Partnering With Your Boss: Strategic Skills for Administrative Professionals

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Detailed Overview/Outline

Get more out of your work by partnering with your boss!

As an administrative assistant, your success depends upon effectively partnering with your boss. You are often called upon to communicate, plan, organize, negotiate and participate in decision making at very high levels. Attend this course specially designed for administrative professionals and master techniques for goal setting, prioritizing, planning, decision making, relationship building and listening.

They'll return to work with a better understanding of what partnering with your boss entails and a greater ability to support your organization’s goals from your position as a secretary, executive secretary or member of the administrative support staff. You’ll learn how to adapt to various communication styles to successfully influence and work with your boss and others…establish trust, credibility and authority to strengthen your relationship with your boss…proactively manage tasks that impact on your boss’s productivity…and represent your boss in various situations.

HOW YOU WILL BENEFIT:

• Consistently anticipate your boss’s needs
• Gain the respect of your boss and be taken seriously
• Get what you need from others to accomplish your job and achieve your boss’s goals
• Have the authority to make—and act on—decisions
• Confidently represent your boss
• Be seen by your boss and by others as a valuable professional resource
• Develop a trusting relationship with your boss
• Partner with multiple bosses and other office professionals
• Effectively use time and get more things done in a day

WHAT YOU WILL COVER:

Defining the Strategic Partnership

• Identify the characteristics of effective partnering with your boss and use these features to create a positive partnership

Developing a Trusting Relationship with the Boss

• Adapt methods to complement the boss’s preferences by completing a self-evaluation exercise and creating a blueprint for change

Planning Skills to Anticipate and Proactively Support the Boss

• Choose and apply the active listening skills that allow you to anticipate the boss’s needs by completing a communication assessment and enacting a listening skills role play

Extending the Partnership

• Define and integrate your personal power bases by revisiting trust…and by completing a “power-base planner”

Aligning and Expanding Partnering Relationships

• Use influencing and persuasive communication skills in planning and delivering a business case presentation

Who Should Attend

Senior administrative support staff, executive secretaries, administrative assistants, staff assistants and executive assistants.

This Seminar Features Blended Learning

AMA Blended Learning combines instructor-led training with online pre- and post-seminar assessments, tune-up courses and other resources to maximize your training goals. Through a blend of proven instructor-led seminars and powerful online technology, AMA Blended Learning provides a compelling and more comprehensive experience for the learner—producing a greater return-on-investment for the employer and the seminar participant.

Extended Description

Learning Objectives

• Build and Preserve Productive and Trusting Workplace Partnerships with the Boss and Others
• Apply Planning Skills to Anticipate Needs, Manage Time and Projects, and Gain Recognition, Personal Power, and Authority
• Identify and Practice Personal Behaviors and Modes of Interaction That Form the Basis for Strategic Collaborations with the Boss and Others
• Apply Decision-making Skills in Order to Become Proactive in Anticipating the Needs of the Boss and in Acting for the Benefit of the Organization

Defining Your Strategic Partnership

• Identify the Characteristics of Effective Partnering and Use These Features to Create a Profile for Your Partnering Relationship with the Boss
• Define Your Roles as a Partner by Completing a Partnering Worksheet/Planner

Understanding Your Boss (and Yourself): A Study in Behavioral Styles

• Identify Your Own Behavioral Style Preferences
• Identify Your Boss(es)’ Behavioral Style and Build a Better Working Relationship
• Identify How to Build Trust with Each Type of Behavioral Style and Make a Trust Building Plan to Incorporate with Your Boss
• Demonstrate the Best Way to Communicate with Bosses, Peers, or Employees Whose Style Preferences Differ from Yours
• Describe the Concept of Different Work Styles and Determine How You and Your Boss Complement One Another

Anticipating Your Boss’ Needs with Good Communication Skills

• Choose and Apply the Active Listening Skills That Will Allow You to Anticipate the Boss’ Needs by Completing a Communication Assessment and Enacting a Listening Skills Experiment
• Create a List of Best Practices for Active Listening, Feedback, and Questioning Skills
• Begin Gathering Information to Help You Start Anticipating the Boss’ Needs More Accurately

Becoming an Effective Gatekeeper by Managing Information Flow

• "Manage Up" by Being Conscious of Information Flow
• Clarify What Gatekeeping Means in Terms of Controlling and Supporting Information Flow
• Negotiate to Use Your Skills as a Gatekeeper More Effectively by Getting Either More Information to Manage or More Authority to Handle the Information You Are Already Working With
• Solve Information Flow Problems at Work

Decision Making with and for the Boss

• List the Barriers to Decision Making
• Use Four New Decision-making Tools
• Establish Decision-making Ground Rules to Apply When Either You or Your Boss Are the "Partner-in-Absentia"
• Organize Your Office and Communicate with Your Boss So S/he Can Find What S/he Needs When You Are Out of the Office

A Trusted Partner: Establishing Your Ethical Boundaries

• Recognize and Respond to Unethical Behavior
• Define and Prioritize Your Ethical Obligations
• Establish Your Own Ethical Boundaries
• Use Questions to Help Resolve Ethical Dilemmas
• Access Written Documents Outlining Legal and Ethical Behaviors and Use That Information to Determine Your Course of Action When Responding to Unethical Behavior in Others

Aligning and Expanding Your Partnering Relationship

• Synergize and Practice New Feedback-Seeking and Informative Speaking Skills by Planning a Work Review or Project Update Presentation
• Apply Influencing and Persuasive Communication Skills in Planning and Delivering a Business Case Presentation

Sponsor Background:
The American Management Association was founded in 1923. They have built a content control check into every one of their professional seminars. Plus a series of checks and balances to ensure that the content of every AMA seminar is precisely targeted to:

• provide comprehensive, hands-on training that is of practical use when you return to the job
• focus on need-to-know specifics, relevant to the demands of global business today
• offer the expertise and personalized attention of top-ranking instructors
• facilitate your career development and business savvy

Whether you're looking for a solid foundation of business fundamentals or strategies to help you seize growth opportunities for your company, AMA offers expert instruction to help you:

• manage your priorities effectively
• cultivate more productive working relationships
• increase your on-the-job value
• align your skills with marketplace demands
• bring out the best in people, processes and yourself

Cancellation and Refund Policy

If you cannot attend a seminar you may contact AMA in advance to transfer to a future session, or can send someone to take your place. If you need to cancel your attendance, AMA will give you a complete refund if you cancel more than three weeks before your seminar begins. To cancel, simply call. If you cancel with less than three weeks' notice, you will be liable for the entire seminar fee, however you may request a courtesy transfer to use at any future AMA seminar of equal or lesser value. The courtesy transfer must be used within one year of the date of your originally scheduled seminar. In fairness to all attendees, if you do not attend a seminar session for which you are confirmed, and do not cancel with a minimum of three weeks’ notice as described above, you will be charged the entire seminar fee.

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