Most Managers Are Self Sufficient

[pappasmom]

Most of my managers are becoming self sufficient.  I used to create their Power Point presentations and now they create them.  Also, they will set up their meetings, do their travel, etc.  I am starting to think they will not need me much longer.  What does an Admin do in this position?  How can I make myself more needed?  Anyone else face this dilema?  Thanks

[gee4]

I have noticed this over the years too but it varies from company to company and individual to individual. 

In my company a lot of individuals create their own PowerPoint presentations simply because they can put what they want on a slide whilst thinking about it at the same time eg. type and think kind of thing.  It actually is a time-saver for them if nothing else, rather than write out what they want and then have me type it up and format it.

Very often the information they are working on is secret or confidential...we have different levels of classification for all our projects and everyone is aware of this.

I suggest if you see someone doing something that you think you could do yourself to save them time, then offer help.  For example, a couple of weeks ago one of my team asked me for paperwork that Finance were chasing relating to some travel he did.  When he asked me for the details, I said Finance shouldn't be asking you for that they should contacting me.  So I told him to leave it and I would pass the paperwork on and that in future if any similar requests are asked of him, he can pass them to me to deal with.

He was grateful and appreciated my offer of help.

[peaches2160]

I think it depends on the situation and the level of the staff.  Our firm no longer has administrative assistants for Director level and below.  VP and above are allowed Assistants.  However, in some cases, the positions have been eliminated due to cost containment.  Some EA's support several VP's, but not to the level of detail that others who only support one do.  It is a changing world.  i always make myself available to assist in all matters, although, I am a dedicated Exec Assistant to one executive at this time. 

[Katie G]

Over the years my job has "morphed".

I do less: 
message-taking - people call boss directly on his cell phone
note-taking, transcribing/typing up what someone else has written - boss takes own notes in a notebook
paper filing - scanning!
running errands - well, we have  student worker for that

I do more: 
"ghost writing"
data analysis and reporting   
time/calendar management
budget management
event planning

[Rocket]

My new boss is just back from leave today and I have already noticed that he is quite self sufficient.  He keeps his own diary and deals with his own emails, although I have access to both.  I have other things to occupy my time including specialist areas of work so I shall be very busy.

I would advise any Assistant who is wondering along your lines, Pappasmom, to see if there is any other way you can add value and perhaps expand your role.  There may be some area of work that you can hijack and make your own.  In my last job I snaffled the Company Secretary work from the MD and also managed to obtain some professional development out of that move.

This is often easier said than done. Some support roles are quite narrow in scope and just don't have any room for development.

A lot depends on how ambitious you are.  You could look around and take some further training and use your current role as a jumping off point to something else.  We are living in hard times and things are, unfortunately, going to get harder, so the more strings to your bow and the more you can add value to your personal profile the better.

Regards,

Rocket

[officepa]

Good point by Peaches here. In this changing business world, being pro-active and willing to take on extra duties will not only keep you busy when your own work may be slow but will - as rocket says - add strings to your bow.

Enrol on in-house training courses (if they are available) or look for outside courses that are not too expensive but will teach you a new skill that you can convince your employer would be beneficial to them - and of course for you  . Or even sit at your desk and do tutorials on line.

Look for things that your manager may be doing that you could say "let me do that for you so you don't have to" perhaps his travel arrangements - when he can see you take it, do it well, he may decide that yes, he can offload to you which frees him up to do what he is best at. 

Sometimes it is a bit of a wrestle to take duties away from bossie but be firm and he will, in time, be grateful for one or more less things to do.

[peaches2160]

Yes, by taking tasks on and being proactive, you increase your value to your boss and to the company since you develop the reputation of one who gets the job done, and done right.  Also increases your knowledge and prevents you from becoming stagnant in the role, thus leading to boredom and lack of productivity. 

[movinonup]

I rarely get the assignment to set up new PPT slides, and this has been the case for the last 10 years' employment.  I do, however, sometimes have to clean them up to make sure formatting is consistent throughout.  A new role has come my way lately that requires a lot of this kind of work.  It can be tedious, at times, but it keeps my PPT skills sharp.

I've become used to having all those I support request the ability to take over routine tasks such as teleconferences.  I'm in the process of moving Internet-based conferences over to them now, also.  All of this makes it easier for them to set up their own meetings.  I was nervous about this at first, but then looked at my workload and realized giving up some of these items would make it easier for me to focus on more important projects for my bosses.

Both of my directors receive constant requests for reports from their bosses.  They pass most of these on to me, and I create blank templates, post them for collaboration, and the staff members create the final reports.  I then submit the reports to my bosses for review, then send them on to their bosses.  This gives me a much broader picture of what's happening in the company, and frees up my bosses for more important work.  You might consider offering to do this kind of work for your boss--but be prepared--once he gets the hang of it, he'll want to delegate a lot to you.

Travel will not be taken away any time soon, I don't believe, because forcing employees to go through the coordinators for travel presents at least one level of cost-checking (prior to expense reporting).