I retired from personal blogging in July 2008.
But you can find me over at http://blog.xero.com.
I’ve always found the Personal Assistant phenomena amusing.
What does a PA do? Please let me know. Maybe I need one and I don’t know it.
I write my own emails and documents. If I want a meeting I send an email invite. My calendar is on my BlackBerry.
When I get called by a PA I get pulled into the following communications cycle that kills my time…
- Meeting over. Flip on phone - 4 messages
- Message #2 is a PA wanting to set up a meet with her important person (IP)
- Hands are full can’t take the number, hit 6 to save message, must remember to call back later
- Much later, remember I have a message to process. Delete 11 saved messages, get to PA message
- Call with 3 available meeting slots. Play phone tag for a while.
- Email invite comes through. Respond
So today, when ‘PA’d’ for the 3rd time I asked the PA what she did and why was her IP so important? Does he not know how to send an email invite? Does he read his own email?
Anyway, she invited me to lunch. I had to ask if the IP was coming to lunch or if she was she PA’ing in his place. Unfortunately it is with the IP.
It all came home to roost today, however, when I sent an Investment Memorandum (IM) I received to a well know investor - who responded simply …
“Not for me. My reason is this sentence:
I’ve asked my PA to liase with you …”
blog
You said:
“What does a PA do? Please let me know.”
This probably rhetorical but in case it’s not my definition of PA is someone who handles your over-commitments and runs your parallel ambitions.
That’s classic, that someone wouldn’t invest in a company because you wouldn’t deal with their PA. That would seem to point to a pretty huge ego on behalf of the person involved though.
Comments largely harsh.. But, in many respects, fair.
I’ve ummed and aahed about PAs for quite a while now. I think if you find the right one they are worth their weight in gold. You get the wrong one, then as per what Rod is saying though, I’d agree in that they are a waste of time and effort.
But if you get a goodie and build up a trusting relationship it is totally brilliant. Don’t underestimate the value.
If you get the right PA (and this will take time, patience and effort) then here’s some of the great benefits:
a) he/she will build rapport with your key customers, it’s a person your customer will talk to as opposed to a voicemail or mail
b) he/she will truly screen out the crap and useless calls, and we all get plenty of those
c) he/she’ll do that filing we all love to hate, and do a much better job of it anyway
d) he/she will rebook/reorganise our flights/car/accommodation around our most valued clients, and take the stress out of those last minute changes
e) he/she will organise client events/mailouts/whatever.. and follow up with a very valuable phone call
f) he/she will print out those 35 copies of RFP responses you needed doing by 12 noon today!
g) he/she will pick up the things that you leave behind
h) he/she will administer the projects you have on the go
i) he/she will keep the office spick and span
in other words:
j) he/she will do the things that are more cost-effective for he/she to do than for you to do
If you get the right one, they’re bloody brilliant.
If you get the wrong one, it’s like a 10 tonne weight around your ankle.
I’ve learnt this:
You must learn to use a PA effectively, and if you learn to do so it can be a very liberating (and cost effective) experience.
They can be more important than you may think….
Right then, where’s my payment from the RNZPAA?
Sounds like you have PA 2.0. I’d recommend staying with PA 1.0 for the moment. Granted, it has an older OS, but it’s based on a stable platform with a wealth of experience and its feature set, while without the richness of social networking and new age user experience, is robust enough to get the job done with the minimum of system admin support.
I’ve been a PA/Executive Assistant to pay the bills for some years (although it’s not my primary job aspiration) and find that many people simply underestimate the value of having a great EA/PA.
Of course, there is plenty of dead weight around out there, but the amount of knowledge a good EA/PA gains through what they get involved with can be astounding. So much so that sometimes the EA/PA of a company or department knows just as much (or in some cases more) than some of the senior managers there (believe me, I’ve seen it happen!).
There are those who are pedantic, bored and make things ten times harder than they need to be because they have nothing better to do. However, there are also those who get things done quickly and more efficiently.
If someone is a brilliant strategic mind, they don’t want to spend time worrying about booking flights to London or registering online for a conference or filing their emails/paperwork. Take all that away, and they are able to focus fully on what they are passionate about - it increases productivity.
The best roles of this kind are when you develop a good rappor with your boss and more of a partnership evolves. For example, they gain your respect and you gain theirs - then when someone is rude to the PA/EA on the phone or when they think the “Important Person” doesn’t know about it, this ALWAYS ends up back with the boss. It’s a number one rule, EA/PA’s are gatekeepers because they are the tool for important people to scope out anyone hoping to make a good impression because people often show their true colours.