Aspirations – not a problem! The world’s your oyster

“When we’ve got a bit of money, we’ll go on a really nice holiday.”
“I’ve always fancied working abroad.”
“I’d love a job like that.”
“I wish I were thinner.”

And I’m sure you can think of many more! We’ve all done it – dreamed of a top job, an exotic holiday or a catwalk figure – yet, how often do these things come to fruition? We sit and wait for money to drop from the sky, for weight to miraculously disappear or the MD to walk into our office and offer us our dream job. It won’t happen; we have to make things happen.

Quite a few people have told me how lucky I am to do the work I do – I appreciate their comments, but there wasn’t really a great deal of luck involved. It was down to picking a course I enjoyed after school, working hard to get qualifications, applying for jobs I wanted, taking opportunities if they came up by chance and making opportunities if they didn’t.

The only thing that’s stopping you achieving your ambition is probably you…..

OK, so, first step; how can you make that dream come true if you don’t know what it is. Oh yes, we know vaguely (see the opening quotes), but that’s not good enough. Let’s take each of those desires and make them specific :

“When we’ve got a bit of money, we’ll go on a really nice holiday.”
“When we have £3,000 we can holiday for 2 weeks in Barcelona.”

“I’ve always fancied working abroad.”
“I want to do my current job, but in Paris.”

“I’d love a job like that.”
“I want to work as a PA to a television executive.”

“I wish I were thinner.”
“I want to be a size 12 again.”

So, now we’re getting somewhere; now we know precisely what we want we can start to work out how to get it. Let’s take Barcelona (seems like a good idea to me!). We now have a focus to work on. We need £3,000; how long will it take us to save that, or when do we want to go to Barcelona? Let’s say we want to go in 12 months’ time. You probably have to pay for the holiday a couple of months before leaving so let’s say 10 months (it’s easier maths that way too!). We have to save £300 a month. Is that feasible? If yes, go for it; if not, change the plan or go later. Once that’s in place, you’re almost on your way.

How about your current job in Paris:

• Does your type of work exist in Paris?
• Do you speak French? If not, what can you do to learn, or should you look at another location where English is spoken?
• Where are jobs advertised?
• Have your joined relevant groups on LinkedIn?
• Are you a member of a Europe-wide networking organisation such as EuMa (www.euma.org)?
• Where would you live – could you afford it?
• Does your organisation have branches overseas?

Some of the questions below may also apply? Don’t forget to anticipate challenges – what may be the barriers to achieving your goal? How would you cope with these? What would enable you to battle through?

Let’s look now at the PA to a TV executive (or this could be any job you want). Ask yourself some questions:

• What qualifications are necessary, and do I have them?
• If I don’t have them, how can I get them?
• Which newspapers and websites advertise these types of jobs?
• Which agencies have TV companies on their books?
• What work experience do I need, and do I have it?
• If not, how can I get it?
• Do I know anyone who can help me?
• Is there any voluntary work I could do which would help?
• Is it worth sending my details to a company anyway, just in case?

Finally, losing weight; this is possibly the easiest to plan and the most difficult to achieve (I speak from personal experience!).

• What is your target weight?
• When do you want to achieve it? This time element is a vital part of any goal.
• How much must you lose each week?
• How will you achieve the weight loss (eg, what will you eat, how much (specifically) will you exercise, etc)

With all goals it’s good to throw in an occasional treat for achieving targets on the way.

Establish a clear, specific plan, set yourself deadlines and stick to them. And, as Thomas Edison said, “Just when something seems impossible, that’s the time to keep going”. You can do anything. 

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Minute taking – what PAs really want to know ….

As an inexperienced secretary, I hated taking notes and writing minutes – I’d rather have thrown myself downstairs! However, as I progressed to more senior roles, I eventually got the hang of it and have, since 2000, been helping other PAs and administrators to resolve their concerns.
Here are some hints on the skills you need:

• Being good at taking notes

You should have your own prepared system for taking quick notes. Remember you don’t need to write perfect English in the meeting. Prepare your abbreviations in advance of the meeting. If you haven’t already got a system, think about learning speedwriting or shorthand.

• Good mastery of English

This is very important so that people can understand your minutes and to reflect a good image of you, your department and organisation.

• Good vocabulary

You’ll need a good general vocabulary and an understanding of the technical terms, jargon and abbreviations that may be used in the meeting. Get yourself informed before the meeting so you’ll understand what’s being said.

• Word processing skills

A set of well presented minutes reflects well on you. If you are regularly minuting the same type of meeting then use a template. You can then use a laptop and type your notes straight onto your template – but remember you are not writing your minutes in the meeting, you are just taking notes.

• Summarising skills

This is after the meeting; you need to write a summary based on the notes you have taken. Minute taking is NOT dictation…. don’t “go through the process”.

• Listening skills

Always the first skill that people think of as the most difficult. Understanding the subject is one of the main ways to make life easier.

• Proofreading skills

It’s important to check your minutes after they have been typed. One tip is to print off the minutes and check them again.

• Knowledge of how to use reported speech

You may occasionally have to report what people say in minutes and, if so, reported speech should be used. However, by using excellent summarising skills you can avoid the „he said, she said‟ scenarios (see above).

• A good relationship with the Chairperson

A very important part of minute taking. A chairperson and minute taker should always have time together to prepare for their meetings.

• What to record

A sense of what you should and shouldn’t record is a skill that takes time to develop. It helps to understand your readership and the use of the minutes after they have been written. Most important – always include any actions. 
 

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Speedwriting

A PA trainer/coach has invented a new system of speedwriting to help make note taking less stressful. 

Heather Baker developed BakerWrite to meet the need of businesses for a quick and easy way for employees to take notes. Her speedwriting course became so popular that she has now written a book outlining the basics of her system.

She said: “When I was asked to teach speed writing I investigated various systems. All of those I researched seemed to have the same basics which I also use: silent letters, omitting vowels, phonetic options etc. However, I also use some of the techniques of the Pitman and Teeline shorthand systems.

“I also thought that many people may feel restricted by rigid systems and so wanted to ensure that learners could feel they were able to adapt the method to suit their preferences. I offer guidelines rather than principles, suggestions rather than rules.”

Heather and her publisher, UoLearn.com, have recently signed an agreement with Pitman Training. Pitman will now be offering the BakerWrite speedwriting system to students at its network of nationwide training centres.