Office Administration 1b: Running the Office
You have learned some of the skills that an administrative professional must possess, but now it’s time to take those skills to the next level! You will explore the responsibilities of an administrative professional to understand what a typical workday looks like and even what goes into searching for an administrative professional role: searching, applying, and (the most exciting part!) securing. Do you love the idea of being the glue in a successful business, helping everything run smoothly and properly? Then let’s continue your journey into the career of an administrative professional!
Units at a Glance
Unit 1: It’s All About You: Managing Yourself and Your Workplace
Now is a good time to gain a full understanding of the importance of prioritizing and getting organized so you can be ready to succeed in and outside of the workplace. This unit is designed to help administrative professionals work out the complexities of understanding your job and learn how to make the most use of your time by determining and prioritizing tasks and implementing strategies to ensure you take care of your greatest asset—you. We’ll also dive into self-awareness so you can discover and learn techniques to help you be your best self.
What will you learn in this unit?
- Familiarize yourself with job expectations
- Understand workplace dynamics
- Develop ways to manage and balance job responsibilities
- Learn strategies for better time management
- Acquire a knowledge of stress management
- Identify ways to recognize work-life balance
Unit 2: In Your Cubicle: The Office Space
Your workspace tells a story. Whether your employer assigns you an office or a cubicle—or you work remotely from home—your workspace communicates a message about you and affects how you work and feel. This unit will explore what you should consider when setting up your office space. So, get ready to take a journey of learning what you need to set yourself up for success and to ensure you are productive, organized, and comfortable throughout your workday.
What will you learn in this unit?
- Learn the principles of ergonomics
- Explore office design layouts and adjustments
- Manage and organize supplies and equipment
- Maintain office equipment
- Understand remote office benefits and constraints
Unit 3: Where Did My File Go? Managing Information
Managing information is a primary and important responsibility for administrative professionals. Every administrative professional should ensure that every piece of paper is safely stored, and that doesn’t mean sitting in a large pile on your desk. It’s also important that every electronic file be accessible quickly and easily. So, get ready to learn the importance of security, procedures, storage, filing systems, and databases as it relates to effective records management principles.
What will you learn in this unit?
- Identify security issues and solutions to protect information
- Understand company procedures and their importance
- Learn multiple ways to store files
- Describe different filing systems to manage information
- Define a database and its use
Unit 4: Keeping Up with the Money
To understand money, it’s important to understand math. This unit will introduce you to some of the most widely used financial and accounting basics used in business to manage money. Why is this important to your role as an administrative professional? Many administrative professionals have responsibilities for executing or managing money transactions. Therefore, it’s important that you learn to be smart with money.
What will you learn in this unit?
- Utilize basic math computations
- Assess basic financial and banking procedures
- Demonstrate an understanding of payroll processing
- Describe the importance of budgeting, purchasing, and auditing principles
- Explain accounting terminology
Unit 5: Arranging Travel, Meetings, and Conferences
Companies will oftentimes send their executives and managers to meetings and conferences all across the world. Planning the travel and meeting logistics, however, is not always a walk in the park. It can be complicated and time consuming. This unit is designed to introduce you to the important role administrative professionals play in planning, coordinating, and booking arrangements to ensure travel, meetings, and conferences are handled with care.
What will you learn in this unit?
- Research and select appropriate travel accommodations
- Plan and organize travel arrangements
- Coordinate and schedule office meetings
- Schedule and manage conference logistics
- Prepare for your meeting, conference, and webinar attendance
Unit 6: Creating Presentations
As an administrative professional, you will have opportunities to work with executives, managers, and other employees to design and create engaging presentations using a variety of software applications. These presentations will carry important messages to be communicated to a number of audiences within different business settings. Seek to do great work by helping to make these presentations memorable! To begin this endeavor you will gather information, prepare handouts, and master the technology to ensure the presentation is well organized and professionally put together.
What will you learn in this unit?
- Compare the different types of presentations and software applications
- Evaluate organization and responsibilities when creating a presentation
- Design, edit, and proofread a presentation
- Prepare handouts and visuals to complement a presentation
- Identify and explore desktop publishing software applications used to create newsletters, announcement, and brochures
Unit 7: Business Policies and People Management
Work can be energizing and exciting. Yet, to be successful, you also want to observe and adopt an organization’s cultural norms, policies, and procedures. This unit will help you to understand the employer and employee responsibilities for creating and sustaining a positive, healthy, and safe work environment. You will also be introduced to the role that Human Resources plays to support you in your career as an administrative professional.
What will you learn in this unit?
- Identify the components of workplace culture
- Assess the norms in a healthy work environment
- Implement workplace safety and security protocols
- Reorganize and balance ineffective work schedules and workloads
- Evaluate Human Resources’ role in the workplace
Unit 8: Be A Rockstar Administrative Professional
This unit is designed to help prepare you to chart your career path and self-development so you can be a rockstar administrative professional. Begin with a strategy in mind and then start to research the attributes, knowledge, skills, education, certifications, and experience employers expect administrative professionals to acquire. Throughout your working career, administrative professionals can serve in key leadership positions. Therefore, it’s critical to be prepared with strong critical thinking and decision-making skills to ensure you can navigate your career with confidence.
What will you learn in this unit?
- Apply critical thinking skills in the workplace
- Troubleshoot decision-making strategies to find the best solution
- Use different career advancement techniques
- Develop ethical and leadership behaviors
- Resign from a job
Required Materials
Physical
- Calculator
- A video recording device (laptop camera, smartphone, tablet, etc.)
Software
- Word processing software
- Presentation software
- Spreadsheet software
Other
- A family member or friend
Optional
- Paper and writing utensil
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