Virtual PA ... How did I manage without one |
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Page 1 of 2  download article Once upon a time, every successful manager had a Personal Assistant, soit seemed to me. Back in the 1990s, when I worked for IBM, managers hadan air of calm effectiveness about them – making important decisions,achieving goals and spending time with their staff – all withoutbreaking into a sweat. Nowadays, we all seem to be rushing around doinga-million-and-one things, and I’m not sure how much is achieved as aresult.So, what’s changed? Sticking with the IBM story ... By my recollection, the workplace started to change in the recession of the early ‘90s. IBM made the biggest corporate loss in history and started shedding staff for the first time. All of a sudden cherished PAs were replaced by Secretarial Groups providing support to 4-5 Managers. This was a big deal at the time, and it turned out to be the thin end of the wedge... Self-Sufficiency Rules, Okay?Now, with only a part-available Secretary, the effective managercouldn’t rely on getting the same service. He had to learn how to domany things that his secretary once did. Technology enabled that – andbeing an IBMer, there was no excuse not to get stuck-in – and the moreyou relied on yourself the less you relied on your Secretary.In the consultancy side of the business, we were full-onself-sufficient and working “in the field” meant we had to be – it wasdo or die. We even encouraged clients to follow our example ... afterall, this was modern management at work. There was a common belief that this was “more efficient”, but inreality the manager had less time for decision-making, achieving goalsand tending to staff because they were doing more admin .... is thisringing any bells yet? So, as time moved on, we became used to our new world. We pridedourselves on being self-sufficient, showed off our newfound IT skillsand believed we were part of a “new breed of effective professionalsand managers”. We worked extra hard and put in long hours - the familyinevitably suffered – but we soldiered-on, because there was light atthe end of the tunnel.... so we thought. As it turned out, there was just more toil. We blamed the lack of timeon technology – no quiet time, always available, too manyinterruptions. We went on time management courses to get a grip, learnhow to cope with “information overload – the new skill for theMillennium – but the simple fact was, we just needed help. I see many small business owners running the same race today. They havethe technology, the laptop and Blackberry, trying to do it allthemselves. But, they just need some help too. |
