Week of August 9th-Role changes

[andream]

We've all read grand stories about what the office will be like in 2050. In fact some of us have been around to recall the projections which were made by journalists for the year 2000. (Remember how we were all be out of jobs due to the computer?).  So this week's sound off is about your perceptions.  What do YOU as working administrative professionals think the job will evolve into by the year 2050.  What will your roles and responsibilities be? How will the job have changed and will those changes be for the better or worse?

Should be an interesting thread...

Do Tell.

Andrea

[gee4]

Well since I have been through redundancy and lots of changes I can see what is no longer needed in the private sector compared to the public sector.  Eg.  I do not take shorthand at meetings, my minutes are actions not actual she said/he said and most of my job revolves around travel and diary management.

At the minute I use a lot of online tools to do my job and can see that evolving even more.  Even if I log a call to report the printer is jammed part of that is automated.  When I have an HR issue or similar I have to log this online and I get a ticket number saying your case will be dealt with in due course.  Even then, I get an email from the support helpdesk with a resolution to my problem.

It's like I:Robot - we shall prob all be programmed to do our jobs in 2050 rather than have to think for ourselves.  I think more people will work from home and you won't have to come into the office.  I see more online meetings, webinars and webcasts where you are in a virtual office and dial in from an offsite location.

I would also probably guess PAs will not be required in the capacity they are in now and that they will be required to do more work along the lines of management.

G

[movinonup]

My main duty is coordinating meetings and seminars, both internal and external.
I maintain invitation lists and action item lists for the internal meetings.  For the external ones, paperwork for the customers still has to be printed and organized, even if they're getting CDs of the material presented.  They'll always need refreshments, also....who's going to order and put that stuff out for them?

I'm also required to be physically "there" for package labeling (done on-line) and shipping out.  

The office still requires an actual real live voice for the customer to talk to on the phone.  We can placate the customer and find solutions for them while our managers are on the road.

We need to be there to keep the workflow going also.  If my boss starts a project and then goes on a trip, I'll be there to follow through with team members in other offices.

I don't see any of these items going away, but I do notice that managers are required to learn more items that normally would be considered clerical.  For example, two of my sales engineers are being trained on SAP in order to set their own product pricing.  I'm not certain what management has in mind in this vein. It's the one thing that's making me a bit nervous about my job.

Movinonup

[countrigal]

I see more and more of us in more traditional management-style roles due to a reduction in true PA jobs.  I think that as our managers become increasingly more computer and electronic-savy, a lot of the duties performed by PA's will be done by the manager him/herself.  In certain career fields, I can also see more and more virtual jobs and offices, also adding to the lower number of true PA jobs.  But there will always be those fields that will require an actual office space, and real people in them.  Unfortunately, I see more of those "real people" being the receptionist and a few managers, and less PA's.  I think the true change though, is going to be in management.  Those managers who couldn't put 2 words together in a coherent sentence, couldn't turn on a PC, much less open a document on it, and who have no people skills, will be replaced by those people with the skills that are the standard for PA's.  Thus my statement that more PA's will be in management-style positions.  Companies are trying to save money any where they can, and if that means paying one person instead of 2, then we all know what they will choose.  If a manager is able to do his/her own memos, has voicemail and returns calls, can work e-mail, and is able to multi-task, then why do they need a PA?  Those PA's that remain will find themselves working for an increasing number of managers.  They'll be a shared resource, available for assistance in setting up meetings, setting up seminar/meeting places, assisting on larger projects, etc but will be used less on an individual "can you type this for me" basis.  I think that the days of being "X's PA" are numbered.  We'll soon find ourselves being the one of the company's PA's, or the PA for 'Group Y'.  Kind of sounding like we'll be going back to the typing-pool time, except it won't be typing.  Hmmm... really starts ya thinking, huh?

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

[JessW]

While I concur with the above comments, one element of office life / overheads which has not been covered so far is the myth of the "paperless office".  This will happen with more people relying on less paper products.  Technology, I believe, will advance to such a stage where the common-place paper document (even those that need signing) will become obsolete.  This will also mean saying bye-bye to printers, copiers, toner cartridges, paper clips, traditional style pens and pencils and a whole load more besides.

That is how I see it.  It will become inevitable.

Jess

[spitfire78]

In the secretarial portion of my job, I have already seen such a change in the last 25 years.  Years ago, as secretaries, we did EVERYTHING for the bosses.  We knew everything that was going on and could discuss the business intelligently.  As things stand now, we are switchboard operators and letter transcribers.  All of the reports, slide presentations, etc. are done by the bosses themselves.  My skills have fallen way off in that area due to lack of use.  Because of e-mail and various other means of communication, I also find that we know nothing about what is going on business-wise.  I know nothing about visitors until they show up, job interviews, etc.  The bosses do most of the communicating themselves and even handle their own appointments any more.  If all I did was secretarial work, I would be bored out of my mind these days!

Frankly, in my company, I think the secretary will be gone by the year 2050.  The staff of 4 secretaries in my department will be replaced by 2 receptionists who will merely sit and answer the phone all day.  Unless, of course, they finally decide to make use of voicemail, in which case it will be 1 receptionist who will simply forward calls to the bosses' voicemail. By that time, I think even the letters will be done by the bosses using voice activated software.

Maybe in other companies, it will mean more management level positions for the current PA's to be elevated too.  But in my company, I foresee it going the other way - the secretarial role will become less and less until it is non-existent.

Wow - now I'm really depressed

[peana]

Hubby was out last night, so I had a chance to watch '9 to 5' that I'd taped months ago.  I'd forgotten the scene with Jane Fonda and the huge xerox copier!  Progress is a fantastic thing!

We're currently installing document management systems throughout the different departments here which should have a huge impact on the amount of paper records stored as every paper document is scanned as soon as it arrives and then distributed via email.  However, I still find myself printing loads of reports and documents for bossie as he hates reviewing them on the PC and will not even attempt to use features that allow you to add electronic comments!  Maybe this attitude will change with time as software and hardware develop to make this more user friendly, but it seems pretty common at present.

[sobriquetnic]

Hi Andrea

I've actually been interested by something that has 'happened' to my boss this last week.

Since my printing issues of last week (see 'Admins 4 Admins') my boss has been trying to get on with things where he can including sending his own emails.  Perhaps I scared him a bit! lol!  He always dictated emails to me but I think he has discovered that he can probably do them just as quickly by sitting there and getting on with them.

This is perhaps where I feel roles will change.  Bosses may well realise that they can actually do things which they historically passed to us to do.  I know certainly with my boss that he seems to get a great deal of satisfaction from doing something which is really just part of everyday working life to you or I (like printing selected text!  Bless 'im!).

Doesn't bode well does it?!  Still, he doesn't seem to have found the kettle just yet...

All the best,
Nicola.

[gee4]

If I thought all my bosses were going to dictate emails that I in turn had to type and send, I think I'd run away!  All my current bosses and teams send and receive their own emails ...... doesn't that save time in the long run if they want a quick reply or something they receive is confidential??

G

[uberpa]

I predict there will be no pas/secs or admins.  Most of the functions will be incorporated into managers responsibilities.  As I see it now most of them could do the things I do for them themselves they just don't want to.  It wouldn't really make any extra work for them or take any extra time out of their day.  In fact by 2050 it will be even easier and there will be no justification for having a PA.  Which is good because I don't plan to be doing this then as I'll be nearly 80

They still haven't figured out a way to your email to my brain, use the CC field!

[peana]

I can still see a role for someone to organise bossie - he certainly wouldn't have time to try and co-ordinate a meeting with more than a handful of attendees.  Even if in future there is some fantastic hardware or software that makes VC and remote working a breeze, there's no machine that can negotiate getting an hour slot in an already jam-packed diary!  

I've organised 3-way VCs between different offices around the globe, but I think it would be very difficult for a chairman to run a meeting with any more external links.  Also, when you're trying to organise a meeting across 3 time zones (UK, Australia, US) it needs a real person to try and persuade an attendee to accept a start time of 2300 or 0500.

There are many things that our bossies CAN do for themselves, but it's not always cost effective for them to spend their time in this way.  Something about monkeys and organ-grinders comes to mind, but I can't remember the quote!

[raindance]

This is an interesting subject for speculation.  It's pretty impossible to predict what will happen so many years in the future.  When I was at school I remember being told that businesses would be completely paperless.  I know that some businesses do operate without the use of paper, or with minimal use, but most do still cling to paper.  

Thinking back over my own relatively short career in admin support, I started work when wordprocessors were the in-thing and the internet was considered to be some rare and precious thing.  I also began work as a "traditional" PA/Secretary and now I have specialised in areas of work which would, in the past, have been undertaken by someone much more "senior" than me.

I think that there will always be a need for an admin support certainly at Chief Executive/Managing Director level.  I also think that at other levels there will probably be a development in responsibilities for admins.  I expect there to be greater teamwork and perhaps admins will take on more of the role of a "co-ordinator" or will work in various areas of specialism appropriate to their industry.

Raindance

[sobriquetnic]

Hi G

This is just something that my boss has always done.  And as I have his email account set up on my PC just to send but not receive, he always receives the replies directly.  His typing is so atrocious that I just don't think he can face doing them if they are lengthy!

All the best,
Nicola.