[closed] What is "fast paced" in a business administrative position?

Hi,

Here are the five things I understand about fast-paced office environments

1) Tight Deadlines Mean Always Having a Sense of Urgency:
In a fast-paced environment, having that constant drive and energy to get things done is crucial. If you are bound by external factors, such as requests from clients or your sales team, you need to have the attitude of getting that deliverable done no matter what it takes. This is comparable to submitting a paper last minute or the feeling of not being able to finish your final exam. Sometimes, tight deadlines mean compromising your standard of quality and accepting ‘good enough’ to get tasks done in time. Other times, it means asking for more time or help if you think you truly need it.

2) It's about Priority Management, not Time Management:
In a fast-paced environment, time tends to manage you, so it is important to understand that the priority of work that is being thrown at you is determined by a combination of difficulty/severity, importance/impact, and deadline. If you work in a versatile role where your time is shared among multiple people across different departments that do not necessarily communicate with one another, it is very common to have multiple sources of work and receive unexpected interruptions and distractions throughout the day. When you find yourself getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of things on your plate, it is important to breathe and prioritize. When receiving requests from multiple people, find out when the actual deadlines are by asking if the deadline is fixed and determined by the client or if it is a personal deadline. Learn to counter and negotiate dates based on your workload and sometimes, if appropriate and necessary, say ‘no’ to the request. The last way to help you prioritize is to confirm with the person who assigned you your current task if they agree that the new task is more urgent.

3) Multi-Tasking Is Not as Useful as You Think:
Earlier, I believed that the skill to have was the ability to multi-task. Over time, I learned that multi-tasking is not as productive as I originally thought. When you multitask it is harder to focus on and excel at the task at hand because while you are actively working on one thing, your mind is occupied by other thoughts, and this could be intentional or not. As a result of these thought interruptions, you end up spending more time trying to regain focus on the task at hand. The pain of multi-tasking is usually felt when you have multiple emails, chat conversations, browser tabs, and documents open and you try to work on multiple tasks at the same time or move onto another task before finishing your first one. Time is lost during the context switching while trying to remember the details of your original task upon resuming it. In my experience, it is faster to finish and close one task prior to moving to the next task, which will result in less emails, browser tabs, programs, and documents open all at once. It is best to prioritize and not multi-task!

4) Understand Why It Is a Fast-Paced Environment:
I like to describe a fast-paced environment as organized chaos, which can be frustrating and rewarding at the same time. If you are not used to it or have not yet found ways to cope with it, it can potentially affect how you feel about your job and your company. Take time to understand why your workplace is a fast-paced environment by making general observations from an internal and external perspective and ask yourself a few simple questions. Observe your position and others doing the same tasks, work environment, industry, other colleagues, and company culture and ask if one or more of those factors is resulting in a fast-paced environment. Is it the nature of the industry? Is it the constant tight deadlines? Is the company growing quickly and as a result, experiencing growing pains? When you understand and appreciate the root cause(s) of the fast-paced environment, it can help you determine your next steps, help deal with the pressure, and possibly provide a source of motivation to tackle the root cause.

5) The Importance of Taking Breaks:
This last lesson is simple. Working constantly for long periods of time is not efficient and negatively affects productivity. Research shows that taking a 5-10 minute breather every hour or so and spending that time stretching, grabbing a snack or beverage, getting fresh air by going for a walk, basically anything that requires you to get out of your seat, will really help maintain your level of focus and will give you a boost of energy. I have also learned that it is not about working longer or harder but rather, smarter, which relies on you being at your best by resting and taking personal time to recharge when you are not at work to ensure you are ready to challenge the next day feeling energized.

This all goes without saying that fast-paced environments are not for everyone. Some people prefer to have clearly defined tasks within a defined process. Evaluate if you enjoy getting that adrenaline rush paired with an element of uncertainty of what your day might look like without defined tasks and processes. If you do decide to work in a fast-paced environment, be aware that it will be challenging and overwhelming at times, but it will all be well worth it as you come out at the other end having gone through the learning experience.

Hope this gives a clear picture of what a fast paced environment is. While it is what it is, its clearly based on your preference.

there is a saying in dell, no two days are same ! ..
in Leh mans terms - thats how fast things change in such environments. pretty much every industry there days are such fast paced . this is to ensure they stay ahead of competition and be on top of the industry / company and competition.
you may be chasing one thing today , for example one Key Performance Indicator today and it changes to another one tomorrow.. you need to be ready to cope up with such changes and handle the pressure. its not easy but its not rocket science :) hope my 2 bit helps

Tips for Successfully Leading in the Fast Paced Global Business Environment

We’re all living and working in an increasingly fast-paced and ever-changing world. For business leaders, today’s environment can lead to challenges as well as opportunities to innovate and grow by capitalizing on the rapid speed of change. To succeed and excel in today’s business climate, it is imperative for leaders to consider and approach their roles differently than they have in the past – particularly in three key areas:

Adapt your strategy to stay relevant: Customer and stakeholder needs have changed with shifts in the market. Therefore, it is vital that business leaders assess their strategic approach based on considering what’s most relevant to their clients and in their markets. Previous choices that have been made may not be completely relevant in today’s environment. Leaders should be prepared to evolve their strategy in ways that build relevance with customers, while still providing value. For example, if a new market entrant is attracting your organization’s traditional customers, it’s likely that a new approach – or an adjustment – will be needed for your customer to maintain market share.

Take a balanced approach to the fundamentals: Leaders need to make balanced decisions and understand trade-offs, optimizing costs without going too far. Reactive kneejerk-type actions can negatively impact an organization – both from a value standpoint as well as among employees. Maintaining focus and clarity is critical to firmly solidifying your organization in the market. This also means staying true to what opportunities you will not pursue. Applying this discipline will help protect profitability in a more balanced way. The balance of growth and profits, value and cost are important to maintain long term. Assign goals and provide guidance to employees to support a longer-term balanced view on profitability.

Communicate for strength: With so much change and ambiguity in today’s business world, it is natural for stakeholders and employees to sometimes feel concerned. But lack of communication during such times can easily lead to lack of trust, giving way to unwanted negative rumors and poor engagement among employees. It is critical for business leaders to foster an open dialogue across the organization, especially during uncertain times. In particular, leaders should embrace the following approaches:
•Acknowledge business changes and challenges with all employees
•Outline steps the organization is taking to deal with challenges – including how its business strategy is adapting over time
•Ask for support and ideas from employees – make sure the communication goes in both directions

These guidelines can help leaders maintain confidence and drive collective ownership within the organization. In addition, the mood, tone and body language of business leaders has a strong impact on organization’s energy. One of the best ways to restore confidence is to feel confident yourself.

Leadership development is increasingly viewed as a strategic lever for organizations. But many leaders aren’t ready to take on the challenge of today’s business climate because they are not properly trained.
If business leaders are to achieve in the three areas outlined above – to help their organizations transform and succeed over time – they also must develop the following core capabilities:
•Strategy
•Adapting and refining business models
•Disruptive innovation
•Leading proactive change
•A strong leadership mindset

A fast-paced work environment is an environment in which employees are asked to balance many tasks back-to-back or simultaneously. In a fast-paced work environment, there is very little downtime, and employees are asked to go at full speed all day long. Fast-paced work environments can feel busy or stressful, but some people thrive in such situations and find them energizing and invigorating. KNOW MORE

When a company advertises itself as having a "fast-paced work environment," the company is letting potential job seekers know that they are required to work hard and complete tasks quickly. A fast-paced work environment has very little slack or down time; instead, employees and teams are expected to generate constant productivity.
"Fast-paced" is also correlates with multitasking, in which employees are asked to complete one or more disparate tasks simultaneously, such as answering phones at a reception desk while simultaneously filing and organizing documents online. Technology, including modern computers and the Internet, has made this type of multitasking extremely prevalent, and it is a standard part of many office jobs.
Fast-paced work environments are good for people who get bored easily and who like taking on challenges. They are more difficult for people who have trouble concentrating or who find multitasking stressful.