Partnering with Your Boss: Strategic Skills for Administrative Professionals

Attend this comprehensive seminar to master essential techniques in effective goal setting, intelligent prioritizing, strategic planning, sound decision making, relationship building, and active listening. Develop the skills to communicate with confidence and assertiveness, while cultivating your personal power and professional authority.

Upon completion, you will return to your organization equipped to better support your leadership's priorities, adapt seamlessly to different communication styles when influencing others and working with your manager, and establish the trust, credibility and authority necessary to strengthen your professional relationships.

Key Content Topics You Will Master:

Defining the Strategic Partnership

• Identify the defining characteristics of effective partnering with your manager and apply these principles to create a positive and mutually beneficial partnership

Developing a Trusting Relationship with Your Manager

• Adapt your communication and work style to complement your manager's preferences through a comprehensive self-evaluation exercise and by creating a personalized blueprint for positive change

Applying Planning Skills to Anticipate and Proactively Support Your Manager

• Master and apply active listening skills that enable you to anticipate your manager's needs by completing a detailed communication assessment and participating in a listening skills role play exercise

Extending the Partnership Beyond Your Direct Manager

• Define and integrate your personal power bases by revisiting the foundations of trust and by completing a comprehensive power-base planning tool

Aligning and Expanding Your Partnering Relationships

• Apply influencing and persuasive communication skills when planning and delivering a compelling business case presentation to stakeholders

Significant Benefits You Will Achieve

• Consistently anticipate your manager's needs before they are explicitly stated
• Gain the deep respect of your manager and be taken seriously in all interactions
• Obtain the resources and support you need from colleagues to accomplish your objectives and advance your manager's goals
• Exercise authority to make important decisions and implement them effectively
• Represent your manager's position confidently and professionally
• Be perceived by your manager and peers as an invaluable professional resource
• Cultivate a foundation of trust and mutual respect with your manager
• Successfully partner with multiple managers and other office professionals simultaneously
• Use your time efficiently and accomplish significantly more in each workday

Ideal Participants

Senior administrative support professionals, executive secretaries, administrative assistants, staff assistants, and executive assistants seeking to strengthen their professional impact and career advancement.