7 Core Skills for an Administrative Role
An administrative role can be classified under the management umbrella, much like every other role, yet the distinction between a manager and an administrative officer is basically the fact that the administrative officer focuses primarily on other resources and less on HR (Human Resources).
Administrative roles vary; by their names and explicit job descriptions, yet most administrative roles perform four main functions namely;
- Coordination
- Planning
- Communication
- Organizing.
An administrative officer can also be described as; front desk officer, receptionist, executive secretary or secretary, personal assistant, administrative executive – s/he can be everything in one individual and taking care of jobs outside her functional limits like quasi-public relations officer or customer service. It’s a beautiful twist but this job role can be quite demanding as it expects you to be lots of things combined.
Most admin officers manage the internal affairs of the organization such: drafting letters, overseeing plans, executing management strategies, managing schedules, organizing, paying expenses incurred during the course of the business, writing reports for the meeting, proposals, business letters, maintaining bills, document, records; dealing with workplace conditions, ensuring resources such as assets are adequately utilised, planning for the future, staffing and so forth they by and large watch out for the everyday running of various daily activities in the organization.
These are some of the 7 major skills you need to effectively function in this role.
- Interpersonal Relation/skills: Next to the customer service representative, an administrative officer additionally gives the first impression of an organization’s client or vendors. Regardless of whether you are a nerd, a computer engineer who builds company software or a receptionist who sporadically meets with vendors or clients; having and sharpening your interpersonal relationship or skills help you interface better with the individual, your colleagues, builds relationships, as you comprehend people more in different circumstances especially when you put yourself in their place before making judgments, for the most part, makes it simple to reach crosswise over the various audience.
- Numeral Skills: This skill can be expressed in daily tasks such as paying bills, ascertaining cost or calculating expenses, making estimates, analysing budgets, breaking down spending plans all as expected and to effectively (and quickly) workaround with numbers. Numeral skills are not only about acing numbers; it very well may be as basic as composing and adjusting off decimals or as mind-boggling as deciphering diagrams and charts or making transformations with whatever device or software you find accessible – computers, an adding machine, a pen, your head, anything. You need to love working with numbers since you’ll be doing it regularly.
- Excellent Communication skills: communication skills involve the ability to clearly express your thoughts and ideas while listening also to other, communication is the lifeblood of business and at the core of every human interaction; whether verbal, written or otherwise. Professionals or People in administrative roles do lots of heaps of desk work and something maybe mistakes such as a customer’s name spelt wrongly can be detrimental to the business. There are incalculable reasons why this expertise is significant; you may need to book arrangements, send emails, and make calls, talk with providers, vendors or clients, customers and other organizations. A lot of things can turn out badly without establishing expertise in this skill, which can be achieved through training on communication.
- Decision-Making Skills: Filling the job role as an administrative officer doesn’t make you an indecisive (or woman). Numerous circumstances will call for speedy choices to be made (savvy ones coincidentally). Employers lookout for candidates who have horned great expertise with this skills and would hit the ground running, people who can make an instant accurate decision based on the available facts, who work with little or less supervision and who devotedly grow their knowledge base. The capacity to consistently reach inferences, draw conclusions and make decisions in different circumstances makes your work easier by averting against any reoccurrence later on in the future.
- Problem-solving skills: This skill involves the ability to reach out for solutions for every challenge faced during the daily activities of the organization, asides the fact that an admin role could mean heaps of things wrapped into one, you could also think of it as a micro-project management role. In other words, admin officers sometimes are straddled with duties like managing labourers’ complaints and objections. This requires paying attention to details, available fact, precedence in the past with the understanding that they play into the big picture of the organization achieving its set goals and objectives.
- Organizing: This involves the skill of actively knowing how to effectively utilize all organizational resource, putting it in the right place at the right time, the administrative role involves lots of paperwork; sourcing, filing, documenting, book-keeping, accounting, and whatnots. You have to relevantly review data or know-how to source for it. Beyond the paperwork, almost every one of the daily task you’ll perform would involve assembling resources together in the most time conceivable, which means you’ll need to design, plan and prioritize what’s important, be proactive, and generally ensure operational activities run smoothly to achieve the organizational goals and objectives.
- Tech Savvy: This involves familiarizing yourself with all tech devices or software that would ensure the smooth operation of your daily task with ease, such as ensuring records are maintained and tracking project progress which would require a working knowledge in computer software packages like the Microsoft Office and other software that helps you work proficiently.
Are there Skills you think should be included leave a comment below would love to learn from you!
