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National Office Professional of the Year 2007, Michele Holmes recalls a typical day at her office in Johannesburg before she left for China


08:00 to 09:00: Arrive in the office; grab a cup of coffee (nothing gets done without my morning coffee), a copy of the ‘business day’ newspaper and a cup of tea (Rooibos) for my boss. A quick check to see if my boss is where he should be and that he has everything he needs for his first meeting 8h30. I usually text him 15 minutes before the meeting to remind him of the time, meeting room and meeting subject (just in case).


08:00 to 10:00: The Discovery PA Exco committee as


put together a PA Induction program which informs new PA’s of the various work processes throughout the company, which they need to know in order to function effectively. I provide a talk and training on the BEE and Procurement processes (how to order stationery, how to buy goods and get your invoices paid, which suppliers to use etc…).


10:00 to 12:00: Get to the daily emails, administration


and paperwork (typing up minutes, drafting letters, stationery orders and distributions, booking venues and meeting rooms), whilst fielding phone calls and walk-in assistance requests. I assist a number of General Managers in our area as well as my direct boss, so I’ve always got travel bookings, recruitment coordination, team build events to arrange, meetings and one-on-one’s to set up etc...


12:00 to 13:00: Check in with my boss and go over


any documents which need his approval, comments and signature. Accept any further work assignments and send him on his way to lunch. Sometimes I bring his lunch up to his office if it’s a particularly busy day, but most days he will have lunch with work colleagues so they can discuss any business issues at the same time. I continue with more administration and assignments.


13:00 to 14:00: 14:00 to 16:00: Lunch time! I usually grab something


healthy from our canteen and eat at my desk so that I can do more emails and some desk work. I like to try to meet up with a colleague or my husband for lunch at least twice a week.


I like to arrange a 2 hour (round trip)


training session at least once a month where I would offer my time to a company to provide basic PA training or give a talk on various issues concerning office professionals. Today it’s a talk entitled « the 5 habits of highly effective PA’s ». Being the NOPTY provides great exposure and has brought many of these companies to my attention


who seek motivational talks for their staff but do not have a budget allocated to them for this. It’s a win-win situation as I get more exposure and experience with my public speaking and confidence and the company is able to provide free training and motivational talks for their PA’s. My mind is at ease because, although I’m out of the office, I forward my office phone as well as my boss’s office phone to my cellphone so that I never miss any calls and can return messages right away. I also have my e-mail synced so that I can take care of any urgent emails which might come through.


16:00: Check in with my boss to see if he needs anything


for the next day’s meetings and events. We usually have a cup of coffee together and discuss important issues and things I need to take care of. It’s great that we have a very open work relationship and I really appreciate that he trusts me to run my own day knowing that I’ll get through all the work and still have time to conspire with him on a practical joke or two for the department.


16:30: Go through emails and get documentation ready


for tomorrow’s meetings and events. I find that this is a great time to reduce my inbox because most employees have gone home by now so the number of outgoing mails will far exceed the number of incoming mails.


17:00: Daily filing (If I leave it for another day, it piles up


uncontrollably allowing me to practice my procrastination skills even further until I’m finally buried alive, besides, it’s much easier filing 10 documents a day than 500 a month). Occasionally there will be a PA Exco committee meeting scheduled from 5pm to 6pm which I will need to attend. Items on the agenda may range from Secretaries Day event planning to training to concerns within the company to arranging the next Discovery PA Conference or guest speakers for the PA’s in Discovery.


17:15: 18:00: Quick on-line course (I have a list of 21 courses


which I’d love to get through in the next year including Excel Advanced, PowerPoint Perfection, etc…). Today’s one is ‘‘negotiation skills’’.


One more cup of coffee (for the road) and


then I’m on my way home. Living 3.5km from home is a great bonus because I can use the time I would have spent in traffic to work on my personal development.


careersuccess • issue 2 13


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