From The Desk of The Effective Admin

The Administrative Professional
Job Performance and Career Success Coach

Assisting Administrative Support Professionals

and Their Supervisors, Managers and Executives Since 2004

Tips for managers and directors and other senior-level positions to work more effectively with administrative assistants and executive assistants. Learn 87 essential tips for effectively working with your administrative support professional.

 

Use this tip sheet as a map of ideas to help you develop a partnership with your administrative professional. When managers and their admins partner at work, everyone works together smarter to meet goals -- that includes the company goals, the manager's career goals and the admin's career goals.

 

Even if you already have a good working relationship with your administrative professional staff, this tip sheet of 87 ideas likely has one or two new nuggets of information for you to utilize to make your working relationship go from good to superb.

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87 Ways You Can Work More Effectively With Your Administrative Support Professional

Who should buy this tip sheet?

You should buy this tip sheet if...

• you're a manager, director or other senior-level personnel who wants to work more effectively with your administrative support professional.

• you want your administrative professional to work more as your "partner" in helping you to meet your personal and professional career and job goals.

• you feel that you could improve your working relationship with your administrative assistant or executive assistant.

• you'd like to know ways to better utilize your administrative assistants and executive assistants on the job.

• you would like to improve morale among your administrative support professionals and retain them as long-term employees.

• you need to learn how to best manage your administrative support professional to make the most use of his or her talents in growing and supporting your company and/or business role.

• you would like to know what administrative professionals need or want in order to do their jobs most effectively.

"I recently received approval to hire an Office Service Coordinator (our second level administrative professional). It was the first time I have had administrative support and I wanted to set things up so we could be an effective team. I used the publication to help set up a framework for how we would operate. It was helpful in identifying areas that should be considered for good communication and office management."   Michael Love Rockville, Maryland

"The information was extremely helpful. My admin and I read the brochure and then met to discuss it item by item. We have implemented several changes and have seen a dramatic increase in communication and efficiency." Jonathan Hebel General Manager and Chief Operating Officer Windsor, CA

Author's Description:  This tip sheet provides you with 21 pages of information (excluding title pages) presented single-spaced on 8 1/2" x 11" paper size. But more important, you'll learn 87 essential tips for effectively working with your administrative support professional. If you thought that you already knew how to do so, you wouldn't be reading about this publication. Use this tip sheet as a map of ideas to help you develop a partnership with your administrative professional. Even if you already have a good working relationship with your administrative professional staff, this tip sheet of 87 ideas likely has one or two new nuggets of information for you to utilize to make your working relationship go from good to superb.

Categories covered in detail in this tip sheet include:

• Discuss various expectations upfront, constantly and then again ongoing.

• Communicate effectively and often.

• Agree on procedures and systems.

• Make your administrative professional comfortable, literally.

• Provide the best tools.

• Provide ongoing training opportunities.

• Set an example for other staff.

• Respect your administrative professional.

• Keep your administrative professional in the loop.

• Treat your administrative support person as an office professional.

• Utilize your administrative professional's skills to the utmost.

Ready to buy now?

BUY OPTION 1: This digital tip sheet is available to purchase and receive instantly: Buy Now

Price: $7.00 per person

BUY OPTION 2: Or distribute to every person in your company for a $75 flat rate multi-person distribution price. Buy Now

Here are several sample tips from this publication:

Assume that your administrative support professional doesn't know what's on your mind until you tell him. That's the one assumption it's okay to make in the office environment. Always remember that your administrative support professional is not a mind reader -- no matter how in tune with your thoughts she or he may seem to be sometimes. It's that one time that you "assume" when things will go awry in your work relationship.

 

Discuss your personal and professional goals. In order to be your partner, your administrative support professional needs to know who you want to be when. What do you personally want in your career? And what are you striving for on behalf of the company? These answers will affect your administrative professional's duties. She wants to help you achieve your plans. Knowing these answers helps her to clarify the prioritization of tasks and situations that arise daily. She'll focus on projects relevant to your goals first when possible. And she'll know and pass along pieces of information she happens upon throughout the year that would be useful or of interest to you.

 

Discuss project expectations. When you're giving an assignment, make sure your administrative professional precisely understands the expected project outcome. This means you will need to clarify the outcome in your head first and then clearly relay that expected outcome to your administrative professional. Clearly voicing the precise (or nearly precise) expected project outcome before it happens means no surprises upon project completion and efficient use of your time and that of your administrative professional. Precise communication prevents misinterpretation by both parties which can cause bad relationships and inappropriate work results. If the results aren't what you asked for then maybe in actuality you didn't quite ask for the results you wanted.

 

Have a daily briefing with your administrative support person. Meet daily whether either of you want to do so or not. This forces communication to flow daily between you both, which is a good thing. And comfort levels with each other will rise. It could be a five minute meeting while standing. Or it could be a 10 minute meeting while seated that's officially posted on the calendar to happen every day that you're in the office at 9:00 a.m. Do what works best for you both. And make sure you're uninterrupted during this time.

 

Support opportunities for your administrative professional to achieve certifications. For example, your administrative professional can become a Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) and a Certified Professional Secretary (CPS), both elite designations by administrative professional criteria. Encourage her or him to train and test for these titles as well as have your company pay the registration costs.

About the Author: 

The publication author is Karen Porter, the founder and president of The Effective Admin newsletter, website and numerous administrative professional training and development publications. Porter is The Administrative Professional Job Performance and Career Success Coach. Her electronic newsletter is distributed to administrative assistants and executive assistants globally to help them excel on the job and in their careers. Porter previously worked as an administrative support professional for more than 10 years as well as worked with and utilized the assistance of administrative professionals when she held higher-level positions. As a former professional writer, she also researched and wrote about topics relevant to administrative professionals for national trade publications before she founded The Effective Admin.

Currently she produces digital training and development materials exclusively sold at The Effective Admin Store which are for administrative professionals. Topics include goal setting specifically for admins, meeting and event planning and coordination, email management and etiquette and much more. Porter has published The Effective Admin newsletter since 2004. It reaches administrative professional subscribers globally. Thousands more visit the related website annually. She corresponds regularly with admin readers needing assistance or advice as well as with experts in various specialty areas who can offer solutions to workplace challenges -- enabling her to keep closely in touch with the needs of both administrative professionals and their leaders at work and provide this guidance.

The Effective Admin exclusively specializes in serving administrative professionals and their direct supervisors, managers and executives (the latter in relation to managing and partnering with them.

Ready to buy now?

BUY OPTION 1: This digital tip sheet is available to purchase and receive instantly: Buy Now

Price: $7.00 per person

BUY OPTION 2: Or distribute to every person in your company for a $75 flat rate multi-person distribution price. Buy Now

These Tip

Sheet Topics are Available

for Purchasing

for Your Administrative

Professional

Staff:

►Tips for Taking Meeting Minutes

►Partnering With Your Manager or Executive

►Office Ergonomics

►Coordinating Domestic Travel

►Coordinating Meetings and Events

►E-mail Management and Etiquette

►Internet Research Techniques

►Time Management Tips

►Office Organization Tips

►Problem Solving

►Goal Setting

►Web, Video and Audio Conferencing Tips

Get them all plus lots more in the "An Effective Admin VIP" package. If you have many admins, contact the publisher for a personalized quote on the package rate.