Office Skills Blog

If you’re an aspiring office professional, consider honing your office skills with the latest in office procedures, which can teach you valuable skills and techniques for working in the office of the 21st century.

The Role of Office Professional:

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics as the reliance on technology continues to expand in offices, the role of the office professional has greatly evolved. Secretaries, administrative assistants and clerks need to be able to perform a variety of administrative and clerical duties necessary to run an organization efficiently.

The Occupational Handbook notes that “office automation and organizational restructuring have led secretaries and administrative assistants to increasingly assume responsibilities once reserved for managerial and professional staff. In spite of these changes, however, the core responsibilities for secretaries and administrative assistants have remained much the same: performing and coordinating an office’s administrative activities and storing, retrieving, and integrating information for dissemination to staff and clients”.

Know your Company

Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton, in their text book, Office Procedures for the 21st Century note similar findings. They state that it is now very important for the Office Professional to know what is going on in the company and to look beyond their job and keep abreast of company happenings. They believe that showing an interest in the business and being aware of the following items can enhance your advancement within the company:

Know your company’s mission statement.

Some companies may expect you to be able to know their Mission Statement by heart. A Mission Statement is is a statement of the purpose of a company and organization.

Understand your Company’s Code of Ethics.

A code of ethics is a defined set of rules governing the behavior of all members of an organization.

Understand your company’s organizational structure and classifications of authority.

This is most commonly represented visually in the form of an Organizational Chart which is a diagram that shows the formal structure of an organization. The two most common ones are the line organization and the line and staff organization. .

Build a good relationship with your manager.

Read the following Tips from Monster.com on how to Build a Great Working relationship with your boss.

Be Aware of Ergonomics and the Work environment

Most office jobs today involve sitting for long periods working at a computer monitor. The office assistant may spend a lot of time keyboarding and may encounter problems of eyestrain, stress, and repetitive motion ailments such as carpal tunnel syndrome. This is where ergonomics comes into play. More details about ergonomic problems and solutions can be found at ergonomics.org

What Office Procedures do I need to work in today’s office?

• The ability to serve as an information and communications manager for an office
• The ability to be able to plan and schedule meetings and appointments
• The ability to be able to organize and maintain paper and electronic files
• The ability to be able to manage projects; conduct research; and disseminate information by using the telephone, mail services, web sites, and e-mail.
• The ability to be able to arrange travel and guest arrangements.

Career Opportunities: General clerks, executive secretaries, administrative assistants, secretaries, medical secretaries and legal secretaries.