The roles of secretaries and administrative professionals in business are continually evolving. This exciting and interactive course is designed to provide you with the opportunity to review and develop your interpersonal and professional skills to maximize your effectiveness; they will also know the necessary skills, administrative office procedures and abilities needed in the modern organization environment.

This course is a comprehensive and enjoyable course that builds on core PA skills to bring them in line with current PA best practice. It is an excellent course for those in the PA role who have not had the benefit of formal PA training. Using in-depth case studies, this course comprehensively revisits core PA skills like diary management, meeting planning, minute taking and business writing skills. It allows PAs to fill in any gaps in their knowledge and go one step beyond the obvious. The candidates also receive a number of templates and checklists to assist with planning daily tasks. The course will cover the following:

· Understanding the role of the modern PA

· Strategies for organising and managing your boss

· Improving your relationship with your boss

· Mastering email management

· Diary management strategies

· Effective meeting planning & minute-taking

· How to take action points and produce professional looking minutes

· Improving information flow

· Practical business writing skills

· Time management & prioritisation techniques

· Travel management tips

· Staying on track with continuous professional development

At the end of this seminar participants will:

· Enhance their skills to enable them to work at a higher level

· Appreciate the value and importance of the role

· Understand the business in order to work effectively

· Use communication skills to your advantage and to the benefit of your organization

· Develop your interpersonal skills to improve your working practice

· Identify the key components within the job role of the Office Manager/ Executive Assistant / PA

· Practice the techniques and skills demonstrated on the Course

· Discuss experiences with fellow delegates and learn possible techniques for advancement of such skills in Facilitator – led discussions

· Build an approach that suits their own individual style and workplace

Administrative personnel, Supervisors, Administration Officers, Secretaries, Administrative Personnel, Clerks, Document Controllers, Executive Secretaries, Administrative Assistants, Assistant Controllers, Data Loaders, Camp Admins, Projects Administrators, Technical Assistants, Office Administrators & Managers, HR Officers, PA’s & Secretaries, Records Officers, Events Planners & Designers, Event Managers, Project Coordinators, Customer Service Personnel, Procurement Officers, Support Staff, anyone involved in office management and administration skills and practices, Office Administrators, Office Professionals, Supervisors of clerical and administrative staff, Executive Secretaries, Personal Assistants, Admin Staffs, Document Controllers, IT Management , Technical staff, Document and Records Management personnel, Records Management Supervisors, Suppliers, Solution Providers and Vendors, Executives, Users of Records Management, Users of Document & Enterprise Content Management, Personnel seeking to enhance their skills

Building on Existing Skills

• What is your role?
• The role and core responsibilities of a modern secretary
• Organizing yourself and your environment
• Organizational skills
• Planning and prioritizing
• Time management under pressure
• Customer service skills and telephone techniques

Developing the Role

• Discuss how you can expand your knowledge of the business
• Ways to become more proactive
• Take some control over your work load
• Cope with and take advantage of change in your work environment
• Goal setting

Communications

• Improving communications within an existing team
• Oral and listening skills
• Reporting to Management
• Negotiation skills and techniques
• Managing difficult people
• Comparison of telephone / face to face / written communications, their effectiveness and suitability for different situations
• Can you say “No”?
• Arranging business meetings and appointments
• Researching information by using the internet

Working with Management

• Establishing the objectives of the modern PA
• Strategies for working with multiples bosses
• Managing and organizing your boss
• Strategies for improving your relationship with your boss

Email & Diary Management & Effective Meeting Planning

• Effective email management and etiquette
• Diary management techniques
• Planning effective meetings
• Taking minutes/action points at meetings

Managing Time, Information Flow & Travel Planning

• Time management techniques
• Strategies for prioritizing your tasks
• Improving information flow
• Going the extra mile when planning executive travel

Business Writing & Continuous Professional Development

• Business Writing: writing for your audience
• Strategies for improving your performance appraisal scores
• Staying on track in your professional development

Resource and Team Management

• Allocating human resource to tasks and projects
• Monitoring performance team and self
• Team appraisals and reviews
• Embedding a new team member effectively
• Managing team issues
• Coaching techniques
• Disciplinary issues
• Prioritization approaches and techniques

Interpersonal Intelligence

• Understanding people
• Expressing yourself with clarity
• Asserting your needs
• Giving and receiving feedback
• Influencing skills
• Resolving conflict
• Being a team player
• Being flexible

COURSE LOCATIONS