Rules to Better Personal Assistants (PA) - 10 Rules

If someone has shared their calendar permissions with you, you will be able to check their calendar directly without needing a conversation.

Imagine someone wants to book some time with you. Offer to look up the calendar and book in time straightaway.

Within a company, there are occasions that you are not able to access your computer to send sick emails, or you get a call from your client on the way to the office that you have to drive to a client site straight away; when such things happen, you need someone else to update your calendar when you call in, so others are aware of your availabilities.

Always make sure that:

• Admin people are able to access your calendar with full permission in order to add/edit/delete appointments for you.
• The whole organization can see your full calendar details.

Do this to allow Admins to edit your calendar permissions

1. Open Outlook (or Outlook Web) | Click Calendar | Click "Share Calendar" | Click "Add..." | Add the Admin group | Select "Can edit" Note: Check you are looking in the right address book using the "Address Book" dropdown if you cannot find a user or group.

Now do this to allow the whole organization to see your full calendar details:

2. Open Outlook (or Outlook Web) | Click Calendar | Click "Share Calendar" | Click "My Organization" | Select "Can view all details"

If you cannot see "My Organization" from Outlook Desktop version, use the web version:

• Open Outlook Web | Click Calendar | Click “View” | Click “Calendar settings”
• Click “Shared calendars” | in “Share a Calendar”, select the calendar
  

  

• In "People in my organization" | Select "Can view all details"
  

  

Opening other people's calendar

Once the permissions are given, opening other people's calendar is as easy as 2 steps:

1. Go to the Calendar tab in outlook and click "open a Shared Calendar"
   

   

2. Choose the calendar you want to open in the pop-up form
   

   

Then you can have this shared calendar shown in your Outlook.

Do you check-in with your boss to make sure you are both on the same page?

Even if your boss is not at the office, you should be in contact with them at least twice a day – first thing in the morning and at about 5pm in the afternoon.

If your boss is away, you can still check-in via phone or on Microsoft Teams. Try sending them an instant message via Teams first and let them know that you are trying to get hold of them.

Tip: Say "I'm calling you in 10 minutes if you don't answer!"

During the morning check-in:

• Make sure your boss is aware of his appointments for day

  • Rather than telling them what they have on, ask them what their appointments are for the day. This should help them remember what they have on throughout the day and with whom they are meeting.
• Ask if there are any urgent tasks that they need you to complete that day
• Do a Daily Scrum to let your boss know what other tasks you’re working on that day

During the afternoon check-in:

• Enter your boss’s timesheets

  • Every night at about 5 you should call your boss and say "I am doing your timesheets. Tell me what you did today."
  • You should follow Rules to Better Timesheets when drawing up the times
• Ask if your boss is aware of their appointments for the following day
• The afternoon check in is also a good time to chase up any emails or tasks for which you need your boss’s assistance

Have you ever sent a message late at night, only to worry about disturbing your colleague's downtime? Or perhaps you've received a message outside of working hours and felt pressured to respond? In today's always-connected world, messages can arrive at inconvenient times, creating unnecessary stress and disruption.

Microsoft Teams now has a simple solution: delayed messaging. With this feature, you can schedule messages to be sent at the right time, ensuring they are seen when they’re most relevant—and least intrusive.

Steps to send a delayed message

1. Compose your message in the chat or channel where you want to send it
2. Right-click the Send button (Long-press on Mobile)
3. Choose the desired date and time for your message to be sent
4. Confirm your selection. The message will be scheduled and sent at the chosen time

Why use delayed messages?

1. Respecting work-life balance - You might have an idea or question outside of working hours and want to ensure it’s not forgotten. Scheduling the message means the recipient can address it during their workday without disruption.
2. Avoiding immediate engagement - Some people feel obligated to reply as soon as they see a message, even if it’s inconvenient. By scheduling your message, you avoid pressuring the recipient into an impromptu conversation.
3. Catering to global teams - When working across time zones, your working hours might align with someone else’s rest time. Scheduled messages ensure your communication doesn’t interrupt their sleep or personal time.
4. Ensuring timely delivery - Make sure they receive the message at the right time. For example, if you want Bob to do a task on Friday, you can send a delayed message on Friday morning.

You might want to add “(this is a delayed message)” or specify an exact time, like 8 AM or 3:30 PM, so they know the message was sent later.

By using the delayed message feature in Microsoft Teams, you can communicate more thoughtfully and foster a better work environment for everyone—no matter the time zone.

Look at your boss's calendar, if you see a meeting at, say, 3pm, call him at, say, 12 noon and say something like "Do you have anything going on this afternoon?"

If he knows he has a meeting at 3pm say "How many hours away is that?", "How long will it take you to get there?"

Bosses are busy and forget. Just like you encourage a developer to book their own appointment (see Do you know to make sure that you book the next appointment before you leave the client?), a boss should be the same.

When your boss takes a call from someone wanting to book an appointment there are two options to offer the caller:

1. create a 'Outlook Calendar Appointment', or
2. call their PA and have them double check that they are free, and then create an Outlook Calendar Appointment

It used to be that if the appointment was for the same day, your boss would have to take option 2 to keep the PA informed but now with mobile devices you should generally use option 1.

Always give a heads up when you log in to someone else's account. Also, when you access a company account - which many people may use, like google [at]ssw.com.au - send a heads up to that email so others know you are the one accessing it.

A quick IM, SMS or email is enough to let the account owner know that you are the one accessing their account and it's not being hacked.

You shouldn't have to send emails on behalf of other people because people now have email on their phones. However, on the rare occasions that you do have to send an email on behalf of someone else (eg. your boss), ensure that you BCC the person you are sending it on behalf of and add [ ] in the subject field (at the end) so that such emails can be identified.

The PA is often the face of the business. It is important to encourage everyone to keep the space looking as good as possible.

If your boss is the host of a meeting, the space must be presentable and set up appropriately (for example, if the meeting will require the use of a computer or projector, ensure there are plugs and a space for them to be used).

If the space has been double-booked or is already in use, call your boss as early as possible to arrange for an alternative location.

It is never easy to be a mind reader.

Try to help your boss by saving time by removing minor details or distractions before they arise. This means you will sometimes need to perform tasks such as rescheduling their appointment, researching a product they are looking to purchase (to help them make a faster decision) or chasing up repairs on their behalf.