Executive Assistant Perth Congress draft agenda

Inaugural Executive Assistant Congress – Perth – 29-30 May 2024

 

1          Improving your use of current technology to streamline your workflow

  • Creating shortcuts to manage Outlook like a pro
  • Discovering methodologies to manage your Calendar
  • Using OneNote as a one-stop shop to be paperless and centralise daily tasks
  • Commmunicating efficiently using Teams

 

2          Future-proofing the Executive Assistant role with emerging technology

  • Understanding Artificial intelligence: Friend or foe?
  • Harnessing the power of ChatGPT to work effectively and avoid the pitfalls
  • Mastering AI: Staying relevant as an Executive Assistant in the world of ChatGPT
  • Enhancing your value as an Executive Assistant by keeping your skills relevant

 

3          Creating better time management for your Executive Assistant and Executive partnership

  • Creating strategies to making more time in your day
  • Managing your Executive’s time to focus on strategic goals
  • Making time for you and your Executive to plan short- and long-term goals
  • Diverting distractions to minimise disruption in your day

 

4          EA Panel:  Prioritising multiple tasks to effect greater efficiency in your workday

  • Identifying task and stakeholder importance to create meaningful deadlines
  • Understanding the difference between deadlines to enable prioritisation
  • Recognising whether multitasking or focus should be your strategy
  • Knowing your peak performance time to prioritise complicated and simple tasks

 

5          Managing and influencing teams and resources

  • Understanding Executive Assistant skills that enable practical inputs to build a great team to manage project deliverables
  • Recruiting the optimal team that will fulfil identified business goals
  • Cultivating a great team culture to attract internal and external candidates
  • Creating a better team environment using communication strategies that help motivate difficult personalities

 

8          Identifying opportunities to grow and develop your career

  • Understanding your strengths and passions and how you can align them to develop a rewarding career path
  • Recognising and taking advantage of opportunities to use your initiative to broaden your experience
  • Demonstratingcuriosity and commitment throughcontinuing professionaldevelopment and informal learning
  • Setting a course for success by formulating KPIs that work for youand Executives to ensure continued growth

 

9          EA Panel : Modelling the future Executive Assistant

  • Comparing what the modern-day Executive Assistant brings to the table versus the traditional Executive Assistant
  • Generating the capacity to be proactive, anticipate needs, and get ahead of the tasks
  • Value-adding as an Executive Assistant by being the strategic partner
  • Adapting to the rapidly changing office environment’s work practices and technology

 

10         Leveraging networking opportunities to strengthen your organisational value

 

  • Moving outside your comfort zone to broaden your circle of contacts
  • Developing engaging conversation openers
  • Cultivating contacts once made
  • Deepening connections in the work world by maintaining contact

 

11         Developing resilience strategies to manage health and wellbeing

  • Building trust to enhance confidential discussions with your Executive
  • Achieving balance in the face of emergencies
  • Fostering support networks away from work
  • Slowing your mind to manage stress, anxiety and burnout

 

12         Delegating responsibilities to benefit everyone

 

  • Delegating simpler tasks creates time for focus on major projects
  • Providing clear instructions when passing on tasks
  • Recognising that delegation does not confer accountability
  • Mentoring to create opportunities to delegate

 

13         EA Panel: Working with your Executive as a strategic partner

  • Building great rapport with your Executive or stakeholders cultivates good relationships to support your strategic partnership
  • Tracking progress, collaborating with project teams, and providing insight to your Executive as a strategic partner
  • Being succinct, clear, and becoming a sounding board enhances communication with your strategic partner
  • Knowing the business to anticipate problems and solutions that arise

 

14         Translating Executive Assistant skills into project management to move upwards or across in your career

  • Creating efficiencies through coordination and multitasking
  • Remaining adaptable, agile, calm, effective to achieve results
  • Maintaining document-management systems and being detail-oriented to maintain control
  • Tracking progress to monitor team performance, assess data and metrics, and adjusting when required

 

15         Building your confidence and self-worth to realise your value

  • Knowing your ability to deliver what you bring as an Executive Assistant
  • Understanding the value of the abilities you bring as an Executive Assistant
  • Ensuring your contributions are visible to the organisation
  • Marrying your experience to opportunities that arise

 

16         Practising assertiveness as an Executive Assistant

  • Winning friends and influencing people by being firm but fair
  • Being proactive, not reactive in situations requiring assertiveness
  • Using your role to lead to demonstrate purpose
  • Influencing without perceived positional authority

 

17         Senior Executive Panel:  Aligning your mindset with your Senior Executive to strengthen your strategic partnership

  • Unpacking what is required within your strategic partnership
  • Listing the skills, experiences, and values that Senior Executives seek
  • Communicating effectively to foster a great working relationship
  • Using your social skills to be CEO’s strongest ambassador
  • Implementing effective and practical decision-making