Get Ahead as an Executive PA (Level 3)
COURSE OVERVIEW
This two-day Executive PA Programme gives new and experienced PAs all the tools and tricks of the trade they need to excel at what they do. First delivered in 2011, the course is one of the most popular PA courses in the UK, having been delivered in London, South Africa and internationally since 2011. The course includes the revolutionary Five Folder System™, which has taught to hundreds of PAs, enabling them to remain organised even when dealing with huge amounts of work and feeling swamped with the many activities they need to accomplish.
At a glance
By the end of this Personal Assistant course, delegates will:
- Understand the role of the Personal Assistant, the skills required and the expectations senior managers have of their Personal Assistants
- Know how values, personal motivation and positive thinking can enhance your effectiveness at work
- Appreciate that the more senior you become, the more important your ‘behaviours’ and your emotional intelligence becomes
- Know how to work autonomously, set daily routines and make decisions
- Be ready to take the lead on meeting administration – learn smarter ways to create agendas, meeting papers and minutes
- Work more effectively with senior managers and become more resilient when working under pressure
- Know how to deal with their emotions at work to remain calm and collected
- Learn new systems to keep the PA organised and focused on the task at hand
- Develop and learn strategies of workflow – both paper and paperless
- Know how to prioritise work and work for multiple bosses
- Be prepared to take control of your job, and climb the career ladder with confidence
Day 1 – All about you and your role as a new-style EA
1. Welcome and introduction/course overview
- Where am I now? Where do I want to go?
- What do I like about my current role? What do I dislike about my role?
- What do I want to get out of this programme?
- Career planning and setting goals – why is this important?
2. Re-defining the role of the Executive PA
- EA versus PA – challenges and considerations; future-proofing the EA role
- High expectations - perfectionism versus pragmatism
- Providing a service; providing solutions
- Seeing yourself as a manager and adding wider organisational value
- Changing others’ perceptions of the role - visibility, status and profile
- Key skills: adding value; creating a specialism
3. Your Values, Beliefs and Personal Motivation
- Your values in relation to your job
- Personal motivation – staying motivated at work
- It's the thought that counts - the law of attraction and positive thinking; how this drives excellence in PAs
4. The PA Competency Model
- Your behaviours (the how) are as important as your execution (the what)
- How you respond to the demands of others
- Managing your emotions at work - the Five-Second Rule
- Dealing with difficult managers
- Setting boundaries – with yourself and others
- Perception is reality; perception is projection
5. Daily Routines
- Diary management - day folder, diary pack, travel planning and itineraries
- Looking after the boss
- Using the Five Folder System™ to remain organised when swamped with paperwork
- Thinking ahead; pre-empting workloads
- Taking control without taking over
- Scheduling your own time
- How to delegate work and ask others for help
- Pushing back appropriately and diplomatically
Day 2 – Daily routines continued, practical strategies for effective Boss/PA working and being more effective at your job
6. Meetings, Agendas and Correspondence
- The PA as the meeting manager
- Owning and devising agendas and papers for meetings
- Not making a meal out of minutes
- The PA as the Chair of a meeting
- Drafting correspondence – useful phrases to use
7. Workflow management
- Workflow management – including e-mails and inbox
- How to ‘process’ your work
- PA Mode versus Boss Mode – two ways of working
- Paper and paperless working
- Smarter ways of working
- Not being a slave to emails and technology
8. Working Effectively with the Boss
- Their relationship with you; your relationship with them
- Seeing the boss as a customer; seeing colleagues as customers
- Exceeding expectations
- Strategies and rules for successful Boss/PA working
- Setting boundaries – with yourself and others
- Dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity
- Strategies for coping when things go wrong
- An introduction to the transactional analysis and how this relates to the PA role
9. Working under Pressure
- Working under pressure
- Dealing with a high volume of work
- Remaining focused and getting the job done
- Managing your emotions at work - learning not to collect other people's "stuff" at work
10. The way forward
- What will I do differently as a result of this programme?
- Personal action planning – for now and the future
- Continuing my professional development