As an administrative professional, sometimes we can assume that something is taken care of just because we asked for it to be. That is not always the case.
It is important to follow-up when you have something critical that you are organizing. This is not micromanaging at all because you are just checking things off your list that you need to organize.
Others may assume that something is taken care of when in reality it is not. Technology is relied on way too much anymore, so good old fashion picking up the phone and making a phone call is sometimes your best asset to make sure something is organized.
Technology is an excuse for someone to use when they did not complete something so when you talk to the person then you have more of a confirmation that it has been taken care of.
You know what needs to be organized for a trip for the person you support such as:
Hotel
Transport
Flights
Meetings
Dinner reservations
These seem easy, but if you rely on others to just take care of it without actually following up you could be the one that gets the unpleasant phone call that the driver was not there to get them, or dinner was not reserved.
Here are some small, simple things you can do so that a trip goes as smooth as possible:
Make a checklist.
Email the first time.
Call and follow up the 2nd time then follow that phone call with an email with the conversation you had.
Always get confirmation numbers for hotels etc.
Make sure you have the name of the company, name of the person, address, phone number of where the meetings are taking place.
You can add all of this to your executive's calendar as well as your own.
If your executive prefers a typed agenda, go ahead and do that as well.
Some of this may seem like overkill, but our job as an administrative professional is to make sure that our executive trips go as smoothly as possible. Things do happen that are not in our control, but if we prepare in advance and take every step to make sure we cover all the details as possible it will be much simpler for all those involved.
As always, don’t stress out, take a breath, stay positive and things will run smoothly!
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