Articles & Press Releases

Show Your Assistant You Care
By Janice D. Byer, CCVA, MVA
Docu-Type Administrative & Web Design Services

Whether you are a corporate executive with a full administrative staff; the boss at a mid-size company with your own in-house executive assistant; or the owner of your own small business and utilize the services of a virtual assistant, you know how valuable your assistant is.

As technology progresses, so too do the skills of your assistants. They are always learning and upgrading their skills allowing them to provide more and more professional services. If it wasn’t for them organizing your schedule, typing your correspondence, designing your marketing material & website, and sometimes even answering your phone calls, where would you be? Could you imagine all the time you would be taking away from running your business if you had to do all of that yourself?

Throughout the year, your assistant helps you keep control of your business life. So, why not let them know how much you appreciate them? Well, the perfect time to do just that is fast approaching.

Since 1952, the last full week of April (21-27, 2002) has been designated Administrative Professionals Week (formerly called Secretaries Week) by the International Association of Administrative Professionals (http://www.iaap-hq.org/APW/apwindex.htm) , with the 24th being the official Administrative Professionals Day. 2002 marks the 50th anniversary of this special event.

Bosses traditionally use this time of year to show their appreciation to their assistants for all of their hard work throughout the year.

And, with the increase in the partnering with Virtual Office Assistants, small and home-based business professionals are also acknowledging the invaluable services of those that handle their non-core tasks.

You may know your assistant’s likes and dislikes or it may require research on your part (or someone else on your staff) to find just that perfect sentiment.

If you have an in-house assistant, there are many things you can do locally to show your appreciation. These include:

1. Taking your assistant out for a nice, long lunch at a fine restaurant.
   
2. Giving him/her a gift certificate for a local shop, and the afternoon off to go shopping there.
   
3. Present a plaque for all of their years of hard work.
   
4. Or, perhaps book & pay to have his/her car tuned up and spring cleaned.

If your assistant is virtual, you still may be able to arrange some of the above or perhaps:

1. Find out who their favorite author is and send him/her their latest book.
   
2. Send a gift certificate for an online store that they enjoy shopping from.
   
3. Provide them with a long distance calling card.
   
4. Or, arrange to have flowers or a gift sent to them at their office.

Whether near or far, your assistant will be overjoyed that you took the time to show your appreciation. In turn, this will help you to strengthen your business relationship with him/her.

But, don’t forget that this isn’t the only time of year you should show your appreciation to your assistant. Ensure that you make them feel valued throughout the year. You’d be amazed at how far a ‘thank-you’ or kind word can go.

Here at Docu-Type (www.docutype.net) we have an abundance of wonderful clients, mostly small business owners, who all say thank you when a project is completed just they way they like it. This makes me feel great and pushes me to provide even better service the next time.

Now, if you are an entrepreneur that does not have an assistant and you do all the work yourself, don’t let this day go by without patting yourself on the back for handling all of the administrative tasks. And also, why not think about outsourcing some of your work to a Virtual Assistant and give yourself back some personal and revenue generating time. And next year, during Administrative Professionals Week, you will fully understand why your assistant deserves a special day!