5 Ways to Work More Effectively With Your Administrative Assistant

Stop hiring new administrative support staff. And learn how to retain your existing administrative staff.

Are you a manager, director or other senior-level personnel who wants to work more effectively with your administrative support professional? Did you know that partnering with your administrative assistants and executive assistants can actually help you to meet your professional goals at work? Would you like to know how to improve morale among your administrative support professionals and retain them as long-term employees? After all, isn't it a lot more profitable to retain existing staff than to constantly hire, train and get along with new staff? Here are five ways to work more effectively with your current administrative support professionals starting now:

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Have a daily briefing with your administrative support person. Meet daily whether either of you want to do so or not. This meeting 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.

5. 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.

(c) 2005 Karen Fritscher-Porter

Karen Fritscher-Porter is the author of the eBooklet: 87 Ways You Can Work More Effectively With Your Administrative Support Professional. Order your copy at http://www.admin-ezine.com/employertips.htm. Fritscher-Porter publishes The Effective Admin newsletter (http://www.admin-ezine.com). The monthly e-zine is distributed to 800+ administrative assistants and executive assistants globally to help them excel on the job and in their careers.

---

What You Should Know if People Dont Buy From You and People Dont Visit Your Web Site

It is essential to understand what work and what do... Read More

A Tricky Supervision Challenge

Many managers believe that treating their team members as responsible... Read More

Five Habits of Highly Effective Conflict Resolvers

Steven Covey had the right idea. There are discreet skills... Read More

Organizing The Information

Putting a piece of paper in a file folder is... Read More

Integrity... Should It Matter?

In our fast paced work culture, manned by technology savvy... Read More

The Dog That Didnt Bark

A few weeks ago, after consultations with others in an... Read More

Leadership Skill: How to Handle Difficult Conversations

A good leader has the ability to empower others. It... Read More

Motivation - You Get What You Reward

There's a programme currently running on BBC Television in the... Read More

Travel the World - for Free!

I have been very fortunate to travel to several countries... Read More

Resolve Differences

Resolving conflict doesn't come easily to too many people. Most... Read More

Discover the Astonishing Power of Words Today!

Picture all the people you know who are dynamic, successful... Read More

Four Steps to Better Performance Reviews

Direct reports-people who need direction and leadership-rely on their leaders... Read More

Project Management, A Forgotten Perspective

Effective project managers know how to get the job done,... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Adapting Human Resource Functions

This article relates to the human resource functions competency, commonly... Read More

Middle-Aged Managers, the Forgotten Digital Divide

The digital divide is defined by the role computers play... Read More

Project Management - Preventing Project Slips

Can Project Managers prevent projects from slipping?Ask a techie to... Read More

Can Your Corporate Policy Pass the Monkeys, Bananas, and Water-spray Experiment?

Five monkeys were placed in a cage. A banana was... Read More

Transform Any Business into a Go-Getting Power House by Working SMART

Probably as well known as SWOT, SMART turns goals, objectives... Read More

Are Your Meetings Smart?

Soon after I finished a brief seminar on how to... Read More

Small Business Outsourcing: An Introduction

Outsourcing is the delegation of a business process to an... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: The Responsibility for Job Security

This article relates to the Job Security competency, commonly evaluated... Read More

Interviewing Candidates: 3 Ways to Avoid Snap Judgments

Have you ever hired the wrong person? If so, perhaps... Read More

How Your Feelings and Those of Your Employees Can Make The Difference

How we feel is really more important than what we... Read More

Group Decision Making : Are the Decisions Really Made by the Group?

GROUP DECISION-MAKING: Many managers feel they are well-versed in areas... Read More

Finding Common Ground Through Consensus Decision-Making

It's clear to me that a workplace is a better... Read More

Character: Is It Necessary In Leadership? (Part One)

We know character when we see it, but what exactly... Read More

Selective Job Cuts Often Benefits Firm More Than Broad Layoffs Over Long Term

It is difficult to pick up a newspaper or listen... Read More

Selecting Top Talent: Improve Your Batting Average

I recently gave a presentation to a group of business... Read More

Using an Appraisal to Benefit Your Organization

PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS BENEFIT THE ORGANIZATION:Appraisals help spot employees with potential... Read More

An Original Perspective on Waging Conflict as a Way to Promote and Restore Self-dignity

Conflict is a fact of life for all of us,... Read More

Quick Tip - Effective Meetings Begin With Goals

Goals are critically important for the success of a meeting.... Read More

Sarbanes-Oxley and Section 404: Old Dog, New Teeth

The failures we have seen in the quality and integrity... Read More

Communication: Managements Responsibility

I've just watched, again, an episode in the Back to... Read More