Administrative assistant duties and responsibilities list

Administrative assistant job duties and responsibilities fall under the same job description of executive assistant, clerk etc.

In most cases as an administrative assistant you will not have any specific job roles, rather you will be doing anything and everything required to provide entire support to the administrative system in an organization. 

The main duties and responsibilities of an administrative assistant is based on computer work (like word processing, data handling, database manipulation, receiving call and emails and responding them etc)  and all the other office related works (like maintaining the minutes of meetings, ordering and supplying of office supplies, miscellaneous filing, reviewing the documents etc.)

An administrative assistant must always be ready and willing to do whatever the direct supervisor asks them to do concerning the office related works.

Daily duties and responsibilities of an administrative assistant

Daily duties and responsibilities of an administrative assistant depends upon the type of office or company they are working in. But still there are many common sorts of tasks that almost every administrative assistant does in spite of their office and  companies. 

They are required to perform a lot of similar types of work like scheduling of meetings, conferences and arrangement of travels, communicating with others associates, colleagues and clients, receiving and sending the messages on behalf of the executive. 

Administrative assistant is also responsible for tracking and reporting several types of activities in office, taking minutes of meetings, troubleshooting in case of necessity, gathering agenda items, receiving calls and answering them polity, sending emails etc.

If you are working in a small office, then you most probably will be handling some bookkeeping, regularly ordering the office supplies, watering the houseplants, welcoming the visitors etc. 

Key Responsibilities and Duties of Administrative Assistant

There are many duties and responsibilities an administrative assistant needs to perform in their day today’s professional life. Here are some of the key roles are given below:

1. Providing assistance to the administrative activities

The major role of an administrative assistant is to assist in every aspect of the administrative activities of a business. Either you are working in a big organization or small, make sure that you are prepared enough to handle each and every work related to assist in the administration activities of the business.

2. Communicating through calls and emails

It is very crucial that you answer and direct every incoming call with polite and professional behavior. You will also be assigned to make calls and respond to several emails on a regular basis. Your attitude, tone of voice and writing style will showcase your professionalism to others. As you will be representing the entire business, therefore it is very important that you enhance the good image of your organization by your service. 

3. Managing the calendars and schedule

Being an administrative assistant you will be in charge of creating and managing calendars on a regular basis to assist the managers in most possible ways. There will probably be a need of organizing events or other activities, scheduling the appointments and meetings etc. frequently as you shoulder the responsibility of an administrative assistant.  

4. Proving training

Arranging training programs for employees to enhance their productivity and knowledge regarding the business and keeping them updated is another essential duty that you need to fulfill. Small sized companies may have less employees and large size companies too many, therefore it depends on the size of an organization that how often the training program needs to be arranged. 

5. Creating efficient relationship

A business is made up of many different people in charge of several types of responsibilities, they all are like the different parts of the same body which is the organization. A business will run most efficiently and will be able to deliver best productivity only if each and every part of its body is working well coordinating with each other. There is also a need of establishing a harmonious relationship with company vendors, different partners of the business and stakeholders and the administrative assistant will be responsible for it. 

6. Create and distribute official documents

Drafting the important official letters, forms, memos, emails and distributing them to the appropriate receivers is also the regular duty and responsibility of an administrative assistant. You need to make sure that all the documents are error free and with appropriate information, for that you need to review the documents carefully so that you display your professionalism and sincerity in the job. 

7. Manage the office supplies

Every business needs the continuous supply of their office needs. Hence, you will be required to order the needed office supplies and maintain the inventory efficiently. For managing this, you should alway be careful of all the requirements and check the inventory of office supplies frequently,so that no work gets hampered due to your negligence. 

8. Managing travel arrangements

There will be many times when the employees or managers or both are needed to travel for the business purpose, in those cases you need to look after and manage the entire arrangement of the travel related activities. Making the bookings, making sure the confirmation of the tickets or lodging arrangements etc. are some of the essential duties of an administrative assistant. 

9. Greeting the visitors

As the visitors come to the office, you will be the first person to meet and greet them and then support them in every possible manner. You also need to make sure that they are honoured and shown respect in your dealing with them. Displaying your excellent verbal and non-verbal communication skills to please them will help you become a better administrative assistant. 

10. Maintaining privacy and confidentiality

As you deal with many private and confidential documents and matters of the business, there can always be the temptation to use them dishonestly but if you want to be a successful and trustworthy person in your career then you must maintain the privacy and confidentiality of all the vital business documents and matters. You must always protect the important data and documents from misusing and the unauthorised persons. It is very important that you maintain your integrity and honesty to the highest level in your day-to-day activities. 

11. Delivering presentation

There might be times when you will be instructed to gather the information and create and deliver a presentation. Hence, possessing excellent presentation skill is required to be an impressive administrative assistant. You should know the use of different presentation softwares and tools in order to present the information in the most appealing and attractive way. 

12. Assisting in several different projects

You should know in order to fulfil the duties and responsibilities of an administrative assistant, you must wear many hats. Becoming super flexible to handle several sorts of activities will help you to stand firm and grow in your career. Supporting the authority in every possible way and providing them the assistance in various projects also fall under the duties and responsibilities of an administrative assistant. 

13. Inspecting the functioning of office equipments

A business requires several sorts of appliances, tools and hardware gadgets. They are required to be inspected and taken care of on a regular basis. Therefore, as an administrative assistant you need to ensure that all the office equipment are functioning smoothly. If there are any things happening with the tools or hardware equipment that is not desired then you must be the first person to the appropriate initiatives as soon as possible so that it does not become a barrier for the business work process.  

Some other important duties and responsibilities of an administrative assistant are creating or developing manual or e-filing processes and maintaining the entire system, creating the expense report and presenting them and providing full support to the administrative system by performing any office related activities in necessity. 

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