By Louise Reid
Louise Reid has been working at Carat, a global media agency, for the past 4 years where she is Office Manager and PA to the CCO, CSO and Deputy MD. When not at work, you may find her busy baking competitively for her work Cake Club!
I’ve recently been promoted and with that have achieved my personal career goal of being a PA with a PA!
However, that has brought up a whole new set of challenges with it, the main one being I now need to learn how to delegate.
In our offices we often joke that certain directors have got delegating down to a “fine art” but since starting my new role heading up the PAs I've realised that it's actually far more important a skill than we thought, and that you need to master when in any kind of management role.
Generally in the role of PA you're the one who is having things delegated to you but leaning how and when to do it can be a very important and useful skill. I think as PAs we probably find it more difficult to delegate than most as we’re used to being in control of everything so half the battle is learning how to give up the work to someone else.
Inevitably when you start a new role with more responsibility and people to manage you will become a lot busier. I've found the only way to cope with this is to get help with some of the million and one tasks I suddenly find are now my responsibility to sort out.
I would say there's three things to remember:
1 - You cannot do everything so don't try.
As always, lists are you friends. Figure out what has got to be done and any smaller tasks that can be done quickly get them out of the way and then focus on the bigger ones - are these things you could pass on to your assistant and team?
2 - Don’t just pass on the boring things!
I know from experience that being handed all the rubbish your boss doesn't want to do can be boring and de-motivating. Keep it varied to keep their day interesting.
3 – Be clear and explain things properly when delegating.
This will help them develop their skills and know the reasons behind what they’re doing and the impact that has on the business. With more experience they’ll be able to take on more responsibility and move on within their own careers.
Are you a PA with a PA or PA to a PA? Got a question for Louise about being a PA with a PA? Feel free to leave your questions and comments below.
To find a new PA, EA or Secretarial role, upload your CV to get head hunted and search and apply here
And...don't forget to Enter. Closing date: 24th August 2012.
Click here to enter
Comments