THE UNOFFICIAL

STAFF OFFICER
GUIDE BOOK

A collection of tips and advice from

Staff Officers and various articles.

Compiled by CL Pearson
LDI: Jan 18
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRESENTATIONS 1
GENERAL PRESENTATION TIPS 1
SLIDE TIPS 2
POWERPOINT SHORTCUTS 3

EMAILS 3
USING BREVITY AND REMOVING AMBIGUITY 4
EMAIL MANAGEMENT 5
GHOST EMAILS 6
MISCELLANEOUS TIPS 6

PREPARING STAFF BRIEFS 9

DRAFTING THE BRIEF 9
STAFFING THE PACK 12
MISCELLANEOUS TIPS 15

ORGANISATIONAL SKILLS 16
MEETING DEADLINES 16
MISCELLANEOUS TIPS 17

MEETINGS 19
PLANNING MEETINGS 19
RUNNING MEETINGS 20
VTCS 21

OFFICER QUALITIES AS A STAFF OFFICER 23

LEADERSHIP 23
MANAGING YOURSELF 24
COMPETENCY AS A STAFF OFFICER 26

MILITARY ASSISTANT 28
CORRESPONDENCE 28
DAILY READ PACKS 28
MEETING PACKS 30
CALENDAR MANAGEMENT 30
MISCELLANEOUS TIPS 34
PRESENTATIONS
PowerPoint has become the ‘go to’ application for military presentations. When used
successfully it can enhance your overall message and reinforce your main points.
However, many use it as a crutch and allow the slides to overtake their presentation.

Ideally, your presentation and main points should be prepared before you open
PowerPoint so your slides can be complementary. Less is best is a key rule with
presentations both in the number of slides and content on each slide. We have all
heard of the term ‘death by PowerPoint’ – your aim is for your audience to feel
satisfied with the amount of detail presented, not looking for the exits.

GENERAL PRESENTATION TIPS

• Allocate at least 15% of your preparation time to checking your presentation

(slides and any script) for errors, ensuring the projector/laser pointer works,
rehearsing etc.

• Only use acronyms you know all members in the audience are familiar with
(otherwise spell it out in full). Always know what each letter in the acronym
stands for in case you are queried.

• Have answers to possible questions about the briefing topic written down or
memorised in case you are asked eg ranges of a weapon system, population size
etc.

• Assume your audience can read – if you want them to read a quote or statistics,
you do not need to read it aloud. Watch the senior members in the audience for
visual cues that they have finished reading the point.

• If you are briefing senior staff and you will be referring to areas on a map, it is
useful to have a colour A3 map print out prepositioned on the table in front of the
senior member (with relevant call out boxes).

• Always be prepared for a complete IT failure. Be comfortable briefing without

slides and have a print out of your slides on standby to act as cues. It is also
useful to have a number of print outs available for seniors officers in the room.

• If possible and if you are comfortable, avoid using a script – you will sound more
genuine. If you do need a script, make the font slightly larger than normal eg 14 -
16 and set the line spacing to 1.5 - 2. Substitute words you are likely to stumble
over with simpler words and phonetically spell out any foreign names you may
have trouble pronouncing under pressure.
• Laser pointers can be useful, particularly when highlighting points on a map but,
do not ‘lase’ every point as it can become distracting.

• As a general rule, two minutes briefing time per slide is a fast pace. If using a
script, the average person speaks at 125 - 150 words per minute. Plan your brief
and the number of slides you use accordingly, and rehearse your presentation
including time for questions and discussion.

• Consider including backup slides with extra information such as maps, graphs, or
more information on a topic in your presentation in case you need this during
question time. These can either be hidden slides or alternatively, placed after the
questions slide.
o Placing the backup slides at the end of the presentation is useful when you
are reliant on someone else to click through the presentation for you. In
this case, it is useful to add a blank slide between the questions slide and
the backup slides so they don’t unintentionally display a backup slide.

SLIDE TIPS

• Aim for no more than three bullets and six words per bullet for each slide
o Select key points you wish to highlight rather than full sentences

o A possible fourth bullet could be the ‘So What?’

• Thoroughly check your presentation for spelling/grammar errors (run a spell

check). Nothing is more distracting to an audience with some members fixating
on spelling errors rather than paying attention to what you are saying.

• Ensure formatting is uniform – text the same font/size, titles and bullets on each
slide are aligned so they do not ‘jump’ when you change slides.

• Text size on slides should be able to read from the back of the briefing room. At
the very smallest, text should be size 18 (aim for 24 - 28).

• Smart Art can make seemingly boring bullets look more exciting. Select the
bullets you wish to change then convert to smart art.

• Ensure your presentation has the appropriate classification on at least the top or
bottom of each slide.

• Add the Latest Date of Information (LDI) on the title slide – useful reference for
staff who are looking at an old slide pack filed on Objective/SharePoint.

• Images/maps/charts:
o These add to your slides but, ensure they are relevant – avoid clichéd
stockpile images.

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 o Crop irrelevant areas off images – this allows images to be larger and
maps easier to read.

o Where relevant, label images/charts/maps.

o Insert useful value adds to maps – this could be anything ranging from
C-130 vs C-17 flight time to a HADR location from key AUS bases, SAM
range rings around a last known location, or added emphasis to major
landmarks such as highlighting APODs or main routes.

• Build slides:
o Use build slides judiciously – when used effectively, they can stop an
audience from jumping to the next point and reading ahead. But, too many
can be distracting and also labour intensive during the brief (particularly if
you are reliant on another member to click through each point).

o It is advantageous to grey out the previous point so the audience can focus
on the current point. This should be the only animation you use (other
animations tend to be distracting).

o Add a full-stop to your last build point on the slide – this serves as a visual
cue for you so you do not accidentally click to the next slide.

POWERPOINT SHORTCUTS

• Use Ctrl + arrow keys to ‘nudge’ images (move them by small increments).

• To blank out your presentation (when in presentation mode) press B or W (B for

black screen, W for white screen). Press the same key to return to your
presentation.

• To copy an object and line it up with the previous object press Ctrl + Shift + drag.

• To merge multiple presentations together that have different unit background

templates, when pasting, select Paste Special > Keep Source Formatting.

• In presentation mode, if you are concerned the computer will lock out while you
are still on the same slide, press R to refresh the screen. This is less distracting
than moving the mouse to keep the screen active.

• To quickly navigate to a slide (visible or hidden) while in presentation mode press

[slide number] + Enter. The ‘slide clicker’, whether this is you or another staff
member, should have a slide 6-pack on-hand with the slide numbers written large
enough to read quickly (eg written by hand in Texta). This enables you to quickly
reference a particular slide and jump directly to it. For example, if a senior asks
you to display a slide again (eg current blue force troop dispositions) you can see
the slide title in your pack and select the appropriate slide number.

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EMAILS
Emails have become a necessary evil in modern communications. The key to
successful email communications is taking active control of it rather than passively
letting it control you.

Good email management will allow you to get your point across faster, remove
ambiguity and also aid in easy retrieval of important information.

USING BREVITY AND REMOVING AMBIGUITY

While a more informal means of communication in comparison to a written brief or

minute, the same basic principles apply ie brevity and focusing on the main points. If
you need to use the scroll bar to read the email, consider condensing your points.

Use a BLUF. Always aim to get your Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF). Commanders
are time poor and task saturated. Convey the point of your email in your first
sentence – are you seeking approval, providing an update on a project, providing
details about an upcoming event?

Email titles. Every email you draft should include a relevant title; this not only
reinforces the reason for your email but also makes it easier for your reader to find
your email at a later date. A useful naming technique for emails is to include the
action required and relevant date in the title eg
Fundraiser Plan (Action: For Signature || Due: COB Fri 10 Nov 18) or Weekly
Intelligence Report (Action: For Review || Due: Today).

If you are forwarding an email you have received, consider the title before forwarding
it – you may wish to rename it first if the title is non-descript.

To or cc? Email distribution. Pay particular attention to the distribution of your

emails. The reader will consider whether they are in the ‘To’ or ‘cc’ and treat your
email accordingly.

‘To’ should be used when the email is specifically aimed at that person and you are
expecting action or a response.

‘Cc’ (carbon copy) is used for people you are emailing for information only ie you do
not expect any action or response from them. This may be to keep your superior
officer in the loop, for the awareness of action officers subordinate to the ‘To’
addressee or for your team’s awareness.

‘Bcc’ (blind carbon copy) is useful when you are sending an email out to a number of
private/personal email accounts so as to preserve other members’ privacy.

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EMAIL MANAGEMENT

In some staff roles you could receive in excess of 50 emails per day, particularly if
your role is reliant on digesting lots of reports on a daily basis such as Intelligence.
As such, good email management techniques are essential to not only action all
relevant emails but also to retrieve the emails quickly at a later date.

Email filing system. Establish a filing system that works for you. Create a number
of folders within Outlook to reflect emails you routinely receive so that you can find
them quickly. This might include folders such as Professional Development,
Personnel, Career Management as well as folders specific to your immediate job.

For task management, you may find it helpful to create folders such as Complete by
End of Week so that any tasks are easily accessible. When the tasks are complete,
you can drag the emails into the suitable thematic folder (or delete). This ensures
you will not miss a task due to email saturation.

It is also helpful to drag emails you have sent to relevant folders. Keeping emails you
have sent to subordinates is particularly useful when it comes to personnel that need
to be actively managed as you will be able to maintain a virtual ‘commander’s
notebook’.

Email rules. Creating rules makes email management easier and more time efficient
(Home > Rules > Create Rules). Rules could range from simply moving particular
emails to a set folder or using Advanced Options you could even flag/set the
importance of an email from a particular person so the emails stand out amongst the
masses of other emails you receive.

Noting others are also likely to set rules for emails you send, if you are responsible
for sending out a routine product (eg a report or INTREP), it is good practice to keep
a portion of the email title the same eg Monthly INSCOM LO Report or Daily
Baghdad INTSUM.

Creating a PST (Personal Storage Table/ Outlook Data File). A PST is essentially
a folder within Outlook which is separate from your inbox and saves all data in it to a
location outside of Outlook (eg to ‘My Documents’). Creating a PST is invaluable as
it means your emails will not take up memory space in your Outlook inbox/sent file
which is usually limited to <100MB.

To create a PST in Outlook 2010, on the Home tab click New Items > More Items >
Outlook Data File. Save your PST to your personal drive (‘My Documents’). Do not
create a password for your PST. If you need to remap your PST due to a computer
error and you forget your password, you will be unable to unlock it/access your
emails!

Once created, your PST is just like any other email folder in your inbox, you can
either drag emails into it or create rules for emails to be moved automatically.

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Before you post out of a location, drag your PST file (from ‘My Documents’) into
Objective. This way you will be able to preserve/access all your emails for the
duration of your career, regardless of file size.

GHOST EMAILS

Ghost emails are essentially emails that you have drafted as an Outlook template file
for your superior to send. They can be highly effective in a staff role as they can
streamline communications, save your superior officer time drafting an email, and
potentially get out the key messages that you want your superior to convey. When
done well, all your superior will need to do is hit the send button. To do this though,
you need to study how your superior writes – specifically their style, tone, and
salutations they use (noting they may write differently when emailing a peer, superior
or subordinate).

Draft an email as though you were your superior with their level of authority/rank.
Ensure you include salutations and their signature block. Add all the addressees in
the To/cc and add yourself in the bcc (your superior can always delete you off the bcc
if they so wish). Add a title, any attachments and select the appropriate security
classifications. DO NOT HIT SEND! Select File > Save As > Outlook Template.
Save the file somewhere easily retrievable eg your ‘Desktop’ or ‘My Documents’.
The file should save as an *.oft file. This is the ghost email.

Draft a brand new email to your superior. Attach the ghost email (Attach File). Send
the email to your superior.

When your superior receives this email, they can open the *.oft attachment (ie the
ghost email). If they are satisfied with the content/addressees, they can send the
email as they would an email they had drafted themselves.

MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

Checking email. Do not let your email dictate your schedule. Schedule blocks of
time several times a day to clear and respond to emails rather than answering an
email as it pops up on your screen. If you get distracted when new emails ‘pop up’
on your screen, turn off your desktop alert (File > Options > Mail > Message
Arrival).

Size. Keep email size as small as possible. Wherever possible, use links (Objective,
SharePoint, or a web link). If you must include an attachment, compress PowerPoint
slides using NXPowerlite (can be added to your DPN/DSN profile by logging an
online job) and PDFs using Acrobat.

Check before you send. Always proof read and run a spell check before hitting
send – no excuses. For a complex topic/important email, get a peer to review it for
both format and content.

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Think before you email. Do not use email as a substitute for a phone call or a
face-to-face conversation. If required, you may wish to follow up a discussion with an
email to capture key agreements or tasks issued.

• Email should never be used in place of face-to-face leadership/mentorship,

breaking unfavourable news or in place of difficult conversations. It diminishes
and distances you as a leader, and limits the opportunity for subordinates to ask
questions and seek clarification.

• Tasks/requests with a short suspense should be issued over the phone/Lync

voice or in person in the first instance rather than relying on others sitting at their
desk and seeing your urgent email.

Keep it professional. Never send an email when you are angry or upset – you can
always sleep on it and review your draft the next day whereas it is hard to recover
from an emotional email. Equally, always assume your email will be forwarded,
regardless of your original intent. As such, be mindful of the content of your email. If
you are uncomfortable with the contents being circulated wider, rewrite it removing
anything that may be perceived as emotional or which might reflect negatively on you
or your unit.

Beware of reply all. Do not fill up inboxes with unnecessary ‘reply all’ emails. Also,
check the distribution before hitting send. Many reputations have been ruined by
hitting the ‘reply all’ when rendering an opinion meant for only one individual.

Put an end to threads. If an email is bouncing back and forth, put an end to it and
call a meeting instead, particularly if it involves several people. This creates the
opportunity for discussion, clarification and prevents the potential for
misunderstanding of intent or emotion.

Signature blocks. Ensure all of your emails (original drafts and responses) include
your signature block with, at a minimum, your phone number and position/unit. When
working on multiple IT systems it is helpful to include your other email addresses,
particularly for allies who are unable to look you up on the DSN/DTSN email address
book. If you have multiple appointments, you can create several different signature
blocks and insert the relevant signature block (click the relevant one in the signature
drop down) depending on your audience. If you have a work iPhone, ensure your
signature block is set for this as well.

Distribution lists. Create personal distribution lists for personnel you routinely email
(Contacts > Home > New Contact Group > Add Members > From Address Book).
For example, you may be required to forward a weekly report to a number of COs
and their XOs from a range of units/Services. You could create a Weekly INT report
– To distribution and if required, a separate Weekly INT report – cc distribution.

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Out of office. Always set your out of office message on Outlook when you are going
to be away or unable to respond to messages. This should include a time frame of
when you will be back in the office and an alternative contact in your absence.
Ensure your message is professional and consider what you would want your
Commander to receive.

Create reminders. For emails that have a set suspense, you can create a reminder
for those receiving the email at a particular time/day (in the email Message > Tags >
Follow Up > Add Reminder > Flag for Recipients).

Create quick parts. If you routinely use the same text in an email, you can create a
shortcut to save you writing it in full. This could be a salutation you use for a
particular group, instructions for a VTC or visitor to your building, asking recipients to
send replies to a group distribution, or even a classification marking if you are
classifying your email paragraphs.

To create a quick part, in the email message type the text you wish to use > select
the text > Insert tab > Quick Part > Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery > Ok.
You will now be able to either select the quick part from the Quick Part drop down
menu or you can start typing the text in an email and after a few characters it will give
you a prompt asking if you would like to insert the quick part, press enter. For
example, if you set a quick part for the text ‘Please find attached today’s morning
intelligence report. For any questions or feedback, please send emails to the
CJTF 123 J2 group mailbox.’ when you type Please find you will be asked if you wish
to add the quick part. If you set a quick part for (S//AUS/CAN/GBR/NZL/USA) when
you type (S// you will be asked if you want the full text added. Note: if you name your
quick part (eg Classification) it will use this name as the trigger instead.

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PREPARING STAFF
BRIEFS
Staff packs/briefs should be professional, concise and be easy for a busy senior to
digest. A brief is called a brief for a reason – it is brief. Your aim should be to make
the complex, simple and the simple, compelling.

Whenever possible, briefs should be decision briefs, not noting briefs. As a rule of
thumb, noting briefs should only be written at the request of a Commander. Decision
briefs are more productive for staff officers as they are action orientated; you are
actively seeking guidance, approval or support to advance your mission.

DRAFTING THE BRIEF

Briefs should be succinct and to the point. There should be no doubt about what you
are asking your Commander to approve or the stance you would like them to take.

Length. Ideally, briefs should be no more than two pages (including formatting such
as signature blocks). Anything longer than this lessens the chance your brief will be
actioned promptly. View this as a challenge to ‘cut the fat’, asking yourself whether
you can make your brief more concise. The longer it takes to convey your message,
the weaker and blurrier it becomes. Be easy on the reader, hard on yourself.

If you have supporting information that is useful but not essential, make it an
enclosure or annex. The brief, however, should be able to be understood without
having to read any attachments.

Keep wording simple. If a sentence needs to be read twice to be understood,

re-write it. Avoid wordy expressions and synonyms that complicate your message or
could be misunderstood. Familiar, uncomplicated words are preferable in most
cases (for example, ‘try’ rather than ‘endeavour’, ‘confuse’ rather than ‘obfuscate’,
‘blood clot’ rather than ‘venous thrombosis’). Tautologies should also be avoided
such as ‘forward planning’ (planning can only be forward), ‘excess verbosity’, ‘reuse
again’, and ‘revert back’.

Grammar basics. Go back to fundamentals and ensure you are familiar with
grammar basics. In particular, focus on punctuation such as apostrophes, colons
and semicolons. If this is a weak area for you, there are plenty of easy to read
grammar guides available online.

Proof reading. Write it, read it, read it again, then get at least two peers to check it.
Accept criticism of your work and use it as a learning opportunity – you will become a
better staff officer in the long term. Proof reading your brief is particularly important
for staff work going to senior leaders for endorsement/approval. Sloppy staff work

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does not engender trust from your senior leaders. If you cannot be bothered to proof
read your own work, they will wonder what else you have missed.

The magic formula. While every Commander/leader is different, when writing briefs,
consider using the following formula as a guide (see Figure 1.0 for generic brief
template using formula):

 What? Provide the background facts eg The 12 Jan 18 fire in Task Group
123.4’s ammunition depot destroyed 30,000 rounds (30 per cent) of the Task
Group’s ammunition holdings. Current supplies for Task Group 123.4 are at
50 per cent. If current training programs are to continue as scheduled,
supplies are projected to decrease to 30 per cent by 01 Mar 18 and 10 per
cent by 01 Apr 18. Under current sustainment plans, the Task Group is to be
resupplied on 15 Mar 18.

 So What? Provide analysis about what this means to your Commander ie why
should they care eg To maintain ammunition supplies at the requisite
operational level of 30 per cent (Ref A), range shoots will need to be halved
until the Mar 18 resupply.

 Now What? Identify what actions/decisions your Commander should take eg

To ensure no impact on training or operational effectiveness, Task Group
123.4 requests the resupply date be brought forward to no later than
15 Feb 18.

 Risks. This is a critical part in the brief as this identifies to the Commander
potential risks if they accept or reject recommended courses of action eg
Possible risks if resupply does not occur before 15 Feb 18 include a decrease
in Task Group operational effectiveness due to limited training and an inability
to zero all weapons for incoming personnel.

 Consultation. Identify people/commands you have engaged and their

position on the brief. This will allow your Commander to determine whether
they personally need to engage with other commands or if the course of action
will be widely supported eg The Air Task Group has advised it has assets
available to support an earlier resupply. Joint Logistics Command has
confirmed ammunition stores are available to support this request.

The consultation phase is vital as it will save you grief in the long run and maintain
vital relationships with other commands. Be transparent at all times and give your
counterparts in other commands the opportunity to comment on your brief before
you staff it higher. Consultation with other staff does not mean they need to agree
– just be sure you reflect their view respectfully in your brief.

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If your counterparts are aware of the brief contents, they can begin preparing a
response for when your Commander sends the brief to their Commander. Also, they
can be an advocate for you, influencing their leaders to get wider buy in. Finally, it
ensures no one is blindsided, reaffirming mutual trust between commands.

Figure 1.0 Example of a brief template using the ‘magic formula’

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STAFFING THE PACK

Your work is not complete until your brief has been signed by the Commander. If a
brief is being staffed in hard copy, the aim is to streamline the process. Ensure the
pack looks professional rather than detracting from all your hard work drafting the
brief. Every command has different protocols for staffing correspondence. The tips
below should be viewed as a guide in the absence of other direction.

Filling in the blanks. All briefs/letters/forms staffed to seniors should have the date
partially filled out (ie Mmm YY) so the senior only needs to add the day. If you are
staffing a form, ensure you have filled out your superior’s name, PMKEYS etc.

Printing packs. Many commands will insist correspondence is printed single sided
and in colour. While this may seem pedantic to some staff officers, this ensures
when your brief has been signed and scanned back to you, it is as clear and legible
as possible.

Flagging staff packs. When including annexes or enclosures in your pack, using
flags (such as the 3M flags - Figure 2.0) to mark these out are a must. Flags should
be neatly aligned, top to bottom as per the order of the annexes/enclosures in the
brief (Figure 3.0). The pack should also include ‘sign here’ flags as appropriate.

Figure 2.0 Example of 3M flags

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 Figure 3.0 Example of flagging a document

While flags can be handwritten, a neater way to do this is to type the text on each flag.
To do this, create a flag template as per Figure 4.0. This could be done using a
number of programs although Microsoft Excel provides one of the easier options.

Figure 4.0 – Example of flag template

In Excel, create cells with a width of 45 and a height of 12.71 (Home > Format).
Ensure these cells are spaced out vertically and horizontally on the page. Set
borders around each of these large cells and print. Stick the flags onto your paper
template with the coloured (non sticky) part in the box and the clear (sticky) part
above the box.

Go back into Excel and remove the borders. Type what you want written on each flag
in these boxes. This could be simply ‘Annex A’ or ‘Encl 1’ or the full title. Place your
paper template with the flags attached face side up in your printer tray and select
print. The text should now be printed over the coloured part of the flags.

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A3 pages. If detailed graphs, spreadsheets or images are too small to be viewed on
an A4 page, print them on A3. Attaching an A3 page to a pack can look clumsy and
folding it in half can make it awkward to pull out. A simple folding technique makes it
easy to pull out and flag. Fold the A3 page in half with right sides facing each other
(Figure 5.0).

Figure 5.0 – A3 folding part 1

Fold the left edge of the top page back onto itself (Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1 – A3 folding part 2

Flag the page as per normal (Figure 5.2). The page can now be pulled out by the
flag.

Figure 5.2 – A3 folding part 3

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MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

Writing manual. Print out the ADF Writing Manual in hard copy and read it from
cover to cover at least once. Highlight formatting points that stand out. This might be
anything ranging from the use of ‘per cent’ instead of ‘percent’, ‘eg’ instead of ‘e.g.’,
the formatting/spacing of a distribution list, or to refer to Annexes as ‘in Annex A’
instead of the old ‘at Annex A’.

Macros. Create shortcuts via macros to save yourself time. A simple macro could
be created for commonly used text such as classifications for briefs. To do this,
select Tools > Macro > Record Macro (name macro appropriately). Type text and
format how you wish eg type classification and format to size 8 Times New Roman.
Then select Tools > Macro > Stop Recording. Add this macro to your tool bar for
easy/routine use. Macros can be as complicated as you wish – using the same
process you can even create personalised Minute/Demi-official/Decision Brief macros
with your signature blocks.

Use hard spaces. Hard spaces are useful when you are writing a series of words
such as a date, metric measurement or name that may naturally split over a number
of lines. To keep a combination of words together on the same line, instead of using
a normal space between each word (ie using the spacebar), use a hard space
(Ctrl + Shift + spacebar). You can see when a hard space has been added by
selecting the show characters tool (¶). Instead of the normal dot between characters
indicating a space (100·km) you will see an open circle (100˚km). You can use the
same technique to keep words separated by a hyphen on the same line
(Ctrl + Shift + hyphen).

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ORGANISATIONAL
SKILLS
MEETING DEADLINES

As a staff officer you will be relatively autonomous. This autonomy means you are
expected to manage your own time to complete assigned tasks, attend meetings and
appointments. You will be required to meet suspenses for a number of reports and
briefs, some with long lead times, others short notice with tight turnarounds of only a
few hours.

Awareness of your superior officer’s priorities is essential as this will allow you to
understand which task must be completed, and which task can be delayed without
having a major impact. Having said this, if there is a chance you are unable to meet
a suspense, you should inform your chain of command as soon as possible. Your
chain may be happy for a task to be delayed or, they may allocate additional
personnel to assist you in meeting the deadline. Keeping a list of your daily, weekly
and monthly priorities on hand also allows you to seek command guidance if you are
overtasked. When assigned a new task that may interfere with the timely completion
of an existing task, when in doubt, seek guidance.

Break large tasks down to milestones. For large reports, prepare a detailed
timeline, factoring in time for planning meetings, drafts, socialisation with your
counterparts in other echelons/groups, and review at each level in your chain of
command. Ensure your timeline allows for urgent short suspense tasks; these will
inevitably occur. A useful way to keep on track is to review your timeline weekly and
add key milestones as Outlook calendar reminders.

Tasking subordinates. When assigning tasks to subordinates, set realistic

deadlines cognisant that they are probably not as experienced as you and thus may
need more time than if you were completing the task. Some of your subordinates will
tell you if they are unable to meet a suspense comfortably whereas others will work
overtime or on weekends to get the job done (even if this wasn’t your original
intention). Engage with your personnel when you task them.

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MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

Where are you losing time? Map out how much time you spend on each task for a
whole week (including time spent texting, getting a coffee with colleagues, reviewing
emails etc). This will quickly show you how you are using your day so you can create
strategies to maximise your time.

Find tasks easily. Create a code in your work diary to allow you to quickly identify
things you need to follow up. This could be a circled ‘T’ or a checkbox for tasks, a
circled ‘Q’ or question mark for things you need more information on, or a circled ‘M’
for a meeting you need to schedule. By crossing these off as you complete them, at
a glance you can find what you need to follow up on in your diary.

Add tasks to your calendar. Block off time in your Outlook calendar for tasks rather
than create task lists. This ensures you get tasks done.

Colour code your calendar. To make it easier for you to determine what you have
scheduled for your day or week, assign colours to each appointment in your Outlook
calendar. If you do not have many appointments each day you could use a simple
colour code system to denote meeting, appointment, travel, leave, social activity,
phone call. If you have lots of meetings, you could be more specific and have three
different colours for meetings – internal (in office) meetings, external (out of office)
meetings, and major/senior meetings or committees (in red). To set the names of the
appointment colours, right click the appointment > select the Categorise Button
image > All Categories > Rename

Add time zones. If you routinely engage with Allies or LOs overseas during the day
via VTCs or Tandberg, add the extra time zone in your Outlook calendar. To do this
select the File tab > Options > on the Calendar tab, under Time Zones, select the
Show a second time zone check box. In the Label box, type a name for
the additional time zone.

Prepare for empty time. When you go to meetings, briefings or appointments, get
into a habit of bringing something to read with you – a brief, report, or journal article
you have been meaning to read. For the inevitable times when you are kept waiting,
you can make the most of this time.

Work/life balance. Achieving a work/life balance is largely up to the member to

manage. As a staff officer, it is your responsibility to identify to your chain of
command when you are task saturated/unable to achieve deadlines without working
significant overtime. Equally, if you are required to work back over an extended
period, it is generally up to you to take some time to decompress. Do not expect your
superiors to keep a tally of all of your hours. If you are working back every night one
week due to a high priority task, few superiors will decline a fair request for an early
knock off on a Friday or a later start on occasion. Equally, if you wish to do PT during
work hours (in line with Defence Instruction specifications), schedule this at a time
that works for you and your team.

17
Finally, recognise that what works for you may not work for others; do not impose
what you perceive as work/life balance best practices on your subordinates. Some
members actually enjoy coming into work an hour before everyone else when it is still
quiet while others like working back an hour to avoid peak hour traffic. Other
members may like checking emails on DREAMS in the evening to ensure they start
with a clear inbox. The most important part is ensuring you and your subordinates
achieve balance and do not burn out. Finally, consider your superior officer’s
work/life balance and personal welfare. As part of ‘looking after your mates’, ensure
your superior is not burning out too, seeking ways to assist them when they are task
saturated.

18
MEETINGS
Meetings are a part of life as a staff officer. Your aim should be to make them
outcome driven, effective, and as short as possible. If you are planning to hold a
meeting purely to provide an update, consider whether this needs to be done in a
meeting rather than emailing the information to those concerned.

PLANNING MEETINGS

Effective meetings rarely occur without deliberate planning. This includes planning a
detailed agenda, careful selection of attendees and ensuring relevant resources are
in place.

Timing/date. When setting a time/date for a meeting, consider what impact it will
have on other members. Are there any major meetings/events that day that will limit
attendance? Is it the Friday before a public holiday where members may wish to take
leave? Is your meeting scheduled for the end of the day when some members may
need to depart early to collect children from school?

If your meeting includes members from interstate who have come specifically for that
meeting, determine when the earliest flight will get them to the meeting so they are
not forced to fly in the night before. Another tip for interstate participants is to
consider scheduling the meeting either before or immediately after lunch. That way,
if they wish to catch up with other members in the meeting, they can do this over
lunch rather than feel pressured to discuss unrelated matters in side-bars during the
meeting.

Agenda. All formal meetings should include an agenda. Including input from other
participants before the meeting ensures appropriate time is allocated and new topics
(or ‘other business’) will not crop up and derail the primary goal. Your agenda should
state the purpose of the meeting (what outcome are you trying to achieve) and state
who is the facilitator for the meeting. The agenda should identify all invited
participants being sure to keep the size manageable (generally less than 10). It is
useful to identify participants (members who have a say/are presenting at the
meeting) and who are invited as observers.

A good technique is to list agenda topics as questions or highlight the action

required. This focuses the participants on decision-making. Attach time estimates to
each agenda item so participants can monitor the progress and pace of the meeting,
although be realistic about the time allocated. While meetings over an hour should
be avoided, if this is not possible, factor in a short break at the halfway point.

The final agenda should be circulated as far in advance as possible (ideally at least a
fortnight in advance). This ensures all participants can prepare, obtain relevant
information from their SMEs and if required, schedule pre-briefs with their staff.

19
Agendas should be circulated much earlier for meetings that require more input from
participants (eg a deep dive from the J2 as a scene setter at the start of the meeting).

When sending out the agenda, include any relevant pre-reading material
(‘read aheads’). This might include draft documents that are going to be refined in
the meeting, supporting reports or briefs. By doing this, you are ensuring everyone
attending the meeting has the opportunity to prepare and contribute effectively.

Supporting material. Make sure you have all the relevant resources and supporting
material in place to ensure your meeting is productive. Would a whiteboard or
butchers paper be helpful? Do you want other parties to present their brief via
PowerPoint slides? If you are using slides, it may be helpful to specify a format or
topics to cover in the presentation – otherwise you might find one member sends you
30 slides when you have only allowed them 10 minutes to brief. Request members
send all slides at least one day in advance so you can merge all the briefs together
and check for completeness. At the conclusion of the meeting, ensure you
disseminate the slide pack (participants may not take some notes if it is displayed on
one of the slides).

Conduct stakeholder analysis. Never go into a meeting without knowing the other
parties’ views. In addition to organising the meeting, spend time preparing yourself to
achieve your desired outcomes. Importantly, you need to understand what
challenges and concerns the other parties have and what their priorities are. This
can be achieved through routine offline discussions with your counterparts in the lead
up to the meeting. Plan how you will deal with any disagreements to your proposed
course of action. This could be risk mitigation, a delayed roll out of a project, making
concessions or escalating the problem up the chain if it cannot be resolved in the
meeting. Ensure all members of your team are aware of your stakeholder analysis
and meeting strategy.

RUNNING MEETINGS

Maximising involvement. If you have invited members as participants for a

meeting, you have the expectation that they will be involved and have selected them
for their expertise. If you are chairing the meeting, it is your responsibility to ensure
all participants have the opportunity to convey their party’s view. Some members,
due to rank or shyness, may be less willing to contribute. Give these participants the
opportunity and actively ask for their view on an issue. If you are a participant, you
may be able to provide supporting fire for a more junior member and reinforce their
point for them.

Staying on track. During a meeting, some members may veer off the agenda and
become side tracked by valid issues and topics that could detract from achieving the
meeting’s original aim. One way to avoid this is to explain to all participants at the
beginning of the meeting that any issues outside of the agenda will be ‘parked’ (ie
you will write these down) and they will be revisited if there is time or raised at the
next meeting. When a participant veers off track you can say that you will ‘park it’.

20
Ensure you adequately capture the concern/topic and read it back to the member so
they are comfortable that their issue will be dealt with.

Where appropriate, provide time updates to participants. This could be at the end of
an agenda item or 15 minutes before the end of the meeting so participants can
begin reviewing outcomes and present closing points.

Minutes. All formal meetings should be recorded through minutes. While this may
seem like extra staff work, these will ensure that what was agreed to, future tasks set,
and the action officer responsible for these tasks are captured accurately. Minutes
should be circulated with all participants no later than a week after the meeting (while
the meeting is still fresh in their minds) to allow them to check it for accuracy. If you
are a participant in a meeting and you are sent minutes to review, ignore this at your
peril as you may be inadvertently tasked with a project or your comments may be
misrepresented. Minutes should be used after the meeting to ensure participants
assigned with tasks are accountable. The meeting secretary should ensure they
follow up with tasks so the meeting achieves its objective.

VTCS

• Always go into a VTC with a phone number of the bridge and phone numbers of
the members on the other end of the VTC (ideally both the room they are in and
someone who is not part of the VTC that can assist with communication).

• When booking VTCs, be mindful of daylight saving changes, particularly when

engaging with overseas as their daylight saving times will change at different
times to Australia. Ensure when you are setting a reoccurring VTC meeting, you
factor this in when booking the VTC room – you may find that someone else may
place a permanent booking on either side of your booking and you will need to
find another room when daylight saving changes.

• When booking VTCs for multiple time zones eg Canberra, Washington DC and
London, it is useful to use an online time zone meeting planner
(https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html) which converts all the
times/dates for you and also colour codes the times (ie green for working hours,
amber for early morning/evening, and red for the middle of the night).

• When sending out a VTC invitation, it is useful to use Zulu time to avoid any
confusion.

• Always send a copy of the slides to the stakeholders ahead of the meeting so if
the slides cannot be displayed during the VTC for some reason, all parties can
refer to their print outs.

21
• Some VTC bridges will cut the VTC connection at the exact time the meeting is
scheduled to finish. This is generally the case with JWICS VTCs. It is worth
booking the VTC for an additional 15 minutes in case closing comments run over
time.

• Start VTCs with introductions and ensure all members are within line of sight of
the camera. Often, images are small or distorted and it is difficult to determine
who is in the room.

• Always confirm your VTC is set to the appropriate classification before you begin
discussing classified/code word material, and if you are discussing AUSTEO
material, ensure there are no foreign integrees/LOs on the other end of the VTC.

22
OFFICER QUALITIES AS
A STAFF OFFICER
LEADERSHIP

While in a tactical unit, leadership responsibilities are obvious, in staff roles, this is
often forgotten as competing priorities and short notice tasks take primacy. Equally,
you may only have one or two subordinates working for you, or perhaps no
immediate subordinates. Senior headquarters also tend to have a flatter structure,
with members employed due to their unique knowledge. All of these factors results in
some staff forgetting the basics or neglecting core leadership duties expected of an
officer.

Seek opportunities. While you may have no direct reports, you can still have an
impact on others. You may have a team nearby that has junior members working for
an APS member or their superior is from a different Service or Category/Corps to
them. You may use this as an opportunity in assisting in providing professional
guidance or advice. Equally, there may be mentoring programs or juniors in need of
mentoring in your area (eg at ADFA or RMC-D). Use every opportunity to make a
difference and actively reach out to others.

Communication. The basic principles of leaders communicating to subordinates

does not change in a staff role. Frequent communication to convey intent and
priorities empowers your staff, enabling them to anticipate future direction and assist
you in achieving mission success. Good communication establishes important buy in
at all levels.

Routine huddles with your team are always useful. Update subordinates on what you
and your superiors are working on: explain priorities (including how it applies to their
work) and provide situational awareness of events occurring in the wider command.
Sharing the background information to what is in your in-tray also allows your
subordinates to support you and anticipate your requirements, as well as preparing
your subordinates for future appointments in their career.

Strong communication practices also allows you to seek the views of your
subordinates, understand pressures they may be facing, and obtain important input
that you may not have considered.

Create a team environment. Staff roles and senior commands understandably lack
the tight crew room/regiment esprit de corps you are used to in the tactical
environment. The absence of a hub such as a mess, unit operational history (which
in turn helps to build unit culture and pride), and the inevitable high operational tempo
of staff duties all arguably contribute to this lack of unity. However, the benefits of a

23
positive and collaborative team environment are widely accepted and discussed in
numerous military and business journals. As a staff officer leader, regardless of your
level, you have the opportunity to foster a team environment.

While social unit activities or informal unit PT activities such as a walk around Lake
Burley Griffin may seem cliché or initially perceived as insignificant, they reinforce
inclusivity and being part of the team. At the same time, they create an opportunity
for members to get to know each other in a different environment. Social activities do
not need to be seen as burdensome but can be as simple as going to the café in the
morning as a team, having a Friday lunch out every few months, or monthly after
work drinks. Contributing to wider Branch and Division level formal command
functions (a Dining In Night, cocktail party or ball) can also promote a wider team
environment, sense of belonging and greater esprit de corps.

Dress and bearing. While seemingly obvious, it is worth highlighting that in a staff
role, you are still being observed by those junior to you, regardless of whether they
are your subordinate or part of another Directorate or Branch. Therefore, ensuring
you maintain appropriate dress, bearing, and decorum as if you were a Commander
or Sub-Unit Commander is essential; set the example and ensure military standards
do not drop.

MANAGING YOURSELF

Mandatory obligations. Due to the average seniority of personnel in staff roles

being much higher than tactical units, there is an expectation that members take
responsibility for their own mandatory requirements. This includes maintaining IR
and mandatory training currency, ensuring PMKEYS is up to date, and meeting
compulsory career requirements (eg completing your PMET residential and
correspondence courses).

Professional development. In staff roles, there is often limited opportunities for

formal professional development. This can be due to a number of reasons including
limited funding, competing priorities of seniors and an inability to release personnel
from their staff duties. As such, members must take it upon themselves to drive their
own professional development. In absence of formal training, there are a number of
other opportunities that can be exploited to continue your professional development.
These include:

• Professional libraries. There are a number of annual Command Reading Lists

available online which identify a varied selection of books worth reading. These
serve as a good starting point when looking for books to enhance your
professional development. Many of these books are available from the Defence
Library Service or you can purchase them and claim it on tax as part of your
professional library.

• Presentations. Take every opportunity to attend presentations available to you

through the ADF and wider professional community. Some are at a cost or part of

24
 an organisation the charges annual fees but many are free of charge. With many
staff jobs based in Canberra, you will be in a prime location to attend a number of
professional development briefings. Organisations such as the Australian
Strategic Policy Institute, Royal United Services Institute, ANU’s Strategic and
Defence Studies Centre and National Security College routinely have high level
speakers. Equally, DEFGRAMs identify ad hoc events including presentations
from the Air Power Development Centre (APDC) or Australian Army Research
Centre (AARC).

• Blogs/journals. There are a range of military and professional blogs/journals

available online. Good sites to start with are:
o The Central Blue (http://centralblue.williamsfoundation.org.au)
o The Cove (https://www.cove.org.au)
o Grounded Curiosity (https://groundedcuriosity.com)
o The Military Leader (http://www.themilitaryleader.com)
o The Tactical Leader (https://www.thetacticalleader.com)
o From the Green Notebook (https://fromthegreennotebook.com)
o The Strategy Bridge (https://thestrategybridge.org)
o War on the Rocks (https://warontherocks.com)
o Small Wars Journal (http://smallwarsjournal.com)
o Institute of the Study of War (http://www.understandingwar.org)
o Divergent Options (https://divergentoptions.org)
o Blogs of War (https://blogsofwar.com)
o US Army War College (https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu)
o USAF Air University (http://www.airuniversity.af.mil/ASPJ/)
o Center for Strategic and International Studies (https://www.csis.org)
o Center for New American Security (https://www.cnas.org)
o Breaking Defense (https://breakingdefense.com)
o Harvard Business Review (https://hbr.org)
o Inc (https://www.inc.com)

• Following social media. Defence views of social media have changed over
recent years with many individuals and commands creating their own Facebook
sites or Twitter handles to communicate and promote innovative thinking. Seek
out these sites and follow individuals you respect. An easy way of finding new
Twitter handles to follow is by looking at who a key leader follows, or search for
handles associated with blogs you read. As with all social media, Defence policy
must be adhered to at all times and permission is required for any official
site/handle. It is advisable to make it clear views are your own and do not
represent the views of any organisation, and ‘retweets’ do not indicate
endorsement.

• Podcasts and audiobooks. Many blogs and organisations have podcasts

available. Equally, many professional books are readily available for download as
audiobooks. Public library websites often have audiobooks which can be

25
 downloaded at no charge. The advantage with podcasts and audiobooks is you
can listen to them while doing personal PT or driving to and from work
(particularly helpful for the drive when you are posted to HQJOC).

• Maintain links with your specialisation. In staff roles you may find you are
either working away from your core specialisation or in a niche subset of it.
Alternatively, your staff role may be in a Joint environment where you may have
no other members of your Service in your team. Seek out opportunities,
relationships, and information to keep in touch with those in your corps/category
and Service. This could be informal catchups over coffee, keeping up to date with
the latest doctrine/publications, and routinely sharing information with your
peers/specialisation via email. Reaching out to others in your Service/
specialisation will often result in them responding in kind, keeping you in the loop.

• Look for external networks. Outside of your command there are a range of
networks and groups you can join to continue to develop yourself. Members of
these groups will generally be like minded; they too are seeking to develop
professionally and find innovative solutions. Some groups are unaffiliated with
Defence such as professional groups in MeetUp (www.meetup.com/en-
AU/find/career-business/) or Professional Women’s Lunches
(http://www.professionalwomenslunches.com/australia/). Other networks are
Defence sponsored such as WINGs (information available on the DPN) or the
DEFAUS innovation group. Finally, you may wish to start your own group such as
a monthly ‘Articles Club’ (Articles Clubs are a similar concept to Book Clubs
where individuals come together over a drink to discuss their views on a number
of topical journal articles).

COMPETENCY AS A STAFF OFFICER

In the same way that you are expected to be proficient at your core role in tactical
units (Engineer, Intelligence Officer, Infantryman, Medical Officer), as a staff officer it
is expected you understand how to successfully execute your duties. Unlike your
core duties where you receive formal training, in a staff role, it is up to you to learn
this.

Relationships with other commands. Staff work is facilitated through strong,

collegiate and transparent relations with your fellow staff officers both within your
command and those within units subordinate or superior to yours. An important point
to remember is different echelons have different priorities and concerns – the sooner
you can understand what their priorities and challenges are, the better you can work
with them rather than against them.

• Subordinate commands are often the recipients of directives and plans you draft.
As such, informal engagement with counterparts in these units will allow them to
identify potential challenges they may face in implementing your plan or how your
directive may inadvertently have a negative impact on operations. When

26
 engaging with subordinate echelons, do your best to take the work burden off
them as they will invariably have fewer staff officers than your level. Ways you
can help include sending orders ASAP, providing an early warning via phone of a
task that is being drafted, or providing some of the products they will need for
execution of the mission so that they do not have to spend time creating their own.

• Engaging with higher commands when drafting staff work will ensure you have a
wider perspective, understanding strategic guidance, draft policy changes, and
potential reprioritisation within the Integrated Investment Program which may
make your plan unviable.

• Lateral engagements with your counterparts in other Services is also pivotal.

Regardless of whether you work in a Joint staff role (HQJOC or JCG) or work in a
Service HQ staff role, jointery is becoming essential with many Commanders
insisting on consultation with all Services before endorsing a course of action or
new capability.

Understand your own organisation. Make learning how your command works a
priority. In staff roles you are often expected to hit the ground running with little to no
time to find your feet. This should include understanding the CCIRs (FFIRs, PIRs
and EEFIs), battle rhythm, timelines for key product due dates, who you need to staff
products through for consultation, and procedures unique to your unit eg knowledge
management, briefing templates and staff pack idiosyncrasies. Equally important is
understanding the different functions within your organisation and how they interact
with your team as often, there is overlap or complementary teams.

Read the capstone documents. Before you are posted into your staff job, read as
many documents as possible that pertain to your command so you are conversant
with key strategies, processes, and doctrine. The Australian Military Strategy,
Defence Planning Guidance, Defence White Paper, and the Australian Joint
Operating Concept are useful start points to widen your perspective. Service or
Group level strategies that are relevant to your command should also be reviewed.

Know your tools. Microsoft Office applications (Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint),
SharePoint, Objective, and Adobe Acrobat DC are essential tools as a staff officer. If
you are not already familiar with using these applications, learn. There are many
easy to follow tutorials available on the internet and courses via CAMPUS (including
advanced courses).

27
MILITARY ASSISTANT
A Military Assistant’s (MA) role is to ensure their principal (generally MAJGEN (E) or
above) has the tools they need to perform their role well. This includes preparation
work before committees, retrieving information to support decisions, drafting briefs,
and ensuring your principal is positioned for success. The MA should be several
steps ahead of their principal at all times so the principal can focus on the task at
hand.

There is a significant amount of trust put in the MA as they will be privy to a lot of
pre-decisional and sensitive information that must be kept private. Ensure this trust
is not broken.

Depending on the office, the MA could be the only staff member, or for more senior
offices, there could be an Executive Assistant (EA), an Aide de Camp (ADC), a
registry and at times even a valet and personal driver. As such, there are no clearly
defined roles as they may vary with some MAs responsible for all of these duties.

CORRESPONDENCE

All correspondence should be reviewed by the MA for completeness and checked for
errors (eg formatting errors or typos). Missing information should be sought out
before the correspondence is staffed to the principal. For large reports, it is worth
highlighting or flagging relevant portions. Your principal will have preferences about
timelines for correspondence that requires review or signature. These timelines
should be strictly adhered to with the exception of extenuating circumstances.
48 hours should be the very minimum turnaround for briefs and read aheads for
meetings. Large product such as a strategy or report require much longer lead times
(aim for at least two weeks so your principal has time to review it thoroughly).

Ensure you communicate your principal’s expectations for correspondence (timing

and presentation preferences) to the wider staff in the command. Ideally,
correspondence requirements should be documented and available on a command
SharePoint page or briefed during annual induction. Educating personnel will save
you time in the long run as you will have less briefs the require corrections before
being staffed to your principal.

DAILY READ PACKS

As a general rule, all correspondence and any material that needs to be read by your
principal (including meeting read aheads) should be batched into one pack given to
them when they arrive in the morning. This allows your principal to prioritise their day
and saves them from constant interruptions. The only exception should be urgent
correspondence or if your principal has cleared all of their tasks/meetings and is at a
loose end. In the case of the latter, you could prepare an afternoon read pack.

28
What to include? In addition to correspondence to the principal (briefs, letters,
minutes, forms to be signed) and meeting read aheads, you should include any
relevant material that is useful to your principal. This could include DEFGRAMs,
journal/blog articles, and reliable news articles pertinent to your principal’s role.
Relevant intelligence reports are also a valuable addition to a read pack, however,
only include fused all source reports (eg reports from HQJOC J2 or DIO). With the
exception of read packs created for intelligence principals, single source reports
should be avoided at all costs as they can be unverified, possibly inaccurate and lack
wider context.

How to present a read pack. Best practice for presentation includes a coversheet
for the read pack. This should include the maximum classification of the pack, a list
of contents, and actions required. Ideally, this should be split into ‘For Action’, ‘For
Information’ and ‘Situational Awareness’. The contents of the read pack should be
ordered and flagged according to the coversheet. To save yourself time in the
morning, it is helpful to prepare the pack the night before and then perform a final
check for online articles and intelligence reports in the morning before your principal
arrives in the office. Figure 6.0 shows an example of a daily read pack cover sheet.

Figure 6.0 Example of a Daily Read Pack with Side Flags

29
MEETING PACKS

Major meetings such as committees and boards require a separate preparation pack.
Packs will vary depending on the meeting and principal but as a general rule they
should include the agenda, minutes from the previous minute, meeting slides and
any supporting documents for easy reference during the meeting.

Fold out agenda. It is useful to print the agenda on an A3 fold out page so it can be
viewed throughout the meeting rather than your principal having to flip back and forth
during the meeting. To do this, print the agenda on a standard A4 page. Place the
A4 page on the right half of the photocopier and photocopy onto a landscape A3
page. The agenda should come out on the left side of an A3 page with the right half
blank. Hole punch the right edge of the page then fold the page in half. The agenda
can now be folded out of the folder during the meeting with the principal able to turn
the other pages in the pack while still seeing the agenda.

Notes pages. A handy addition to a major meeting pack is pages for your principal
to take notes. Including one page per agenda item means that if appropriate, your
principal can hand the page to an action officer after the meeting rather than
transcribing notes from their diary. To incorporate these into the pack, include the
agenda number and title to the top of each notes page and punch the holes on the
right side (so it becomes a facing page). Place each page in the pack in front of the
corresponding agenda item.

Another way to include notes pages is to follow the same process as the agenda
page but place the A4 page on the left side of the photocopy, hole punch on the left,
fold and then add all the notes pages to the back of the pack in order. The notes
pages will then fold out to the right of the pack. The limitation with using this
technique is your principal will require more desk space so this may not be practical.

A good way of making notes pages stand out from the rest of the pack and easy to
retrieve is to print them on a different colour paper such as yellow.

Pack format. Use a numbered page divider for each agenda item. If there is a brief
from the staff (eg a background brief on the agenda item with a recommended
position the Commander should take), include this after the notes page. Lastly,
include any slides for the agenda item. Additional resources or reading material
should be included at the back of the pack and tabbed accordingly.

Review the pack. When your principal returns from their meeting, before you shred
the pack, review it thoroughly. Some seniors jot down questions on slides in their
packs. Follow up on any of these questions.

CALENDAR MANAGEMENT

Depending on your office, the principal’s calendar may be actively managed by the
MA, ADC or EA. Regardless, the MA should be the final authority on what gets
added or removed. The MA should be intimately familiar with every meeting added,

30
its purpose and requirements, and regularly look several weeks into the future to
ensure preparation is underway for meetings/visits/trips away. For major meetings
and committees, the MA should ensure pre-meetings are scheduled between the
principal and relevant members of their staff.

Print outs. At a minimum, always have a colour hardcopy of your principal’s

calendar for when you are away from your office or in case of IT failure. It is also
helpful for your principal to a have a smaller print out in their diary so they can keep
track of their daily schedule while in meetings out of the office. Smaller print outs can
be made by going into the calendar print settings (Print Options > Page Setup >
Paper then select appropriate size to fit into diary – A4 half fits in a standard
moleskin diary).

It may also be helpful to have other printouts added to the back of your principal’s
diary. Ideas are unlimited but they should be helpful additions rather than needlessly
fill up the diary. As an example for a senior intelligence General Officer based in
Afghanistan, useful additions included small maps of regions, a list of all the
Provincial Governors, Ministers in the Government of Afghanistan, and Afghan Army
Senior Commanders by region. For a principal who works in Joint Capability Group,
a list of all the project numbers and what the projects are may be helpful. An Air
Component Commander might have a list of all COs, OCs and FEG Commanders
under their command in their diary.

Personal preferences. Understanding your principal’s personal working style is

paramount to successfully managing their day (and keeping them happy!). While
sometimes establishing a battle rhythm is impossible due to external meeting
invitations, it is good to understand their personal preferences. This might include
creating a buffer of a few hours at either the start or end of the day for them to clear
paperwork and review their read pack. They may also have preferences about the
earliest or latest time they wish to schedule meetings.

Breaks. When scheduling meetings, it is always useful to remind yourself that your
principal is actually human. Have you given them time to eat lunch/take a short
break? It may be handy for you to add a reoccurring 30 minute blocked period in their
calendar for lunch which you can move around as required. Equally important, have
you given them enough time to comfortably get between various locations without
rushing? In this case it is helpful to ‘chunk’ internal meetings in your principal’s office
together so they are not going back and forth between different locations.

Information in invitations. Meeting calendar invitations should be as detailed as

possible. This will not only inform the recipients of the invitation but remind you of the
details and history behind a meeting, particularly if a meeting has been created
months in advance. If there is an email trail associated with meeting, add this to the
body of the meeting invitation. Any related attachments such as read aheads can
also be added to the calendar invitation. If you are making changes to the meeting
invitation (time/attendees etc), add this to the meeting invite with the date the change

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was made; this provides an audit trail in case a recipient was working from old
information.

A handy technique for including information in meeting invitations is to create a

second signature block for yourself and name it ‘meeting template’. This should not
only include your normal signature block (so recipients can contact you for more
information/if there is an issue) but also templated prompts for you to add information.

A ‘meeting template’ signature block might include: meeting title, attendees,

background, preparation by staff, preparation by the Commander, resource
requirements, other details, and your signature block. This way, when you open a
new meeting invitation, select Insert Signature and then the meeting template
signature block. While adding the attendees to the template may seem redundant,
this way you will see who you originally invited to a meeting as some staff may
forward the invitation to other members without your knowledge. In use it might look
like this (green denotes text in the template, blue denotes text you add once the
meeting template signature block has been inserted):

Meeting Title: Google Micro UAV technologies demonstration

Attendees: BRIG Jane Smith, WGCDR Samantha Jones, Ms Anne Gables
Background: Meeting recommended by COL Jamie Gibbs following her visit to
Google in Aug 17.
Preparation by staff: Read ahead and slides due NLT 48h before meeting.
Preparation by Commander: Pre-meeting with BRIG Smith on existing micro-UAVs
in service in Defence (14 Feb 18).
Resource requirements: DPN and projector
Other: Ms Gables – please meet MA in R1 foyer with photo ID 10 minutes before
meeting.
Bridget Leigh
SQNLDR
Military Assistant to MAJGEN Darcy
Ph: 02 6265 1234
bridget.leigh@defence.gov.au
Reminders. Add reminders (Outlook calendar invites for the day) to your principal’s
calendar for major events such as Senate Estimates. A useful addition is the
absence of key staff (immediate subordinates and superiors), and when your
principal is acting in a higher position.

Other calendars. Understand who the key staff are that your principal routinely
engages with and ask if you may have access to their calendars. Having visibility of
other key staff/seniors calendars not only assists you and allows you to field
questions of where staff are at any given time, but also can help them. With staff that
are subordinate to your principal, you could invite them to a meeting at any time and
generally, unless they have another senior appointment, they will cancel existing

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engagements or even come in off leave to attend. While sometimes this is necessary
due to an urgent matter or the only time you can schedule the meeting, this should
be avoided wherever possible. Use your access to key staff’s calendars and choose
a time that is mutually acceptable (or at the very least does not clash with a critical
meeting/committee/specialist appointment) before sending the calendar invite.

Protecting the calendar. As the MA, you are essentially the ‘gatekeeper’ for your
principal. You determine who has access to the principal and who does not.
Invariably, staff will want more access to the principal than is viable (or indeed
appropriate). The following tips are worth considering:

• Unless specified by your principal, one-on-one office calls should be no more than
30 minutes and meetings no more than 1 hour.

• Get to know the meeting habits of other staff and manage accordingly. Some
staff will routinely ask for 10 - 15 minutes of the principal’s time and they will keep
to this time. Other staff ask for 15 minutes and then use the opportunity to blow
this out by another 15 - 30 minutes every time! You can either book the latter in
for a longer time or, block their 15 minutes up against a meeting that your
principal cannot miss (ie create an exit strategy).

• Add blocked periods to the calendar – view white space in calendars as the
enemy. These can be blocks dedicated to a particular briefing the principal needs
to review/approve, or a generic blocked period for staff work. You will be tempted
(and pressured by others) to fill every free window in your principal’s calendar.
However, if they are constantly in meetings, when will your principal have time to
read and sign all the briefs that come through, let alone have time to plan or
develop strategies?

• Beware of calendar stalkers. While sharing your principal’s calendar (with their
permission) is helpful as it allows staff to prepare and anticipate potential tasks,
some members exploit this. Some staff will actively stalk your principal’s calendar
and look for a small window to open up to provide ‘a quick update’. Similarly,
some members may loiter near your principal’s office door looking to find an
opening to catch them between meetings. While the member is no doubt well
intentioned and aiming to keep your principal in the loop, this ‘quick update’ could
often be condensed to a short email or a meeting could be scheduled at a more
appropriate time when your principal is in the right frame of mind.

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MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

Create an MA network. As an MA, creating a network with other MAs is invaluable.

Getting to know your counterparts within your command and other commands with
whom you routinely engage will allow you to coordinate staff work easier, deconflict,
and provide mutual support. This may include ensuring urgent briefs are streamlined,
sharing tips, assisting with visits to other commands, and assisting with resources (eg
when you are short of a service vehicle or VIP pass). Once you get to know your
peers, it is useful to meet Chiefs of Staff, ADCs and EAs. Once they get to know you,
they may keep you in the back of their mind when they come across information that
might assist you and your command.

Chunking points. Throughout the course of the day you will receive a large amount
of information to convey to your principal and a number of points your will need to
clarify. Rather than raise these points as they occur, a good practice is to chunk
non-urgent points together and raise them first thing in the morning or at close of
business. This routine allows your principal to focus on their primary tasks rather than
be interrupted with unrelated points.

Uniform. Keep uniform backups and supplies in your office drawer in case of
emergency. These will not only keep you looking professional, but may also be
helpful for your principal. This could include a shirt with associated accruements
(rank slides, badges), spare stockings, clear nail polish (to stop stocking ladders), a
mending kit with buttons for all uniform types (shirt, trousers, DPCU etc), shoe
cleaning wipes, stain removal pen/stick, a lint roller, invisible tape in case trouser/skirt
hems come undone, hair accessories and personal grooming supplies.

Essential (and non-essential) information. At the start of your tenure, create a

personnel document containing key information on your principal that you might need
during the course of your duties. This should include everything such as personal
details (DOB, PMKEYS number, home address, spouse/children’s
names/anniversary date), IR due dates, expiry dates of clearance/IDs, DCAC number,
passport details etc. It is also useful to maintain a list of your principal’s food, drink
and travel booking preferences. This document should be closely managed and kept
confidential.

Keep others informed. As an MA, you will often encounter information that other
staff members are not aware of – this could range from a major committee meeting
being cancelled (which staff are preparing briefs for) to new policies or directives.
Judgement is required to determine if information is releasable to wider staff but
wherever possible, facilitate the flow of information to empower other personnel.

Mirror processes. As much as possible mirror the same processes on the DPN,
DSN, and DTSN. Areas to consider include group mailboxes, distribution list names,
file naming conventions, brief templates and Objective file management processes.

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