Challenges and Improvements

[susan silva]

I just got this one line email with this interesting question:

This is the question “Explain the challenges faced by PAs and recommendations to improve them.”    So I ask.   What are the challenges and do you have any recommendations to improve them? 

[eturtle]

Quality training.  At this point I venture to say most of us learn what we know on our own through trial and error.  Software packages, procedures in the office, even when we plan our first major event.   We learn to represent our boss and many times mimic our bosses leadership styles.   There are so many soft skills and hard skills we can do, if we were provided training.  My recommendation for improving this situation is to talk to your boss, find out where you can make his/her job easier then research training opportunities and hope your company has a budget!   Aligning your potential studies with that on how to make your bosses jobs easier can be an win / win situation.  On top of that, read what  you can, take tutorials, always improve and learn where you can.   

[susan silva]

The redesign post pushed this one down.  I am hoping a few people still will think about challenges and improvements and post.

[Cathy S]

Mmmm I have been thinking about this since it was first posted - and it is something I have been thinking about for a blog following some interesting discussions with my academic colleagues the past few days - one of the main challenges facing our profession seems to be the aspirations of secretarial and administrative staff and how organisations respond to these.

I'll work up the blog with the detail; to summarise, it seems that those we support generally think that the majority of support staff don't have career aspirations and at the same time they expect us to demonstrate an unwieldy combination of proactive and reactive - we are expected to anticipate their every need, yet when they or someone else drops the baton we are expected to pick it up and run quickly.

PAs, Admins have the same range of career aspirations as any other profession; unfortunately whilstever organisations see us as an overhead, a cost on the balance sheet because we do not generate income (directly), equality of opportunity will be limited to all but the most determined.

This is not an easy or quick situation to improve.  Ultimately the only answer is for those of us who seriously want to achieve our aspirations to stand up and be counted.  I'll include some ideas about ways to do that in the blog too ... oh I'd better go and get writing - promise what you can deliver and deliver on what you promise!