How to be an expert Executive Secretary

Course overview

A General is as strong as the soldiers who support her and a leader is as strong as the team which supports her.

An Executive Secretary is an integral team member for every Leader. It is fair to say that an Executive Secretary is a reflection of the team’s/ company’s culture.

She/he is more often than not, the gatekeeper to the Leaders office and therefore his/ her effectiveness and efficiency, professionalism, physical and mental demeanor are indicators of what the leader and organization value.

His/ her administrative and organizing skills along with communication and negotiation skills are indicative of how the leader and the organization treat their multiple stake holders, especially their employees and customers.

The global pandemic has disrupted not just our personal lives but also significantly impacted how we work. The role of an Executive Secretary has also evolved in the last two and a half years.  From being a high-level administrative support, the Executive Secretary today is expected to have a basic level of people and business acumen, be solution oriented and embrace technology more than ever before.

The ability to handle confidential information has and will always be one of the most important competencies of an Executive Secretary, having said that, organizations today are looking for Executive Secretary’s with high agility.

Wide skillsets make us more adaptable and this is no different for all professions. An Executive Secretary who can multitask the daily activities of managing emails, calendars, travel and meetings along with managing events, CRM’s like SalesForce, ERP’s like SAP and take on additional projects while meeting the timelines, are the ones who will serve the leader and the organization the best.

An Executive Secretary is one of the most valued team member because they take on the unsaid role of being the ears and eyes of the team. Great Executive Secretary’s play an important part in understanding the pulse of the organization and providing their valuable inputs for employee engagement to the leader.

An Executive Secretary’s job can many times be very high pressure, urgent and confidential. It is important for them to focus on accuracy while adhering to timelines and maintaining their composure. The ability to stay calm, cool and collected while dealing with internal and external stakeholders is an attribute which distinguishes good Executive Secretary’s from great Executive Secretary’s.

Learning Objectives

This Executive Secretary Skills Training Course aims to achieve the following objectives:

• Understand the new and evolved role of an Executive Secretary.
• How to transform from being a team member who adds value to a team member who multiplies value.
• Identifying personal values and align them to the organization’s values.
• Develop communications skills including listening and written skills.
• How to take interpersonal skills to the next level.
• How to handle difficult clients and stakeholders.
• How to leverage collaboration between colleagues for the smooth functioning and accomplishments of tasks.
• Refresher to IT skills and introduction to new tools
• Time Management and multi-tasking

Our Unique Training Methodology

• Interactive sessions
• Presentations
• Group discussions
• Breakout sessions
• Role playing
• Case studies
• Journaling

Training Medium

This Executive Secretary’s skills training is designed in a way that it can be delivered face to face and virtually.

Pre-course Assessment

• Plan your introduction – brief will be shared to participants via email
• Reading an article on the workplace of future
• Going through the training modules mentioned in the training course outline and sharing any amendments at least 48 hours’ prior
• Answer the questionnaire to understand your expectations

Course Modules

Module 1: Introduction and Ice Breaker

• Participants introduce themselves with a personal story of what they job gives them other than a salary. Based on Simon Sinek’s best seller “Start with the Why”
• Internalizing the company’s values and identifying our own

Module 2: Understand the post pandemic role of an Executive Secretary

• Understanding our own triggers and the triggers of our team members
• How to build business acumen
• How to transform value adding team members to a value multiplier

Module 3: Communications skills

• Listening skills
• The power of powerful questions
• Verbal, nonverbal and written communication

Module 4: Interpersonal skills

• Cultivating a positive outlook
• Controlling your emotions
• Acknowledging experts for their knowledge
• Being assertive
• Practice empathy

Module 5: What is your superpower?

Staying cool, calm and collected

Module 6: Leveraging collaboration

• Include diverse thoughts
• Prioritization
• Getting the facts right
• Network with the right people

Module 7: Technology as an enabler

• Advanced MS Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint
• Outlook
• Teams/ Zoom
• Social media

Module 8: Time Management

• Maximize Calendar
• Multi-tasking is the key

Parking Lot:

• Answer any parking Lot questions
• Re-visit the questionnaire to understand how the training goal was achieved

Post-course Assessment

• Article on how to be an effective team player
• Link to YouTube video on how to make a vision board
• Each participant to make a vision board for their professional development.
• Vision board to be shared with the manager