BME 41

Dynamic workplace
 Economic globalization
o To remain competitive business scout other places
o Outsourcing
 Changing technology
o Allows faster and better communication among businesses around the globe
 Workplace diversity
 Job outlook
o Used to describe or forecast a change
 Changing workweek
 Physical workspace
Organizational culture – is the collection of values, expectations, and practices that guide and
inform the actions of all team members
Types of Business Organizations
 Sole proprietorship
 Partnership
 Limited liability companies
 Corporations
 Non-profit corporations
 Governmental entities
Organizational structures – refers to the way that lines of authority, responsibility, and
communications are arranged
 Stockholders
 Board of directors
 Board members
 Management
Administrative professional qualifications
 Communication
 Interpersonal relations
 Time management
 Critical thinking
 Decision making
 Creative thinking
 Teamwork
 Technology
 Leadership
 Stress management
 Problem solving
 Customer focus
Success qualities
 Openness to change
 Initiative and motivation
 Integrity and honesty
 Dependability
  Confidentiality
 Commitment to observing and learning

Chap 2
First Impressions
 Be on time or early
 Be comfortable and confident with your skills and abilities
 Dress professionally
 Smile
 Be conscious of body language
 Be positive
 Be courteous
Positive Attitude
Attitude – disposition, feelings or moods regarding events, circumstances and people
 If you take on the tasks with a positive attitude, you can accomplish the tasks given
 You will be valued and appreciated by those around you
Work Ethics
- Set of values based on the merits of hard work and diligence
- Belief in the benefit of work and its ability to build a person’s character
People with strong work ethic
 Arrive at work on time
 Stay until their shift is over
 Meet all deadlines
 Show integrity and trustworthiness
 Follow rules and procedures
 Make productive use of work time
Other professional characteristics
 Communication
 Interpersonal relations
 Time management
 Critical thinking
 Decision making
 Creative thinking
 Teamwork
 Technology
 Leadership
 Stress management
 Problem solving
 Customer focus
Work characteristics
 Workspace
o It is acceptable to personalize area but keep it professional
 Desk
 o Organized and clean desk
 Daily work
o Pay attention to detail
o Strive for accuracy and acknowledge mistakes
Professional Organizations
 Philippine association of secretaries and administrative professionals inc.
 League of executive assistants of the Philippines
Business networking
Networking – is the process of exchanging information and building relationships
People by network
 By telephone
 In company setting
 At professional conferences
 Online
 Just about anywhere
Dressing the part
 Professional business attire
 Business casual attire
 Other dress considerations
Appearance
 Perfume
 Freshly bathed
 Fingernails
 Neat hair and make up
 Teeth and breath
Jewelry
Understanding business etiquette
Etiquette – described as a code that governs acceptable behavior develop through customs
Manners – standard of conduct that show us to behave in a cultured, polite or refined way
Courtesy – described as exhibiting excellent manners or polite behavior

Dining and restaurant etiquette

Hosting a business meal
 Offer a few date or time alternatives and allow them to make the final selection of date,
time and restaurant
 Attending a business meal
o The guest should always order first
o Order items that are easy to eat
o Leave your phone behind or turn it off
o Sit up straight and keep your elbows off the table
o Do net eat too quickly or too slowly
 o Never chew your mouth open/ not to speak with food in your mouth
o If you use the wrong piece of flatware, do not panic. Once you pick up a cutlery
put it on your dish
International customs and etiquette
 Dining etiquette varies by culture
 Professional dress is usually conservative
 Research both
 Other international issues
o Gifts
o Holidays
o Business hours
o Greeting
o Time
o Body language

Making introductions
 Name the most important person first
 Say each person’s name clearly
 Use titles when appropriate
 Add interesting information
Being introduced
 Stand up
 Smile and establish eye contact
 State your name and position
 Shake hands firmly
 Repeat the person’s name
 Have a conversation
 Tell the person you enjoyed meeting
Introducing yourself
 Stand
 Smile and establish eye contact
 Greet the other person
 State your name and position
 Shake hands firmly
 Repeat the person’s name
Greeting visitors
Tips for receiving office visitors
 Greet the person graciously
 Learn and use the person’s name
 Determine the purpose of unscheduled visits
 Be pleasant to difficult visitors
 Handle interruptions well
 Manage angry or upset visitors appropriately
Telephone skills and etiquette
  In an office, calls may be overheard
be mindful of
 The volume and tone of your voice
 The language you use
 The content of your phone calls
Avoid or limit personal calls while working

Chapter 3
Teams – groups of employees who work together to get a job done
- Everyone gets the credit, or the blame
Organizational benefits
- Varied skills and experiences
- Higher productivity
- Less absenteeism
- Better products and services
- Increased profits
- More satisfied employees
- Value in organizational change
Employee benefits
- Insights, ideas, help, information, and more from team members
- Cross-training
- Better problem-solving skills
- Opportunity to see the big picture
- Enjoyment and satisfaction
Workplace teams
- Project teams – developed for a clearly defined project with a beginning and end
- Task force – formed a deal with a specific issue or problem
- Committee – set up to solve a problem, monitor an issue, or complete a task
- Cross-functional teams – composed of individuals from a number of different functional
groups within an organization
- Supervisor/coworker teams – involves supervisors and coworkers
- External teams – formed when individuals within an organization work with individuals
outside the organization to achieve specified goals
- Virtual teams – primarily meet electronically and cross the boundaries of time and
distance to operate
Diversity in workplace
- Seek to understand others
- Show respect the way they understand it
Communication verbally across cultures
- Be simple and to the point
- Match the other’s communication style
- Avoid sensitive topics
- Be careful about humor
 - Slow down a little and speak clearly
- Don’t correct people’s English unless asked
Effective workplace teams
Leading a team
 Helps you develop leadership and management skills
 Helps you progress in your job
 Shows you as a candidate for a higher position

 Establish expectations and procedures

 Define the team’s purpose
 Set an example of service
 Keep the team on schedule
 Plan and organize meetings

 Report progress to supervisors

 Make work assignments
 Encourage openness and collaboration
 Be trustworthy
 Get to know members’ skills and strengths
 Be a good listener
Serving on a team
 Be on time for meetings
 Be prepared
 Have a folder for the team project
 Do the work the team assigns you to the best of your ability
 Contribute to meetings and the team’s work
Effective team characteristics
 Focus on team goals
 Good leadership
 Members with the skills, experience, and education
 Members who take responsibility for the team’s success or failure
 Ability to work with diverse people
 Capacity to reach agreement
 Practical, well-defined goals
 Members who respect and trust each other
Effective team behaviors
 Only one person talks at a time
 Listen to the person talking
 No side discussions
 Deal with issues, not personalities
 Keep your commitments
Teamwork techniques
 Be respectful
  Be nonjudgmental
 Take the other’s perspective
 Be flexible
 Listen
o Resolving conflict
o Try to identify the cause
o Listen to all viewpoints
o Identify points of agreement
o Work toward a winning solution for all

Formal communication
 Through official channels
 May be
o Downward (management to employees)
o Upward (employees to management)
o Horizontal (coworker to coworker, manager to manager, within a team)
Informal communication
 Often called the grapevine
 Natural and normal at work
 Stopping rumors or untrue communication
o Keep formal communication lines open
o Keep team members informed

Chapter 4

Align and adjust your goals

 Align your goals with
o Your supervisor
o Your coworker
o The organization
 Remember your supporting role
 Adjust your priorities as needed
 o Realign your goals to match those of your supervisor; finish your supervisor
priority as efficiently as you can
Stay motivated
 Measure your process
 Reward yourself
 Resist interference
 Take advantage of opportunities

Relationships, work and home

 Take time to think about yourself
 Be sensitive to employer and coworker needs
 Get to know people with whom you have relationships
 Balance work and home
Stress – worry and anxiety you feel when you react to pressure from others or yourself
Common causes
 Role ambiguity
 Job insecurity
Most common types
 Short-term
 Long-term
Preventing and coping with stress
 Use visualization
 Relax
  Use positive self-talk
 Walk away
 Talk to friends or family members
 Solve the problem
Manage your workspace
 An organized work area
o Saves you time
o Makes accomplishing work easier
o Shows your professionalism
Plan and organize assignments
 Use a planner
 Set priorities
 Make a to-do list each afternoon
o Most important matters
o Less important items
o Remaining items
 Avoid procrastination
Manage your work
 Handle paper as few times as possible
 Organize e-mail
 Streamline tasks
 Manage large projects
Handle time wasters
 Chatter
 Interruptions
 Disorganization
Chapter 5
Ethics – standards that generally help people determine right from wrong
Business ethics – application of ethical standards in the workplace
Character – your consistent personal standards of behavior
Values – personal beliefs about what is right or wrong
Laws – rules established by governments which may or may not be ethical

Characteristic of ethical organization

 Environmental responsibility
 Global awareness
 Organizational commitment to ethical behavior
 Honesty
 Commitment to diversity and nondiscrimination
 Commitment to the community
 Commitment to employees
o Realistic job expectations
 o Good pay and compensation
o Fair and useful evaluations
o Training in new skills
o Employee input

An ethical road map – helps individual determine the right direction ethically
Tools for ethical decisions
 Integrity – implies a commitment to a set of values
 Responsibility – willingness to answer for your actions
 Compassion – being aware of another person’s problem and wanting to help
 Forgiveness – not holding another person’s offense against the person
Making ethical decisions
 What are the facts?
 What are the ethical issues?
 Who are the stakeholders?
 What are the different perspectives?
 What are the practical constraints?
 What actions should I take?
 Are they practical?
Characteristics of ethical administrative professionals
 Committed to ethical behavior
 Refuse to engage in negative workplace politics
 Trustworthy with confidential information
 Honest
 Loyal
Chapter 6
Leadership
Lead- to go in advance as a guide to others through providing direction and vision
Leadership – act of inspiring and motivating people to achieve organizational goals
Management – act of organizing and directing people to achieve organizational goals
Robert Greenleaf
 Servant leadership concept:
o Ask questions & listen to their response
o Listen, observe, and think to identify customer and employee needs
o Recognize their own weaknesses and biases
o Know their impact those around them
o Create teams of leaders
o Help employees fulfill their potential
o Lead by using foresight

Peter Senge
 Learning organizations
o Three leadership roles
 Designer
 Teacher
 Steward
Stephen Covey
 Four leadership roles
o Modeling
o Path finding
o Aligning
o Empowering
Jim Collins
Level 1 – highly capable individual
Level 2 – contributing team member
Level 3 – competent manager
Level 4 – effective leader
Level 5 – the executive

Leadership styles
  Autocratic – leader directs and closely supervises the work that is done
 Democratic – subordinates share authority, decisions and plans
 Laissez-faire – allows subordinates to lead themselves
Situational leadership – the changing of leadership styles for different situations
Leadership traits
 Integrity
 Responsibility
 Lifelong learner
 Vision
Other traits
 Self-Understanding
o What do I value?
o What are my life goals?
o How do I define success?
 Self-management
 Confidence
 Vision
The administrative professional as a successful leader
 Plan well
o Develop strategies
o Take ownership
 Communicate effectively
 Set a good example
 Invest in people
o Build relationships
o Motivate
o Manage conflict
 Delegate tasks
 Ask questions