pick up a ringing phone? Answers Answer a ringing phone by the third ring. Set up your voice mail to answer after the third ring. If your phone system shows internal vs. external calls, alter your greeting appropriately. Answers after the jump.

Etiquette 100

Etiquette Ergonomics Phones Health 100

Ian's Messy Desk

MAY 18, 2010

Schedule tasks appropriately – After lunch is not the best time to read the long, lulling policy eport. Make phone calls, have meetings and other social tasks. Try a “pick-me-up&# – Listen to high-energy music, so long as it doesn’t disturb co-workers or workflow. Breath deep, drink cold water, etc.

Ergonomics 100

Ergonomics Health Policies Holidays 100

Ian's Messy Desk

MAY 25, 2010

Make an appointment - Don’t just hope you find the time to clean up, set a calendar entry and stick to it. Remove everything else - pens, stapler, toys, gadgets, phone, monitor, etc. Or, if you prefer, you can subscribe to my blog posts by e-mail. Thanks for visiting! Boxes or storage containers to use for sorting.

Calendars 100

Calendars Ergonomics Filing Health 100

Professional Assistant Blog

OCTOBER 31, 2008

Then a bunch of co-workers show up in costumes. Do you like to dress up in fancy or scary costumes for this occasion? Do you want to dress up at the office, but not sure what to wear or if you even can? You dont want to end up at work and be the only one wearing a costume. What are you dressing up as? What a sight!

2008 100

2008 Cubicle Google Docs 2007 100

Ian's Messy Desk

JULY 6, 2010

Phone ringing? When I’m doing important work, I also switch off my phone. Planning really enables focus, and saying “No&# frees up time to actually do what was planned. Or defer it to a later period. 12 – Block out distractions. What’s distracting you in your work? Instant messages? Text messages popping in?

Management 100

Management Ergonomics Health 2010 100

Ian's Messy Desk

JUNE 9, 2010

Make meetings effective – Managers can spend an average of 17 hours a week in meetings, and that doesn’t include preparation and follow-up time. If you’re holding a meeting, draw up an agenda and circulate it to the staff attending beforehand. Archive Files: store in a filing cabinet or an off-site location.

Filing 100

Filing Ergonomics Cubicle Agenda 100

Professional Assistant Blog

SEPTEMBER 5, 2008

Home About Me Advertise Cover Your Tracks: E-mail Archiving By The Professional Assistant on Friday, September 05, 2008 Filed Under: MS-Outlook , Organize , Productivity , System Security D o you back up your e-mails in Microsoft Outlook ? There are two ways of backing up your e-mails. Are you familiar with this?

Microsoft Outlook 100

Microsoft Outlook 2008 2007 Cubicle 100

Ian's Messy Desk

JUNE 18, 2010

The signature automatically displays at the end of every message and typically contains contact information such as your full name, department, web page, and phone/fax numbers. Create an e-mail signature for all your outgoing mail. It’s like attaching a business card to every e-mail you send.

Email 100

Email Ergonomics Fax Health 100

Ian's Messy Desk

MAY 19, 2010

Don’t answer the phone or e-mail. Use that time to catch up on work. That explanation encourages better planning the next time. Set aside time for yourself Set the first two hours of your day for yourself. Once you establish a pattern, co-workers will learn to respect that time and not disturb you.

Assertiveness 100

Assertiveness Ergonomics Health Gifts 100

Professional Assistant Blog

NOVEMBER 1, 2007

Home About Me Advertise Cubicle Etiquette 101 By The Professional Assistant on Thursday, November 01, 2007 Filed Under: Office Gossip , Productivity D o you find that your colleagues are hovering around you when youre on the phone? If you need to talk on the phone, make sure that you keep your voice to a lower volume.

Cubicle 100

Cubicle Etiquette 2008 2007 100

Ian's Messy Desk

JUNE 2, 2010

Then, you’re back in the office after a long unplanned break: the message light on the phone is blinking; both your e-mail and hard-copy in-boxes are overflowing; last week’s next actions are now overdue; you staff and my manager all want a piece of you; and you just want to go home a crawl back into bed.

2007 100

2007 Ergonomics Health 2008 100

Professional Assistant Blog

FEBRUARY 20, 2008

Your company may have a policy on how they want you to address people in external business e-mail. Your company may have a strict policy on what they want you to include in the signature line and what it should look like, but generally you would include your name, title, company name and address, telephone and fax number. Who are you?

2008 100

2008 2007 Cubicle Fax 100

The Marq

JANUARY 14, 2010

I’ve tried a number of alternates to this on my PDAs of the past and phones, even on the CLIQ. None are as easy to use as any Olympus-brand voice recorder with a handful of (no pun intended) ergonomically-placed tactile keys. I’ve used it enough times to know where all the buttons are and how to work them.

2003 40

2003 Ergonomics Twitter Phones 40

Ian's Messy Desk

OCTOBER 22, 2010

Closing up your body profile—becoming smaller—looks like you lack confidence. It enriches those who receive, without impoverishing those who give. It happens in a flash and the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. A n open posture – Keep an open body position. That is worth a whopping 100%.

Learning 100

Learning Ergonomics Health Confidence 100

Ian's Messy Desk

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010

Make all your outgoing phone calls at the same time. This will free up time in your day. 5) Plan your phone calls Time spent on a phone call can easily get out of hand if you don’t have a plan in place. It will keep you on track in your conversation and eliminate follow-up calls for missed information.

Management 100

Management 2008 Ergonomics Stress 100

Ian's Messy Desk

JUNE 16, 2010

Make all your outgoing phone calls at the same time; organize your errands into a single run; reply to e-mail; etc. It might also have the effect of waking you up if nothing has been marked completed. Comment by Rhonda on May 14, 2008 @ 7:32 pm David, thanks for heads-up on the book. Save time by performing like tasks together.

2008 100

2008 Ergonomics Health Holidays 100

Ian's Messy Desk

JULY 28, 2010

One statistic found that, “The average desk worker has 36 hours worth of work on their desk and wastes up to 3 hours a week just “looking” for STUFF!&# Round them all up and transfer their information to something a little more permanent, efficient, and user-friendly. You might be less inclined to mess up a shiny desk.

2007 100

2007 Filing 2009 AT&T 100

Ian's Messy Desk

JUNE 1, 2010

Give your manager reasonable estimates of what your team can achieve and keep him or her informed of major issues or delays which come up. You might, for instance, ask your team members not to interrupt you for one hour each morning and afternoon to give yourself a chance to catch-up on your workload. Set boundaries. Don’t work alone.

Stress 100

Stress Health Mentoring Ergonomics 100