Google makes video calls better AND worse!
Your weekly round up of what's going on in the Admin world
Happy Friday!
This week I’ve been reading about how there are multiple benefits to companies for providing training (not that we needed more!), so try this one if you are asking for a training budget this year.
There’s visa news for UK visitors to China this week, plus there’s less than a month to go before the ETA entry requirements come into force - more on that below.
Also this week I’ve learned a new Google feature that could make your Google Meet calls significantly better, or much worse; and I’ve got a special offer if you’re looking to learn a new language!
I had loads of comments in the past couple of weeks about the two most recent Extra Wrap articles. I love when you guys share your own personal stories, and these ones have been about internal promotions. So thank you for sharing them - I think I replied to all of them.
I hope you’ve had a good week.
Yvette 💛
NewsWrap
How many times does training people pay off? There’s that old saying you might have heard:
“What if you train people and they leave?”
“…but what if you don’t train them, and they stay?”
According to some new research, there are clear and obvious reasons to train people - better performance, improved outputs, and often an increased feeling of self worth. But there are also other time savings to consider. It’s suggested that employees who have had more training tend to need less managing. So the savings here - especially at larger companies - can be material when it comes to the number of managers, and the amount of management/development time spent on each person is lower.
I loved this post from Alicia Fairclough who I think hit the nail on the head completely with her opinion about why there was very little difference in job satisfaction compared to number of days worked in the office. I genuinely believe there’s no one single solution that works for everyone, just as there’s no single solution that works for one person all of the time. As long as it’s communicated with your colleagues, there are plenty of tools out there these days to help you with that (including Seatti ⬇⬇)
This week I was introduced to Adaptive Audio on Google Meet. You know when you are in a meeting room with a few others, and there are other people joining online, and you have to play tetris with the microphones and speakers so you don’t get that awful echo? Google have solved the issue! Well, sort of. In a meeting room, it’s probably really good. When you have a few people join a call from their desks, to the people in the same office it sounds like the person speaking has been put on mute. I found this out yesterday when I yelled across the office that someone was on mute, when they weren’t, and everyone on the call heard me yelling! Tip: you can turn it off by selecting the list of participants and clicking on the three dots next to your name.
Visa news this week and it looks like a deal has been done between the UK and China to allow visa-free travel to China for UK citizens. It’s not clear when this will be brought in, so keep an eye out for that one.
In addition to this, visitors to the UK from 85 different nations (including the US and Canada) will need Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) from 25th Feb 2026. This will be checked BEFORE travel, meaning that your exec could be refused boarding without one.I’ve started this year by taking some French lessons with an online platform called Preply. If you’ve not heard of it, its a marketplace-type platform where you can find tutors to teach you a new language. They cover all levels, and pretty much any language you could want. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for years, and I’ve finally started! If you wanted to try, you can get 70% off a trial lesson with my link. All the lessons are via the platform, where your tutor can share documents and messages with you as well!
Looking for a Mentor?
I’ve teamed up with three fabulous mentors to offer mentorship across a range of specialties. You can book in for an hour, or a block of three hours, to get expert advice and guidance from one of four women who all have vastly different backgrounds and experiences. Take a look here
By referring your friends and colleagues to The Admin Wrap, you can earn yourself free access to The Extra Wrap - our in depth thought leadership pieces which are sent out every Monday. Can you make it to the top of the leader board?
🔎 RealityWrap
If Everything Is “Strategic”, Nothing Is
“Strategic” has become the safest word in the workplace.
It sounds important. It sounds senior. And it’s very hard to argue with - which is exactly why it gets slapped onto everything, from long-term planning, to last-minute diary chaos, even our job titles. Meetings are strategic. Assistants are strategic. Projects are strategic. Requests are strategic. Even the task that appears at 4:45pm on a Friday is suddenly strategic, usually as a way of justifying why it can’t wait.
When everything is labelled strategic, the word stops meaning anything at all. A bit like when everything is urgent, making nothing urgent.
Real strategy is uncomfortable. It requires time, trade-offs, and the discipline to say no. It involves choosing what won’t be done, not just dressing up urgency as importance. But assistants are often expected to provide “strategic support” at the same speed as reactive admin - as if deep thinking and instant execution live in the same lane.
They obviously don’t.
Calling something strategic doesn’t make it high-impact. It just makes it harder to challenge. The label shuts down prioritisation because questioning it feels like questioning ambition, leadership, or vision - when often you’re just questioning timing.
You’re the one holding the diary when every priority collides. You’re the one managing the fallout when nothing can move because everything was apparently critical. You’re the one quietly creating order out of a mess that no one wants to admit exists.
The uncomfortable reality is that “strategic” is sometimes used as a shield - a way to avoid making hard decisions. If everything matters, nothing can be deprioritised. And when no one chooses, the work still has to happen. It just gets pushed down the chain to the person who keeps things running.
Not everything needs to be strategic. Some things just need to be done properly. Some things need to wait. And some things are simply noise with a better label.
If “strategic” means everything, it means nothing.
EventWrap
Earlybird pricing for the EA Campus Conference ends soon - you’ve got just another eight or so days to benefit from their huge discount. It’s taking place during Admin Professionals Week (22-24th April) and it’s both online and in person (London). You can get all the information here.
If you’re looking for some Microsoft training - specifically Copilot, Power Automate and Outlook, EA How To have just the ticket. Three awesome sessions you can sign up to individually or in a bundle, with different dates for each. What’s not to love!? Check out all the details here.
If you’re looking for some inspiration for your summer event, look no further than the London Summer Event Show that is taking place on 10-11th Feb at stunning venue 60 Great Queen Street in London. Over 150 top suppliers are going - sign up here for your place!
If you’re not London based and can’t get there, consider checking out their list of sponsors for a bit of inspiration - you might find someone similar in your area.
For a list of Conferences, head over to the Conferences section in our Ultimate Assistant’s Toolbox.
If you are running an event aimed at administrative professionals, please send me an email and let me know all about it - hello@theadminwrap.com
The Ultimate Assistant’s Toolbox
Your complete guide to the tools that every assistant needs! And it’s FREE!
