What can you do to have some fun, de-stress and brush up on your Admin Trivia? Many movies and sitcoms feature lead and supporting characters who served as Administrative Assistants. The movie, “Nine to Five,” with Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda is a classic. Those three office assistants played out every harassed and unappreciated secretary's dream by finally getting revenge on the boss, literally stringing him up. Famous and infamous characters, real or fictional, have held administrative jobs. Jennifer Lopez worked as a legal assistant before becoming a mega-star. Al Capone was an accounting assistant before embarking on a life of crime, and he was pretty good at it.
The fact that administrative roles are portrayed so often in films affirms their prominence and value in everyday life. Businesses couldn’t run without them. Busy executives wouldn’t be as productive. Meetings, events, conferences, business travel—none would operate smoothly without an efficient and professional assistant at the helm.
Administrative Assistants work so closely with details and at the heart of any business that they are involved in the day-to-day operations and experience the high and low points. They know the good, the bad and the ugly. They are privy to the secrets, failures and cover-ups. That’s also what makes them such interesting characters in books and movies. They are often the connection between management and the line, between the business and the public. What is true in art is true in life, and that’s what makes the characters and the real jobs so interesting.
So, take a moment when the boss is traveling or you’re on a break, and log onto this website: http://us.deskdemon.com/pages/us/admincrossword. You will find a crossword puzzle with questions about administrative assistants in all types of settings and businesses from TV and the movies. If you get the answer right, the boxes will fill in. If you are stumped, click on “solve” and you’ll get the answer printed out. This is truly no-stress and all fun.
You can even use this at your next staff meeting. Divide into teams by departments, or the bosses vs. the Admins to see who can solve the puzzle the fastest. Or, use a “Wheel of Fortune” format and let “contestants” solve until they get one wrong and it passes to the next one. Prizes for the winners make it even more fun, and you’ll be amazed at how competitive your co-workers can get over a little trivia game. However you use it, have some fun. Work is stressful enough, and often can get boring or repetitive. Break the monotony and put your or your team’s brains to the test. The rest of the day (or week) will be more enjoyable.
Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is a workplace consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for Administrativejobs.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing Alto II with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and creating original gift items available on http://www.etsy.spoolhardy.com/. You can read more of her blogs at administrativejobsblog.com and view additional job postings on Nexxt.
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