Have You Been Microshifting?
Your weekly round up of what's going on in the Admin world
Hello and happy Friday!
This week I’ve been back in Amsterdam again for work, which would have been fun had I not spent the majority of the time in a meeting room (at least it had a window!).
It made me think that it would have been helpful if the local Office Manager in our Amsterdam office (and all the Office Managers in all the other offices) could create some instructions on how to get to the office for external visitors. Not simply “take the train from the airport” but exactly which train, where to get off, which exit to take out of the station, etc etc. If you are an Office Manager, do you have something like this for your colleagues if they are traveling between offices?
Anyway, it’s finally Friday, and we’re just about half way through January. Just another 82 days to go…
If you want something to keep you interested in the cold dark evenings, I’m offering 40% off annual Admin Wrap subscriptions for the next seven days only.
Yvette 💛
NewsWrap
This article from HBR looks at a problem EAs see all the time: you step into a more “strategic” role, but remain buried in meetings, messages, and day-to-day firefighting. Instead of thinking ahead and setting direction, you’re pulled back into the weeds by old habits, unclear expectations, and constant demands from all sides. It’s a reminder that moving into a bigger role doesn’t automatically create space to think - that space has to be protected, often deliberately. We so often create the breathing room that strategic work actually needs for our executives. The real question is: how often are we doing the same for ourselves?
AWS has now launched a European-based cloud, and whilst you might not think this is relevant to you, it could well be if you are either based in Europe, or have customers/partners in Europe. The goal here is to give organisations - especially governments and highly regulated industries - greater control over where data is stored and who can access it, helping them meet stringent EU data residency, compliance, and digital sovereignty requirements. Trust me, there’s a lot of companies who care where their data is. If you’ve ever had to support in writing an RFP (Request for Proposal/Pricing) you might have had to give this information about your company.
This article explores the emerging trend of microshifting - breaking the workday into short, non-linear blocks to fit around life, errands, childcare, energy levels, and other commitments. While some see it as a new way to balance productivity and personal needs, others warn it can disguise deeper stress and pressure when people feel they must stitch work around life instead of having clear working boundaries.
Are you perhaps new to having to arrange your office cleaning? Have you recently moved from a serviced office to your own space that you need to manage? Clara Office Management have written this great article which explains every aspect of having your office cleaned - because it’s not simply cleaning a large home.
If you use AI for your CV or job application, doing it badly will be incredibly obvious (not least because your CV will look very similar to several others) and will likely result in your application being turned down at the very first step. However, if you use it correctly, it can be massively beneficial, and actually help you to stand out. The key takeaway from this Forbes article is for you to use it to compliment what you do. Not to do everything for you.
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
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🔎 RealityWrap
Hybrid Work Is Still a Bit of a Shambles (Yes, I Said It)
Let’s drop the corporate voice for a moment, because hybrid work is not as “settled” as we all pretend it is. It isn’t embedded, it isn’t smooth, and it definitely isn’t working effortlessly in most organisations. What it actually looks like, behind the scenes, is organised chaos held together by half-remembered anchor days, desk bookings no one turns up for, meeting rooms reserved “just in case,” and EAs quietly doing the heavy lifting to make it all look intentional.
On paper, everyone has flexibility. In reality, no one really knows who’s in, when they’re in, or why they chose that day. And somehow, this has become normal. You hear things like “I thought everyone was in on Thursdays,” or “I booked a desk but worked from home in the end,” or the classic, “Can we squeeze ten people into a room for six?” (No. No you may not.)
What’s particularly frustrating is that when hybrid working goes wrong, it’s rarely treated as a systems problem. Instead, it gets framed as people not communicating properly, teams not being aligned, or “teething issues” that we are apparently still experiencing. Meanwhile, you’re sitting there with multiple calendars open, a spreadsheet you promised yourself you’d stop using, and a steady stream of messages asking whether there is anywhere at all for someone to sit.
Here’s the bit no one really wants to say out loud: hybrid work isn’t messy because people are lazy or difficult. It’s messy because most organisations are trying to run it using tools that were never designed for this way of working. When leaders can’t see what’s actually happening, they guess. When teams can’t coordinate easily, they stop trying. And when booking desks or rooms feels harder than just turning up and hoping for the best, people will always choose the path of least resistance.
That’s how EAs and office teams end up as the unofficial air traffic controllers of hybrid life, managing expectations, smoothing friction, and quietly absorbing the operational load so no one else has to think about it. Tools like Seatti* exist precisely because this invisible work has become unsustainable. Not to track people or over complicate things, but to remove the constant “who’s where?” mental load that was never meant to sit with you in the first place.
It’s not flashy. It’s not transformational. It’s just functional - and honestly, that’s the dream. Hybrid work doesn’t need another strategy deck or leadership away day. It needs fewer assumptions, fewer workarounds, and fewer moments where you’re expected to magically make it all work. It also needs to integrate with Teams, which this does.
It also has a fun lunch roulette feature. What do you think of it??
EventWrap
The next Resume Review Hour is happening on 22nd January. Sit in on a real resume being critiqued (perhaps yours if you submit it and it gets chosen) and get some advice on how to improve yours. This event is for EA How To members only - so you’ll need to sign up if you want to join.
Jeremy Burrows is hosting his 7th Annual Leader Assistant Live event on Administrative Professionals Day (make sure that’s in your calendar if it isn’t already!). He’s got 90 minutes packed with live training, kicking off at 11am CT. If you can’t make the time, you will get sent the recording if you have signed up. You can get all the info, including the list of speakers, here!
Hallidays HR are hosting a free webinar on 22nd January at noon UK time on Handling Disciplinary Issues with Confidence. They will take you through the key steps of a fair and compliant disciplinary process in line with UK employment law and the ACAS Code of Practice. Join this webinar to learn how to recognise when disciplinary action may be needed, how to conduct thorough investigations and manage hearings with confidence. It will also be helpful if you are are going through a disciplinary process yourself.
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
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