Disaster Recovery Journal Fall 2024

‘I Can’t Talk Now, I’m on a Zoom Call’

By TSVETELINA HINOVA

E

very office has a “Sandy” – a gen eral factotum-cum-social secretary cum-sympathetic ear and shoulder to cry on. Sandy does everything from compiling the holiday list, to making sure there’s always a supply of tea, coffee, milk and sugar, in the staff room. They organize the annual Christmas party, all the leaving dos and whip-rounds for birthdays and, if you’re travelling to a convention or a meeting overseas, it’s Sandy who books your flight and hotel accommodation. “Sandy” is surely one the first people tapped to be part of your business resil ience team. They might even be a good choice to fill your position when you move on. In fiction, Sandy is often portrayed as

the strong and underrated power behind the throne – like Joan Holloway and Peggy Olson in Mad Men – or as having secret designs on the boss, like Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond franchise, or Waylon Smithers in The Simpsons. But the role of the office manager – formerly known as the secretary, personal assistant or executive assistant – is chang ing. The atomization of the workplace and the growth of home and hybrid working; the globalization of industry and com merce; and the rapid advance of technol ogy, including the development of artificial intelligence (AI); have combined to make Sandy’s role more demanding, special ist and critical to the smooth-running of a company or organization. Suddenly, along with all of their exist

ing roles and functions, Sandy is now expected to master the intricacies of new technologies, work across multiple territo ries and jurisdictions, overcome language barriers and manage communications across the business. If Moneypenny were working today, she wouldn’t have time to chat with Bond because she’d be on Zoom, delivering a PowerPoint presentation on the impor tance of creating a positive corporate culture, to staff members across seven dif ferent time-zones. From typewriters to tech wizards The office of the past, with its rigid hierarchies and typing pools, has given way to a more dynamic and collaborative environment. This shift has been largely fuelled by technology, demanding every -

18 DISASTER RECOVERY JOURNAL | FALL 2024