The executive assistant todayالمساعد التنفيذي اليوم

Welcome: the office that keeps the company moving

Behind every effective manager there is usually an organised office. The executive secretary or executive assistant manages the manager’s time, information, visitors, letters and meetings, so that decisions are taken on time and nothing is lost.

Ishtar Online Academy explainer.

This course takes you through the whole job, from the diary and the mail register to minutes, filing, visitors, travel and events, with templates you can use at work the next day.

Meet Marwa at Bahr Al-Najaf Building Materials

Bahr Al-Najaf Building Materials makes cement blocks, plaster and ready-mix concrete in Najaf and sells to housing projects across the Middle Euphrates. It has 180 employees. The managing director, Mr. Munir, has had three secretaries in two years.

Marwa, a business administration graduate with two years’ experience as a department secretary, has just become his executive assistant. On her first day she finds:

• two paper diaries and a phone calendar that do not agree;
• a tray of 60 unregistered letters, some from government offices;
• nobody sure which actions from last month’s management meeting were done;
• visitors walking straight into the managing director’s office.

Her mentor is Ms. Afrah, the office manager. Over eight lessons you will help Marwa put the office in order.

What does "secretary" mean?

The word comes from the Latin secretum, a secret. In Arabic the classic term is أمين السر, the keeper of secrets. The first duty of the role has not changed: what the assistant sees and hears stays in the office.

Secretarial work is office work that supports management in five areas:

• Communication: visitors, calls, email and the manager’s messages.
• Correspondence: official letters in and out, registers and follow-up.
• Information: collecting, checking, filing and finding documents.
• Coordination: meetings, diaries, travel and events.
• Follow-up: making sure decisions turn into action.

From typist to executive assistant

Typing, shorthand and carbon copies once filled the day. Today computers do most of that, and the role has moved towards managing time, information and relationships for a senior leader.

A partnership with the manager

The best assistants work with the manager, not just for him. Marwa and Mr. Munir agree who does what.

1. Hold a 15-minute morning briefing every day and a 30-minute weekly planning meeting.
2. Write a one-page manager profile: how he likes to receive papers, signing times, VIP list, people he always takes calls from.
3. Agree written authority: which meetings she may book, which letters she may sign "for the managing director".

Qualities and skills

Confidentiality and ethics

The assistant sees salaries, tenders, legal cases and board decisions before anyone else. One careless remark can cost the company a contract or a court case.

• Discuss confidential matters only with people the manager has named.
• Do not confirm or deny rumours: "I’m not able to comment on that."
• Lock papers and screens whenever you leave the desk.
• Accept no personal gifts from suppliers or visitors beyond token hospitality; declare anything else.
• Never use what you know for personal gain, such as telling a relative about a tender.

A career, not just a job

Many office managers, heads of administration and chiefs of staff started as secretaries. Build your path by:

• keeping a record of improvements you made (the register, the filing plan, time saved);
• learning the business: products, customers, budgets;
• improving written English and digital skills;
• considering a recognised qualification, such as the Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) from the International Association of Administrative Professionals.

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