Humorous Weather Ahead

As administrative professionals, we might not always realize it, but we are like a weather barometer when we are in the office. We can often sense and even anticipate the climate in our environments, which includes temperatures, wind, rain, sunshine, and more ‘heat.’

When the winds of change are blowing, the people around us grow nervous, anxious, and sometimes even grumpy. Intense moments lead to heated conversations or sullen silences, and sometimes they can be emotionally draining. These are the times when I knew I had to be like the eye of the hurricane—calm, quiet, and steady.

As administrative professionals, our importance lies in our ability to improve the environment, if we choose to, even when working remotely. I honestly believe that this should be one of my many job requirements in my Executive Assistant role.

Organizations and the people within them rely on the Administrative Professional for information and guidance. It is our responsibility to help our organizations remain resilient and thrive, even during challenging times. We can reduce others' stress simply by shaking things up a little. Perhaps enough to encourage people to look up from their computers, smartphones, and paperwork, or from the Zoom or Team space window and share a smile or even have some fun!

Here is one example and a good indicator that my childlike nature sometimes changed the in-office ‘weather’ conditions.

Our company, like many in Silicon Valley, was going through significant reorganization, and there was a lot of work involved in preparing announcements and communications for employees and the press. The stress had been relatively high for several weeks as everything came together.

I looked around me one afternoon and noticed an eerie quiet, broken only by the clicking of keyboards. Everyone was heads-down, trying to understand the changes unfolding and manage their own emotions. In a corner of our office, a small, lifeless Ficus tree sat, its leaves sadly fallen around its pot, unnoticed by everyone, including our office maintenance team.

I walked over to that small mound of leaves and started gathering them into a pile. Several of my coworkers looked up from their computers…probably thinking ‘has she lost her mind?”

I gathered up every leaf into a small pile and placed it right next to my desk. Now everyone was staring at me. I took a slight bow and then proceeded to walk down the hallway, still in everyone’s view. I then turned around and sprinted an Olympic-style sprint straight for that pile, jumping right in and sending all 20 leaves scattering everywhere! Immediately, there was laughter, a few smiles, and even several people commenting on how they used to do that kind of thing when they were kids. The mood lifted significantly with a simple, childlike gesture!

Learning to play again like we did as children can be great stress reliever!