9 traits of the best executive assistants

They keep your schedule manageable, even if you’re on the road for weeks at a time and you can’t remember what city you’re in.
Sometime they can even insulate you from people and tasks that would otherwise zap your energy.
They’re administrative assistants, who will be honored during Administrative Professional Week the last week in April, the time when companies formally recognize and honor administrative staff for their contributions to the workplace.
Gone are the days when “the secretary” simply filed papers and answered the telephone. Today’s administrative professional has many more responsibilities, including acting as a supervisor, supporting marketing and public relations efforts, office management, accounting and payroll processing, project manager for special assignments, and doing information technology maintenance tasks.
If you already have a good administrative assistant, be grateful. If not, here are the behaviors or traits to look for when hiring one. They were compiled recently by a group of executive assistants in the Green Bay area. The roundtable discussion included assistants from a variety of industry groups and was facilitated by Phil Hauck, who chairs a group for TEC (The Executive Committee).
To help the CEO measure their performance, they identified tangible traits and developed a process to be used for performance evaluations and career advancement. Here are the key traits and areas they focused on-the same ones you should be looking for in your own administrative assistant:
Flexibility. Changes in daily office functions, personnel, customer demands and the economy all affect the responsibilities of the administrative professional. Your assistant must gather the information, identify the appropriate action to take, and execute the necessary steps. That requires riding the wave of change and, in turn, smoothing the way for others who might be affected.
Ability to be proactive. Administrative professionals usually plan activities and schedule priorities days, weeks and even months ahead of time. They plan the next board meeting, company outing and special events for clients. They pull together all the details. They anticipate possible conflicts, make adjustments and continually follow up. They are able to anticipate what the client, boss, or co-worker needs before they do. Sometimes, it appears they can read your mind.
Organizational skills. They must be very adept at making order out of chaos and maintaining the order. They must be highly organized and able to find requested information within a moment’s notice. They maintain files, documents, office procedures, and update calendars for key personnel. They have trained others and they have a back-up.
A team player. Administrative professionals work well with others, are good listeners, and are able to articulate their ideas and suggestions. They are in a unique position, which gives them the ability to see the larger needs of the organization.
Ability to defuse situations. In any situation where people are involved, there will be conflicts. Administrative professionals help defuse the situation. They are good at listening, show empathy, know the experts who can help them, and know where the resources are located. They demonstrate the ability to relate to all employees and are willing to offer help.
Business savvy. The most effective administrative professionals have gained knowledge and interest in the key business drivers of their organization. What factors affect their business? What concerns will the organization be addressing? How? They become familiar with their industry by reading, asking questions, attending meetings, working with vendors and contractors, attending trade association meetings, and becoming familiar with their companies’ competitors.
Customer services skills. Good customer-service skills are crucial to the role of the administrative professional. They have an “everyone is a customer” attitude. Showing genuine interest, appreciation, respect, a positive attitude and a willingness to help are all traits that give the administrative professional an inside advantage.
Ability to represent the CEO. True or not, the CEO and executive staff are sometimes perceived as the least accessible and approachable group in the organization. But the flow of information and communication between all levels of management and staff are critical. The administrative professional acts as a main conduit of information, not a barrier. They keep the information flowing in and out of the executive offices. To do this, the administrative professional should be approachable, trusted and consistently represent the views of the executive office. The assistant must be confident, personable, able to share negative news, understand the CEO’s viewpoints and be responsive to requests.
Computer skills. The administrative professional must be proficient in intranet programs, word processing and contact manager programs. Many have master spreadsheet and presentation application experience. They must know how to search the Internet for information and make travel and hotel accommodations online.
TEC’s evaluation process and assessment tool can be used by a supervisor or be given to someone whom the administrative assistant deals with on a frequent basis. It identifies critical areas as well as areas for improvement. For a complete copy, call the TEC office at 262-821-3340.
Kathleen Johnson is the chairman and meeting facilitator for the TEC Executive Support Program. Contact her at 414-379-3609 or at ihksjohn@aol.com.
April 13, 2001 SBT