Tips and Tricks for the Secretary
and Office Professional
Copyright © 2001-2005
Yes we have some great
tips and tricks to make you indispensable as a Secretary or Office
Professional. Your
boss just will not be able to do without you. Incorporate some of
these into your day to day schedule. We'll continue updating
these so bookmark this site and come by again in the future. Diary
Internet Based e-mail
Telephone Messages
That all important cup of tea
Appointments
When clients
arrive for an appointment early
What to
do when your boss is absent from the office
Chores/Tasks
or Messages you're not to forget
Telephone Speed Dial
Cleaning
your computer screen
Software to save time
Diary
Always ensure
your boss' diary is up to date. My best tip is to have an electronic
diary. You could set up your Microsoft Outlook Express (or
similar version) so that both you and your boss share the same calendar. This is so quick to access especially useful while on
the phone. You may need to keep a hard copy diary as well for
those who personally call into your office and wish to make an
appointment.
If your boss travels quite frequently, you could set yourself up with
an internet based diary. You can set appointments during his/her
absence and he/she can log on and see what is waiting for him/her on his
return.
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Its
a case of business as usual when you set up an internet
Based e-mail account for the boss traveling interstate or overseas
This is
excellent if your boss is a big user of e-mail. If he/she is
interstate or overseas, you can forward e-mail to him/her using his/her
internet based e-mail address but there's a better alternative if it
suits. Before your boss leaves on the business trip, set up a web based e-mail
so that it will collect e-mail from your boss' pop e-mail address (local
ISP e-mail address). This is so handy. You will not have to
worry about telling people a new web-based e-mail address either -
your boss
will still
get every e-mail that would normally go to the primary e-mail address
just as if your boss was in the office.
There are plenty of these web based e-mails around. You could try
hotmail
or
yahoo
just to name a couple.
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That
all important cup of tea
If you can see your boss
is stressing, try calming him/her with a cup of tea (herbal is a good
choice). It is the little
things that count and it works every time.
Sometimes he/she just may need some time free from interruptions to pick
up the pieces. You could offer to put off telephone calls and
personal interruptions for say an hour or two. Tell everyone
your boss is in conference and will return their call later that afternoon.
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Appointments
Another tip that's worth mentioning is that if your boss is out of the
office and someone calls in to set up an appointment and on checking
the diary you see its quite full, let them know the earliest they
could see your boss. If it is quite a while away, say, a week or
so, ask if it could be dealt with over the phone. If so, let them know
you could arrange for the boss to give them a call as early as
tomorrow. Quite often some appointments are unnecessary as it
may only take a minute or two to discuss the issue and is better off
dealt with this way. Get yourself organized with the AMF
Software Daily Planner - you will not even have to leave your MS Word
program either - just click a button, it is so convenient.
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When
clients arrive early for an appointment
If clients arrive early for their appointment, offer them a cup of tea
or coffee. Always have some reading material available to occupy
them too.
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Dealing
with correspondence when your boss is absent from the Office
If your boss has to go
out of town on business for more than a day, you will probably be the
one to open the inward correspondence. (see guidelines for opening
correspondence)
If there are invitations, you will need to check the RSVP date. If
it can wait, well and good, but if the RSVP is before your boss
returns and maybe the function will be held in a day or so of his
return, you will need to log a call to your boss to see how you should deal with it.
Now for the correspondence and incoming messages that can wait for
your boss' return, you will need to have some folders set up with the
following headings (they are only suggestions):
URGENT
This folder contains all the URGENT matters whether it is
messages, correspondence, reports. Everything that requires
immediate attention. You also need to place them in priority order.
Tomorrow (being the day after your boss returns). In this folder you need
to place appointments, correspondence, and whatever your boss needs to know
about for the first day back in the office.
Inward Correspondence - this is routine correspondence.
Messages - this is routine messages - can be returned as
soon as time permits.
Reports - routine reports
Now you will place these folders in priority order so your boss knows what to
read first, especially if he/she calls into the office after hours when
you're not there.
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Chores/Tasks
or Messages you're not to forget
There's a
couple of suggestions to deal with these. You can put a message on your
Brought Forward File with a date to come back to you. Your
Records Clerk will on that day clear his/her Brought Forward file and
present it to you for action.
Another way is to get yourself WORDWARE PIM - a Personal Information Manager (PIM)
so you can have your own address book and telephone directory at your fingertips.
It's a one-click quick and easy access to your contacts. You'll love
it!
You may also like to remind yourself of a meeting or a deadline or something of
this nature, by using your e-mail calendar and bookmarking a date with a
reminder message. Then on the appropriate date, a message will
appear to remind you.
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For you want more tips and
tricks about the secretarial profession read How
to be a Kickass Assistant - it's been very well reviewed by all who
have purchased it.
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Copyright
© 2001, Nerdy
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Tip for Cleaning
your computer screen
The Best Ways to
Clean Your Computer Screen
(As seen on
http://www.Emazing.com
March 20, 2001)
From J.D. Biersdorfer, computer columnist for
The New York Times:
Use a soft, lint-free cloth moistened with water or a mild cleanser.
Anything stronger can scratch or dissolve the antiglare coating on
screens.
Avoid using paper towels, which can shed lint onto the screen.
Spray liquid cleanser onto the cloth, not the screen.
Remember to always tidy
your desk at the end of the day.
Save
Time
Use the MS Word Add-on software to save
you valuable time. You won't have to exit Word to do any of your
routine tasks - create a folder, access your diary/calendar.
Recommended for all secretaries.
Use Templates
to ensure you always have the same format with your documents and Macros
to quickly access steps you use over and over again throughout the day -
can be a keyboard key or you can put it on your toolbars. These are
just the best inventions that make life easy and once you've used them,
you wouldn't be without them.
See below the type of information you can
access right here:
What does the Role of a
Secretary entail
The Secretarial role is not for everyone even though it is challenging and
changing. See if you have the desired qualities.
Learn how to use Tips and
Tricks in your Secretarial role
Working with tips and tricks could make all the difference in making you
number one in your profession. See what time saving and other
techniques you can use in your daily routine.
Is there such a thing
as Secretarial Ethics?
Secretaries throughout the world would certainly work using a code of
Ethics - see how the ethics we have developed can assist you in becoming a
valuable member in the workforce and could even assist you in climbing the
corporate ladder.
Books written
specifically for the Secretarial profession
Books are still an invaluable learning aid used by the Secretary and great
for continual reference. You will be surprised how just one piece of
advice will be used over and over in the office and as times continue to
change you will have the need to reference these books time and time
again.
Does the one resume suit all
the Secretarial jobs you apply for?
You need to know what to include, what not to, and most importantly how to
adapt your resume to the job you are applying for.
Have your say when you visit the
Secretarial Forum
A forum is available for you to share or seek information, comments or
advice. Please feel free to post your questions.
Free Office
Tutorials in the following are available
Telephone Etiquette
- Do you answer the telephone correctly? Are you friendly and let
the caller know you're listening and interested? If not, don't
distress, we have a lesson for you that will make your Company proud.
Making Appointments
- you will learn how to make appointments and what information your
Manager needs so he has all the facts and is prepared. Only then will the
meeting will be successful.
Writing Correspondence -
Step by step instructions on how to lay out your office correspondence
with all the relevant information. You will even learn how to write
your letter so the message is conveyed to the recipient successfully.
All about Meetings -
There are many aspects to be aware of to make a meeting run smoothly.
If you are the key person responsible for setting up meetings from
preparing meeting notices and agendas, to taking minutes of the meeting,
you are in the right place. You can choose formats and tools that
will make your job easier.
Useful Links for any
Secretary
Check out the links we've made available for you to be kept informed, save
time, and awareness of training available.
Need training to master the advance or basic techniques
The training offered on this site is focused to assist you in your day to
day duties whether you need to learn the basics first before proceeding to
the more advanced lessons. You make the choice.
A Secretarial
Newsletter
What better way to keep informed then signing on to receive a copy of the www.secretarialsite.com
newsletter. It's totally FREE.
What is MOUS Certification?
Find out more about this certification. You can even take the exam
and receive your MOUS certificate. If you're not quite ready, take
the courses that you need to enable you to become certified.
Executary Seminars
The Secretarial Site has up to date news on various seminars focused
towards Secretaries, Office Professionals, executive Secretaries,
Administrative Assistants, and Personal Assistants, in locations that may
suit you.
Recommended
Employment Agencies
Employment agencies are listed in selected countries to save you time.
Can you touch
type, or, do you know your typing speed?
You can quickly and easily take a typing test to check your speed.
You can learn to increase your speed and best of all you will learn how to
touch type.
Need
to translate this website into another language?
Go now to the website that will make translation easy. All you need to do
is copy and paste this URL http://www.secretarialsite.com
into the window on the website.
When is Administrative
Professional's Day/Secretaries Day
Administrative Professional's Day is always the last Wednesday in the last
full week of the month of April and this full week is dedicated to
Administrative Professionals. Mark it now in your diary so you and
your fellow workers can celebrate. Better still, spread the word and
enter it into your Manager's diary so he/she is made aware of it.
But what happened to Secretaries Day? It has been
renamed to Administrative Professional's Day! Did you know the
National Secretaries Association, now known as IAAP, began this special
recognition.
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