A Personal Assistant – The Perfect Match

As an executive, choosing exactly the right Personal Assistant for your particular needs can be a minefield. After all, this is the person who will become your right arm; field your calls, deal with your associates and help solve your most difficult business quandaries. In essence, you need someone who can make your professional life run smoothly without turning a hair.

Therefore, if your assistant is going to become one of the most important people in your life you need to put the time and effort into making the right choices and finding someone who will anticipate your requirements, walk that extra mile on your behalf and grow with you as you move through your business environment.

Here are a few tips for choosing the perfect PA with all the right attributes:

Skills and Commitment

Before you even start your search you must consider exactly what type of help you are likely to require. Work out the skill set that fits your business environment and perform a realistic assessment of how many hours you need every day.

Essential attributes

Not everyone has what it takes to work so closely with another human being but any good PA should have the following attributes:

• Good timekeeping
• A can-do attitude and the ability to get things done quickly with the minimum of fuss.
• Initiative and great problem-solving abilities
• The confidence to make important decisions on your behalf or in your absence without wavering.

Efficiency

An ability to multitask is also an essential attribute for a PA. Booking appointments and flights, answering emails, taking minutes, ordering in catering for long meetings and sending flowers for your mother’s birthday are all normal everyday events for an efficient PA. The talent for anticipating your every move is probably asking too much but many good PAs do get close!

Personality

A good personality fit is hugely important – you need to decide in advance if you want a very serious and no-nonsense type or someone with a good sense of humour who can remain light-hearted even when their back is to the wall. Whichever personality is preferable you do need to know that you can get on with your PA because you are likely to be working closely together.

Patience

Sometimes a PA has to have multiple levels of patience:

• The patience to fill their time effectively even when hanging around waiting for you to finish a document, despite it being after normal working hours.
• The patience to deal with your early morning grumpiness or occasional lapse in humour.

Internal Applicants

Never underestimate the value of finding an applicant who already works inside your existing organisation. They will already understand your business culture and philosophy without any prolonged time spent getting to know how everything works in your environment.

Networking

Having a PA with their own connections and contacts can be invaluable particularly if they are within a similar business sphere. Someone who has external leadership experience, as a volunteer or within a professional association, could be a good bet because it shows that the person is a team player and is interested in further their career.

If you are looking for exactly the right person to fulfil all of your PA requirements, you should take the time to work out exactly what your requirements are and then take your time finding the perfect match. With the right PA by your side you will never look back!