5 Things an Administrative Assistant is Better at Than You

I know, I know, as a small business owner, you rock at everything you do: make sales, balance the books, prepare the coffee…well, maybe not so much. Tomorrow is Administrative Professionals Day, and in honor of that day, we want to make you feel good by telling you all the things an administrative assistant can do better than you.

1. Keeping Your Calendar Organized: Let’s face it: You’ve missed more than your fair share of meetings because you wrote them down on a bit of paper and then promptly lost it. Administrative professionals know all the latest, cool tech ways to keep you on schedule using your computer, phone and telepathy.

2. Managing Your Travel Plans. If you travel for work, chances are you eat up a lot of time trying to find the cheapest flight that doesn’t have eight layovers. Again, leave it to the pros. They make travel arrangements more often, so they know how to do it faster than – ooh, did you see that? No? Your travel plans are already made.

3. Removing the Pile of Papers on Your Desk. The last time you saw over that pile was, well, how long ago did you buy the desk? You keep putting off dealing with the papers, but simply asking your assistant for help can clear it off and make room for an assortment of desk toys and stuffed animals.

4. Managing Others. You know how you’re supposed to be checking in to make sure your staff has turned in their TPS reports, but you just never get around to it? Delegate it to your administrative assistant, and you never have to think about it again. Unless a red Swingline stapler goes missing…

5. Setting Up Conference Calls. Those fancy phone systems make you crazy. You’d rather send smoke signals than deal with entering your code (“That’s what I put in! It’s right! Why won’t you let me in??”), so why not hand it off to someone who knows what she’s doing?

The list goes on and on, but we don’t want to insult you too much by mentioning your ineptness at dealing with the copier, coffee maker … you get the idea. At any rate, the backbone of a good business is its administrative assistant. Whether you have a gatekeeper posted outside of your office to protect you from shiny-haired copier salesmen or your assistant is virtual, he or she is an invaluable asset to both you as a professional and to your company as a whole.

Take today to thank your assistant for all the hard work, and ask him or her to send him or herself a gift … from you.

P.S. There are also 5 more things your administrative assistant is better at than you.

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