The Top Three Reasons You Should Get Your Office Manager Out of the Office

MACDC held its first Office Manager Peer Group on May 13. It was an exciting meeting with all in attendance noting how wonderful it was to meet in person. During the course of the meeting, we realized that not everyone who works in an administrative role at a CDC has the opportunity to get out of the office and dedicate time to developing their skills and networking with their counterparts. It is critical that our field’s administrative staff have the same opportunities to develop new skills and connections as any other professional. This is why I have come up with the top three reasons you should encourage your office administrator to attend the office manager peer group.

1. Professional Development: Because this is a working group, we identified critical areas for growth. Each peer group meeting will consist of a mini training. Over the course of the next year, we will be learning about new feature sets in Microsoft Office, with particular focus on Excel and PowerPoint, along with other tools and resources that will further strengthen and broaden the skills of each participant.
2. Building Connections: Networking at annual meetings and other events is not always easy when there aren’t many people in your role in the room. Building your professional network is just as important for administrative staff as it is for executive leadership. It provides a critical resource when feedback or ideas are needed to solve a problem, in addition to developing and expanding an organization’s administrative role and further providing value to a nonprofit’s bottom line and mission.
3. Improved Office Culture: Let’s face it, not every office is an easy place to work. Sometimes having certain issues heard by others who may have similar experiences can be a game changer. It can improve the way we manage the office by taking what was shared and applying it. Having a fresh perspective can also help detach oneself from a situation and gain a new perspective. It’s not uncommon for administrative staff to be a part-time office therapist, so finding better ways to deal with conflict and help bring staff together can dramatically increase the productivity of the organization.

Administrative support staff are critical members of an organization’s team that help connect all the moving parts, programs and departments. If administrative staff learn best practices, they spend less time on trial and error and are better able to save the organization time and money.  We help make all the various components of an organization better. 

Help us spread the word about this new peer group. Please share with your Office Manager or Admin Person.

Our next office manager peer group will be held on June 11, 9:30 AM, at Boston LISC.