lunch break AND ONE


MORE THING . . .


THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING PATIENT


ANA PEÑUELAS, an executive assistant from Madrid, ponders the virtues of patience in an office environment


Almost everybody deals with annoying colleagues at work daily – those who don’t do their job properly and want us to solve their problems. Well, this is something that we, PAs and EAs, have to face every day. Assistants are required to be proficient in performing technical and


Ana Peñuelas Executive assistant


specialised administrative office work, analysing and resolving office and procedural problems, coordinating projects, setting priorities, etc. But one of the most important and difficult abilities we are asked to have and to put into practice is coping with difficult people at work – not always an easy task. We work surrounded by some excellent colleagues, always ready to help


and with a positive attitude. However, we also have to work closely with team members who aren’t self-confident, haven’t the capacity to make a decision without the constant approval of the boss and sometimes don’t even care about the consequences of their lack of skills.


WHAT CAN WE DO? PAs and EAs, in our role as ‘guardians of the executive’, need to be patient. We are the face of our company and our boss and it is crucial that emotions and personal opinions are set aside. As part of the boss’s team, we need to interact professionally with people


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on a regular basis, so a good tactic in dealing with a complicated situation with a difficult person is: show yourself as accepting and supportive as possible, limit the relationship with this person to the working area you share and refrain from chatting or personal conversations. Dealing with non-collaborative colleagues


effectively demonstrates the key role that PAs and EAs play in a company. Are we an essential link between the management team and the employees? Yes, we are!


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