This change has been so great that even the name of the position has changed. Nowadays we can hear terms such as executive secretary, Personal Assistant (PA), Executive PA, Senior PA, etc. Generally this position has been occupied by women and this is also starting to change as men are starting to be seen working in this position. It is no longer the person who only performed administrative tasks, reception of visitors, phone calls, agenda, etc.
Your skills
Due to the experience she has acquired, her relationship with both external and internal clients, the secretary has become a transversal, multifunctional and fundamental person who knows very well the organisation of the company and how it works. In addition, he/she relates both with senior management and with the rest of the colleagues, which means that he/she acts as a link or nexus to unite both sides. He or she is a facilitator.
And, speaking of adaptations, this position is at the cutting edge of digital skills, including artificial intelligence.
The expert level management of office 365 tools, automation, GPT chat, Copilot, etc., great allies, but not enemies, of secretaries, makes it essential to have someone with this knowledge close by to solve and facilitate administrative tasks in any organisation.
Something that they have undoubtedly also developed fantastically well are the soft skills or softskills.
They have a high achievement orientation, which means that despite the obstacles that may arise in their day-to-day work, they will not stop trying to achieve the objective they set themselves, which is aligned with that of the company, looking for different solutions to achieve it.
In addition, they are empathetic people, which makes them practice active listening, that is, they pay attention to the other person trying to understand the context and their interests, paying attention to both verbal and non-verbal language.
They put themselves in the other person’s shoes, always bearing in mind that the same situation does not affect different people in the same way, which makes their individual relationships as important or even more important than group relationships. Wouldn’t you want to have someone like that in your company? Imagine how much he or she can help you with team coordination, conflict resolution, inter-group relations, etc.
Someone like this makes the self-esteem of the people who make up a department increase, creating an excellent interplay between all the pieces that make it up and making the quality of the work, as a result, also increase.
Likewise, this skill is fundamental for the planning and organisation of events, as they will take care of every detail as if it were the most important and will be ideal for decision making as they have everything calculated.
Secretaries are on top of everything and have a great power of anticipation, they are always ten steps ahead to plan everything conscientiously.
Their role during events
Before the event, they have to be very clear about: invitations, guests, parking spaces, catering, food allergies, event schedule and content, speakers, finding the right venue, etc.
During the event they take care of all the technical details so that everything works and that all the guests feel at ease, creating good relationships, and when the event is over, it is not over, they have to manage the invoices of all the suppliers who have participated without ever forgetting to thank all those who have made it possible.
Another soft skill is negotiation and it is often silent and even invisible. This is essential for the organisation of meetings and events.
Most of the time, when preparing a Committee, the managers’ agendas are full of meetings, but everyone is important and everyone has to attend and when a date is set, there have been many calls and many emails to reach a consensus. I can assure you, from my own experience, that it is not an easy task. Sometimes it is very difficult, especially when there is little room for manoeuvre.
On other occasions you have to find a suitable room for these Committees and the room you are looking for is occupied, so you have to talk to the person who has it reserved and negotiate with another space. I already owe so many coffees to several colleagues for the favours they have done me by lending me their reservations!
And in addition to negotiation skills, the secretary is a great expert in diplomatic relations, creating communications that convey the best tone for every possible situation, which creates essential synergies in both external and internal relations.
Another softskill is proactivity. Being proactive is more than just taking the initiative, it is recognising that we are responsible for our own decisions and that we have the freedom to make choices based on values rather than a state of mind or a temporary condition.
Being proactive means focusing on solutions, seeing opportunities, being in control of the environment and having great self-confidence. It also inspires others.
All in all, it can be said that this position is multi-skilled and multi-skilling is a trend in today’s market due to the constant changes in business, in company processes and structures, the advent of artificial intelligence, etc. We are people who are ready to work on any task.
I would like to end this informative article with this quote:
“Technology will reinvent business, but human relationships will remain the key to success ’ (Stephen Covey).
