An office administrator and Skills, Role and Duties

An Office Administrator is a professional who oversees operations across their organization’s office. They are responsible for welcoming visitors, coordinating meetings, appointments and directing various administrative projects. Office administration. Office administration is a set of day-to-day activities that are related to financial planning, record keeping & billing, personnel, physical distribution, and logistics, within an organization.

An office administrator

An Administrator provides office support to either an individual or team and is vital for the smooth running of a business. Their duties may include fielding telephone calls, receiving and directing visitors, word processing, creating spreadsheets and presentations, and filing.

An administrator holds the highest authority in a company, and on the other hand, a manager holds the authority somewhere in the middle of the hierarchy order.

You don’t need any formal qualifications for most administrator roles. However, if you want to, you could consider a business degree or business-related national vocational qualification (NVQ). Training provider City & Guilds has information about lots of work-based qualifications on their website.

An office administrator

An office administrator completes administrative tasks that enable an office to run smoothly. A central job of the office administrator is to provide support by keeping office supplies stocked and supervising administrative staff. Other duties of an office administrator include bookkeeping, scheduling, purchasing, updating business records, and drafting documents.

An office administrator has the responsibility of ensuring that the administrative activities within an organization run efficiently by providing structure to other employees throughout the organization. Therefore, these activities can range from being responsible for the management of human resources, budgets, and records, to undertaking the role of supervising other employees. These responsibilities can vary depending on the employer and level of education.

How to Become an Office Administrator

Office administrators are vital to successful business operations. You can become an office administrator by completing a high school diploma or a GED certification. Consider earning an associate or bachelor’s degree in business administration to increase career prospects and demonstrate knowledge of basic administrative duties that are needed to run an office.

Highlight relevant skills and qualifications on your resume, including proficiency in Microsoft Office, administrative management, verbal and written communication, budgeting, and event coordination.

How to Be a Good Office Administrator

Office administrators manage and support key business functions that help to meet company objectives. You can excel in your office administrator job by completing assigned tasks within the required timeframe, offering a respectful and kind greeting to every guest, responding to emails and calls promptly, and delegating tasks equally among administrative staff.

Further, employers value office administrators who can resolve problems that arise in the office, so be sure to strengthen your problem-solving skills to be a good office administrator.

Office Administrator Job Description Sample

With this Office Administrator job description sample, you can get a good idea of what employers are looking for when hiring for this position. Remember, every employer is different and each will have unique qualifications when they hire for an Office Administrator role.

Skill Set

The importance of an office administrator to an organization is substantial due to the duties that they are entrusted with; therefore, specialized training is required in order for the employee to work efficiently and productively, these being;

Payroll training involves the responsibility in ensuring that all employees receive their pay slips on time.
Having good communication skills in order to coordinate with other employees around the organization.
The ability to supervise support workers
The ability to adapt to changing environments and new technologies that could be implemented e.g. new software installation.
Showing good initiative
The ability to work under pressure when given a task that is of vital importance to the organization.
Proven experience as an office administrator, office assistant, or relevant role
Outstanding communication and interpersonal abilities
Excellent organizational and leadership skills
Familiarity with office management procedures and basic accounting principles
Excellent knowledge of MS Office and office management software (ERP etc.)
Qualifications in secretarial studies will be an advantage
High school diploma; BSc/BA in office administration or relevant field is preferred.

Duties

The duties of an office manager include:

Organize the office’s operations and procedures by undertaking several administrative tasks, for example designing and implementing new filing systems
Assigning tasks to employees and following up on their progress
Recruiting, selecting, and training new employees
Developing employees through coaching and counseling
Producing annual budgets
Professional development, for example by attending external training sessions
Welcome visitors and provide assistance when necessary
Organize conference room scheduling, equipment, and cleaning
Answer phone calls and respond to email
Monitor and maintain office equipment; inventory supplies and order replacement supplies as needed
Organize catering, coffee, or other refreshments as needed
Assist with travel arrangements for office staff and managers
Coordinate building and maintenance issues for general repair and updates
Assist other departments with administrative or clerical support

Roles

There is an extensive range of roles that can be associated with an office administrator. However, organizations often advertise administrative assistant vacancies targeted at students that are currently studying or who have left secondary school or college.

This gives the employee the opportunity to gain experience or build a career through full-time work or an internship over the course of a summer break.

1. Receptionists

Receptionists play a key role in the organization’s management, as they are entrusted with arranging and greeting clients, suppliers, and visitors directly via emails, phone calls, or direct mail. The employee undertaking the role of a receptionist must show good organizational, communication, and customer service skills in order to ensure efficiency.

The receptionist should be aware of scammers who try to obtain the inner information of an office or medical practice to abuse or exploit it.

Other responsibilities that a receptionist is entrusted with are:

Ensuring that outgoing and incoming mail is allocated to the right department within the organization
Organizing and assisting fellow employees with meetings, conferences, and direct telephone calls when required
Communicating with members of the public when an inquiry is made
Managing and maintaining the filing system that has been implemented into the organization, e.g. information systems
Clerical duties that involve the ordering of equipment, office supplies, and other inventory that is required

2. Personal Assistants

Personal Assistants are commonly associated with assisting office managers to maintain the efficiency of their day-to-day work; this is through providing secretarial support and assistance. Meanwhile, becoming a personal assistant requires the employee to have experience in previous administrative jobs, which entails the use of computers and information systems.

Like any other role that is related to an office administrator, the job title of personal assistant requires the employee to be organized, show professionalism, and have an ability to work under pressure when given a task of vital importance.

The duties that a personal assistant must carry out each day are the following:

Inputting, filing, and managing the data that is stored within the organization’s office system
Ensuring that all contact from third-party individuals is processed through them
Arranging transportation and meetings that are of importance to the office manager
Ensuring that documents, reports, and presentations are set up prior to any meetings
Processing emails and letters that are received in correspondence to the office manager