What makes a great administrative assistant?

It’s often said that an executive is only as good as their administrative assistant. Handling day-to-day administration for one or more executives, a team or a network, an admin assistant is the “eyes and ears” of a company, privy to unique and powerful insights about the company culture, performance and future direction.

Administrative professionals are highly valuable to the smooth running of a business, team or office. For many businesses, an administrative assistant is sometimes the very first hire outside the founding team, with many executives relying on the administrative skills of their assistants to be able to do their job effectively.

What is an administrative assistant?

An administrative assistant, also known as an administrative professional, executive assistant, secretary, office clerk or personal assistant, carries out day-to-day tasks that help keep a company running smoothly.

Administrative assistants also often work closely with senior-level employees and executives to take care of organisational duties such as answering phones, booking meetings and making travel arrangements on their behalf.

The role of administration assistants has shifted over the years alongside the many technology and workplace changes that businesses have endured. Today, administrative assistants, office administrators and office managers are in demand, particularly with most workforces being back in the office.

Administration assistant duties

So, what is administration, and what are the daily office administration duties for an admin assistant? Well, depending on the administrative assistant job description and seniority, type and size of the business, and lots of other factors, an admin assistant can be required to fulfil a range of essential duties. These can include:

• Ordering office supplies
• Taking the minutes of meetings
• Inducting new staff members
• Organising executive travel
• Coordinating appointments
• Answering calls and emails on behalf of their executive
• Organising events
• Budgeting
• Boosting morale in the office
• Fielding customer questions
• Project management

Key administrative assistant skills

A great administrative assistant is a key part of what makes a good team in the office. To create value for their organisations and thrive within their roles, secretaries, executive assistants, and general administrative staff need a wide range of administrative skills:

• Strong organisational abilities – this is the cornerstone of office administration duties. It means staying on top of diaries and calendars, keeping paperwork (whether digital or physical) filed neatly, and always thinking ahead to what’s next.
   
• Clear communication skills – admin assistants absorb all the communications that executives haven’t got time to deal with. They often have to answer emails and take phone calls on behalf of executives and communicate with VIPs – so the ability to communicate effectively, with good spelling and a personable phone manner, is essential.
   
• Initiative and drive – the best administrative assistants aren’t just reactive, responding to needs as they come in. They look for ways to create efficiencies, streamline operations and implement new programs to the benefit of themselves, their execs and the business as a whole.
   
• IT literacy – this is essential to an admin role. Proficiency in Microsoft Office and any other tools that might be used in the organisation (such as project management tools) is a must.
   
• Honesty and discretion – administrative professionals are often privy to confidential communications, strategy meetings, business performance figures and other classified information. They need to be relied on to keep this information confidential.

On top of this, employers may look for specific competencies that will enable an admin assistant to perform their job as efficiently as possible. Key examples of technical administrative skills include touch typing (at least 65 words per minute) and proficiency using Microsoft Office. These will often be listed in an administrative assistant job description as key components of the office administration duties for a role.

Business support competencies can vary, as no company operates in exactly the same way. So there are also considerations around the business mission and culture that need to be considered.

But these are the desired must-haves when it comes to crucial administrative skills, whether you’re at the start of your career journey or beginning to climb up the corporate ladder.

Employers also look for stability on an admin professional’s resume, as this demonstrates highly prized attributes like resilience, the ability to make considered choices, commitment and reliability.

Admin assistant career paths

An ambitious administrative assistant will be working on professional development consistently, upskilling in the areas of new technologies, HR practices, accounting or management.

Many will take each job as a learning opportunity, and once they have mastered each role, will move on to a new role, developing, for instance, project and people management skills. Admin professionals may begin as a receptionist or part of an admin assistant team and can work up to operations management or senior executive assistant positions.

Some assistants go into the role specifically to learn how business is done in the C-suite, so they can take this knowledge and pivot into a more hands-on business-oriented role.