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| Administrative Assistant Fundamentals |
Rapid
growth in the health, legal
services, data processing,
management, public relations, and
other industries have created many
new job opportunities for
administrative assistants. This
course will help you discover and
master the essentials of managerial
and staff support, information and
records management, communications
technology, travel and meeting
coordination, space planning, and
office ergonomics. You'll become an
indispensable member of your team by
identifying opportunities and
implementing solutions to turn your
office into a high productivity
machine.
This course and its followup (Administrative
Assistant Applications may help
you prepare for the
internationally-recognized Certified
Professional Secretary® (CPS®) and
the Certified Administrative
Professional® (CAP®) exam offered by
the International Association of
Administrative Professionals® (IAAP®).
Note: This course is not
affiliated with, nor has it been
endorsed by, the International
Association of Administrative
Professionals® (IAAP®). |
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Please
click here to take this course through an accredited
college or university in your community.
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Syllabus:
A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of
two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each
course at least two months apart.
All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end.
Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the
course. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You
will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the
interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will
automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we
strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its
release.
The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once
the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete
all of your course work, including the final exam.
Week One
Wednesday - Lesson 01
Today, in our first lesson, you'll see why organizations need
administrative assistants, and also explore the type of work that
various administrative assistants perform. We'll talk about the
different administrative specialties, and look at an overview of their
varied duties and requirements. You'll learn about the International
Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP), and the professional
certifications—Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) and Certified
Professional Secretary (CPS)—that IAAP offers.
Friday - Lesson 02
As an administrative assistant, you frequently participate in office
planning. So today, we'll help you understand that an office is an
interdependent system where everything works together. You'll see that
creating an office environment requires bringing many components
together, including office layout, workflow analysis, space planning,
furniture and equipment selection, use of lighting, and physical
document (file) storage. By the end, you'll be ready to play a vital
role in office planning.
Week Two
Wednesday - Lesson 03
In our fast paced world, organizations move very quickly and make
split-second decisions that have far reaching implications.
Administrative assistants play a pivotal position in supporting timely
and accurate flow of information. In this lesson, you'll learn how to
effectively use information management to create a successful office
operation and help increase your value to your organization.
Friday - Lesson 04
The pieces of telecommunications, communications, and technology, fit
together like a hand in a glove. To be successful as an administrative
assistant, you need a command of telecommunications. So, today, we'll
share how telecommunications technology enables you to access
information, share knowledge, and communicate without boundaries. When
you finish this lesson, you'll better understand how to use
multi-tasking and communicate using e-mail, fax, and telephone.
Week Three
Wednesday - Lesson 05
In today's lesson, you'll learn how to productively use reprographics
and manage records. Many organizations rely on administrative assistants
to coordinate activities in these two areas. You'll learn that
reprographics is the process that creates, develops, produces, and
distributes printed material that conveys information and ideas. You'll
also discover that records management is the management of paper
documents, micromedia, and documents that are electronically and
magnetically stored.
Friday - Lesson 06
As an administrative assistant, you spend a lot of your day inputting
and storing data, retrieving and analyzing information, and producing
presentations, newsletters, numerical reports, graphs, and charts.
Powerful, user-friendly computer hardware and software can help you
greatly with these tasks. So we'll focus on computer hardware and
software in this lesson to help you better understand the properties of
your office computer system.
Week Four
Wednesday - Lesson 07
As an administrative assistant, you play an important role in helping
co-workers arrive at the right place at the right time. You also provide
them with information and materials that enhance their effectiveness
while they travel and participate in meetings. So today, we'll talk
about scheduling and coordinating meetings, conferences, and business
travel. We'll share a case study to illustrate your role in supporting
these activities.
Friday - Lesson 08
A critical responsibility of administrative assistants is coordinating a
wide variety of office activities. To help you meet this challenge,
today we'll examine how to create practical policies and procedures, and
design and manage useful forms. We'll focus on the use of policies,
procedures, and forms that meet organizational objectives and create
harmony and order in your day-to-day activities.
Week Five
Wednesday - Lesson 09
As an administrative assistant, you spend much of your time reading and
composing business documents (reports, letters, memoranda, and press
releases). Your efficiency and effectiveness is dependent upon your
ability to write purposefully and clearly. So our objective today is to
enhance your business writing skills. After you finish this lesson,
you'll wow your boss and co-workers with your increased ability to write
high-quality business documents.
Friday - Lesson 10
In this lesson, we'll bridge the subjects of written and verbal
communication by discussing the principles of grammar and punctuation.
It's likely that you need to help others with their written
communication, so we'll also review the mechanics of proofreading. And
you'll learn the basic rules of communication and a few of the more
common exceptions.
Week Six
Wednesday - Lesson 11
As an administrative assistant, you practice interpersonal communication
in a variety of ways, ranging from one-on-one to communicating in a
group. The basic purpose of interpersonal communication is to transfer
understandable information back and forth. In today's lesson, we'll
discuss how your desire to share thoughts and ideas create the first
part of communication and how you create the second part when you
listen, interpret, and react to feedback.
Friday - Lesson 12
Today, we'll show you how to perform basic research—something
administrative assistants are often asked to do. We'll also discuss how
important it is to frequently review your job duties so you can enhance
your duties and increase the satisfaction levels of the people you work
with.
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Please
click here to
take this course through an
accredited college or
university in your
community. |
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