Article
7 Most Important Necessary Skills For
Administrative Positions
--Mehedy Hasan Sahad
Administrative Assistants are the backbones of an office! If they do something wrong for their
lack of knowledge in any particular field, the whole office will suffer. They are responsible for
every clerical task that needs to be done in an office. Therefore, they must have some qualities to
execute their office chores accurately. Administrative job holders are likely to be more successful
in their work than those who don’t have the skills mentioned below.
Are you considering getting yourself an administrative job? If so, before applying for an
administrative job, you should know about the necessary skills one should have to get an
administrative job.
Communication
Administrative assistants are the first ones to interact with customers and clients. They also have
to communicate with employers, staff, either in person, on the internet, or over the phone. Thus,
it is necessary for them to have excellent communication skills.
An administrative officer should be able to listen and speak carefully. He or she should also
have the ability to write clearly and accurately; without making a single mistake. Most of the
administrative positions involve a lot of writing. Administrative employees are asked to write a
variety of documents, check a variety of document files, and take minutes in a meeting. They
won’t last in their positions if they can’t do these properly.
Organization
Another important skill for administrative employees is organizational skills. As I said earlier,
they are like the backbones of an office; they have to be organized like backbones too.
Coordinating and managing various tasks, from planning and scheduling a meeting to keep the
office running without any problem, all belong to the administrative employees. They are
required to filing, sorting, bookkeeping, appointment setting, time managing, and multi-tasking.
They are expected to have all these organizational skills in them to manage the office properly.
Planning
In addition, besides being able to organize things, administrative assistants should be able to plan
and schedule things in advance. They are regularly required to make an appointment, create a
plan for an office trip, and develop internal office procedural systems. These things can’t be done
without proper planning. Office administrators should be able to plan ahead and prepare for any
potential office issues.
Critical Thinking
Administrative assistants face many challenges in their work every day. They may have to speak
to an unhappy customer, rearrange a meeting, meeting rooms at short notice, or arrange a proxy
when a colleague is unexpectedly absent. Like the planning skill, they should have the ability to
anticipate what may cause a problem in the office and what problem can arise. They are to find a
solution before something becomes a problem for the office. They must be able to hear a variety
of problems and solve them using critical thinking.
Conflict Resolution
A job as an admin assistant will keep you right in the middle of things. Offices are notorious for
politics, gossip, and behind-the-scenes drama; an administrator eventually ends up being the
center of all these whether willing or unwillingly. Office administrators have to stay above it all
by resisting talking behind people's backs and always maintaining their professionalism. They
have to be neutral and diplomatic in these matters. As the hubs of an office, knowing how to
work cooperatively with colleagues and respond politely to clients is especially important for
them.
Teamworking
Administrative assistants connect a department of an office with another department. They are
required to work alongside many employees from other departments as well as their own. As
they work together with people from other positions during conversations, projects, meetings, or
other collaborations, it is essential for them to have the ability to guide and bind people together.
Technology
In this world of technology, clerical and administrative jobs aren’t that much complicated now.
Things have changed a lot. Offices and Businesses don’t use paper today. Instead of writing on
paper, offices use digital documents which are more efficient than paper. Softwares like
Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets reduce the burden of millions of office goers. Administrative
employers also have to use, and often maintain, office equipment such as computers, faxes,
scanners, and printers. Consequently, they should know how to operate these digital devices.