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The Office Excellence Award, presented by the Post-it® Brand, is a quarterly award given to an administrative professional who goes above and beyond to keep their office running smoothly, and improve their office environment. This quarter’s winner, Siné, is the Administrative Assistant at Easton Mountain, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the LGBTQ community in Greenwich, New York.
Easton Mountain is a community, retreat center, and sanctuary. Through workshops, programs, and events, the organization provides opportunities to integrate body, mind, and spirit. This fellowship is a force for positive change in the world. At the center of it all stands Siné, who began volunteering at Easton Mountain in 2015 and moved there permanently later that year, eventually growing into the Administrative Assistant role for the organization. As Siné says of the transition into his official capacity, “I just kept saying yes, because I love it.”
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A sense of community
Siné is responsible for much of Easton Mountain’s organization, from group brainstorming sessions to scheduling to meal planning and more — and he relies heavily on Post-it® Products to keep things running smoothly. Siné has an office, but most of his time is spent in the dining hall, which is a central location where people can find him. “If they can’t find me, I can’t do my job,” he says.
During retreats and discussion with the community at Easton Mountain, Siné uses Post-it® Easel Pads to record ideas and collect thoughts during big brainstorming sessions.
“We take sheets from the Post-it® Easel Pads and stick them across the wall,” says Siné. “Then we start writing ideas on it — and as we keep writing and running out of room, we add sheets until they reach the end of the room, and then we continue on to the next wall. It’s like an endless blackboard!”
This method allows for great collaboration between community members — and frees Siné up to participate, as well.
With the multitude of events and activities that take place daily at Easton Mountain, Siné finds that the Post-it® Easel Pads, along with Post-it® Super Sticky Notes — are crucial tools for scheduling. “It’s just so much easier when we can visualize our schedules, and physically move events around,” he says.
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Siné’s custom calendar
For tracking various administrative to-dos and prioritizing daily tasks, Siné uses Post-it® Super Sticky Notes, color-coding by staff member.
Here’s how Siné does it:
1. On my wall, I stick seven Post-it® Super Sticky Notes in a row, one for every day of the week — Monday through Sunday. Then, I'll stick the tasks that I want to get done on more Post-it® Super Sticky Notes under each day.
2. I use different colors of Post-it® Super Sticky Notes to tell me who needs to do what. For instance, Will’s notes are purple; Freddie, the marketing director, is green; the accountant is orange, and so on — everyone has their own color.
3. Then, as the week goes by, I’ll rearrange tasks and move things from day to day, removing and re-sticking notes around until I get them in the order of highest priority.
The Post-it® Super Sticky Notes help Siné create a living calendar of important tasks that is easily visible to anyone else in the organization. “I usually ask our Executive Director if tasks are in the right order of priority — he might come along and rearrange my day, just by moving the notes around, which is very easy.”
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A passion for people
In speaking with Siné, his passion for helping others is unmistakable — and it’s clear that Easton Mountain holds a special place in his heart. “You need to love what you do to be here,” he says. “The biggest payment is when you see the positive change in people’s lives who pass through.”
To effectively and efficiently do his part to help create that positive change, Siné relies on Post-it® Products every single day.
“I’d be totally lost and a mess without them!”
