PA and Secretary Community - Deskdemon.com

I am a very bubbly and warm person in my office; I was told in my recent performance appraisal that it's part of my charm and why people love working with me, but I do tend to chat too much...One of my goals is to appear and act more 'professional' without loosing the warm, approachable image that I've worked so hard to perfect.

Has anyone needed to change their approach or their professional image to adapt to a changing work environment?

I too had to "flex" with the environment when I took my current assignment.  I have a very outgoing personality, ans can be very honest at times.  I had to learn when to keep my mouth shut and not verbalize my thoughts.  People are drawn to  me, and I have been told it is so much nicer doing business at my bosses office than when my predecessor was there.  However, I have learned when to listen and when to speak.  It takes some discipline.  I keep a sense of humor and find humor in the daily grind.  I acknowledge my co-workers, but don't roam the office and chat in the halls. 

In a previous job I was once told I was too friendly.  My answer to that is, it makes me more approachable.  I proved it and it's true.

I still do my job but if I am affable, friendly and approachable my boss and his team know they have solid support in the office when they need it.

People think PA's should be some kind of boring school teacher, strict and aloof.  That's rubbish in my opinion unless of course you are management and are expected to act in a certain way.  Employers like to see a bit of personality so don't dwell on it. 

Firstly, hello and welcome to the forum.

We all have to adapt our personalities to some extent to fit our role, especially in the earlier stages of our careers.

There are some tasks that naturally require concentration and quiet ... why not try and do those tasks at times of the day when you know you are at risk of being too chatty? so if your habit is to come into the office and chat to catch up with folk find a job you need to concentrate on to start your day - perhaps some filing? the bonus of that choice is you will feel great all day because you have a horrid job done and out of the way for the day.

It takes about 4 weeks of consistently doing something for it to become a habit ... so it takes 4 weeks of doing something different to change habits ...

One word of advice though ... please don't try to make a big change in one go - far more likely to succeed in a series of small adjustments and nobody will think you are suddenly being unfriendly.

... as for chatting ... come and visit on here in your breaks and chat with DD friends.

Cathy

I can so empathize with this thread! 

This is about time and place and what is fitting.  There is a certain business etiquette that is required to progress things smoothly and efficiently, but never be afraid to let your personality shine through.  You are not a robot, after all.  And never pretend to be someone you are not.

I, for instance, am not a shrinking violet and am quite light-hearted, although I have a serious, reserved, side, too.  There is no use trying to be anything else - I would probably just come out in spots.  I work in monastic silence and solitude most of the day in my splendid corner office.  I happen to need people to bounce ideas off and get a lot of energy from others (sounds a bit vampyrish, I know), so I come out of my hidey-hole now and then and chat to others, but mostly I keep to my office.

The main things are: to be friendly but not familiar with everyone; to be kind and helpful; to be efficient and proficient at doing your job.  Anything else - workplace friendships etc - is a bonus.  Chatting with folks is fine and "water cooler" moments can achieve a whole heap more than meetings.  However, you can distract others and inhibit yourself from achieving your work goals, so may be a get-together at lunch or coffee and cakes after work are the way round this.