I have read an old story about a secretary who worked for a very old businessman. He always used to travel with business and recreational purposes. One day, someone stepped into the office to ask for the businessman. She replied that he was in Hong Kong. The visitor was disappointed and babbled that he can never get a hold of the businessman. He then asked who works around when the businessman is out of the office. The secretary was quite direct with her answer – whoever works when the businessman is in the office too.

Some secretaries do, indeed, reach to such a high level of authority. However, unless your secretary is terrible, a good one can actually work a very long way.

What makes a personal assistant good for your business

Secretaries are rarer today than a few decades ago. However, if you have one, you should know that a good secretary will not just take over some of your task, but also represent a very efficient support in proper time management. A secretary can play a very important role in organizing your work and time, not to mention about your department. The accent goes on a well trained secretary. First of all, you need a professional who does have a lot of experience. Second, you two must work along in order to obtain the desired results.

What to look for in a secretary

So what does it mean to have a good secretary or personal assistant?

• A good secretary’s characteristics are extremely diversified. They must type fast, be familiar with modern technologies in the office, stay calm under stressful circumstances, be intuitive and dexterous. It might be hard to make the difference between an earned capacity of organization and a natural one. It is also hard to tell if they do care about these things. All in all, a candidate with such characteristics can seriously support you overtime.
• When you hire someone, ask about everything that might provide essential details in this field, such as the experience with working agendas, making appointments or past projects. If you get a few references too, do not hesitate to get in touch with the past employers.
• There are two major elements you have to hunt. First of all, the personal assistant must follow your working style. On the other hand, get ready to learn from your assistant whenever you have the opportunity. Good ideas are hard to describe in words. Instead, they have to be useful. Second, the secretary must have a particular influence and a unique presence because they might have to represent you, refuse someone on your behalf or make particular requests.
• If you manage to cover all these elements, you will always have an ally in the attempt to control time.