Administrative Assistant Fundamentals

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.

Lesson 1
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.

Lesson 2
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.

Lesson 3
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.

Lesson 4
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.

Lesson 5
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.

Lesson 6
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.

Lesson 7
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.

Lesson 8
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.

Lesson 9
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.

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.

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.

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.