 Lessons Learned: What the Past has Taught Us
In recent months, a number of positive indicators have been pointing to a long-awaited economic turnaround. While it may be too early to celebrate, it's not too soon to take a look at the past few years and consider the lessons learned. In some cases, there were probably situations over which you had no control: layoffs, budget cuts, projects that were shifted from high priority to low and vice versa. However, there are still insights to be gained. Difficult times can be a catalyst for growth. By reflecting on these struggles, you can evaluate your professional strengths and weaknesses and be better prepared for any future challenges.
Lesson #1: Doing More With Less To one degree or another, workers in most organizations had to accomplish more with fewer resources. Many administrative professionals had to handle the same number of projects - or more - with fewer staff members to share the workload. Multitasking became a must. You probably collaborated with colleagues you'd never worked with before and developed alternative solutions to complex problems. What you learned is that you can do more than you thought you could -- with less than you ever imagined. You had to meet seemingly impossible deadlines by relying on teamwork, creativity and an intense personal focus. And through this, you were able to strengthen your skills in identifying and prioritizing the most critical parts of the job to meet the challenge. Questions to consider:
Lesson #2: Sharpening Your Time Management Skills Let's face it: The only way to do more with less is to be extremely resourceful and efficient. Your focus and energy had to shift in an instant to keep up with changing priorities, and you may have felt like you had no time to organize your thoughts let alone your daily to-do list. But you did. Perhaps you made sure that at the end of each day you set aside five minutes to plan for the next day's critical tasks or assignments. Or maybe you simply played it by ear, fielding requests and projects as they came in without forgetting other key responsibilities. Either way, if you were successful in managing your time effectively, you ultimately became more self-sufficient. You didn't have to wait to be told what to do; you knew what needed attention and you did it. And this means that you demonstrated superb organizational skills that can ultimately lead to greater autonomy and responsibility. Questions to consider:
As we all know, the one thing that's constant in life is change. And over the course of the recession, there were multiple aspects of life at work that were in flux. Layoffs led to restructurings (the reverse was also true), business priorities shifted and new responsibilities might have been added to your to-do list. In many companies, administrative professionals learned new technologies to help streamline functions and facilitate projects. They may have also been designated -- officially or unofficially -- as mentors to new support staff members. Flexibility is key to managing change. With an open-minded approach, professionals can quickly adapt to new procedures and policies without getting bogged down in thoughts of "what used to be." In a downturn, managers rely on employees to make the extra effort, to seek a creative approach. Your initiative and willingness to take on new and unfamiliar tasks proved to you, and your boss, that you could handle just about anything that came your way. Questions to consider:
Lesson #4: Being an Indispensable Employee The question on most people's minds during a recession is, How do I make sure I'm the employee my company can't live without? To be indispensable is to have some reasonable level of job security. But, more than that, it means your prospects for advancement and professional growth are exceptional. To demonstrate your value, you proved your talents in each of the areas just outlined: doing more with less, having strong time-management skills and effectively adapting to change. You also had to be the person who could help answer any question without necessarily having all the answers yourself. You were the conduit of information, not a bottleneck. And your overriding goal in every project was to help the team succeed. Questions to consider:
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