News

After a busy few weeks, it’s been good to have a chance to catch our breath and reflect on the 2018 Today’s PA Conference.

As always, the first day of our two-day event was our training day. This year we were joined by over 30 PAs, all looking to discover the secrets of successfully managing their manager and cultivating the strong and effective working relationship so vital to this partnership.  Like all of Paul’s training courses, the day was relaxed and informal, with the emphasis on teamwork and learning from other PAs – setting the scene for our second day.

Day two – Conference day – began with over 100 delegates arriving from all over the country (and the world!), hoping to be inspired and motivated by our speakers and expert panels.  They were not disappointed!

The morning got off to a great start.  John Hotowka demonstrated his skills as a magician (as well as an inspirational speaker), and introduced us to Achievement Thinking.  Through humour, magic – and a little audience participation – John showed us how to focus on solutions, build the resilience to overcome whatever challenges we face, and, just as importantly, to take pride in what we do well.  It was the perfect way to kick-start the morning.

Andy Workman,mindset specialist and author of Cavemen and Polar Bears, then took us on a journey through our brain, helping us understand how it worked, and showing us why we think the way we do.   He emphasised the importance of looking after our brains, and showed us how we can reframe our thoughts and change our mindset to take the focus away from the negative.  The impact this can have – on ourselves and on those around us – can be powerful.

These two fascinating presentations led into David Club’s talk about the future …. of recruitment, of work, and above all, of our role as PAs.  With the pace of change and the growth of technology set to gather speed, David stressed how vital it was for office professionals at all levels and across all industries to acquire the right skills and be ready for this technological revolution – or risk being left behind.

With David’s words ringing in our ears, it was time for the first of our two panel sessions.  Our experts came from a wide range of industries, and the topic “What Do Leaders Look for in Their PAs?” prompted many questions from the delegates and some discussion among the panellists, too!

After lunch (and much networking) the delegates divided into two breakout groups.  Sharon Probert’s session on “Adapting your Working Style to that of your Manager” started by helping us identify our own personality types, dividing us into five distinct categories.  We then learned how to recognise the other personality types in our office – including where our boss fits in – by listening to what they said and watching their behaviour.  By understanding the working styles of the other groups, we can begin to think and empathise with them, syncing our own style to match theirs, seamlessly and effortlessly.

Paul Pennant’s presentation on “Magic Moments with Microsoft” showed us how to get the best out of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, including some of the hundreds of time-savings tips that can make our likes easier!

Paul’s second session discussed “Guilt-Free Strategies for Saying No”, something PAs (by the very nature of their role) tend to struggle with.  He explained why PAs feel the need to help everyone in the office, and why this is a bad idea!  It’s easy to become the ‘go to’ person who always sorts out everyone else’s bad planning.  Helping out in an emergency is one thing but when it becomes a regular event, it takes us away from the work we should be doing.  Paul shared his top tips to help us safeguard ourselves, and make sure we have time to focus on our own work.

Our second expert panel of the day, looking at “How PAs and Managers Work Together” continued Paul’s theme, discussing how PAs need to define their role, and the way in which they work with their boss and their team.  This panel, made up of managers, their PAs, and those with experience on both sides of the fence, lead to some interesting ideas, and the range of industries represented gave a different perspective to the boss/PA partnership.

This session brought day two to a close – and marked the end of another Today’s PA Conference.  To our delegates and our speakers, and to everyone who made the conference a fantastic success – a huge thank you!  We loved seeing so many PAs enjoying the day and sharing their knowledge and experience with one another.

We will soon start planning the next Conference – our fifth! – and look forward to seeing many more new faces, and many familiar faces, too.  Save the date – 15th-16th August 2019! You can register your interest HERE.