Catch up on news and see what's planned over the next couple of months. No Images? Click here And what about you? How do you manage your personal development? Those of you who follow Shelagh Donnelly (aka Exceptional EA) may well have seen – and hopefully participated in – her weekend poll on personal development. The poll looked at how many of you are participating in conferences, and who pays for that training. The results are very interesting:
The positive in this is that more of you are being fully funded by employers –which is great news! However, it shows there is still a lot of work to be done in demonstrating the value of training to employers. The main questions the results raise are:
For us, this further supports the link between development opportunities and employee engagement. Read more about Shelagh and her regular polls: Self-assessment resources For a number of us, the next month or so is peak Annual Performance Review season. Whilst some of us completely embrace – even look forward to – the review process, it can be a challenging time for a lot of us. There are some great resources available online on this topic and two quite helpful articles by Marie Herman were featured in Executive Secretary Magazine. Although originally posted in 2017 – they contain some thought provoking content and great tips. WRITE YOUR OWN SELF-ASSESSMENT (AND GOALS) Executive Secretary, June 2017 In this article, Marie covers the 'why' behind self assessments, how they benefit you, how to complete one effectively, how it ties into goals, and some tips to help you embrace the concept. CREATING A PERSONAL SWOT ANALYSIS Executive Secretary, May 2017 Marie helpfully sets out some examples of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, to get your own thoughts flowing. She demonstrates how a personal SWOT can help you with career planning and finding your niche. Wise words Until the start of the month, Antony Joshua was boxing's unified heavyweight champion of the world, having experienced win after win after win. He seemed unstoppable. However, he suffered a massive loss in the fight on 1 June. A few days later, he was on Sky News talking about how he dealt with failure, and he shared the following: "Never let success go to your head, and never let failure go to your heart." Monthly Business Breakfast / Th 20.06. / 7.30amJoff Alexander-Frye, Editor in Chief of Grow Magazine will tell us about the vision, passion and mission of Grow and what the future holds for both Grow and Exeter at large. Outlook Masterclass with Paul Pennant / We 10.07. / 9.00am"I've started using tasks, and I no longer have a single post-it note on my desk. I'm so organised. I'm ready to catch up with my boss at a moment's notice." Wendie Burden, University of Exeter Email Management Masterclass / We 07.08. / 5.00pm-8.00pmJoin us at Froginwell Vineyard with Dr. Monica Seeley for this interactive masterclass for PAs and EAs who want to save time dealing with email to improve their own and their organisation's productivity. Cost £25. Word, Excel & Powerpoint Masterclass with Paul Pennant / We 25.09. / 9.00amYou will learn how to effectively to produce amazing professional documents, spreadsheets and presentations, and with the use of Paul's breath-taking shortcuts, it needn’t take you hours! He'll share 420+ time saving tips with you. ☝ ONLY ONE SPACE REMAINING! ♕ award nominations the Space Awards : amazing workspaces wanted!The Space Awards, which celebrate amazing workspaces in and around Exeter, have been launched. The awards celebrate and showcase the most innovative employee initiatives and champion the best and ‘coolest’ places to work in and around Exeter. Entering the awards is free and categories include: / Best Workspace / Coolest Workspace / Best Co-Working Space / Well-being Award / Best Sustainable Space / Best Desk / Best Office Feature / Best Employee Initiative / Best Corporate Workspace / the Wow! 2019 Award / If you work somewhere awesome and want to nominate your workplace, the deadline is Friday 28th June. Judging will take place on Tuesday 2nd July. The shortlist will be announced on Thursday 4th July and the awards’ ceremony will be held in Exeter at the end of September. To nominate or to enter the awards visit SPACEAWARDS.CO.UK ✂ tools tip Time Zone Ninja For those of you who have to organise meetings or conference calls across multiple time zones, this nifty platform helps you to quickly identify the best time for everyone. ✶ special offer ✶ Organise a workshop at your workplace Vehicle Maintenance Workshop A number of us had a great time with Exminster Garage recently for our evening workshop designed to deliver valuable knowledge and build confidence – to help us in the event of a breakdown. We learned all about the different dashboard lights, how to check levels, how to check our tyres and change a wheel. Jo Strachan, the owner of Exminster Garage, has offered to host workshops for workplaces or groups. So, if you would like Jo to visit your workplace over a lunch hour to run through the workshop with you and your colleagues, feel free to drop her a line. ☛ job offer Job Opportunities from our friends at Hays Holly Watson and Lily Burke at Hays are looking for candidates for permanent and temporary roles respectively. Currently, they are seeking Legal Secretaries who would be interested in a new opportunity in the city centre (permanent role). Alongside this permanent position, they are eager to register any PAs who are in between roles or projects, looking for temporary opportunities to keep them busy and engaged. If this is of interest to you – reach out to Holly and Lily on 01392 348872 to discuss further. Stay tuned in for the latest info: Watch out for our next newsletterIn the meantime, please do share ♥ this newsletter with colleagues and contacts who you think would enjoy being part of our network - or encourage them to subscribe to our updates through our website (www.exeterpanetwork.com). Take care y'all and hope to see you at an event soon! Kim Glover |