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 workflow.
• 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 workflow

Optimizing the relationship with the boss

• Establishing common objectives and priorities
• Knowing and synchronizing expectations
• Building and managing the relationship
• Manager’s 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
• Developing self-confidence and assertiveness
• Presenting your ideas and influencing others
• Negotiating win-win outcomes
• Perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs

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
• What happens when you are under stress: the symptoms
• Identifying actual causes of stress
• Action planning to keep stress under control.
• Time management preventive measures

Organizing professional meetings

• Planning for the meeting
• Preparing the agenda
• Techniques for writing the minutes.
• Improving the effectiveness of your meetings
• Actions to take after your meetings.

Dealing with visitors and improving customer service

• Importance of internal customer service
• What customers pay attention to?
• Servicing internal and external customers
• Handling complaints professionally
• Making your department customer friendly