Building trust and motivating your team are vital skills needed for any Manager, EA, PA, Administrator, Team Leader or Project Manager. Team players all have different personalities, temperaments, domestic problems or social inadequacies. 

There is no need to give in to their many whims in order to ‘get on.’ A good idea is to meet socially outside of the office. Your company can be enticed to give you a budget in order to organise after-work drinks, lunch or dinner, boat ride with lunch etc. It is important that you point out how it will benefit the team, department and company.

It is very important that your treat each member of your team fairly, recognise body language and be aware of how the team interact at work. You may also praise and team member if he/she has done very good work. A huge benefit of motivating your team is to let them know they are valued.

Executive Assistants Meetings Skills

Communicating information of good news of the company’s developments, new contracts, new clients or turnover can bond staff to feel more part of the progress of the company and endorses their loyalty. Regular meetings can also assist greatly for example you can brainstorm ideas, discuss progress, explain changes and always be prepared to answer questions. Do not assume staff will read the company’s newsletters or bulletins so this can be discussed at meeting in order to keep them informed of new developments and, more importantly, to celebrate the company’s or individual’s achievement.

Ideally, you should not save and heap all the praises at the yearly appraisal; this can be a job that was completed several months ago and the effect will not have a significant impact on staff at this stage. Giving praise when someone has done well is an ideal way of motivating staff and they can be satisfied that they are steering their career along the right path. There is nothing worse than plugging away at a job and not knowing whether your work is appreciated.

Investing in training is highly beneficial to staff, team, management and the company, in turn. Management skills are vital for Executive Assistants to understand work in partnership with managers. Training increases efficiency, production and retention with staff. They feel the company values them and will therefore strengthen their loyalty to the company. This training can also improve the company’s productivity. It is important to utilise the budget effectively by identifying staff’s needs or weaknesses and agreeing on a programme of personal development. Alternatively, coaching and mentoring can also realise results.

To summarise this, the most important thing is you have an interest in the staff and always be willing to listen and support them. If you would like to learn more about the executive soft skills of an Executive Assistant Courses go to this link.