Administrative Professionals: Making the Most of Changing Times

** An Administrative Professionals Week Post **

The times they are a-changing, right? With changes in the world and workplace, the role of the administrative professional changes, too. These are some of the things have affected change in the workplace and ways both employers and admins can make the most of them.

1. The Economy

Not only are office workers asked to do more with fewer resources, they are in many cases being asked to be the force behind cost controls. Many admins who are adept at saving their company time, are looking for even more ways to proactively save money, too.

Takeaway for the Boss: Companies that empower their admins to cut costs in reasonable ways could reap the benefits of having more eyes on the bottom line.

Takeaway for Admins: If you don’t already know, you have more opportunity to be a spending watchdog than almost anyone in your operation. When you spot and report waste, you become that much more valuable.

2. Technology

Admins know all the best tricks and shortcuts – and their co-workers know it! So it’s not unusual when the questions go from “What’s the best way to do this?” to “Can you help me fix this?”

Hey, Boss: Providing training and education for your admins and you’ll have some IT back-up  and someone to train new employees.

Admins Should Know: Getting some training – there are videos and free webinars online that can help – for software like Microsoft Office, Outlook, accounting software and even knowing how to troubleshoot the printers and other office machines can make you next to irreplaceable.

3. Web Marketing

Updating the company website and maintaining the company Facebook page and other social media outlets often falls to a marketing or technical staff member. But in small companies, guess who knows more about what’s actually happening and who has the skills to get the message out there?

So, Boss: If you’ve got a web-savvy admin, consider putting them in charge of the various online marketing opportunities. First, discuss the desired image and message you want to project online and then monitor the feeds.

Hey, Amazing Admins: Using social networking sites like Linked In and Facebook may be good for entertainment and even professional networking, but expanding your knowledge and watching what others are doing on sites like Facebook and Twitter can give you a better idea of how to market your company there, too.

What are some other ways that admins and their employers are adapting and making the most of changing times?