Duties and responsibilities of an office professional
Duties and Responsibilities
•As an office professional, you will face numerous challenges. You
live in a work world where change is constant, and change is not
always easy to handle. If you are to be successful, you need to be clear
about what is important to you and the directions you want to take. In
the workplace, you make decisions daily.
•Many of these decisions will be affected by your values. Values are
deeply held beliefs that come from many sources; some of these
sources are your parents, your school experiences, your culture, and
your friends. As you prepare to become an effective office
professional, you need to seriously consider your values. Almost daily
you will face situations in the workplace that call into play your values
Core Responsibilities typically include the following:
 Store, retrieve, and integrate information for dissemination to staff
and clients.
 Serve as information and communication managers
 Plan and schedule meetings and appointment
 Organize and maintain paper and electronic files.
 Manage projects
 Disseminate information through the telephone, email, regular mail
and websites
An office professional may also perform activities such as the
following in addition to the core responsibilities.
 Provide training and orientation for new staff
 Conduct research on the internet
 Troubleshoot problems with the office technologies
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Office competencies needed for employment
Four Major Group of Office Competencies
1. Word Processing
 is crating written documents such as letters or reports by using
software programs and computers. Usually, these documents
are shared in printed form. However, they may also be shared
and read online.
 Word processing skills are needed by many workers.
Executives in many companies spend much time writing
messages. Technical personnel, such as engineers, advertising
designers, architects, and public relations specialists are
employees likely to use word processing and basic desktop
publishing skills in their work.
Some office support staff work full-time handling word
processing and basic desktop publishing activities. The
efficient use of computer in preparing many types of
documents is the goal of skill development in this area.
The essential skills include:
1. Keyboarding with speed accuracy
2. Knowledge and skill in use of software programs
3. Skill in formatting and proofreading documents
4. A large vocabulary
5. Proficiency with grammar, punctuation, and spelling
6. Ability to learn special vocabularies
7. Ability to follow instructions
8. Skill in preparing copy from audio recordings, if employed
as a transcriptionist
9. Skill in dictating text and commands if using speech
recognition software

2. Data Processing
 is collecting, organizing, analyzing, and summarizing data. The
data is generally in numeric form. Many jobs require such skills.
This type of activity is usually done using spreadsheet or statistical
computer programs.
 We may think of data processing as dealing with numbers and
word processing as dealing with text. However, the two processes
often blend with one another.
 The two processes together are often referred to as information
processing. Many workers do this type of office activity.
Among the skills important for workers who handle data processing
activities are the following:
1. Proficiency with spreadsheet, database, and related software
programs
2. Knowledge of arithmetic processes and statistical methods
3. Ability to be consistently accurate
4. Knowledge of methods of organizing and analyzing data  managing. Often, these reports are given orally and delivered with
5. Ability to interpret data
6. Ability to prepare reports that give information in a meaningful
way
7. Ability to maintain an organized workstation
3. Information Management and Transmission
 Refers to organizing, maintaining, and accessing data.
Transmission refers to sharing information both within
and outside the organization.
The skills considered basic in this category include
considerable variety:
1. Ability to find the information needed
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2. Ability to maintain or develop an information system
3. Ability to give attention to details
4. Ability to use established procedures
5. Knowledge of records management principles and basic filing rules
6. Good keyboarding skills
7. Proficiency in working with databases
8. Ability to meet deadlines and solve problems
9. Ability to work with others
4. General Managing and Communicating
 are broad areas that involve handling work time and tasks
efficiently. They also involved dealing with other employees and
customers. Setting up schedules, meeting deadlines, and tracking
the progress of tasks are aspects of general managing.
 Communicating with customers and coworkers is a common
activity for many types of workers in a company.
 Reporting on the progress of tasks, projects, or budgets is also an
aspect of general managing.
 Often, these reports are given budgets is also an aspect of general
the use of multimedia presentation.
Abilities needed for this category are:
1. Establish priorities
2. Establish schedules and meet deadlines
3. Work in teams
4.Motivate others to complete work
5. Use a personal computer and manage files
6. Handle telephone calls effectively
7. Give attention to several tasks at the same time
8. Determine the time required for completion of tasks
9. Communicate effectively both orally and in writing
10.Interact with many types of people at all level
Administrative Professional Workplace Requirements
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 Skills
1. Communication
(listening, reading, verbal presentation, and writing). Office
professionals spend a major part of their time communicating with
others. Communication takes the form of emails, letters, faxes,
voice mail messages, telephone calls, written presentations, verbal
presentations, and one-on one conversations.
2. Interpersonal relations
as an office professional, you will interact with many people.
Within the company, you will work with coworkers, supervisors,
and other executives. Contacts outside the company include
customers and visitors to the workplace. The people you encounter
will be of different cultures, races, ethnicities, and ages.
3. Time Management
As an efficient office professional, you will need to organize your
time, paper records, electronic files, and calendar so work flows
smoothly and tasks are finished on time.
4. Critical Thinking
It is a unique kind of purposeful thinking in which a person
systematically chooses conscious and deliberate inquiry. To think
critically about an issue means to try to see it from all sides before
coming to conclusion. As an office professional, you should think
critically about the issues facing you. Doing so can save you time
and make you more productive.
5. Decision Making
In your role as an office professional, you will make decisions
daily. If you are to be effective in that process, you must
understand and implement proper decision-making steps.
6. Creative Thinking
Creativity means having the ability or the power to cause to exist.
Creativity is a process. It is a way of thinking and doing. A creative
person understands that multiple options exist in most situations
and that he or she is free to choose from a variety of options.
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Creative individuals use more than one set of rules or one method
for getting a job done.
7. Teamwork
Teamwork skills are similar to interpersonal skills in that they
demand that you understand, accept, and respect the differences
among your team members. Teamwork also demands that you
engage in the following behavior:
 Treat all team members courteously
 Build strong relationships with individual members of the team and
the team as a whole
 Learn collectively with the team. Start by developing self-
knowledge and self-mastery;
 then look outward in developing knowledge and alignment with
team members
 Take responsibility for producing high-quality work as an
individual team member and encouraging a high-quality team
project.
8. Technology
If you are to succeed in the workplace, you must be competent and
current in your knowledge and skills of technology as it applies to
your job. You must develop the following:
 Proficiency with computers and current software
 Proficiency in telecommunications
 Capability in researching on the Internet
 Competency in using printers, copiers, and scanners
 Willingness to research and use new workplace technology
9. Leadership
You can develop your leadership skills by seeking out and accepting
opportunities that allow you to practice leadership. For example, you
might accept a leadership position in one of your school’s
organizations in your community. As you seek out and accept
leadership opportunities, learn from each of them. Evaluate your
performance or ask a close friend to evaluate your performance.
10. Stress Management
You live in a fast-paced world--one where you may find yourself
dealing with work-related stress. In order to be effective in your
work and personal life, you need to understand how to manage
anger and your time so you do not become ill or chronically
stressed.
 Success Qualities
1. Openness to Change
Because change is constant in our society and all projections are
that change will continue to be present in our world, you need to be
able not only to cope with change but to embrace it.
To help you cope with change, see to understand your organization
as well. Read the strategic directions for your organization; discuss
these directions with your employer. Consistently learn new
technologies and how you may be more effective in using
them.
2. Creativity
as defined by the dictionary is having the ability to produce new
ideas and being original and imaginative. For example, when
dealing with a new situation or a new technology, a creative person
will have the ability to:
• Evaluate the situation
• Determine what needs to be done
• Establish guidelines for achieving objectives
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the efforts
3. Initiative and Motivation
Initiative is the ability to not only begin but also to follow through
on a project. You demonstrate initiative by taking the projects that
are given to you and completing them successfully. You also
seek out tasks being those that have been assigned to you. You
consistently analyze what needs to be done and then follow
through on doing it.
Motivation is defined as an inducement to act--to get a task done.
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Motivation and initiative are closely related, with motivation
providing the incentive to act and initiative providing the ability to
get the task accomplished.
4. Integrity and Honesty
In the workplace environment, integrity and honesty mean that you
engage in the following behaviors:
• Adherence to a strict ethical code
• Truthfulness
• Sincerity
5. Dependability
is defined as being trustworthy. In action, dependability means that
you perform in the following manner in the workplace:
• You are productive and consistent in getting the tasks of your job
done.
• You are thorough and timely in producing your work.
• You willingly put in additional time that is often needed for an
important assignment.
• You do what you say you will do and when you say you will do it
6. Confidentiality
is defined as secrecy, privacy, or discretion. In the workplace,
confidentiality means the ability to receive and keep private
information that is secret.
You may be made aware of information that, if exposed, may pose
a threat to your organization or to people within the organization.
You must have the ability to understand the importance of not
leaking the information to others within or outside the
organization.
7. Commitment to observing and learning
With the workplace constantly changing and new technologies
being developed, your task as an office professional is to commit
to continual learning, these processes are as follows:
1. Do I make an effort to understand the directions of my
organization? o Do I
understand what my employer expects of me?
 2. Do I listen to others? • Define the problem or the purpose
3. Do I live by a set of ethics and values? o What problem am I trying to solve, or what purpose am I
4. Do I respect diversity of people and ideas? trying to achieve?
5. Do I commit to learning new technologies? o Why is this decision necessary?
6. Am I reliable? o What will be the outcome of this decision?
7. Do I plan my daily and weekly schedule well? o Am I flexible? • Establish the criteria
8. Do I handle pressure well? o What do I want to achieve?
8. Set Appropriate Goals o What do I want to preserve?
Personal goal setting involves setting both short and long-range o What do I want to avoid?
goals. In order to set goals, you need to determine what is
• Generate alternatives or possible solutions
important to you. Take an inventory of your needs, wants interests,
• Test the alternatives and make the decision
and abilities. Assume that in developing your master plan you
• Evaluate the decision
decide you want your life to consist of career success, good health,
financial security, and happiness.
To set short-range goals, begin by considering the following areas:
• Your strength and weaknesses
• Your motivation
• Your energy level
• Your ultimate desire to succeed in what you have planned for
your self
• Keep in mind that your goals will change over time and that you
may not always reach all of your short-and long-range goals
9. Make Effective Decisions
A decision is the outcome or product of a problem, a concern, or an
issue that must be addressed and solved. In your role as an office
professional, you will make decisions daily. It is important that you
make good decisions. These decisions may range from
recommending new technology to deciding how to handle a
difficult client or customer.
10. Make Effective Decisions
To make these decisions more effectively, you need an
understanding of the decision-making process and follow
systematically

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