8 Must-have office administrator skills
Office administrators play a key part in holding offices together. On a day-to-day basis, they’re the people responsible for supporting team members and helping them to maintain high levels of productivity and efficiency. It's common to see record-keeping, creative thinking, and general administrative tasks on a job description, but what else makes a stand-out office administrator?In this article, we’ll walk you through the mix of soft skills, hard skills, qualities, and characteristics needed to be an excellent office administrator.8 Must-have administration skills and qualities
Depending on the industry, some office administrators will need specialized, technical skills. Some specific office admin roles, such as an executive assistant or an entry-level admin, may have more specific skill sets. However, most office administrators will do best to focus on several important skills and competencies to carry the job out well.1. Strong organizational skills
A good office administrator is nothing if not organized, with impeccable multi-tasking, project management skills, and time management skills, too. They’re able to keep up with and adapt quickly to competing priorities in fast-paced environments, keeping not only themselves organized, but other team members, too.They keep records, files, and databases incredibly organized, and are a whiz at scheduling appointments, scheduling meetings and maintaining multiple calendars, writing memos, creating templates, and making travel arrangements.4. Accounting and bookkeeping skills
In some cases, office administrators are responsible for accounting and bookkeeping tasks. They’re often responsible for collating office receipts and travel expenses, preparing and disbursing payments, and compiling statistical or financial reports and spreadsheets.It's also worth noting that many administrative positions require the use of accounting and expense software such as Quickbooks.5. Experience with technology and software
Office administrators must be proficient in the use of common computer applications and software. It’s likely that they’ll need to use a variety of software tools for each part of their jobs. Regardless of office administrative tasks, office administrators need to be comfortable with all of the software a company uses, whether that’s Microsoft Office (i.e., Word, Excel, etc.), Slack, Google Suite products, Quickbooks, TravelPerk, and more.They’re also well-versed in data entry, report compilation, and answering virtual correspondence using different software applications.6. Problem-solving skills
Office administrators are the problem-solvers of the office. If the printer breaks, if someone’s keycard stops working, or if the heating breaks down, they’re responsible for coordinating with the appropriate contractor to get these fixed while also maintaining the office as usual.They’re also skilled in navigating their superiors’ competing priorities, schedules, and projects, and are able to quickly switch gear when something needs to be taken care of urgently.8. Customer service skills
Last but not least, office administrators are not just responsible for pleasing the office, but for assisting customers and clients, too.Customer service skills are imperative since office administrators are often the first point of contact with customers both in-person and via phone calls, and may need to deal with customer complaints and refer customers to the correct individual or department in a pleasant, efficient manner. This is also true for clients, contractors, and other office visitors.How to be a good office administrator
If you already have these office administrator skills under your belt, it’s well worth learning some extra skills or honing your existing ones to help you stand out from the crowd. For some office administrator jobs, you may want to stand out with additional certifications or a degree in business administration.However, even if you don’t get advanced education, here are some tips to help you become the best office administrator possible.1. Be proactive with tasks
Office administrators are often responsible for multiple competing tasks and priorities. Although you can’t predict every task that will land at your feet, there are often recurring tasks that you can be proactive with, such as ordering office supplies, budgeting, and maintaining filing systems.For example, if you know your company is going through an extensive hiring period and will be expecting several new staff members, you could begin to look into extra office equipment, order extra office keycards, or purchase extra software licenses. This level of strategic planning will help provide a high level of administrative support for your superiors. 2. Learn more about your company and industry
As we mentioned, most office administrators have several standard skills and characteristics in common. However, to become a more valuable office administrator, you could spend time learning more about your company’s wider goals and objectives, its growth projections, and engross yourself in what’s happening in your specific sector and industry as a whole.This will make it easier for you to communicate across departments, support higher-level planning and problem-solving, and support customers and clients more effectively.3. Use tools to automate and streamline tasks
Office administrators juggle many tasks, many of which are recurring, and can often be automated or streamlined with office management software. This also frees up your time for more business-critical priorities.For instance, if managing employee travel expenses for business travel and corporate accommodation always falls to you, consider using a travel management platform like TravelPerk that can help you create one simple invoice that collects all costs after every trip, eliminating the need to track down invoices from multiple employees.TravelPerk doesn’t just help with travel expense management — it also supports office administrators in booking and managing corporate travel, supporting traveling employees via our Duty of Care solution, keeping track of itineraries, planning corporate events and offsites, setting and adhering to corporate travel policies and more.In fact, Hotjar uses TravelPerk to make planning company-wide offsites and retreats more manageable. As their team grew from 20 employees to 70+ employees, the administrative aspect of corporate travel planning became unwieldy. TravelPerk allows them to plan, book, and manage corporate events with ease.Be a superstar office manager. Save time and money on business travel.
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