Being a Professional
To be a “professional” one must not only wear professional attire but must also be confident, poised, confidential, and organized. To be successful in the field, one must project a positive professional image by personal appearance, knowledge, and ethical behavior. An administrative assistant needs to also be aware that life in the office may include office politics. If it does, the administrative assistant must know the formal and informal power structure in the organization and how the informal communication channel (the grapevine) works.
The Office Environment
I learned about the chain of command. I did not realize there was so much to it! I also learned about the office design. There is usually the open plan or the traditional office. Ergonomics plays a very major role in the physical and psychological needs of an employee. Whenever I walk into an office now, I look around and see aspects of it that I never would have seen before.
I have always been an organized person, but when I started college I was a bit overwhelmed juggling all of my homework and still finding time to relax and enjoy life. The idea of time and task management is wonderful because it helped me see that I can cut down on excess details and gain more time for the more important issues. Electronic calendars are great as well.
Successful Public Relations
It is important to be a friendly yet professional administrative assistant since most of the profession revolves around relating to people. I learned about making introductions and the proper guidelines to follow. I have been practicing my telephone skills as a result of this course. Always answer the phone with a smile because the person on the other end can “hear” if you are smiling or not.
Reprographics
I enjoyed this section because I have been involved quite a bit with this area of technology. I learned about the difference in copiers and what to do if you have a large volume of high quality documents to be processed. Desktop publishing is a very fun software to use. One can make professional looking documents themselves and save quite a bit of money.
Records and Image Management
I learned a lot about the duties of an administrative assistant. From putting file cabinets together, to setting your own way of filing, to keeping track of files and an easy way to look them up. There are several different methods of filing. The ARMA disk exercise is a very big help and a good reference for the future.
Telecommunications
I like the idea of being able to stay home and doing business in my pajamas. I know that will probably not be the case for my near future job, but the fact that people can work on the go is a very time efficient idea. It seems to be a growing industry. The use of telecommunications has broadened the outreach of communication among people more than anything I can think of.
Procedures for Incoming Communications
Processing incoming communications efficiently and effectively is a primary responsibility of the administrative assistant. I learned that when people say they had to do the mail, it is definitely a loaded statement. Classifying, sorting, prioritizing, opening, processing, checking for enclosures, and making sure all contents are out of an envelope or package are all important part of taking care of incoming mail.
Procedures for Outgoing Communication and Shipments
I learned how to properly address outgoing mail. I did not realize that a scanner actually scans envelopes and reads from the bottom up. I now write or key my labels in all caps and with no punctuation and include the ZIP+4. I learned that ZIP stands for Zone Improvement Plan. I also learned about the different classes of mail. Visiting the post office is a fun and very informative experience. I feel more confident going there when I have a package to mail.
Travel Arrangements
Specific company policies must be followed in making reservations. I learned that the administrative assistant is responsible for setting travel arrangements in motion by contacting either an in-house travel department, a travel agency, or airline reservation agents. I found that using the Internet to find airline tickets and flights can be fun and yet very confusing and frustrating if you don’t know what you are doing. I think it is great that you can use the Internet to make reservations.
Meetings and Conferences
In high school, I was a secretary for many different organizations. Two of these were: Student Body Secretary for two years and Class Secretary for two years. These were the most helpful positions that helped me with taking minutes. It is important when type the minutes to make them easy to read for others. I also learned in that when there is a big conference or convention, there is a lot of preparation behind that event. It is the people behind the scenes that really make an event come together and make it successful.
Professional Grooming
This part of class was a lot of fun for me! I learned what to wear for professional job. I am aware that it is important to invest in some professional pieces of clothing. I know now what colors will look best on me and my personality in clothing. I learned a great deal about the do’s and don’ts in my dress and attire.
Even if you haven’t worked in an office very long, these key elements will be helpful in teaching you about professionalism and how to act and what to do in an office setting.
