I often wonder how technology will change the way we work. In just the last 10 years, technology in the office has altered the very perception of the administrative professional.
Recent advances in mobile technology have freed us from landlines. Cumbersome fax machines are going the way of the dial phone. Soon, there will be no need for paper (good news for trees). Everyone will be able to “bring up” a copy of any report they need on their mobile device, boardroom Internet projector, desktop/laptop or iPad.
Mobile devices will become almost human. Even now, apps like Siri are growing increasingly sophisticated and adaptable to an individual's specific needs, accepting voice commands to send messages, make calls, set reminders, and eventually learn every nuance of an office routine.
So the question you have to ask yourself is, what skill sets will you need as an administrator in tomorrow's office? Experts say you'll need to acquire advanced technical knowledge and expertise, combined with a new understanding of human resources and business processes.
By 2020, new technology will forever change the working office and with it, the role of administrator. Secretaries who have already segued into administrative professionals will become even more specialized. Tomorrow's administrative professionals will also become more entrepreneurial, boosting their business and technical knowledge, increasing their awareness of a company's overall needs, and adding to their interpersonal skills. The increasing rush to automation and an almost over-reliance on technology will be tempered with the administrator's ability to humanize these functions.
Career advancement will force many administrative professionals to hone such "survival tools" as negotiation, delegation, budgeting, supervision and planning. The ability to organize, store and retrieve information will be paramount as data about every aspect of an organization is committed to silos of computer files. Gone will be the file cabinets, folders and printouts that currently “house" this data.
New job titles will emerge to describe tomorrow's specialized administrative professionals. Resource Coordinators will create project teams for specific tasks. Workflow Controllers will provide professionals with the support and resources they need to accomplish their tasks. Knowledge Managers will act as reservoirs of institutional information and best practices, ensuring continuity and consistency, and helping others locate documents or data. The list of new professional titles will continue to evolve as the office becomes increasingly dependent on technology.
So are you ready for the brave new world of tomorrow’s administrative professional? The office is changing. And you’ll have to adapt to survive.
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