From the course: Administrative Professional Tips

Decision-making

From the course: Administrative Professional Tips

Decision-making

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- As administrative support professionals, we make countless decisions throughout our day that affect us, our executive, and the organizations we work for. It is critical that our decision-making skills are sharp and that we know how to make the best decisions quickly. We cannot be paralyzed by fear or uncertainty when making decisions either. Instead, we need to have confidence, information, and clarity to move forward in the most appropriate way. Here are some of my tips on how I employ good decision-making in my everyday work. As an administrative support professional, I have access to a large and varied amount of information of many different areas of my business. I make it a point to verse myself in the aspects of the work that my executive does on a daily basis. I read emails, reports, policy and procedures, and several other documents that keep me informed and up to date. By having this base of knowledge, I can make confident decisions that are based on information and less concerned with emotion. Secondly, when appropriate, I solicit feedback and input from reliable sources. We have many subject matter experts in my school district. I am constantly learning the right people to talk to for various situations. These experts are extremely helpful when it comes to certain topics. And I am very comfortable with relying on their expertise. Next, it's important to listen to my gut instincts. We all have an inner voice that is intuitive and let's us know when something seems off or not quite right. It doesn't appear in every instance, but in the instances where it does, I don't ignore it. I try to get to the heart of why I'm feeling a certain way by researching and asking a lot of questions. More often than not, my instinct was correct. Something else I do to make good decisions is to explore a number of possible outcomes and what the consequences of each would be. This is essentially starting with the end in mind and working backwards to reach a conclusion. As I examine those scenarios, I then look to narrow down which ones were more than likely not be the best way to go for any number of reasons. This helps me to narrow the possibilities and choose one that I can confidently get behind. Lastly, I do my best not to let fear get in the way of making my decisions. I have been fortunate enough to work for individuals who have supported my decisions and never made me regret taking action on various issues. They have, instead, empowered me to take ownership of my decisions, regardless of the outcome. Coming from this vantage point, I'm emboldened in my decision-making. If you find yourself in a situation with a boss who is not very supportive, I encourage you to speak up, do your research, and be proactive in your daily work. As you excel in your role and are able to show that with tangible results, that may help the person you work for see more clearly the value in your work and your ability to handle greater levels of responsibility. Decision-making for administrative support professionals is something we must participate in frequently and bravely. By putting sound practices in place for making decisions we can be more sure that we are moving ahead in a way that our outcomes will be positive.

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