OfficeNinjas 2019 Year in Review
Can you believe the start of a brand new decade is just days away? It feels like a particularly meaningful flip of the calendar — a new era — for this incredible OfficeNinjas community, and we’re bursting with excitement for what the future holds.
Our 2020 planners are filled with goals and action plans for the next phase of our executive-level administrative education program, upcoming Admingling events, and our biggest Admin Week yet.
We can’t wait to share with you all that we have in store, but how about a little reflection first? After all, 2019 was a history-making year for OfficeNinjas HQ. We expanded our team, held our first-ever OfficeNinjas Con, and partnered with UC Berkeley Haas School of Business to redefine administrative education … all while continuing to grow our signature programs and events.
Frankly, we’re proud. Of all of our victories, big and small, and of YOU, our beloved community. You’re the reason for everything we do.
So, please join us in closing 2019 with a celebratory OfficeNinjas Victory Lap Recap, as told by the members of our team.
Our Growing Team
Ali Berger hosting Admingling DC.
OfficeNinjas team members working together IRL.
The OfficeNinjas HQ team at Admingling in New York.
OfficeNinjas team members strike a silly pose at the end of a 2019 event.
Thanks to YOU, 2019 was a year of growth for the OfficeNinjas team. ONHQ added four full-time rockstars and a hearty handful of incredible part-time support members who have helped this small and mighty team continue to deliver on our mission by leaps and bounds!
Since my debut as a 2019 OfficeNinjas All-Star, I have had the opportunity to support the team on special projects that we can’t wait to share with you in 2020. OfficeNinjas was an invaluable resource for me throughout my four years as an administrative professional, and it’s an honor to help foster opportunities for Ninjas to grow the community.
The OfficeNinjas team strives to be the premiere resource for office admins by providing opportunities for professional development, networking, and comradery! And that all hinges on building and nurturing a passionate team who is empowered to do some of the most exciting work of their careers.
As we enter into the Era of the Office Ninja, expect to see more new faces added to our growing team!
– Ali B.
Admingling Intensities in Ten Cities
A look at our very first event of 2019 (in Silicon Valley)
We ended the year in Silicon Valley too — here’s a look at our very last event of 2019.
One of our incredible Ninja hosts duos who led 2019 Adminglings to success.
It was a banner year for Ninja networking with some of our most vibrant and rewarding Admingling events to date — and I should know, because I’ve been an avid Admingling attendee and contributor since 2015!
In January, I took my love affair to the next level by joining the OfficeNinjas team to guide our Hosts & Event Crew, and proudly pay forward the ultimate Admingling experience.
No doubt about it, industry hot topics resonated with Ninjas and, boy, did you have a lot of valuable collective intelligence to share with one another! From goal-setting to the future of work, your impactful and lively convos set the pace for Ninjas to own their roles and lead by example.
Adminglings are nothing if not collaborative, and this year, your boundless energy for networking spawned a new way to have fun and connect during the evening: an ultra cool OfficeNinjas Scavenger Hunt that debuted at Admingling San Francisco and is set to roll out to all Admingling cities in 2020. (Be the first to register for our 2020 Admingling events!)
Clearly (and you know this!) Ninjas are THE BEST help to make it all happen. Kudos to our 2019 Admingling hosts and volunteers — the power-packed secret event planning weapon that makes Admingling magic every single time.
We’re hard at work to amp it up in 2020 — bringing you even more of this very special event series, including the largest-ever Admingling at OfficeNinjas Con 2020. See YOU at Admingling!
– Barb G.
Special shoutout to 2019’s Admingling Hosts:
Silicon Valley: Laura C., Sara S., Samantha E., Crystal L., Maggie H., Barb G.
Seattle: Darcy P., Elizabeth P., Christopher J., Sally E.
San Francisco: Jake G., Zoila P.
New York: Ally M., Ross G, Danielle D.
Los Angeles: Sue C., Zoila P.
Dallas: Sophia P.
Denver: Sarah D., Sherry S.
Washington DC: Ali B., Taylor G.
Chicago: Caitlin C.
Austin: Cathy C., Michele F.
Our Week-Long Celebration of the Admin Phenomenon
The calm before the storm — a look at our Admin Bash location before doors opened.
2019 All-Star Devin Cecere celebrates her award with her team members.
A behind-the-scenes look at a few of our ONHQers working in the green room at ON Con 2019.
One of the best parts of Admin Week 2019? The photo booths.
Every year, OfficeNinjas commemorates the hard work of admin pros and workplace operators with a week of recognition, learning, and celebration.
We see the passion you bring to work every day, and we knew our annual Admin Week festivities had to reflect this phenomenal community that inspires us year-round.
If you’ve participated in Admin Week, you know we kick things off with our OfficeNinjas All-Star Awards, a peer-nominated awards program honoring outstanding Ninjas for their next-level achievements. The awesome doesn’t stop there — we commemorate each day of Admin Week with virtual raffles and amazing prizes. With the celebration culminating in Admin Bash, the biggest Admin Day party in the world for 7 years running!
In 2019, we added a brand new Admin Week experience: OfficeNinja Con (more details in the next section!), bringing world-class education programming to the community, tailored to the unique needs of Ninjas.
I joined the team in early April — by far our busiest time of the year — and dove head first into Admin Week preparations. I can think of no better introduction to my new role than with a massive celebration of everything that makes the OfficeNinjas community so special.
Next year, we’ll be celebrating the Era of the Office Ninja with even MORE Admin Week excitement. I hope I’ll see you there.
– Shannon L.
ON Con and the New Era of Administrative Education
Our co-founders Nancy and Edwin delivering their welcome speech at OfficeNinjas Con 2019.
Ninjas collaborating during one of our hands-on breakout sessions.
A selfie to end the day with our incredible MC Andrew Minkow.
A candid pic from highly anticipated All-Star Panel.
Every year, Admin Week is jam-packed with serious networking and celebration.
But Ninjas are nothing if not nerdy. We listened when you said you prefer your partying with a hearty side of learning. And with education at the heart of our mission, we knew Admin Week was the right time to launch our first-ever OfficeNinjas Con.
At #ONCon19, more than 200 office managers, executive assistants, and workplace operators came from 45 cities, 19 states, and as far as Canada and Ireland to attend this sold-out event.
Attendees indulged in deep learning with workshops on human-centered collaboration and the strategic world of personal OKRs. They took in the latest research from experts on the future of work and the power of workplace rituals. And they had a lot of fun participating in the first-ever global Admingling and an All-Star-studded Q&A.
Of course, we couldn’t have pulled it all off without key input from the Ninja community. You helped inform the development of ON Con through focus groups, surveys, and more than a few deep conversations. And when it was go time? Dozens of you volunteered your time as ON Con production staff, hosts, and panelists, making this truly a collaborative effort.
Launching ON Con was a major milestone in our mission to redefine administrative education and we are incredibly proud — but you know we never rest on past successes. Armed with your thoughtful insights and feedback, we’re building an even bigger and better ON Con experience for 2020.
Get ready, nerds.
– Kristin S.
OfficeNinjas Newsletter: An Ever-Evolving Constant
2019 version of our OfficeNinjas newsletter (left)... compared to a 2017 version (right)!
For many of our most enthusiastic community members, our weekly newsletter was their first introduction to OfficeNinjas.
I’ve been involved in the creation of our newsletter since 2014, penning the welcome paragraphs that invite you to explore each edition, and I’m humbled by the honor of your attention.
Through the years, you’ve let us know that our newsletter is a constant for you, appearing in your inbox every Thursday, stuffed with practical strategies and inspiration to elevate your learning journey as you build a career that you are proud of.
But, for all its consistency, the newsletter has continued to evolve and improve. (That’s a common theme at OfficeNinjas HQ; there’s not a whole lot of resting on one’s laurels.) And 2019 was definitely a year that brought big change to our publication.
Our clean new layout grants breathing room to each weekly theme, curated according to what really matters to you. Our accompanying images are all originals that feature REAL Ninjas from the community. And our new Ninja Notables section highlights some of the brightest (and funniest) ideas and insights from your comments and conversations on our social media channels.
Thank you for allowing our newsletter to hold a coveted spot in your inbox. I hope you enjoy reading it half as much as we enjoy creating it!
– Jenessa C.
Remote Team, IRL Family
The ONHQ team in Oakland, CA for an in-person brainstorming session.
We wrapped up our photoshoot with a few group shots of the team — in Ninja poses, of course!
Team dinner out in Oakland during our IRL gathering.
ONHQ team members Susette and Kristin pose for the photobooth at AdminglingSF.
As a fully remote team, it’s a special treat when we’re able to actually come together in one place. In October, we had the opportunity to bring the entire team to San Francisco to brainstorm, produce a campaign photo shoot, and help support an amazing AdminglingSF event.
I’m from Guatemala City, and before October, it had been at least ten years since I traveled to the US, but I was so excited to meet the great crew I work with remotely every day.
It was an incredible surprise how comfortable we all immediately felt working together IRL. I was greeted with a big cheer, hugs, and smiles. Instead of a work trip, this gathering really felt like one big happy family coming together for a celebration.
I put together the tech for every single one of our events… but had never actually attended one! It was so inspiring to experience our AdminglingSF event, meet amazing Ninjas, and actually take in the awe-inspiring community that is the heart and fuel of everything we do.
After our team trip, I came back to Guatemala feeling energized with incredible memories of our time together: productive meetings, fun dinners, an incredible photoshoot and an awesome wine & cheese farewell afternoon. 2019 was a new beginning for many upcoming OfficeNinjas initiatives. I can’t wait for our team to come together and make magic happen in 2020.
– Susette S.
Lights, Camera, Action!
A behind-the-scenes look at our studio shots used for Admin Week 2020 materials.
ONHQers prepping Nancy for some headshots before our official photo shoot.
Before and after images (from photoshoot to finished product)!
Props and prepping were crucial components during photoshoot day.
This fall, we set out to execute a one-of-a-kind photoshoot to mark the Era of the Office Ninja (our 2020 Admin Week theme). When we think about “a new era”, we think change, but more specifically, we think of something important (revolutionary!) coming into sharp focus.
With that in mind, we aimed to visually capture the strategic moves Ninjas are making to mark the Era of the Office Ninja, while simultaneously balancing the infinite responsibilities of their multifaceted role.
Nine hours and 1,000+ photos later — we did it. (Fun fact: 99% of the pictures we share on our website and newsletter are originals, not stock!)
Our recipe for success?
- R E A L Ninja models (thank you, Bay Area Ninjas! 🙏)
- Beyoncé. A LOT of Beyoncé, alongside a curated playlist of blue steel-inspiring tunes
- Countless props, including life-size balloons and a copious amount of confetti. 🎉
- The essentials… like color-coded gSheets, everything bagels, mood boards, and coordinated Ninja poses (really epic Ninja poses)
I can speak for the entire team in saying, we’re so excited about — and proud of! — our Admin Week 2020 program, and can’t wait to celebrate the Era of the Office Ninja with each of you in April!
– Allie H.
Virtual Ice Cream Socials + Thankful Docs
Snapshot from our Ninjagiving virtual party.
“Thankful Doc” that was a part of our Ninjagiving celebration.
A peak at our “Would You Rather Wednesday” Slack channel conversation.
Fitness Friday collage of our team members — including a cameo from our youngest Ninja!
As Susette mentioned, OfficeNinjas is a completely remote team, so we have to be intentional about our communication and celebrations. Instead of talking around the water cooler or going out for happy hour, we host virtual parties — and we call ‘em Fun Fridays.
It all started with us exceeding a goal we set for ourselves… and wanting to celebrate. So, with an hour set aside to share the week’s accomplishments, a small budget to buy some frozen treats, and a gif-riddled slack invitation, we had ourselves a virtual Ice Cream Social.
Since then, we’ve thrown a virtual team celebration every month with themes ranging from Color Me Engaged (we colored together online for an hour whilst listening to songs like Yellow Submarine and Purple Rain); Fitness Friday (plank competition, anyone?); and Fancy Friday (we broke out our finest china and dressed to the nines for an elegant online lunch).
Then in November, we kicked off the holiday season with an online Ninjagiving, marking the occasion with our favorite holiday foods, a crafting activity, and the creation of Thankful Docs, in which we wrote a nice little message on why we’re thankful for each team member. And now, we all have these tear-jerkingly sweet docs we can refer to any time we need a pick-me-up or want to remember just how special this team truly is.
2019 saw OfficeNinjas take a more dedicated approach to nourishing our team culture — and in 2020, we plan to keep building these important initiatives and supporting our talented group of weirdos who work hard… and throw one heck of a virtual party. 🎉
– Sam W.
The Power of Deep Relationships
Alone we can do so little: Together we can do so much.
Event with Bonnie Low-Kramen as the host in NYC in 2013.
A celebration on Administrative Professionals Day in partnership with Kim Rohrer, founder of OrgOrg
Very first Admingling in partnership with Admin Awards in Dallas 2015.
Thank you to our amazing partners (like Delta Air Lines) for supporting the Ninja community.
Nancy and Edwin open the doors to the OfficeNinjas Career Development Program in partnership with UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.
OfficeNinjas was built on partnerships. In fact, there would be no OfficeNinjas if it were not for a partnership we forged with a local admin community group in Silicon Valley, EASV, led by MJ Powell and Trey Scarpa. We teamed up to host a reception in 2012… little did we know, that would spark the beginning of our signature Admin Bash and seed the idea of OfficeNinjas.
For the next two years, we were graciously hosted by some of the top admin groups and influencers in the nation, including Admin Awards, Joanne Linden, IAAP, Bonnie Low-Kramen, and OrgOrg.
Each event we attended and hosted showed us just how powerful and important the admin community is — and how vital building strong partnerships would become for our organization. Alongside our community partners, we grew over the years with high-quality sponsors who support our mission and care about the Ninja community.
Now, in 2019, we’ve had the incredible opportunity to develop our executive-level education program for administrative and operations professionals in partnership with the inimitable UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.
As a mission-driven organization, we team up with those who share our commitment to helping admins lead valued and fulfilling careers.
From our community partners to our trusted vendor partners, every relationship we build has to be in alignment with our mission. We are humbled by the meaningful relationships we’ve built throughout the years and are grateful for the supportive people who’ve been integral to the past, present, and future of OfficeNinjas.
– Nancy
Launching Executive-Level Education for Admin Professionals
Welcome to the inaugural course of the OfficeNinjas Executive-Level Career Development Program.
Cohort members have some fun learning the Five Powers of Authentic Leadership.
Each participant bravely explored their authentic leadership style with the help of a deeply supportive cohort.
Small group communication sessions challenged cohort members to tap into their vulnerability.
We treated the inaugural cohort with an intimate dinner, celebrating their transformative work of Day One.
Who said powerful leaders can’t be fun? Our inaugural cohort celebrates their completion of the course.
Cohort members (and new friends!) pose together for a celebratory snap at the Farewell Reception.
UC Berkeley Haas distinguished Faculty members celebrate with the cohort at the Farewell Reception.
After 8 years of getting to know thousands of Ninjas from across the country, it was clear that the admin profession was evolving. To help accelerate this important change, we launched an executive-level education program in partnership with UC Berkeley Haas School of Business’ Executive Education — one of the top 10 business schools in the world, training thousands of leaders across the globe.
From inception, the program was developed specifically for admin professionals with contributions from Ninjas who’ve shared their stories and thoughts around their challenges, success, and goals in the workplace.
The inaugural course of this new program took place at UC Berkeley’s beautiful Haas campus on Dec 12-13, 2019 with 42 high-performing admin professionals — 30% of whom flew in from out of town. Each member of the inaugural cohort has an insatiable inner drive to excel and represent the future of the profession.
The day is coming where the importance and impact of the admin profession are known and valued by all. 2019 was just the beginning. And I look forward to being arm-in-arm with the community as we go forth into this new phase of the journey.
– Edwin
A BIG heartfelt thanks to the inaugural cohort: Aimee M., Angela S., Ashley G., Barbara G., Barbara S., Chantilly G., Christie L., Christine M., Christopher J., Corina T., Danielle H., Dash G., Eden D., Erica K., Erin S., Jackie K., Janie B., Jennie V., Jennifer C., Joanne L., Jocelyn R., Josh T., Kaitlan N., Kimberly B., Krista B., Laura C., Lisa W., Lourdes Q., Maria K., Megan N., Meredith S., Mia A., Mia B., Michaela L., MJ P., Monica S., Nev D., Nicki C., Nicole G., Stacey A., Tonya C., Virginia D.
Looking Ahead to the Era of the Office Ninja
Today, we’re in deep planning mode for our 2020 signature programs. Don’t miss out on any of the festivities!
- OfficeNinjas Con tickets are on sale now! Join us for the two-day learning intensive on April 21-22, 2020.
- Admin Bash tickets are also on sale — come celebrate the Era of the Office Ninja in style.
- All-Star Award nominations are OPEN! Submit a nomination for yourself, your favorite Ninja, or your admin team before February 28, 2020.
- Admingling Event tickets are on sale in five major cities. Check the list to see if we’re coming to your city and secure your spot!
- The OfficeNinjas Executive-Level Career Development Program will formally launch in 2020. Sign up for updates on upcoming courses and online learning opportunities.
What behind-the-scenes magic did you work this year? What professional accomplishment are you most proud of? Share in the comments!
This year has been a challenge in our office with 2 admin team members leaving. Upside is it needed to happen – they were bringing us ALL down. Downside was I had to take on roles from BOTH of those jobs until we could get new recruits. It was a challenge but we got through it and had SUPER successful recruitments for BOTH positions! My current role isn’t going to be able to grow so 2020 will find me creating something new or moving on and I’m excited to see how it all works out! Of course the admin highlight of my year was co-hosting Admingling L.A. and I hope to do it again somewhere in 2020!
Started with the company in February. By the end of the year, I have completely taken over full responsibility for the board of directors, managed a full scale move of our offices, revamped our board interface sites, and learned my job in the process! It’s been a great year and I am blessed to have a great job!
Accomplished another successful year in keeping the CEO and others organized and on mark for success. This always makes me proud.
As the company went thru leadership changes and rebuilt teams, stayed positive & continued to keep up the morale & culture. Concentrated on doing more with less and enjoyed the Office Ninja newsletter.
I coordinated office moves this year. Our growing team moved from two temporary offices to a newly built-out, professional office suite. Our team is so glad to be together in one space! I jumped in with both feet and did everything from packing/moving office equipment, to working with the designer and architect to select office finishes and furniture. And everything in between!
What an awesome year this has been for me! I got promoted from a level I Admin to a level III! I now work for the Senior Director of Operations to the Cardiovascular Service Line. I’ve been fortunate enough to come to a team of clinical managers and help lead their day to day work life. I’ve been entrusted with data of our hospital, and I help collect and analyze data to track and trace trends. I’ve done multiple community outreach events and helped lead our team to first place in raising money for the American Heart Association! It has been a hard and busy year, but so gratifying.
I planned my company’s IPO celebration this year, up leveled an internal conference for about 350 attendees to include workshops and more content. It was a year of learning and growing for sure!
I expanded my role from Office Manager to include Executive Assistant, supporting our market. It was my first full year, so expansion within six months was quite exciting and fulfilling.
I created “Admin Collab” to gather with my fellow assistants on a biweekly basis to enhance teamwork/comradery, share tips and updates, and lend support for each other.
I’ve been supporting an ever-rotating change of leadership in my office which has been fun but also challenging. We’ve now settled down into a final line-up and have begun rebuilding our team. It’s been fantastic so far and I’m looking forward to what next year will bring.
I helped my company go public in July and have thoroughly enjoyed working with our new CEO and have really embraced change as a positive thing!
Looking forward to 2020 with my Ninja support team!
This past year I am most proud of staying efficient and organized during the many transitions of finding a new ED for our office and learning to support two executives. As far as behind the scenes magic, one of my VP’s favorite phrase has been “I have a new challenge for you” and I have been able to follow through, exceed expectations and have the acknowledgement that I am indeed an office ninja.
I have had such a busy year! I’m very proud of the two leadership retreats that I planned and attended this year, along with four board of directors meetings, one that took place in Canada! There are more retreats and other special projects on my plate for next year. Bring on 2020!!
Managed to close one chapter of my professional career as an Executive Assistant and transitioned into a completely new position as an HR coordinator.
This is my first year as a ninja (AA) and learning to truly sneak in and make people’s work lives better before they can even think to ask for it has been immensely rewarding!
Behind the scenes magic: We have monthly team meetings, and I spend time curating the catering for these meetings with food that satisfies all the various dietary restrictions/preferences; and ensure that the options are healthy and energizing (not junk food) and are local/small businesses, not large-scale chains, to invest back in our communities whenever possible.
Professional accomplishment: I’ve stuck up for myself and asked tough questions and had hard conversations with my supervisor and my team mates to fully express my professional and personal needs as it relates to expectations and the work day.
I, along with two other fabulous Admins, helped to pull off monthly birthday celebrations for our guys in the field.
Getting my 1400 elevator/escalator paper files and online files back on track after they were mishandled by three other people over a two year period. I got the files back in order and on track in under six months.
2019 has been a very tough year for me. I was laid off from my EA job in April and so far haven’t found a new one. I decided to finally take the leap and am working on setting up my own Virtual Assistant company. It’s not ready to go live, yet. My GOAL is to have things done and launch in January 2020.
Getting feedback that colleagues felt very supported!
Until last month, I actually had one full time and two part time jobs (was laid off from one job due to budget, let go from one because they are no longer using remote employees who are based in California). In my former job as Events Manager, my “save the day” moment happened when the catering delivery for an evening workshop 20 miles away didn’t arrive, and then Grub Hub told me they couldn’t deliver to the location. I left my full time job that evening, grabbed my son from after-school care and literally stopped at three places en route to the evening workshop, picking up all kinds of pre-made food, which I personally delivered. None of the attendees (there were 35) knew anything was amiss and there were actually comments about how nice it was to have a wide assortment of food to select from!
In what had been my full time job until this August, there’d always been an issue that when people submitted a room reservation, they always assumed that the automated “Request Received” reply was confirmation of the reservation, so, if a subsequent message was sent notifying them of an issue, it often languished, unread, in their email. At the beginning of this year, I made a simple tweak of changing the subject line to indicate that an action was needed – and there were no “Oh – I didn’t know there was an issue!” issues after that.
I started a new full time job in August, and one of my first tasks was to get the annual appeal mailing out. The annual appeal has multiple components to it, but, since it’s a very small organization (3 staff), they’d never tracked the success of each component before. Even though all of the materials were already printed when I started, I thought back to how we used to track things back in the day. I grabbed 3 colored pins and put a tiny color coded in the corner of the three separate mailings and voila! For the first time in 45 years, we’re going to be able to easily track things from the outset instead of having to manually review and guess based on dates which solicitation is being responded to. So, those would be the things I’m proudest of this year.
I researched and help select an online board portal for our board meetings, which meant that our office is saving hundreds of trees, time, and money! It was a pleasure to get to help with it since I am so deeply involved in the creation of the trustee packets. So exciting! Definitely a highlight for the year.
This year included a number of growth opportunities for myself and my team. I have to say that the one that has made me the proudest is providing an opportunity for my administrative analyst to join a new initiative for this year. The company decided to open what we call a “Lean Office” where a team of people would become trained to facilitate lean activities throughout the company. So far not only has she completed the requisite training, but she is has taken upon her self to drive the project when she felt the original Senior Management sponsor wasn’t as knowledgeable as expected. I was able to act as her mentor towards getting the rest of her teammates engaged and moving towards a successful implementation of the program when it looked like it was heading towards a crash and burn.
I organized a dinner & golf outing for 60 people and did all the planning. Everything went off without any issues and I planned everything without ever being at the event site!
I am most proud of keeping our 700+ person global team afloat as we had a tremendous amount of turnover within the ABP team due to adding and removing leaders throughout the organization. We have a fully new leadership team and mostly new ABP team and the one consistent thing was me and one other ABP training, hiring, assisting leadership and keeping the organization afloat for a full year until we became fully staffed in Oct ’19
This year I’ve learned so much and took on so many more responsibilities. Am currently helping my company to become a little more automated.
I am proud to be a part of the assistant team at HPE. It is an amazing group of supportive people working to ensure we all are able to do our best.
This year was incredible for my professional growth. Among many other projects, I created systems to steward the schedules of 35+ pastors and then taught and delegated the use of those systems. However, I am most proud of the discussions I had with my oversight and his oversight to discuss my fit within my department. It took an entire year of respectful conflict resolution and self-advocation to now be in a role that I thrive in! Thankful does not even begin to describe how I feel for what is ahead in 2020!
What an exciting year! As an Administrative Assistant for 6 Executives, I’ve had the pleasure of helping with a company system migration. What was supposed to be a week-long process turned into a year-long process of hiccups and I became the SME and liaison between IT and my 60+person department. I also proactively took on additional responsibilities to help another CFO in the midst of an unexpected admin loss. Oh, and throughout the migration, I’ve held on to a role as a Record Retention Liaison, helping transition our paper-loving department transition to a consistent, electronic storing, legally sound record retention department. And let’s not forget the fun! I have had the joy of focusing my executives on the importance of increasing team value/appreciation (like our first ever “Soup-er Bowl”, various quarterly team gatherings, and coordination of several appreciation gift purchases/distributions. Most importantly, I’ve personally focused on not only being the “got-to” for resources and tasks, but a “be-there” for value. Random notes of appreciation, daily funny and inspirational messages, overnight department decorating, random acts of kindness, and simply listening have been at the top of the focus list for ensuring every team member feels value in a sometimes selfish environment.
I’m so proud of becoming an office manager and executive assistant for my awesome company, Drinkworks. It feels like a step up from where I was working previously and every day I feel challenged to deliver my best work. So far I have been able to create a visitor policy, host two happy hours, and develop a new on-boarding activity for new hires — I feel so delighted at what I’ve been able to accomplish in the two months since I was hired!
There are so many behind-the-scenes magic that took place this year! From assisting with a goodbye party for an Executive to throwing a welcome/networking event for our new Executive, from coordinating our secret holiday party to assisting with travel plans. I am grateful for the many new opportunities that my new position has given me and how quickly I have taken to it and the team. A personal accomplishment for me is portraying a sense of calmness when I am running around the office trying to keep all the meetings going smoothly.
One of my most accomplished moments this year was to help boost team members spirits. I found out on Thursday night we have the opportunity to have a team holiday gathering, after obtaining three sets of approvals by Friday afternoon, I had two days to pull together three holiday gathering in various time zones/locations (MD, MN, AZ) and ensure that our remote team members were also included ( PA, NC, CA, FL, GA SD), and everything was completed by the following Thursday before management and team members started taking leave for the holidays.
I wanted to share a huge milestone regarding TrustRadius’s Core Values project! \We value #TRUTH Transparency, Respectful, Unstoppable, Team Player, and Human. It started with an idea and a survey from our SEO team. Then it sky rocketed into an employee recognition program, recruiting measurement and has created a culture curriculum that focuses on growth.
“24K magic…” I am proud of the magic behind being a part of our administrative connections efforts by curating and hosting twice monthly assistant meetings and activities. I am thrilled to have helped plan and execute an enterprise-wide quantitative analytics offsite, where data analysts and scientists of Capital Group gathered for their yearly connection. I am MOST proud to have attended the first ever Berkeley Executive Leadership x office Ninjas workshop and hope to take the tools we learned and make it a killer 2020!!!
I was able to help navigate our execs through two acquisitions this year, and most recently, organized a strategic planning offsite with under two weeks’ lead time, from the other side of the country.
This year I was promoted and was able to simultaneously transition into a new position while hiring/filling my old position–while also going to grad school! Pretty proud of my accomplishments this year.
This year I helped streamline a big secure workstation initiative for my org, as well as taking on calendaring for an executive in my organisation.
I would say that the behind the scenes thing I did that I am most proud of within our company is start creating a better dialog between our employees and our Leadership Team. I did this by finding someone on the Leadership Team that I knew I could go to and would help be and advocate for the voices that are feeling unheard. This has opened great conversations about our annual company survey results and what I believe to be a renewed energy to make 2020 our best year yet!
I implemented a sustainability program at work, and people are actually taking the time to learn about what is compostable/recyclable! I even see them asking other team members when they aren’t sure. Growing collaboration and helping the earth makes my heart happy.
I am proud to have taken more ownership of my career and professional development, which allowed me to transition my focus from facilities management to corporate events management. In 2019 alone, I personally organized and executed over 50 events, reaching well over 2,000 folks comprised of employees, customers and community members. These events embody our commitment to our people, our company values, and the world-class product we build. I am proud to be entrusted with building, maintaining and showcasing our brand for everyone who comes to our space.
It was a great year in my role. I planned our Employee Appreciation Week (yes, week) for 400 employees. So many positive comments of how employees felt appreciate. I stayed under budget (second year in a row). I have only been planning these for 2 years. I am studying to take my PACE soon. This is a huge step for me has I do not like school or studying. I am a hands on learner but wanted something to make me more marketable. Recently I had a solution to an issue that saved my boss some major expense which he was very grateful for. All while keeping our team moving forward and on track. I love my job and my boss is the best!
This year I totally revamped our website and created portals for our Member Centers, Board Members, and Staff across the state to be able to share documents and keep up to date with everything. I have helped to re-write several of our polices and manuals and the on boarding of new staff members as new positions have been created. I have been the go to for all reports, presentations, documents, flyers and more. I have really enjoyed this year and hope to grow my knowledge with your help! Thank you!
Surviving is what I accomplished this year! Kidding.. but! Thriving and making my mark at my company as a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion leader is what I’m exceptionally proud of. It supported growth as an individual and a professional. Most of my magic is behind the scenes, but the team is really great with making a point to recognize all the hard work!
I was able to prove a ONE FIRM process worked across states allowing me to work remotely from home! A win win for us all!
My magic this year: I created a system between myself and my manager to use one note for his daily calendar and all documentation needed for meetings. Cutting down on tons of printing. Saving trees!!
This year I worked on making our billing practices more user friendly and helped save some money by finding a new software tool to help us process our invoices and payments with ease. I worked as the only support associate for an extended period of time as we had folks out on maternity leave and other extended leave. Most importantly, I worked to foster good relationships with my team and began networking with other professionals who hold similar roles as mine (dear Office Ninjas, get something set up in Louisville, KY we have a huge group of folks who’d love to network).
I am proud to have led the firm’s annual charitable giving campaign through another successful year! I worked with the committee in the past but 2019 was my first time leading the team through the full 9-month season. Great practice with project management skills was an added plus to this project!
This year I am especially proud of accomplishing an educational feat after nearly a decade outside of academia. I obtained my Series 6 License in order to increase my value to clients and coworkers and to learn even more about my industry. it meant a lot of outside study and effort, but the success of achieving my passing scores and even more, the knowledge I obtained, has been invaluable. And I was able to put my new knowledge to use right away for my company and our clients. All of this in addition to coordinating and executing a year’s worth of event programming, developing a marketing strategy for 2020, and being the best Office Ninja I can be. Cheers to 2019. Bring on 2020!
I studied and passed my Certified Administrative Professional test and received my certificate this year!! This was a new and exciting experience for me. It allowed me to network with some amazing people and grow into my role even more.
Over the last few years my company has undertaken a huge effort to go “paperless.” In my position, that is extremely difficult but I managed to cut down on printing and paper costs by almost half this year.
Incredibly proud to have proven myself enough to be sent to our San Francisco office (I’m based in NY) to lead our unconscious bias training there.
For the first time ever, I left a job I’d outgrown without having another one lined up. I used the three months I was unemployed to compete in a fitness show and to regroup and refocus on my career. I’m now I’m at another company that’s given me more opportunity/responsibility and the ability to grow and continually improve. I’m so much happier and grateful for taking the risk.
I organized our company retreat to Yosemite, threw 2 large parties (on top of happy hours every month) and ran open enrollment from start to finish. Really proud of all the big things I’ve done this year and excited to see what’s to come for next year :)
This year I kept our law office atmosphere light and positive during a time that most offices would be high stress and staff would be jumping ship. We remained united and completed the year as a team during one of the most financially stressful years our company has ever faced. We made expense/ budget cuts that would have left most offices feeling low on morale. As the office manager, I drummed up the energy to work together as a team to finish this year set up for a successful 2020, with a big win on one of our cases. #herestothenewyear
My best success this year was training an Admin to take my place. She can do a large part of my job now. My other main accomplishment was to take on more responsibilities.
Supporting the IT department of the nation’s one and only organ transplant system is no easy feat. A company of 400 employees, based in Richmond, VA, IT comprises more than one third of the workforce. We’ve had a hugely successful year and celebrated this week with a luncheon. They do keep me busy!
My behind the scenes magic: being a coast to coast ninja, a 2x admingling host, and a 2019 all star! This year I had two very busy months. In April I worked out of my LA, Houston and SF offices (and hosted the LA admingling, and did my all star photoshoot and attended OnCon 19 and Admin Bash) then in October I worked out of LA, NYC and SF and, you probably guessed it, hosted admingling AGAIN this time in SF. Yall I’m one exhausted Ninja – can’t WAIT to repeat these experiences in 2020!
I worked to create more effective agendas and follow up on projects, increasing productivity in my director’s dept. My boss took notice and reflected in my review. I was proud to take part in the leadership team developing an admin network that we’ve been lacking at my company. Our kick off was last month to rave reviews!
Sorry I posted twice!
I worked to manage meeting agendas and follow-ups, increasing productivity in my team with management taking notice! Also took part in developing an admin network group at my company. Kick off meeting was last month to rave reviews. Excited for 2020!
So grateful to know Nancy and Edwin and am so proud to see the growth and success of this truly amazing organization!
I have developed a process and procedure that is utilized by 34 staffing recruiters to move their pre-employment reference return time from 1 week plus, to an average time of less than 1 day. By doing this, we are able to get nurses on the floor at a faster rate.
I became a notary public and received my recertification as a Certified Administrative Professional (CAP).
My best accomplishment was getting fired and finding the most awesome company to work with! Sometimes the bad makes way for the best.
2019 was a year of explosive personal growth. I spoke out when overwhelmed and asked for help. I’m now managing someone else to help with the smaller day to day things while I deal with the larger picture items that keep everything running smoothly. Behind the scenes I reorganized our supply closet and the workflows to order so it’s not so OMG we’re out of this to more of a Hey I opened the last of these situation.
Helped to facilitate a Grand Opening of our new Chapter HQ building and manage the branded and donor recognition signage to completion with conflicting deadlines and priorities. Additionally managed a donor recognition stewardship plan implementation in relation to a major fundraising campaign. Created our chapter’s first ever merchandise store from product research, design conceptualization, display, and logistics. It was an AMAZING year!! So happy to serve this organization!
Coordinated a large joint sales meeting between two divisions and handled all the logistics consisting of off-site meeting, hotel stay dinner, activities and meals for three days all from the comfort of my office. Received kudos for managing it well and not wasn’t in attendance.
SOP Manual creation, continuing learning to add to my CAP certification through webinars, setting 2020 career goals
This year I developed a working relationship with another Admin outside of my work that has been monumental in the development of my role as an Administrator, Office Manager, and Project Coordinator for the small family Business I work for. As I enter my 6th year with my company (beginning third year out of college, and full time Administrator), I am most proud of the processes I have developed for office communication between Project Managers and Administration, and the balance I have managed juggling my different roles. The goals I have set for the coming year are to expand our administrative team with the help of OfficeNinja techniques and resources. 2020 holds much room for opportunity, and I look forward to becoming more involved in the Admin Community within the OfficeNinjas Platform! Happy Holidays!
I am very proud of earning my CAP from IAAP and being hired at Micron Technology, INC as a full-time employee after my internship. :)
I pulled off a 2 day retreat in Santa Cruz in 3 weeks – finding the venue, booking lodging, arranging meals, developing out the schedule, creating content, creating and booking team builders, ordering new swag kits.
Worked with a fabulous team of assistants to revamp and update the Administrative Assistant expectations that had not been updated in several years to better equip all assistants on our Plano campus.
Worked my magic through the quagmire of a merger!
I was the organizer of several Employee Wellness initiatives in our organizations, including: charity walks, Trivia night, and Christmas caroling at a nursing home.
I planned 3 Fun Day events across two states with only a week in between each!
2019 was a year of growth for me and for our center’s admins: We established CAT, a connected community of center admins, doubled our ranks from 3 to 6, and created streamlined processes that will smooth the path as our center grows. My co-worker and I attended OnCon and started an internal year-long leadership training program. I can’t wait to see what 2020 brings!
A little thing, but starting a tradition of signing and handing out birthday cards has helped our moods and moral since starting my new role.
The professional accomplishment I am most proud of is finally landing my dream job: working in the sport of lacrosse. Since I was in college, my dream has always been to work in the lacrosse industry, and ultimately to work in lacrosse team operations. My dream finally came true when I accepted the role of Executive Administrative Assistant at World Lacrosse (the FIFA for the sport of lacrosse). I like to refer to my role as “Executive Team Operations,” and I’m still pinching myself that this is what I get to do every day. Plus, I get to go to the Olympics! #workperks
Being promoted twice in less than a year and starting an employee spotlight article through the Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
I started a monthly Lunch & Learn series that has helped out tremendously with our company culture. It has helped us to get to know one another better. I already have so many awesome topics for next year.
This year started as a normal year then my two supervisors transitioned outside of the company. We then ran our ship for three months without a president. During the third month we received a new President and we have managed to integrate him into our team and built a team that now runs like clockwork.
This year I have been assisting a number of our College Departments, by acting as their department coordinator/analyst during critical administrative staff vacancies. By doing this, I have helped process various administrative functions, so the chairs and faculty members can focus on educating the students.
I am proud of my proactive search for professional development opportunities, which led me to OfficeNinjas. In turn, I am most proud of being selected as one of the three awardees of the 2020 ON Con Scholarship!
I helped to set-up a brand new organization. We are still in the baby stages and one more employee to hire but we are moving forward and I am very excited about our future!
I was promoted to Sr. Event Planning Specialist but of course I am still managing a lot of the administrative duties of the building that used to be part of my responsibilities, because, you know, multiple hats, and why hire someone new when I can do both jobs? haha. It’s been a year for sure and I couldn’t have done it without all the support and encouragement of the ninjas!
I’m serving as the first ever Chair of a committee for staff at my workplace
I created a slew of new processes for the Marketing organization. We now have more structured and well-planned team and Leadership meetings; we also have a formal on-boarding process and training program, neither of which existed before I arrived and worked on theme.
This year, several EAs and I began the planning for an offsite for all the admins on staff. The actual event will be in 2020. The accomplishment is that our two offices are working closely on this very important event.
I focused on my personal development and my education. In that process, I happened to find others that wanted to be mentored and learn with me!
I reduced my supervisor’s inbox from over 6000 emails to 650 in the course of one week.
2019 was one for the books! After 18 years with an organization, I decided to take a leap of faith and change industries. It’s still new for me, but what a difference this change has made in my life. I don’t think making the change earlier would have been as impactful as it has been right at this moment. I feel that my position and my person specifically is something that this company has needed and they are so appreciative of what I have brought to the table. I also get to work with (really for) one of my favorite people…my younger sister! As scary as it sounds to work with/for a sibling, it has been an amazing experience! We work well together and have found a wonderful balance of work and home life together.
In 2019 I went from a solopreneuer (virtual assistant) with a few one-off projects, to having a handful of Wranglers (VAs) helping me with ongoing client work!
This year I was tasked with inviting and keeping track of attendees for a last minute speaker event that I was told about one week prior to the event. I was able to put together a list of people to invite and coordinate the RSVP’s (and then some) well within the time frame. The event was well attended and appreciated.
I work with an amazing team of admin assistants! We are a small team of 3 but always work together managing our school district’s teaching and learning department of five directors who oversee the curriculum for the district’s 25 schools!
Held an afternoon of employee fun with 9 holes of golf and other outdoor games and a potluck picnic with the company supplying the meat.
I collaborated with a committee I work with and created a fill-able form for abstract submissions, updated submission guidelines and created a new module on how to submit abstracts.
I am most proud of actively participating as a team member in the Workers Credit Union, Greater Gardner Relay for Life Campaign. Our team was recognized by the American Cancer Society for being the top fundraising team in 2019. We raised more than $42,000 which blew away the team’s original goal of $26,000.
I love office ninjas. I am most proud of myself working for the same dept. for 35 years and retiring soon. I look forward to traveling and enjoying more time with family & friends.
As my personal accomplishment in my office, as I support an executive team of 7 (VP’s and C-Suite), I have established a standardization of office procedures (SOP) available to them as their assistant allowing them to delegate more assignments freeing them to focus on executive matters.
I collaborated with team members and implemented a new hire orientation and training program.
This past year I’ve changed companies (and left my replacement very detailed information / and had an awesome onboarding experience in my new position), studied for the IAAP CAP exam (and passed!!) and have just been selected as the IAAP NYC Metro Branch Director – 2019 was a great year of moving myself forward, and 2020 is going to really see the fruits of those actions! I can’t wait!!
I finally, finally, FINALLY finished writing my admin training program (specifically for small office/business admins — to teach them to work with the mindset of the business owner, since they work so closely with that person). One of my clients, for whom I am Director of Administrative Services, sold a copy of the program to one of their end clients…and for $1100 MORE than I had priced it. This has opened some pretty interesting doors in the past couple months. Yay!
I received a promotion this year! Working like a Ninja to support the VP’s of my division of a business unit while keeping the lights on and the coffee flowing!
2019 has been a blur with additional duties and juggling more applicant interviews after the holidays than we have done before. I have a good portion of the initial work done that I usually do about 3 weeks out so I am looking forward to a few days off at Christmas to celebrate my achievement.
I transitioned in a new VP to our department at the busiest time for our department after previous VP of 5 years moved to a new position in the company. Several team members, including myself went through separation anxiety and I had to help the team to understand and work with new VP’s style. All is going good, and we are a happy family. Transition took place in October and new VP visited 15 Key Leads in their offices around the US within 15 weeks, I don’t know how I pulled it off, but I did, plus make sure she was available for business critical meeting – and let’s face it what meeting isn’t business critical to someone.
The thing I am most proud of this year is graduating as a first-generation latinx grad. I excited to become an executive assistant at a nonprofit to pursue my passion on working in the education sector helping close the education inequity gap.
This year was packed full of growth opportunities and I’m excited to say that with optimism, a crazy-amazing support system, and sheer ambition, I had accomplishments in all of them.
I had the opportunity to share my onboarding initiatives, data, and new ideas with strategic planning committees and was actively sought out for my expertise in that area. The highlight was serving as a facilitator for a brand new onboarding orientation day for all of our new employees.
I also took on the role of serving as co-Director for our local IAAP branch and have had a lot of fun organizing educational and networking opportunities for the admins in our community. I’ve been serving on info panels, sub-committees, and feedback calls with HQ. 2019 has brought numerous opportunities to boost my position within the onboarding and mentor community. I am now serving as a peer mentor and will be facilitating an online course next spring!
Within my company, we opened a new building (which brought numerous challenges – and successes! – in learning what it takes to build and open a new building). I organized 44 office moves, onboarded 12 new employees, assisted over 80 faculty, and handled registration requests for over 200 students…all while transitioning to a promotion with a brand new role in the company. I’m particularly excited that my 12 years of advocating for = administrative development came to fruition in 2019 when my company finally installed a promotion track for all administrative support roles. Hard work does pay off and you can make change happen!!!
It’s been a while ride and I’m so thankful to my admin community for being there for support, answering questions, and sharing in every trial and triumph. The education, friendship, and development that happens within this community is priceless. I can’t wait to see what 2020 brings for ON and all of the Ninja community.
I’m currently working in Human Resources – everything we do is behind the scenes magic!
I’m most proud of my efforts with the company HR intranet.
One of the things I’m most proud of this year is going back to school to complete my bachelors degree. 50% complete, it has been a long time coming! For magic-making at work, I on boarded two new executives to the company (at the same time), while already supporting 5 other execs. It took some magic for sure!
2019 has been a crazy year. I moved 4 offices, in 3 states, in a span of 4 months. I created a snack budget policy and I closed down out corp apartment. All of this on top of running all of our North American offices. I definitely worked hard and played hard this year!
The thing I am most proud of this year is earning my Associates Degree exactly 30 years after graduating high school! I felt it was important to back my 20 years of experience as an administrative professional with a degree, and I finally did it!!
You all are true rockstars with a lot to be proud of! Good for you.
This past year was an odd one for me. I left a good job upon the promise of a “better” job but soon realized that the grass was NOT greener. I’m super grateful that my original workplace welcomed me back. I now have a renewed appreciation for the value of working with great people! <3 It makes all the difference.
My boss wrote and released a book this year, and I had the opportunity to help edit, market, promote, book numerous signings, speaking engagements over the course of the year. It was such a fun, yet demanding, process to take part in, but I enjoyed it so much! Amazon sold out of the book on release weekend, creating a several week back order, so it was quite the rush to keep Amazon (and other stores) ahead of the demand. Would I do it all again? Absolutely!
We completed our 5th annual Agape 5k fundraiser in June of 2019! I was an integral part of the planning process and getting sponsorship money and in kind donations so it was a real win all around!
While nothing major comes to mind, it’s been another year of working with the best team, at an awesome workplace, accomplishing our collective goals, and helping the team meet their individual goals.
My greatest joy this year (not necessarily accomplishment) was continuing to bring admin professionals into the fold and watch the transformation, energy, and validation by connecting with other like-minded OfficeNinjas. I also love discovering and recognizing first-class EA’s and watching them win awards!
So much behind the scenes magic! We celebrated 1 full year in our new office and successfully planned our holiday party in a new space. I feel like there are never enough hours in a day, but boy do I love my job.
I completed my first year with a new department! My events have been a huge success!
This year I was super proud to extend my role into Project Coordinator and lead a project in conjunction with Apple to bring a free coding camp to middle school students in our County. Apple was beyond impressed w/ our work and how ‘easy it was to work with us’ and ‘how flawless the program’ worked. Little do they know behind the scenes it was true magic making to pull it off! Nevertheless, the program was a hit and growing from 300 kids this year to 1000 kids next year!!
I’m proud to have recertified my IAAP CAP credentials (Certified Administrative Professional). I even had an extra 40 credit hours – I love professional development webinars!
I started a new job in corporate, after working in private foundation for 15 years.
Found a simple solution for professor’s to get their Word documents load to an online test sight, saving them a long wait from their online department to develop an answer. But my best was hearing from a former student who said my encouragement and faith in this student inspired the student to get clean and sober (2 years now!).
Created a standard work book format for each project/job that our firm works on to store documents. Corrected WC coding of all employees across four companies resulting in rebate of insurance premium.
I pulled off a week of off-site meetings and events for our 300 global staff members! It was exhausting but professionally stimulating and stretching.
Worked on an office move to a new location
This was a busy year, and I can’t pinpoint just one outstanding accomplishment! I passed the CAP exam in the spring, all while implementing a new purchasing system and relocating an east coast office (while I’m in the Midwest!).
As a transfer from another office, to help the director maintain current information, I created a budget spreadsheet to keep real-time account balances, as well as a method to help keep volunteer informaiton current. For our office this was a big help for the director to be able to properly appropriate purchases for equipment and supplies. As for the volunteers, their information must remain current to stay in compliance with organizational and state regulations. With our office being in the top ten in size across the state, the multiple accounts/budgets and sizable volunteer list, this was no small task. I am still “fine tuning” the spreadsheets, but it is functional and useful. Onward and upward! :-)
I was able to move my very old school group onto a cloud platform with shared team resources. It was a major step in improving team communication and efficiency!
My biggest accomplishment was handling all aspects of our company relocation!
I created much needed templates to help with organization and information flow. I also lead a team to develop a better file nomenclature for our digital files.
Joined a new team in Nov 2018! Still learning the ropes and excited to create team-building opportunities
I am nothing but behind the scenes magic! In my time at Hood (a private liberal arts college) I have learned that behind the scenes magic is the admin brand. Recognition and happy coworkers drive me to do more and focus on the good of the team and students. I am most proud of the planning of three faculty/staff anti-racism workshops.
I went from Assisting 25 people in 2018 to 55 in 2019. It’s been a big!!! change, but I love it.
Had the opportunity to mentor three new admin in my work group and to develop and lead training to my entire firm admin staff (5 offices, 4 states) in Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel. I assisted long-time mentee of mine in locating a new, challenging position, and a former mentee of mine (who I assisted in earning her CAP and OM certifications a few years ago) was just promoted to lead EA in IT at her company. Great to see so many folks I have had the honor of working with learning new skills and making strides in their chosen profession.
I switched to a new department this year, still as an EA. I have organized several events, which led me to create a fillable and hyperlinked Event planning form, which is still in the works. Eventually, I hope to put it on our internal Admin Site for all other admins in the company to use. Further, I have created several fillable pdf forms and am about to begin taking an emerging leadership course within the company. I love being an Office Ninja!
2019 has proven to be an amazing year. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to co-chair the Illinois Law Enforcement Administrative Professionals Conference. Bringing together 150 law enforcement administrative professionals, from six states. Partaking in this opportunity has allowed me to grow both professionally and on a personal level. I have also been lucky to establish life-long friendship with the team. Looking forward to 2020!
In 2019 I completely built my 7 person, multi-office admin team from scratch. After coming into a team that had some serious issues, having two retirements and three terminations for cause, I now have an extremely strong team that I am incredibly proud of and am looking forward to building in 2020.
Budget cuts has showed up at everyones office I’m sure, but for the building party this year. I crafted an sofa tabe into an fireplace and put a monitor in it with a you tube fireplace crackling along with christmas music. It’s still roaring now. They don’t want me to take it down.
I got to flex my agility by contributing to several new teams, including a culture team and helped organize an entire week of self-care activities (massage chairs, puzzles, chair yoga classes and meditation) during the end of our fiscal year.
We had been using this old coffee system that was too expensive and hardly anyone liked the taste of. Recently after much research we switched to a Keruig system, with reusable cups, compostable k-cups and its less than half the cost of the old coffee system! Plus, more people have been using the coffee and tea station. Win-Win!
I am part of a 15 member EA Team. For the last year I have been studying and taking leadership classes to become an EA supervisor. While training behind the scenes, I’ve been spending time training the less experienced EA’s on my own. My goal is to make each and everyone on our team feel confident and be successful. I also participated in an initiative called “Becoming an EA”. This was a 5 week program to train anyone in workplace who desired to be an EA and give them the opportunity to transition into a new role when completed. I’ve also taken on 2 Mentees and connect with them once a month to talk about the direction they would like to take in their careers to go. After all my hard work, just one month ago I was promoted to a Team Lead position which has turned out to be my greatest accomplishment this year.
Organize a group of volunteers who visit those of our congregation who are in the hospital.
Officeninjas is the best. I can’t say enough good things about it. The conferences, the newsletters, and the networking are the best ever.
As former Office Manager transitioned into an executive assistant newly supporting high level executives; I had the daunting task to plan and execute a holiday party for 200 employees and plus ones with a last minute theme change, just weeks before the event. Successfully accomplished the task this past weekend, and received raving feedback of how much more fun employees had this year at the holiday party than the previous. Nothing like making it work with what you got in a time crunch. Shout out to my awesome Events Team for all the support, made it all possible with your helping hands!
I was given another office’s admin staff to oversee!
This year we reduced the carbon footprint of the office making little changes with big impact over time. We committed to using reusable plates for recurring internal lunches, instead of single-use plastic utensils or paper plates. We generally save the compostable-ware for client meetings, but definitely have cut down. We’ve asked caterers not to send serving utensils, plates, etc. We get organic fruits for our all staff meeting instead of cookies, and stopped purchasing/offering sodas or bottled water. We’re looking for ways to support local businesses and plan to buy snacks using our milk bottle redemption money at the local farmers market. Next year we’ll streamline more processes and find other strategies to implement that can add to the collective effort in the Bay Area and firm-wide/globally to make sustainable practices the norm of office culture. It’s been so great to work with people who care to be candid, bounce ideas off of each other regularly, people who can laugh and crack jokes but are also genuinely interested in exploring what works, what doesn’t, and what could be better. It’s been a productive and awesome year 2019. Looking forward to the flow of 2020.
2019 was my first year as an EA. It has been a roller coaster and, frankly, turbulent. In the background, I found ways to save our company a lot of money when we had a tough year. This included looking for duplication in services, calling and asking for discounts, and clipping coupons. Within the last year, I am most proud of making a career pivot into a respected role as an EA. As difficult as recent days have been, I am very thankful for this job.
Behind the Scenes Magic: Kept literally, hundreds of people fed and happy for over 100 meetings in 2019 — yes, I counted. Delicious, high volume, well coordinated food keeps people wondering, “How does she do that?” I guess it’s just behind the scenes Officeninja magic! ;)
Professional Accomplishment: Mentored an office assistant starting in January of this year. By December, I had encouraged them to apply for a new role and promotion in the company. So to be able to help hire, train and mentor someone into being a greater contributor to the company with higher pay and advancement, in just under a year, makes me feel accomplished.
We can’t just live for ourselves, because what kind of life would that be? Many people throughout my life, helped me, so I am happy that I am in a place where I can do the same.
I joined another company! Never too old to be an Office Ninja!
In 2019 I broke out of HR and into Office Management. By far the most challenging and rewarding jump I’ve made in my career and I’m never looking back!
This year I had the honor of closing a corporate world door and launching a new adventure in the education sector. What’s exciting about the two VERY different worlds is my ability to bring best practices with me! Applying fast paced office ninja skills to a new office/field was met with resistance at first but once I was able to show positive results the flood doors opened and let’s just say lives have been changed. This example pairs nicely with the second question, what professional accomplishment am I most proud of? I have many but my most recent is walking into the world of information technology, at a level I have never known, and not only thrive but also introduce previous work experience, by proxy aiding in new process implementation increasing productivity and ease of use for students. Yay for technology!
One of the Executive Assistants I was mentoring was promoted to be at the same level of myself.
Way to go! Great job believing in, and mentoring others.
This year many things were not just work related such as creating a new way to electronically onboard Asst. Dirs. and above but also family caregiving. After a year of serous health issues, my mother passed on 12/31/18. I helped my father plan/organize the funeral. I found myself needing to decide to retire early to care give for my brother with a brain injury who was not dealing well with my mother’s passing. He passed away in July. I planned a second funeral and settled his affairs. I am in the process of looking to go back to work and what my next work adventure will be.
Alicia, I am so sorry to hear about your family loss. I don’t know you, or have walked your path but I want you to know that I am very impressed and proud of you for stepping up even when it was hard. You are a strong, smart, and have a beautiful heart. I encourage you to self-care and explore new adventures. I wish the best for you in your next steps!
2019 was challenging – we had a major restructure that saw a lot of turnover at a high level and my eventual downsizing on Friday the 13th ( because, of course…)
I have learned a lot and am considering this an opportunity to do something amazing. I became CAP certified this year and got involved in my local IAAP chapter. I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone and plan to take that momentum with me into a new decade.
In the words of a wise friend, “time to jump, Thelma.”
Kelly, I walked a similar path early in 2019. Keep focused, and forward moving. Nice job with the CAP cert! New decade, New adventures! Cheers!
I founded the Association of Virtual Assistants which has members from over 12 countries, our LinkedIn page was nominated for Best of Pages 2019, and we released the first of many trendsetting certifications this year, TEDx for Virtual Assistants!
Congratulations Melissa! What a great accomplishment! And thank you for connecting and educating people!
I dedicated half my time traveling to an amazing team in Houston to help them discover and implement processes and trainings to help them build their capabilities. Together we established a culture of teaming, building each other up, room for failure and empowerment to get the information they need to achieve in their role. It was the highlight of my year! Love that team and watching them succeed 💞
I was hired for a position that was created for me.
I was hired for a position that was created for me, and I am able to continue to work remotely!
The accomplishment I’m most proud of is juggling multiple job hats this year, and getting rewarded/noticed at from our Board of Directors for it. When my two of my co-workers left, I was tasked with there jobs and mine, temporarily. Its been a very long few months. I take care of not only my entire office (five executives), but all of our tenants needs. We have over 50+ tenants.
This is my go to resource when I need information to help me be a bit “extra” in my office.
I continued to support my teams and got this years goals done even with a Sabbatical and Medical Leave this year. I love when my team is so thankful for my returns, it makes me feel loved!
I attended my first Admingling and loved it! I will be attending more of theses great events.
Helping “globalize” my USA-centric employer down to the salutations in our SAP programs; planning and executing 3 International Team meetings of in Manchester UK (Spring), Singapore (Summer), and Warrington UK (Fall) an bringing them in 15% below budget; planning and executing 16 guest visits to our facility of European, Asian, and Middle East guests to learn more about EPRI, that resulted in increased revenue.
Wow, what a year! 2019 flew by! Some of my favorite accomplishments this year are leading my team in monthly meetings surrounding digital fluency to help increase our productivity in the office. This year I also worked on several projects outside of my normal scope directly with my executives building a strong relationship with them and feeling empowered to be part of a strong unit. Lastly but certainly not least, attending the U.C Berkeley leadership workshop last week. What a way to drive home impact at the end of the year!
I’ve gained so much from the example of our “Lead Administrative Assistants” at UNMC. Sometimes it is easier said than done getting people from multiple departments together at one location and ZOOM meetings are helping us all connect more efficiently & effectively. Let me offer up a big “Shout Out” to all of our Lead Administrative Assistants on campus as we daily implement our iTeach Values!
I=Innovation, T=Teamwork, E=Excellence, A=Accountability, C=Courage, H=Healing. That is what we are all about here at Nebraska Medicine!
I’m really proud of how quickly I started executing the responsibilities of my role after starting in May, and I get a lot of satisfaction out of comparing the chaos of my CEO’s pre-me calendar to the organized, strategic, and manageable schedule that I’ve created for him since starting. He’s expressed that he feels more supported than ever and is breathing easier, which makes it all worth it! There was also the little matter of finding myself writing last-minute speeches for my CEO only an hour of two before he went on stage…not exactly part of my job description, but it went really well. :)
I’m super proud of managing a major project to update our new company phone system, multi-function printers, and successful planning of our major client events.
I started a quarterly Executive Assistants’ Breakfast meeting including the seven other EAs on campus to share best practices and get to know each other!
One of my accomplishments was to simplify a process. A previous plant manager had me create a binder for each employee. In each binder was a job description, copies of JSAs for their job, sign off sheets for reviewing JSAs, and sign off sheets for other safety training. This became very tedious to keep up when people changed jobs or there were changes to JSAs. Besides all the paper wasted. To simplify the process, and keep better control over the signed copies, I created a binder for each job. I will give the job binder and sign off sheets to the appropriate supervisor when needed, and keep the binder employee binder so it doesn’t get lost.
I started a new admin role in an entirely new industry in the first quarter of 2019. Everything was different – the tech, the processes, the people, and even the primary language spoken at the office. It was a huge difference from being an EA in my previous role.
Now I work with a team, and am a go-to person from other departments. I have been able to streamline and organize my executives and their workflows, and best of all, I get to work in a team.
I work for an Accounting firm and I took the lead in migrating our CPE tracking program to what we hope will be a more efficient and easy to use LMS program. Organized the training for the firm and setup accounts for everyone. I’m the go to person for help for the firm!
I feel proud to have been able to quietly troubleshoot and cover quite a few near disasters/awkward situations without anyone knowing that anything was even off. The more ninja-like, the better!
I spent 3 months training as an onboarding coach to a new admin at my company! It felt good to see her navigate her way.
This year I embraced my role a little bit tighter and became a little bit stronger professionally and personally. I planned and coordinated an incentive trip for over 100 people to Jackson Hole, WY from our offices in KS. I was given a small promotion being named as Executive Office Manager and Executive Assistant. I have become more involved with our culture of the entire company and keeping our employees happy and engaged. It’s been a very busy year, but a very good year. And, I’m ready for 2020! I’ve already purchased my tickets to ONCON and the BASH!
When my co-worker decided to retire at the end of 2018, I had the honor of doing her job and my job. It’s been a wild & crazy year. The first 5 weeks of 2019 was non-stop kick off meetings where I came in before dawn and left after sunset. I organized catering, conference rooms, transportation, all the details we admins do when it comes to meetings. The accomplishment I’m most proud is being recognized 3 times with our company’s Star Award in 2019.
That sounds like some well-deserved recognition! I’m glad that they appreciate you!!
I’m most proud of organizing our holiday party! We ended up using an event space and had to coordinate catering, decorations, etc ourselves – even though I pitched for using an event planner or a full-service location. Despite losing our admin support during the planning process, I was able to stay on top of work and put together a beautiful party. It took a lot of work behind the scenes and the day-of, but it’s worth it to see my team having such a good time.
I love Office Ninjas. Your articles are extremely informational.
I assisted with the Accounting Leadership meeting which consisted of an off-site meeting, team building and dinner.