The office manager is the backbone of any functioning office: they manage administrative tasks, plan office events, and maintain order within the workplace, among other responsibilities. This job requires a mastery of patience, leadership, and grace under pressure.
As a result, not everyone can be an office manager (and not every office manager is essentially good at their job). So, what constitutes a good office manager? Here is a complete guide to answering the question.
Multiple jobs fall under the “office manager” category, like a corporate office manager, a medical office manager, and a virtual office manager. Therefore, before becoming an excellent office manager, you must know your job description.
Usually, there are two types of office managers: operational and administrative. Operational managers are responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations such as human resources, finance, and marketing.
Administrative managers oversee support staff and ensure they have everything to do their jobs well (think IT support). The tasks of an office manager also depend on the field they are in.
Therefore, even if the primary responsibilities of an office manager remain the same, the variety of positions demands that every office manager understand their primary responsibilities innately.
If you are going to be an office manager, you must have an organized workplace. It helps you keep track of everything in your office and ensures that your employees have all the resources they need to do their jobs properly.
You can’t be effective if you’re constantly running around trying to find things when they are required or searching for information that someone else has already found but hasn’t passed along yet.
Additionally, people respect your authority when they see that you know what’s always going on, even if it means keeping track of trivial details like who ate the last donut in the break room. Also, have a table or a dedicated desk in a quiet space.
Organize everything on your desk to make it easier to find anything you might need when working. Use labels on drawers and folders to help you quickly find information such as files when required.
You need a record-keeping system to run your business effectively. It allows you to keep track of what’s going on in the company at any given time and record. For instance, a finance office manager records every financial transaction correctly if a review by stakeholders, investors, or other third parties and tax authorities happens.
Also, consider using cloud-based software such as QuickBooks Online. It allows you to share data across multiple computers and devices easily. You also don’t have to worry about losing valuable information through file corruption or accidentally deleting files from hard drives due to viruses or other malicious software.
It’s easy to get caught up in running an office and forget about the significant company objective. Therefore, set aside some time each week to plan your goals: identity what you want to accomplish in the upcoming week.
Also, use practical delegation skills to assign some of your tasks to capable employees. The goal is to reduce your workload and free up your time to help you focus on critical managerial responsibilities. Sure, it’s natural to think you should do everything yourself.
But this isn’t the best approach because it leads to burnout and stress due to lack of sleep or poor health due to exhaustion from overwork. If everyone is working too hard and stressed out all the time, productivity goes down.
The benefit of delegation is that it also allows your employees to grow within their roles, which, in turn, provides you with a team of workers with skills to handle issues in the office, even in your absence.
If you need help with something that falls outside of your job description or expertise, don’t hesitate to ask someone else for assistance. The only way an office can function correctly is if everyone works together as a team.
By being open about asking for help when needed, employees feel more comfortable helping each other out when they need it instead of waiting for instructions from their supervisors.
Reactive means that you wait for something to happen and then respond. Proactive means you anticipate problems and take action before they occur. For example, if you have a team member who is consistently late, being reactive means waiting until they are late again and having a conversation with them about their tardiness.
Being proactive is having a conversation with your employee before they are late (or right after) to work on the issue before it becomes a problem or affects the team’s productivity. Being proactive also means taking ownership of situations instead of looking to others for solutions.
It doesn’t mean you should do everything yourself (that’s not realistic or practical). It does mean that if there is an issue affecting your team or department in any way, you should step up and do what needs to get done to fix it as soon as possible, even if it’s just making sure others know what’s going on so they can help too.
Whether you’re alone or a team of people is helping you run things. You might find yourself lagging because of too much work. Here are some ways you can use technology and apps to make your job easier:
Use project management software to organize tasks and keep track of progress.
Use scheduling software to ensure everyone knows their working time and when they need to be somewhere else.
Use cloud storage services like Dropbox or Google Drive to keep all your files in one place so everyone has access to them.
Use messaging apps like Slack or WhatsApp to communicate with coworkers without having to constantly email back and forth about simple things like “Where are we meeting today?”
Use productivity apps like Trello or Basecamp for taking notes during meetings so that everyone has access to the same information.
A good office manager builds a strong relationship with their team members. The office manager makes sure all employees are happy and willing to help the company grow. To build a strong relationship with your team members, make sure that you:
Give them enough space to do their job well. You don’t need to hover around them all the time and watch over their shoulders. Instead, give them some space so they can do their job without any interference from you. However, if there is something wrong with what they’re doing, let them know so they can correct it before it becomes a bigger problem.
Encourage them to speak up when they have problems or questions about their work. Office managers who want to be successful should encourage their employees to speak up when something goes wrong or they need help.
Give praise when someone does something right, even if it isn’t part of their job description. People like being praised for doing things right and eventually do more of those things to get another.
Admitting when you mess up shows people that you’re human and not afraid of owning up to your mistakes. It also helps foster trust between coworkers because it shows them they don’t have anything to hide.
For employees to understand their roles within your organization, you need to create an organizational structure that makes sense for everyone involved.
It can be as simple as having one person act as an assistant manager who helps you with administrative tasks or as complex as having multiple departments that all report up through managers who report directly to you.
Either way, everyone must know where they fit into the bigger picture of things, knowing how they help their coworkers and the organization succeed and vice versa.
Set Goals & Plan For The Year
To be an effective office manager, you need a plan with your goals and how to achieve them. It helps keep you focused on what matters most. To create effective goals, make sure they’re SMART: specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and time-bound.
For example: “I will increase sales by 20% over last year by implementing new strategies that include targeted advertising campaigns and increased social media presence.” Once you have your goals set for the year, make sure you have a plan for achieving them.
If it doesn’t work out exactly as planned or something unexpected comes up (which always happens), you can adjust accordingly without starting from scratch.
From how much an office manager makes to the length of their duties and responsibilities, the work of an office manager is intensive. More so, the manager is the glue that holds everyone together. Being an excellent office manager is not an easy feat. It requires dedication and commitment. But rest assured, these suggestions will help you do a better job of it.
Sources:
How Cloud Computing Is Changing Management | HBR
Appreciation Appreciates: How To Give Meaningful Praise That Inspires And Engages | Forbes