Sue France: Author of 'The Definitive Personal Assistant/Secretarial Handbook'
Sue France is the author of a new book which has been branded by The Times and published by Kogan Page: ‘The Definitive Personal Assistant/Secretarial Handbook’.
Sue is the UK National Chairman for European Management Assistants (EUMA) a voluntary European wide secretarial networking organisation which helps to develop PAs and provides global links for PAs.
Sue France is The UK Times Crème/ DHL PA of the Year 2006
Following her boss’s nomination, Sue won the prestigious award of The Times Crème DHL PA of the year 2006 and also was runner up in the European Smart PA of the Year 2007.
Sue started work as a shorthand typist/word processing operator and worked her way up becoming a senior secretary, team supervisor, events manager and Personal Assistant to the Head of Andersen in Manchester which was a global leading accounting firm. Sue was also the client events manager for Andersen Clients and organised teambuilding weekends for the employees.
Sue attended Salford University as a mature student part time to be awarded a post graduate diploma in human resource management and is now a Fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD). Sue then became part of the global training team as training manager responsible for 600 secretaries in the UK.
Sue took redundancy in 2002 when Andersen collapsed worldwide and started working with Bill Docherty MBE, an ex Andersen partner who had left in 2000 to set up his own training and development company – Persuasion. Sue is Bill’s PA, Marketing and training Manager. Bill is a management consultant, an international motivational speaker and is also and a Non Executive Consultant for a legal firm, accountancy firm and an oil company. Sue also takes responsibility for training PAs for Persuasion’s clients and has been asked to present at conferences in Ireland, Dubai, Cyprus, Germany and the UK.
Sue has raised over £35,000 for children’s charities by organising events and sponsored walks in such places as the Grand Canyon, the Inca Trail in Peru, the Alps, Mount Etna and the Great Wall of China.
Sue has 2 children, Sara aged 29 and Samantha aged 16 who keep her young and busy!
More about – The Definitive Personal Assistant and Secretarial Handbook
There has been a revolution in the office environment and today’s PA or secretary is a multi-skilled, dynamic member of the management team. The demands of the job are now huge.
Sue France has written a book for all 21st century PAs, secretaries, Executive Assistants, office managers. The book helps you to be and look more confident increasing your self-awareness and your self esteem. It will help you to avoid stress and to be able to cope with pressure at work, how to deal with difficult people and manage conflict, how to create, nurture and manage excellent working relationships and how to use communication skills and body language to your advantage. It will help you to be organised, effective and efficient especially when organising small or large meetings and events. You will learn how to give effective, at ease, presentations whether it’s to 2 or 2000 people. Your time management will be improved, learning how to prioritise, set goals, deal with time thieves, manage deadlines and improve on your email management. It will help you with setting up an ergonomic workstation and includes necessary work station exercises for your posture and healthy body to help prevent, aches, pains and repetitive strain injury. It explains the benefits and the reasons for networking and the secrets of good networking.
Finally there is a chapter for bosses and their assistants to share encouraging ongoing communication including what bosses should know to work effectively with their assistants and how to motivate an assistant in order to create a rewarding and effective working relationship and therefore improving on the ‘bottom line’ of any organisation.
FREE DOWNLOADS
There are appendices in the book which can be downloaded here and you will find the password to enable you to download the forms in the introduction section of the book.
Appendix 1: Personal strengths assessment form
The Personal strengths assessment form helps you discover and celebrate your strengths, realise where your weakness may lie and encourage you to work on your weaknesses
Appendix 2: Personal Development Plan (PDP)
The personal development plan helps each and everyone one of you to continually learn, improve, progress and be the best you can ever be. It helps you to understand yourself and to commit to and focus on your personal learning and training requirements. It also helps you identify your strengths to boost your self confidence and self esteem. You can use the Personal Development Plan in your appraisal meetings and to help you in your career management.
Appendix 3: Preferred thought-processing style questionnaire
This questionnaire helps you to understand your preferred style of communicating ie whether auditory (through hearing), visual (through visualising pictures) or through kinaesthetic (through feelings). On reading the book you will discover how to detect other people’s preferred way of communicating and using this technique you can help build relationships and make yourself easily understood.
Appendix 4: Proforma for goal setting
The proforma helps you to structure, define, set and prioritise your goals and objectives. It helps you decide what is important for you to achieve in your working and personal life.
Appendix 5: Problem-solving master
The problem-solving master structures the way you approach a problem and helps you be objective and systematic when dealing with difficult people or any kind of problems you want to solve.
The Definitive Personal Assistant and Secretarial Handbook is set to become a bible for all assistants worldwide. Comprehensive and accessible, it will help you to maintain a professional image and achieve resounding success in your career.
This book is the ultimate guide for all management assistants, PAs, secretaries and executive assistants, it deals with every aspect of the secretarial profession and the wide range of skills/behaviours and knowledge required.
If you purchase a book on this website, Sue France would be delighted to sign your book on request before posting out to you. Please let Sue know by email to sue@suefrance.com the wording you would like in the book – especially if it is a gift for someone – or whether you are happy for her to put her own message.
