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.

Introduction

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.

Traingly believes in the mantra of continuous learning. They propagate that all professionals young or old, fresh out of university or experienced, skilled or unskilled should invest in professional development. With this in mind, Traingly has curated a meaningful program titled Executive Secretary’s Skills Training. The program is designed to serve all hierarchical levels of Executive Secretary’s. The course will benefit the participant by upskilling them to be a benchmark in their area of expertise. The organization will also benefit with the widened skill sets and a winning mindset apt for the post pandemic world.

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.

Our Unique Training Methodology

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

Pre-course assessment

• Plan your introduction – brief will be shared to participants via email
• Reading an article on the workplace of future

Course Outline

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

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.

Lessons Learned

Tryingly takes pride in identifying the most critical training requirements of the workplace and curating training programs and workshops that are forward looking. The aim of this Executive Secretary’s skills training is to of course bridge the existing skills gap that is felt today and more importantly anticipate the challenges of the future and deliver a training that is best suited to meet the challenges of the fast-changing work environment. Our team of competent trainers research the present and future workplace trends across industries and geographies and deliver information, knowledge and tools to overcome the challenges of tomorrow. This preemptive outlook differentiates our course design and delivery and keeps our clients asking for more.