Duties of an Administrative Assistant

The duties of an administrative assistant were confined to just answering phone calls, scheduling travel and filing papers. The responsibilities of an administrative assistant have now widened to more complex duties like making presentations and running the office smoothly. The job description of the administrative assistant includes the clerical, receptionist and project management duties and responsibilities. Basically, duties of an administrative assistant involves multi-tasking. Let us know more on what are the duties of an administrative assistant in detail.

What are the Duties of an Administrative Assistant?

The administrative assistant duties involves paying attention to detail, be well-organized and have great communication skills. The responsibilities of an administrative assistant includes performing and coordinating the administrative activities of the office, retrieving and integrating the data and dissemination of the information to the employees and clients.

The duties and responsibilities of an administrative assistant also ask for performing various duties like planning and scheduling meetings, appointments, organizing and maintaining paper work, the soft copies of the same, conducting research and circulating information using telephone, e-mail, letters and web sites. Duties of an administrative assistant also include taking care of the travel arrangements and the guest accommodations.

The administrative assistant duties and responsibilities also need the person to be able to handle and use fax machines, photocopiers, scanners, videoconferencing, telephone system, computer, office software, etc. efficiently. They should also be well versed with word files, spreadsheets, power point presentations, reports, documents, publishing software and digital graphics.

The administrative assistant should have good communication and negotiating skills, when speaking and handling clients, vendors and other employees. They should be able to manage the stocks and other data stores. Many companies have handed down the duties and responsibilities of training and orientation of new staff on the administrative assistant. They are required to manage the video calls, supervise other staff members, review memos, submissions, reports, etc. They are also asked to prepare agendas, arrange meetings of the committees and executive boards.

The main duties of an administrative assistant include typing correspondence, reports and other documents. They need to maintain office files, open and distribute the office mail, take minutes during meetings and coordinate the repairs of office equipments. They are also required to maintain the confidential records and files, records of decisions taken, arrange for payment of honorariums, research and help in preparing the motions, policies and office procedures. They are also asked to greet and assist the visitors, answer phones and direct them to the concerned department.

The duties and responsibilities of an administrative assistant, also includes organizing the office, ordering office supplies, managing customers, and running the office smoothly. If any glitches do occur in the daily running of the office, the administrative assistant should be able to troubleshoot the problem.

All or few of the above mentioned administrative assistant duties and responsibilities are given in many offices and companies. You may find the work to be immense and complicated, but it is surely one of the rewarding career opportunities. The whole office depends upon you and you will be the one who will know every nook and corner of the office. It becomes your baby and you have to nurture it and ensure that it runs smoothly. You need to have a background in secretarial skills, high school diploma with basic office and computer skills. There are many corporates who are recruiting candidates with bachelor's degrees for the post of an administrative assistant. If you are the ambitious kind, who does not shy away from responsibilities and challenges, then becoming an administrative assistant is the right career path for you.