Rapid growth in the health, legal services, data processing, management, public relations, and other industries have created many new job opportunities for administrative assistants. This course will help you discover and master the essentials of managerial and staff support, information and records management, communications technology, travel and meeting coordination, space planning, and office ergonomics. You will become an indispensable member of your team by identifying opportunities and implementing solutions to turn your office into a high productivity machine.
This course and its follow up (Administrative Assistant Applications) may help you prepare for the internationally-recognized Certified Administrative Professional® (CAP®) exam offered by the International Association of Administrative Professionals® (IAAP®).
Note: This course is not affiliated with, nor has it been endorsed by, the International Association of Administrative Professionals® (IAAP®).
Becky Swaim has taught since 2000, focusing on Administrative Assistant Fundamentals, Administrative Assistant Applications, and Individual Excellence. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication from California State University, Long Beach. Her experience includes managing large staff in medical billing and collections and as a program manager to various medical practices.
Tony Swaim has helped many clients, colleagues, and students reach their professional and personal goals. He has been an online instructor since 1998 and has taught at colleges and universities across the United States since 1981. His focus areas are project management, Six Sigma, and supply chain management. Tony manages a successful consulting firm, and his industry experience includes 20 years of supply chain management. He earned a Doctorate in Business Administration from Kennesaw State University and holds professional certifications in six disciplines, including the Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI)® and Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB)® from the American Society for Quality (ASQ)®.
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.
Hide Syllabus
Lesson 1
Today, in our first lesson, you'll see why organizations need administrative assistants, and also explore the type of work that various administrative assistants perform. We'll talk about the different administrative specialties, and look at an overview of their varied duties and requirements. You'll learn about the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP), and the professional certifications--Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) and Certified Professional Secretary (CPS)--that IAAP offers.
Lesson 2
As an administrative assistant, you frequently participate in office planning. So today, we'll help you understand that an office is an interdependent system where everything works together. You'll see that creating an office environment requires bringing many components together, including office layout, workflow analysis, space planning, furniture and equipment selection, use of lighting, and physical document (file) storage. By the end, you'll be ready to play a vital role in office planning.
Lesson 3
In our fast paced world, organizations move very quickly and make split-second decisions that have far reaching implications. Administrative assistants play a pivotal position in supporting timely and accurate flow of information. In this lesson, you'll learn how to effectively use information management to create a successful office operation and help increase your value to your organization.
Lesson 4
The pieces of telecommunications, communications, and technology, fit together like a hand in a glove. To be successful as an administrative assistant, you need a command of telecommunications. So, today, we'll share how telecommunications technology enables you to access information, share knowledge, and communicate without boundaries. When you finish this lesson, you'll better understand how to use multi-tasking and communicate using e-mail, fax, and telephone.
Lesson 5
In today's lesson, you'll learn how to productively use reprographics and manage records. Many organizations rely on administrative assistants to coordinate activities in these two areas. You'll learn that reprographics is the process that creates, develops, produces, and distributes printed material that conveys information and ideas. You'll also discover that records management is the management of paper documents, micromedia, and documents that are electronically and magnetically stored.
Lesson 6
As an administrative assistant, you spend a lot of your day inputting and storing data, retrieving and analyzing information, and producing presentations, newsletters, numerical reports, graphs, and charts. Powerful, user-friendly computer hardware and software can help you greatly with these tasks. So we'll focus on computer hardware and software in this lesson to help you better understand the properties of your office computer system.
Lesson 7
As an administrative assistant, you play an important role in helping co-workers arrive at the right place at the right time. You also provide them with information and materials that enhance their effectiveness while they travel and participate in meetings. So today, we'll talk about scheduling and coordinating meetings, conferences, and business travel. We'll share a case study to illustrate your role in supporting these activities.
Lesson 8
A critical responsibility of administrative assistants is coordinating a wide variety of office activities. To help you meet this challenge, today we'll examine how to create practical policies and procedures, and design and manage useful forms. We'll focus on the use of policies, procedures, and forms that meet organizational objectives and create harmony and order in your day-to-day activities.
Lesson 9
As an administrative assistant, you spend much of your time reading and composing business documents (reports, letters, memoranda, and press releases). Your efficiency and effectiveness is dependent upon your ability to write purposefully and clearly. So our objective today is to enhance your business writing skills. After you finish this lesson, you'll wow your boss and co-workers with your increased ability to write high-quality business documents.
Lesson 10
In this lesson, we'll bridge the subjects of written and verbal communication by discussing the principles of grammar and punctuation. It's likely that you need to help others with their written communication, so we'll also review the mechanics of proofreading. And you'll learn the basic rules of communication and a few of the more common exceptions.
Lesson 11
As an administrative assistant, you practice interpersonal communication in a variety of ways, ranging from one-on-one to communicating in a group. The basic purpose of interpersonal communication is to transfer understandable information back and forth. In today's lesson, we'll discuss how your desire to share thoughts and ideas create the first part of communication and how you create the second part when you listen, interpret, and react to feedback.
Lesson 12
Today, we'll show you how to perform basic research--something administrative assistants are often asked to do. We'll also discuss how important it is to frequently review your job duties so you can enhance your duties and increase the satisfaction levels of the people you work with.
Hide Syllabus
