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Core Skills for an Administrative Role that would make you successful in carrying out an administrative role. Administrative role is classified under management roles, which usually involves the Planning and coordinating administrative procedures and systems and devising ways to streamline processes much like every other role, but the difference between a manager and an administrative officer is that the administrative officer focuses primarily on other resources and less on human resources.

Administrative job roles perform 5 main functions namely; coordination, planning, communication, organising and analyzing the most efficient administrative procedures

An administrative officer can carry our administrative job role in an organization in various capacities such as; Admin. Manager, front desk officer, receptionist, secretary, Executive assistant, administrative executive. Administrative job role deal with internal affairs: drafting letters, managing schedules, organising paying expenses, writing reports, proposals, business letters, maintaining records, bills, documents; managing the office environment, ensuring resources are adequately utilised, planning for the future, staffing, lead a team of professionals to complete a range of administrative duties in different departments etc. they generally keep an eye on the day-to-day running of activities in the organisation.

These are 9 core skills and best qualities you need to effectively function in this role;

Excellent Communication skills: Being a good listener is one of the best ways to be a good communicator, as communication is the lifeblood of business and at the core of every human interaction; whether verbal or non-verbal. Administrative job roles usually involves lots of paperwork and something perhaps trivial as a client’s name spelt wrongly can mean bad business for you. This skill is important; you’ll need to pass on information to co-workers and listen to them, you may need to book appointments, transfer calls, speak with suppliers, clients and other external agencies. A lot of things can go wrong without an excellent communication skill.

Organisational skills: This also involves that administrators should be well-versed in departmental procedures and policies and will be able to actively discover new ways to do the job more efficiently as mentioned earlier, an admin role involves lots of paperwork; sourcing, filing, documenting, book-keeping, accounting and Monitor inventory of office supplies and the purchasing of new material with attention to budgetary constraints. You need to aptly recall information or know how to source for it. Beyond paperwork, nearly all the tasks you’ll perform would entail putting things together in the shortest time possible, which means you’ll need to plan and prioritise what’s important, be proactive, and generally ensure operational activities run smoothly.

Interpersonal skills: next to organizational skills administrative representative should also give the first impression to an organisation’s client. For example a geek who builds company software or a receptionist who occasionally meets with clients; possessing and honing interpersonal skills helps you interact better with people, builds relationships as you understand people in different circumstances and generally makes it easy to reach across different audience.

Analytical Skills: Analytical skills is important because it basically refer to the ability to collect and analyze information, problem-solve, and make decisions. These strengths can help solve a company’s problems and improve upon its overall productivity and success especially in tasks like paying bills, calculating expenses, making estimates, analysing budgets all require you to easily work around with numbers. mastering numbers is important in analytical skills usually; it can be as simple as writing and rounding off decimals or as complex as interpreting charts and graphs or making conversions with whatever tool you find available – a calculator, a pen, your head, anything. You have to love working with numbers because you’ll be doing it often.

Decision-Making Skills: Administrative job role doesn’t make you a yes-man (or woman) Whether you’re deciding which person to hire, which supplier to use, or which strategy to pursue, the ability to make a good decision with available information is vital. Many situations will call for quick decisions and intelligent decisions to be made. Employers lookout for candidates who will hit the ground running, especially when asking interview questions and candidates who can think on their feet, good sense of judgement, who work with less supervision and who avidly expand their knowledge base. The ability to logically draw conclusions and make decisions in different circumstances makes your work easier by preventing any reoccurrence in the future.

Problem-solving skills: An administrative role could mean lots of things wrapped into one, you could also think of it as a micro-project management role, this skill is displayed by Identify the issues, at each point in time, Be clear about what the problem is, Understand everyone’s interests usually interests of the staff, organization and clients, List the possible solutions (options), Evaluate the options available, Select an option or options, Document the agreement(s) and Agree on contingencies, monitoring, and evaluation. In other words, Administrative roles sometimes are straddled with responsibilities like dealing with workers’ grievances and complaints. This requires paying attention to details, with the understanding that they play into the big picture of the organisation.

Multitasking Skills: this is one very important skills in administrative roles which involves is when one person handles more than one task at the same time efficiently. Examples include sending e-mails during a meeting this skill helps you in accomplishing many tasks at once.

Computer skills: computer skills are important in administrative roles as it improves the speed and efficiency of accomplishing tasks in the organization, the Computer Skills That Will Help You Get Hired are Microsoft Office, Spreadsheets, PowerPoint, Microsoft Access, QuickBooks, Email and Web and Social Skills. Maintaining records and tracking project progress would require a working knowledge in computer software packages like the Microsoft Office and any other form of technology that helps you work efficiently.

Other skills include resilience, result-oriented etc. Here are Jobs that fit the Administrative Role and frequently asked questions by a job seeker.

I would love to learn from you too, what are the core skills for administrative roles or questions? leave a comment below

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