Administrative Assistant Fundamentals (Self-Guided)

Lesson 1

Introduction

In the first lesson, you will learn why organizations need administrative assistants and explore the types of work that they perform. You will be introduced to the different administrative specialties and look at an overview of their varied duties and requirements. You will learn about the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP), and the professional certification—Certified Administrative Professional (CAP)—that IAAP offers.

Office Planning and Layout

As an administrative assistant, you frequently participate in office planning. This lesson will help you to understand that an office is an interdependent system where everything works together. You will see that creating an office environment requires bringing many components together.

Information Management

In today's fast-paced world, organizations move very quickly and make split-second decisions that have far reaching implications. In this lesson, you will learn how to effectively use information management to create a successful office operation and help increase your value to your organization.

Communications Technology

Telecommunications, communications, and technology fit together like a hand in a glove. This lesson will show you how telecommunications technology enables you to access information, share knowledge, and communicate without boundaries.

Records Management

In this lesson, you will learn how to productively use reprographics and manage records, two duties that are frequently handled by administrative assistants. You will also discover that records management is the management of paper documents, micromedia, and other documents.

Hardware and Software

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. To better help you focus on computer hardware and software in this lesson to help you better understand the properties of your office computer system.

Meetings, Conferences, and Travel

This lesson covers scheduling and coordinating meetings, conferences, and business travel. 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.

Policies and Procedures

A critical responsibility of administrative assistants is coordinating numerous office activities. This lesson examines how to create practical policies and procedures. You will focus on the use of policies and procedures that meet organizational objectives and create order in your day-to-day activities.

Business Documents

As an administrative assistant, you spend much of your time reading and composing business documents. This lesson's objective is to enhance your business writing skills. After you finish this lesson, you will have an increased ability to write high-quality business documents.

Grammar and Punctuation

This lesson bridges 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 you will also review the mechanics of proofreading.

Interpersonal Communication

As an administrative assistant, you practice interpersonal communication in a variety of ways, ranging from one-on-one to communicating in a group. This lesson discusses 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.

Research and Presentations

This final lesson will teach you how to perform basic research—something administrative assistants are often asked to do. It also discusses the steps you take to create a meaningful and memorable presentation, including strategies for starting your preparation and the software that can help you create a polished piece.