Louise Reid, 26 (left)
PA to seven board members at media company Carat
When I started here three years ago, I looked after three people. Bizarrely, it was less demanding than previous jobs where I’d only had one boss. I think it’s because the mix of personalities – despite each being very different – worked really well together. I knew I was capable of doing a really good job for each of them, to the point that I knew what they wanted before they even said it.
‘Then nine months ago, one of the other PAs went on maternity leave and the company decided it wasn’t going to replace her. Then another of the PAs got cancer and left. The result is I now look after seven directors.
‘It’s much harder. They all appreciate that my workload is bigger, but only to a certain extent. I work a lot more late nights and weekends than I used to.
‘Don’t get me wrong, I still love my job and there are upsides to having more bosses. Variety is one of them. One of my bosses is deputy MD, so he is constantly travelling around and I organise a lot of that travel, along with his meetings. Another is head of planning, so he does more within the company. For example, today he’s doing a training course that I helped organise.
‘Having more bosses also means I have more autonomy. After all, the only way to manage that number of people is for nobody to tell me what to do and for me to get on with it and prioritise accordingly.
‘There are a number of things that help me in my work – notably a very comprehensive diary, which is colour co-ordinated for each person. I also write a lot of lists. I haven’t dropped any balls
yet. The worst thing I’ve done so far was forget to book drinks for a meeting, and I solved that by making them myself!’
Nyki Russell, 34
PA to the four directors at estate agents Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward
Eight years ago, I joined this company as an administrator in one of the branches. I didn’t really feel challenged enough, so when the group lettings director needed a PA, I was thrilled to get the job. It was my first ever PA role.
‘One by one, I was given more directors to work with. It tied in with the business growing and there being room for more people at the top – each of whom needed a PA.
‘The juggling is challenging. I find I have to be extremely organised and focus hard on the actual act of prioritising probably more than anything. I write a lot of lists too. But most of it comes naturally. I’m a born organiser. If you came to my home, you’d see everything is alphabetised. In any case, I believe that if you can look after two people well, the jump to four isn’t a great leap.
‘Most of the work I do for the four directors – one group director, two regional directors and one area director – involves diary management, preparing spreadsheets, pulling together figures and reports. I look after 24 administrators in the company too, but they all have BlackBerrys, which makes that task surprisingly easy. In this industry, things change on a daily – and even a minute-by-minute – basis and, thanks to technology, I can get directly into their diaries and onto their BlackBerrys.
‘I love the buzz of my job. I’m kept on my toes from the moment I arrive to when I leave. Generally, I come in at around 8am because I enjoy the peace and quiet before the phones start ringing, and I usually leave by 6pm. There are times I’ll start earlier and leave later, though, especially if things get hectic.’
Luke Condon, 27
PA to the national director and deputy director at creative writing training provider the Arvon Foundation
When I was admin assistant at King’s College London – my first admin role – I worked with quite a few PAs and liked the idea of working closely with someone as they did. A couple of years ago, I felt I needed a change of direction and that’s when I spotted this role in the Guardian newspaper.
‘It wasn’t just the chance to become a PA that attracted me to the job. This is a creative-writing charity and writing is my passion. We have three centres around the country – Devon, Shropshire and West Yorkshire. People come to learn to write anything from video games and cookbooks to fiction and comedy. I loved the concept.
‘The challenge of having two bosses didn’t put me off, although it was something I needed to think about carefully. But when I met them, it immediately became clear that they’re both quite similar in their working styles and work well together.
‘In any working day I could be speaking to the Poet Laureate and arranging her travel to one of our centres, or organising accommodation for the staff at one of our events. With the directors themselves, most of my work involves letter writing and proofreading, and then there’s the trustees, all of whom are volunteers. It’s my job to make sure they’re all treated well and feel appreciated, as well as organising meetings and travel for them.
‘I love the fact that I’m so busy and the day flies by. Working for more than one person also makes me feel like an integral part of the organisation.
‘I write things down a lot – reminders, lists, and so on – and that helps. I’m upfront with the directors about what I’ve decided to prioritise and if it all gets too pressurised, I always remind myself to take a break for 10 seconds to compose myself.’
Gwyneth Knight, 50
Part of a group of five clinical PAs at Princess Alice Hospice. Together, they support 30 nurses, as well as six doctors and six consultants
Before I worked at this hospice, I often used to walk past, thinking how nice it would be to work here. I felt I’d really be doing some good and, for the three years I’ve been here, I do feel I make a valuable contribution. I think that feeling is helped by the fact that I’m answerable to so many key people here.
‘Much of my time is spent typing letters and sending faxes for the clinical staff I look after – and to some extent, dealing with their appointments. I also help to organise meetings.
‘In addition to being PA to clinical staff, my team is the first point of contact for patients and their families. So in that sense, there are a lot of interruptions – you can’t just switch the phones off like some PAs can while they get on with an in-depth piece of work. As there are 28 beds in the hospice and up to 900 outpatients in the community, you can imagine how many queries we get.
‘Sometimes the workload can feel really pressurised, but for the most part I keep calm and I genuinely love the variety of my job. My shorthand notebook is my bible. I use it for everything, crossing things out as I go along. Also, it wasn’t as if I suddenly had a job where I had so many people to answer to. Years ago, when I was PA to a director in the council, I started taking on work for the wider team and became increasingly adept at managing a lot of people.
‘My main advice to anyone planning to work with multiple bosses is to be aware of different personalities and styles of working. One boss might like to be contacted by email, while another prefers messages on their desk. Likewise, one person might need reminding about things more than another. It’s these types of nuances that you re