Administrative Professionals are needed in every industry and every aspect of our contemporary society. You need numerous portable and transferable skills if you are starting or think of starting a career in administrative work. Administrative professionals need skills that are related to the operations of a business or the methods of keeping a company organized and run smoothly. Administrative skills are needed for many jobs, ranging from business office assistants, business administrations, to office managers or project managers. Now, let’s take a look at the 5 most desirable skills a successful administrative professional needs!
Communication Skills
Communication is a critical soft skill that applies to all industries. Administrative professionals often have to interact with other team members, customers, and clients, either in person or on the phone. As an administrative professional, it is important that you express yourself clearly and communicate in an easy-to-understand manner while maintaining a positive tone.
Written communication is also essential in a business environment. Most administrative positions involve the writing of emails, memos, meeting notes, plus a wide variety of operational documents. You must be able to write clearly, accurately, and professionally.
Organization Skills
Being organized allows administrative professionals to handle heavy workload in a fast-paced business environment. After all, you are the one who manages various calendars, schedules appointments, and helps all departments to keep the office in order.
Other staff members in your office will depend on you to know where files are located, when their client meetings are scheduled, and to know the upcoming important events on the corporate calendar. Your organizational skills will be imperative to keeping all this information straight.
Technology Skills
Administrative professionals often work with office productivity programs, including spreadsheets, databases, word processing and graphic presentation software. You will be sending emails and using the web for research and employer-specific applications. You might also assist with the preparation for meeting presentations, reports, manuals, newsletters, or other corporate materials.
While there are other programs that are specific to individual fields, Microsoft Office is still one of the most widely used programs among all business professionals. Knowing how to use Word, PowerPoint, Access, and Excel is just the beginning of your learning but if you are comfortable with these programs you will be more likely to learn other programs more easily.
Planning Skills
Another important administrative skill is being able to plan and schedule things in advance. This might mean managing appointments, creating employee schedules, developing office procedural manuals, and having work distribution back-up plans for when employees are sick. Successful administrative professionals need to be able to plan ahead, and always be prepared for any emergencies.
Problem Solving Skills
Also known as critical thinking skills, problem solving skills are important for any administrative position. As an administrative professional, you are the one that other team members and clients come to with questions or problems. You must be able to handle a variety of issues calmly, and solve them using critical thinking.
A successful administrative professional must be able to handle problems such as schedule conflicts, sudden plan changes, or when unexpected obligations turn up. You may also work with external vendors to ensure that office supplies are fulfilled as requested, invoices are paid and refunds or exchanges are processed.
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