Top 15 Administrative Officer Skills to Stay Top of Your Job

This post provides exhaustive information on the administrative officer skills and qualities you need to develop to increase your job performance and succeed in your career.

Please, read on:

So much attention is usually given to people in the organization who are seen as the people at the forefront of the organization’s domineering presence in the marketplace.

However, there is a need to also know that for the organization to be efficient in its daily activities there is need for someone to be charged with the duty of organizing and planning the order of events and activities in the organization.

This is the duty and role played by an administrator in the organization.

Who is an Administrative Officer?

An administrative officer is a professional hired in the organization to provide administrative support.

He/she oversees inventory management, invoicing, customer service, and roster scheduling, and other functions in the organization.

An administrative officer will need the following skills and qualities to be efficient in their job:

1. Anticipates needs
2. Detail oriented
3. Resourcefulness
4. Strategic planning
5. Time management
6. Organization/coordination
7. Good communication
8. Technology inclined
9. Management skills
10. Problem solving skills
11. Team work
12. Goal oriented
13. Flexibility
14. Professionalism
15. Social attraction.

1. Anticipates needs

Though no one prays for challenges but it is important to know that challenges are bound to surface at all times.

Challenges or needs are not always products of lack of expertise. So, it is safe to say that challenges are normal part of your job.

Since you know that you may not run away from challenges, you have to anticipate them and brace yourself to handle them.

It is not a good thing to always be caught unawares when challenges or needs pop up at any point in time in your job.

When you anticipate problems, it becomes easy for you to solve them.

Anticipating needs in the workplace will help you prepare ahead of time to ensure that you are not caught off guard.

This will place you in a safe haven and not dampen your confidence in your job.

2. Detail oriented

Details are some of the things you should be able to work with in your job.

There is always going to be situations where you have to pay so much attention to even the minutest of details in regards to what you are called to do.

You should be able to sense the smallest anomalies in your job, such as clash of timings and appointments, schedules and other factors in your job.

You should be able to spot them at the right time and make necessary corrections where necessary.

Also, you should be able to know the very details of your job, that is understanding what your job entails and what you should do to make sure that you fulfill every need your job entails.

That is why you should have all the details of your job at heart always.

3. Resourcefulness

Resourcefulness is synonymous with productivity. In other words, you should be able to be productive and bring solution on ground.

Resourcefulness is one of the things that show that you are an expert in your job.

Also, resourcefulness can entail your ability to make out something out of nothing.

The resources at your disposal might be little or insignificant but if you are resourceful, you should be able to make out something good out of the little resources you have.

The most important thing you have at your disposal is time. You should be able to make the most out of the little time you have to plan and execute your job effectively.

With the little time you have, you should be able to produce something meaningful and not make excuses.

4. Strategic planning

Great administrators are known to be great and strategic planners. This is to say that if you really want to make a big impression and account for your job, you should be good at planning.

Remember that what you do will reflect in the way things are done in the organization.

To determine the schedules and time allotment of activities in the organization or workplace has a lot to do with good planning.

Activities are not to be carried out based on sheer laziness and laxity to work.

It will always have a dire consequence on the general output of the organization.

If you want activities under your supervision to run smoothly, then you should be able to sit and put down all the activities, allot time for them and decide their priority and then decide the order of events.

This is what we mean by strategic planning.

5. Time management

Whoever that doesn’t know the value of time and how to manage it will definitely make a mess of his/her job.

This applies to you as an administrative officer.

It is impossible to be a good administrator if you are not adept to time management.

Again it starts with good planning and not just mere wish. One of your major duties is to help in the arrangement of events and activities in the organization to help manage time.

By this, the organization should be able to achieve a lot within a limited time.

If you as an administrative officer want to manage time, then you should be good at organizing the order of events and activities and also learn to prioritize activities in the organization and be sure to focus on the most important ones.

6. Organization/coordination

Coordinating the activities in the workplace is your major work as an administrative officer.

You should know that as an administrative officer. This is what you should be able to do without stress by reason of your expertise.

Organization is also important to enforce the order of activities and ensure that other people in the organization adhere to timetable of events and know where and what each person should be involved in.

This is not rocket science but diligence to work.

You supervise the turn of events and plan the next line of events based on your experience and expertise.

This is an important aspect of your job which you must take seriously.

That is why you should be able to make this skill your thing.

7. Good communication

Good coordination and organization starts with effectiveness of communication that flows from the administrative officer to other member of the organization.

He/she carries out his/her duties in making sure that things are done in order and as expected.

But to do, you should be able to deal with the issue of communication.

Communication is a critical skill that you will need to possess if at all you want to maintain a good and steady flow of information from you to other members of the organization.

This comes in the form of excellent written and oral forms of communication.

Be it oral or written, the thing is that you should be efficient in any mode of information dissemination you might choose or deem necessary to use in the workplace.

8. Technology inclined

Nothing makes your job easier more than the involvement of technology in your job.

This is important to you if you really want to be regular in your delivery of excellent services to your organization.

It is necessary and you should embrace technology in your job.

There are many software applications in the market to help you perform some good administrative job.

That is why your knowledge of technology should be at a high level.

The use of technology is a necessary change the world has embraced and appreciated because of its capacity to make things easier and more efficient, in addition to the time technology can help you save.

In some organizations, robots and automated systems are used to automate activities.

That is to tell how far technology has gone to win over the hearts of people.

9. Management skills

To coordinate and organize is somehow directly pointing to the reality of management skills.

When you coordinate or organize, you are directly showing some management skills which is important to you in your job description.

To manage the people and the things under your care entails doing your best to ensure that the best in the people you are managing is not lost rather harnessed to ensure proper productivity from you and your team.

This is in your interest.

You need to improve on your management skills to be able to be a good administrative officer.

You have to understand that your job is not only to suggest but also to implement some decisions as long as it is part of your job description.

10. Problem solving skills

To be a problem solver is the most important thing that should bother you on daily basis.

Your worth is based on the number of problems you were able to help your organization solve.

That is why you should work towards improving yourself on daily basis.

The emphasis is on self-development.

Self-development leads to greater chances of solving some problems either through your office or as a show of your side skills.

Try as much as you can to be better daily in your job.

You should be able to take on challenges thrown at you.

Also, with your vast knowledge of your field, you should be able to make recommendations and those recommendations should be spot on.

That is greater efficiency in your job.

11. Team work

This is also important. Working with a team is a way to make sure that things work out according to your plans and recommendations.

You need a team as you don’t have what it takes to do everything in the organization.

The moment you know this, you should be able to work well with the people in your workplace.

One of the people you should be able to work well with is your personal assistant if you have one.

This is because some modern organizations assign personal assistants to people with the administrative officer job description, to help them achieve greater efficiency in the job.

Working in synergy with your assistant will help you shed some of those responsibilities through delegation even though you are to supervise and monitor the activities and conducts of your personal assistant.

The main point is to achieve greater efficiency through team work.

12. Goal oriented

Set your goals before you and remind yourself that you have something to achieve.

You don’t have to be a jack of all trades to be successful in your job. All you need to do is to set your target and give it your best and use all available resources to make it happen.

Goals should be your passion.

Becoming a better administrator should be one of your goals.

This is because the better you become the more in demand and relevant you become in your organization and in the industry at large.

One thing you should cast off is laziness. You cannot achieve greater goals if you are lazy to work or not creative in your mind.

You must be willing to do the dirty side of your job, take in the momentary stress and strive to achieve one thing at a time.

13. Flexibility

This is your ability to work under different conditions. Some people always blame the environment or change at the leadership as a reason why they are not performing well.

Know it that that shows laziness and lack of competitive spirit in your job.

Whether changes are positive or negative, you should be able to make your way through in your job and keep your focus and adapt to different changes.

This is what will help you stay relevant in your job. Anything short of this will not give you the desired result.

So, you should be able to adjust and make the most out of every situation in the workplace.

This needs determination to help you stick your boots and do the hard job and ensure that things get done in time and how they are to be done.

14. Professionalism

See your job from a professional point of view and not in any other way. This is what professionalism is all about.

You cannot last in your job if you don’t work in a professional manner.

This is what lands a lot of people into trouble despite the impressive resumes.

This is down to discipline and good work ethics. Remember that your employer may not be interested in whatever you are outside the organization but they surely take note of your conduct inside the workplace and wouldn’t hesitate to wield the axe if you keep doing things in an unprofessional manner.

So this means that before you get to your workplace, you need to gather your spirit, soul and body together and get mentally ready for the job of the day.

Let your personal issues not be brought over to the workplace neither do you allow your personal issues overshadow your job.

15. Social attraction

You should be friendly with people you see in the workplace. It is improper to come to work with a frown and remain like that the whole day.

You should make yourself presentable and approachable.

Wear a smile and always sound polite even if the approach you receive from other people is negative.

This is part of professionalism. You should not scare people aware with your mean appearance or harsh tone in communication.

Also, learn to apologize when you are wrong. It takes nothing from you to be nice through saying sorry when you trespass.

The word sorry can go a long way to restoring a strained relationship in the workplace.

You shouldn’t allow your ego to get in the way, even if it is with someone under you.

Administrative Officer Skills for Resume

If you are writing a resume or CV for the position of an administrative officer, you can make a compelling Skills Section by applying the skills and qualities highlighted above.

Your chances of being hired for the job are greater because you have shown that you have the right skills and qualities to successfully perform the administrative officer duties and responsibilities.

Conclusion

The administrative officer position is an important role in every organization if things are to be done in time and in the right way.

Finding yourself in the role of an administrator will demand having the above highlighted skills and qualities for you to succeed and stay top of your job.