This course will equip any executive or personal assistant with
the competence needed to excel on the job. It will give you an in-depth
understanding of the principles and best practices of successful senior
administrators. It will also increase your impact and visibility at the
office and it will enable you to derive several action plans for taking
on more challenges and raising your career up a notch. Participants on
this course usually are experienced senior assistants of GMs, CEOs and
VIPs. Hence, you will have the opportunity to exchange experiences and
discuss the challenges facing you.
You will come up with key
strategies for broadening your role and expanding yourself to go beyond
expectations. You will also develop a professional approach for
optimizing your relationship with your manager and building excellent
relationships with all stakeholders at the workplace. You will be able
to construct professional e-mails which will reflect a professional
image of your department and company. This course will also give you
vital insights on ways to increase your tolerance to stress and be in
control of your time. Organizing professional meetings, including
writing effective agendas and minutes of meetings, is also an important
element of this course. The last segment of this course provides the
know-how of professional dealing with visitors, internal and external
customers and how to make your department and company more customer
friendly.
Course Methodology
This highly engaging course uses a combination of individual inputs
and group workshops which will enable participants to share their
experiences in a professional and safe environment. Being packed with
real life challenges, it will also enable participants to test their
learning and retain all the skills obtained. Moreover, it will equip
participants with several realistic action plans which can be
immediately implemented at the workplace. Most importantly, this course
will change the way participants view their current situation by
challenging their existing beliefs and putting them to the test.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
Practice advanced administration techniques to effectively run the office of a senior manager
Develop excellent relationships with the manager to maximize productivity
Acquire modern communication concepts and strategies to facilitate work flow
Apply professional business writing techniques in e-mails
List the main causes of stress and prepare an action plan to keep them under control
Prepare and organize a professional meeting, write its agenda and take minutes accurately
Demonstrate professional skills in serving internal and external customers effectively
Target Audience
Executive and personal secretaries, personal assistants, senior clerks, senior administrators and others with the potential to become office managers.
Target Competencies
Personal drive
Building relationships
Interpersonal communication
Business writing
Handling stress
Organizing meetings
Service orientation
Course Outline
Progressive Role of the Executive or Personal Assistant
Changes and challenges impacting 21st Century administrators
Developing and broadening your role
Expanding yourself: going beyond expectations
Increasing your visibility at the office
Widening the managerial aspects of your role
Competencies of the modern personal assistant
Better management of your work flow
Optimizing the Relationship with the Boss
Establishing common objectives and priorities
Knowing and synchronizing expectations
Building and managing the relationship
Managers' types and ways to manage each type
Maximizing your value relative to the boss
Partnering with the boss
Effective Interpersonal Communication
Building excellent relationships with colleagues
Dealing with difficult personalities
Presenting your ideas and influencing others
Negotiating win-win outcomes
Perceptions, attitudes and beliefs
Developing self-confidence and assertiveness
Professional Business Writing
Crucial elements for excellent writing
The AIDA model of business writing
Writing professional e-mails
E-mail etiquette
Controlling Stress
Understanding stress
Symptoms that you are under stress
Work-related causes of stress
Action planning to keep stress under control
Time management preventive measures
Organizing Professional Meetings
Planning for the meeting
Improving the effectiveness of a meeting
Reasons for wasting time in meetings
The meeting agenda
Developing the agenda
Responsibilities of participants of a meeting
Action steps to take after the meeting
Minutes of meeting
Types of minutes
Dealing With Visitors and Improving Customer Service