Basic Executive Office Administration and Secretarial skills Training

An administrator/executive assistant is responsible for providing financial services, budget preparation,
procurement, travel arrangements, property control, and general administration. They offer services, advice and guidance to the programs, sections and offices within the Institute as endeavor to ensure sound and efficient financial management of resources and funds, in accordance with institutional financial rules and regulations, established policies and procedures, and specific donor requirements.
This training is therefore designed to help the administration staff in the institution to build and project
confidence, keep conversations focused and productive, exhibit knowledge and credibility and exert influence in everyday interactions.
Participants will be able to create a powerful alliance with superiors and enhance a professional profile within the organization. Discussions will also examine the essential relationship-building skills will help in the development of workable strategies and establish one’s authority and get ideas noticed. Another focus will be the impartation of skills that are needed to make a difference and grow in one’s career and in the organization.
To excel in this rapidly changing work environment, one needs more skills than ever before – like
understanding the organization’s business, managing change, communicating strategically, leading, working in teams and juggling new assignments with current responsibilities.
Expected Training Outcomes.
 Understand and apply strategic language used by managers and executives
 Analyze operational systems in their areas of responsibilities and develop enhancement plans
 Manage changing roles and responsibilities whether working with bosses, peers, team members or
external stakeholders
 Meet dynamic work expectations by expanding proactive capabilities
 Assertively and confidently manage conflicts to achieve results
 Apply emotional intelligence and effective listening practices
 Use strategic diplomacy to handle office politics, difficult people and demanding situations
 Effectively run office projects from initiation to close-out
 Understand and apply protocol, diplomacy and etiquette when interfacing with VIPs
Who Should Attend:
From UN Agencies, Government, Foreign Ministries, International Organizations’ & Major Corporations,
Trade Unions, Political Parties, NGOs etc.
 Program Managers
 Program Assistants
 Program Executives
 Executive Associates
 Executive Secretaries
 Protocol Personnel
 Diplomatic Personnel
 Administrators
 Supervisors
 Secretaries
 Support Staff
 PA’s
 Anyone who is responsible for coordinating, managing or being an effective member of Protocol,
Diplomacy Or an office team
 Anyone wishing to gain knowledge on Protocol, Diplomacy & Administrative skills
Training Modules.
Working in an Executive Office.
 Ability to clearly convey, persuade, and negotiate information and ideas to individuals or groups
 Understand and awareness of program services, policies, procedures laws, rules, and regulations.
 Ability to demonstrate and apply this knowledge in performance of administrative support tasks
 Ability to explain and interpret program information to clients/customers and staff.
 Ability to identify and understand issues, problems, and opportunities;
 Determine course of action
 Develops appropriate solutions
 Ability to compile assimilate, organize, and analyze printed and electronic information.
 Ability to apply knowledge of data research and manipulative analysis.
Working in an Executive Office.
 Create a master list of goals and activities that are competing for one’s time and attention
 Learn how individual behavioral styles influences the way one manages time
 Understand how to distinguish important and urgent issues using a matrix
 Develop a strategy for aligning daily activities to support job description and performance contract
 Explore best practice processes for leveraging time to achieve goals
 Learn effective techniques to overcome the main time bandits that divert their time and attention
away from pursuing most important goals (including how to deal with the burden of email, how to
cope with interruptions, how to say no to low priority requests, how to deal with procrastination,
how to delegate low priority tasks, and much more).
 Develop a strategy for making meetings more efficient and productive (logistical & coordinating
responsibilities before, during and after the meeting)
 Problems with file system data management
 Differences between databases and file systems
Problem Solving & Decision Making
 How thinking and reasoning processes operate
 Natural barriers to sound reasoning
 Analytical techniques for comparing alternative solutions
 Structure, standards, and ethics of critical thinking
 Problem analysis best practices-using your decision time most effectively
 Understand problems from multiple perspectives
 Formulating creative solutions
 Analytical decision analysis techniques such as sequencing, sorting, timelines, and matrixes
Analysis & Information Processing
 What do I really want to find out?
 Where can I find the information I need?
 What information do I really need to use?
Presentation Skills.
 Prepare and structure a presentation
 Use body language/non-verbal language to enhance their presentations
 Use their voice effectively-(paralanguage) by varying the pitch, tone, pace and making use of
pauses.
 Understand the importance of personal image and dress when giving a presentation
 Make use of visual aids to enhance their presentation
 Overcome nervousness
 Make use of notes so that they don’t become a distraction to the audience
 Prepare and structure a presentation
 Use body language/non-verbal language to enhance their presentations
 Use their voice effectively-(paralanguage)by varying the pitch, tone, pace and making use of pauses
 Understandtheimportanceofpersonalimageanddresswhengivingapresentation
 Make use of visual aids to enhance their presentation
 Overcome nervousness
 Make use of notes so that they don’t become a distraction to the audience
 Effectively handle questions from the audience
Filing Systems
Professional business writing & Minutes Taking
 Learn the value of good written communication.
 To learn how to write and proofread your work so it is clear, concise, complete, and correct.
 Revisit the rules of good grammar and clear communication and Improve sentence .
 Develop effective business letters for tough situations and Discuses-mail etiquette.
 Develop and appropriate writing style and format for your letters, business cases and
 Learners will be able to draw up an agenda and produce professional, concise and accurate minutes
for form a land in formal meetings.
 They will understand that the important criteria for effective meetings should be to encourage
effective communication and understand the importance of their role in that process.
 Demonstrate and understanding of the rules of grammar, tenses most frequently used in business
grammar, vocabulary.
Building human Relations
 Determining your interpersonal strength sand weaknesses: how you work with people
 Establishing report: making others feel valued
 Building relationships in a multicultural workforce
 Crossing the divide: working effectively with other departments
 Overcome negativity in the work place–and stop it from spreading
 Understanding how your behaviors and attitudes impact others
 Strategies for quickly defusing explosive situations
 Communicatinginter-culturallyinagloballyrepresentativeinstitution
 Collaboration among different personality types
 Team work between teams: organizational productivity
 Every day activities to turn diversity into compatibility and collaboration
Assertiveness
 Demonstrate and model assertive behavior for win-win outcomes
 Gain self-awareness of your attitudes ,behavior patterns and habits
 Develop a positive ,proactive response to difficult behaviors in others
 Exhibit confidence in your ability to address challenging situations
 Enhance your skills using proven tools ,tactics and techniques
 Generate the results you want when dealing with others
Stress management
 Understand positive stress
 Identify symptoms of burnout and overload
 Identify the sources of stress in your work life
 Change behaviors which add to stress
 Make changes to situations that can be influenced
 Develop positive responses to situations that cannot be changed
 Develop strategies to prevent feeling overwhelmed
Influencing staff and partners without Authority.
 The Law of Reciprocity—“exchange” as the basis for genuine “influence”
 Giving power of “mutual exchange”—getting what you want and giving others what they need
 Goods and services—the “currencies” of exchange
 Knowing what they want—understanding the world of your “allies”
 You are more “powerful” than you think—understanding your own world
Fundamentals of protocol.
 What Is Protocol and Etiquette
 Order of Seniority for Official Functions
 Flying of the Flag with flags of sovereign states
 How to arrange for signing ceremonies
 How to Address Various Office Bearers in Speech, in Letter Writing and when with Spouses (Heads
of State, Heads of Government, Diplomats, etc.)
 Acceptable Conduct when Facilitating Introductions(Learn about the Ranking-who is to be
introduced to who–very critical here )
Way forward After the Training
Participants will develop a work plan, through the help of facilitators that stipulates application of skills
acquired in improving their organizations. ASPM will monitor implementation progress after the training.