12 tips to become a great office manager
Office managers are essential for employee happiness, safety, retention and more.This article explores the qualities, skills and tools you need when choosing this career path.How to become a great office manager
Also referred to as office administrators, office coordinators or office operations managers, office managers are often the first point of contact for anyone in or out of the company. They’re part of the administrative staff and their responsibilities vary from building a great work environment and helping onboard a new hire to acting as executive assistants. That's why their workload piles up fast—office managers do anything from human resource management to administrative support. Along with keeping the office space functional and dynamic, they also need to manage staff movements, travel and expectations, to name a few. By becoming an office manager, you can hold yourself accountable for and become a key contributor to the success of a business and its employees. To do that, you must hone the essential skills in this article.2. Be a great communicator
You need effective communication skills to thrive in an office management role. It helps to avoid mistakes, resolve conflicts and give clear directions. An office manager is one of the few roles within a company that communicates with everyone, from new employees to C-level executives. Make sure you’re an excellent communicator, and it will make the role a whole lot easier.3. Be innovative when solving problems
The company knowledge that an office manager accumulates over the years is unrivalled. They help a business through its most challenging times due to their excellent problem-solving qualities. The longer you’re in the position, the more you’ll find people from all seniority levels turn to you for advice on challenging situations.Problem-solving doesn’t stop there though. An office manager will often be tasked with the responsibility of making something happen with little or no budget. The role requires you to be innovative with the resources you have and make things happen regardless of the problems you may face.4. Be a travel management guru
Phoning up a corporate travel agent is now a little old school and can be an expensive way of doing travel. Also, having employees book travel via Skyscanner, Kayak or another non-integrated booking platform doesn’t give businesses the overview they need for cost-effective business travel. Train yourself up on travel management software and impress senior management with your budget control and time efficiency. Some travel software lets you digitise and integrate your travel policy to automate your company’s rules on booking travel.6. Have strong negotiation skills
It’s up to the office manager to make the most of a budget and maximise what the business can get for the money it has. As an office manager, you may be in charge of keeping day-to-day office expenses, company events, conferences and offsites within budget. That’s why the office management position requires strong negotiation skills—to get the best deals from suppliers and stakeholders and manage budgets effectively.7. Always work on your business knowledge
Whether it is budgeting skills, financial planning, recruitment strategies or management theory, these skills will put you in a position to advance quickly. The modern office manager can have a lot of contact with senior management. Having some financial or business know-how in your back pocket will help you speak the same language as the C-level executives which can help you get your ideas implemented and improve your general efficiency.8. Constantly update your legal knowledge
Office managers are often responsible for dealing with external suppliers or office contracts on their own. It’s handy to be able to deal with these contracts with some legal knowledge. You’ll be better equipped to understand the small print, when or how the contract can end and how the business can maximise results.9. Be an emotional intelligence master
Having great interpersonal skills is critical in being able to manage and be managed within a team. Research shows that employees are four times less likely to quit when their managers demonstrate emotional intelligence.By embarking on an emotional intelligence course, you’re better equipped to connect with employees and harness emotions for strength.11. Learn bookkeeping software
Office managers often have a budget to look after and can be tasked with supporting other departments in looking after their numbers too—especially in small teams. You can also be responsible for setting up company-wide processes to ensure departments are keeping track of their budgets in a clear way.The good news is: there’s plenty of bookkeeping software available to help you with budgeting. It will be down to you, the office manager, to find and onboard your team with the new software that best fits the company's needs.12. Use project management software
The same can be said for project management software. Whether it’s team-building days, town halls, new software integrations or office environment improvements, there will always be projects to manage when running a business. These projects often fall into the hands of the office manager.Master project management software that you can introduce with your role. Keep track of tasks, people and deadlines and ensure that any project assigned is completed within budget and on time.Office managers are choosing TravelPerk to master travel management
TravelPerk is the all-in-one business travel platform that allows teams to book, manage and report on all your company's travel with ease. With its easy-to-use, intuitive platform, options to offset your carbon footprint, integrated travel policies and real-time reporting, it's no wonder so many office managers are jumping to TravelPerk.?)
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