Job Seekers: Are You Ready for the Office of the Future?

Posted by in Administrative & Clerical Services •


I often wonder how technology will change the way we work. In just the last 10 years, technology in the office has altered the very perception of  the administrative professional. 
 

Recent advances in mobile technology have freed us from landlines. Cumbersome fax machines are going the way of the dial phone. Soon, there will be no need for paper (good news for trees). Everyone will be able to “bring up” a copy of any report they need on their mobile device, boardroom Internet projector, desktop/laptop or iPad. 

 

Mobile devices will become almost human. Even now, apps like Siri are growing increasingly sophisticated and adaptable to an individual's specific needs, accepting voice commands to send messages, make calls, set reminders, and eventually learn every nuance of an office routine. 

 

So the question you have to ask yourself is, what skill sets will you need as an administrator in tomorrow's office? Experts say you'll need to acquire advanced technical knowledge and expertise, combined with a new understanding of human resources and business processes. 

 

By 2020, new technology will forever change the working office and with it, the role of administrator. Secretaries who have already segued into administrative professionals will become even more specialized. Tomorrow's administrative professionals will also become more entrepreneurial, boosting their business and technical knowledge, increasing their awareness of a company's overall needs, and adding to their interpersonal skills. The increasing rush to automation and an almost over-reliance on technology will be tempered with the administrator's ability to humanize these functions.

 

Career advancement will force many administrative professionals to hone such "survival tools" as negotiation, delegation, budgeting, supervision and planning. The ability to organize, store and retrieve information will be paramount as data about every aspect of an organization is committed to silos of computer files. Gone will be the file cabinets, folders and printouts that currently “house" this data.  
 
 
New job titles will emerge to describe tomorrow's specialized administrative professionals. Resource Coordinators will create project teams for specific tasks. Workflow Controllers will provide professionals with the support and resources they need to accomplish their tasks. Knowledge Managers will act as reservoirs of institutional information and best practices, ensuring continuity and consistency, and helping others locate documents or data. The list of new professional titles will continue to evolve as the office becomes increasingly dependent on technology. 

 

So are you ready for the brave new world of tomorrow’s administrative professional? The office is changing. And you’ll have to adapt to survive. 


 
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  • Alex Kecskes
    Alex Kecskes •
    Auth:  English, please.LuAnn: Many Jr. colleges offer web design and IT courses.
  • Rafaela B
    Rafaela B •
    Sounds like the future we'll be very busy learning new apps.I'm looking forward to some of it.
  • Auth
    Auth •
    nitin bhai tamari webtise vadgam gam ne alag olakh ubhi kari rahyu che . hu daily tamari site parathi vadgam ne nihalu chu tamari a site koi t.v channel thi pan vishesh che.Niranjan chaudhary,student of nalini college v.v.nNative place: vadgam
  • LuAnn K
    LuAnn K •
    I have noticed that more and more job-postings for Administrative Assistant require the Admin to be able to "update company website" --- I even saw this requirement for a Receptionist recently!    This is, obviously, a Revolution-completed, where a Receptionist has to cross-train in Information Technology.  I'd like to see articles on best types of non-credit courses that will enable Administrative Assistants to cross-train on Website management skills.   Thank you.
  • Alex Kecskes
    Alex Kecskes •
    Thanks for all your comments. They add a unique perspective to the topic and help inform readers.
  • Alex Kecskes
    Alex Kecskes •
    Thanks for all your comments. They add a unique perspective to the topic and help inform readers.
  • Barbara A
    Barbara A •
    Most of the young people have the technology skills but they do not know how to communicate one on one, give customer service, or have some of the wisdom that some of the older workers have.  Your article is good, I am sure it is realistic, but we are missing alot in the job world today from my perspective of many years of being out in the work world.  We need balance and I feel we do not have it.
  • Elizabeth M
    Elizabeth M •
    An insightful and informative article for those who have the foresight to prepare for and adapt with as information and technology forcefully commands us to keep up, in order to survive, the new age of corporations.Thank you.
  • Ronald S
    Ronald S •
    The administrators in tomorrow’s office will still be gophers, whether they are called Resource Coordinators, Workflow Controllers, Knowledge Managers, or just plain Clerks. Who keeps the lunchroom clean and supplied with coffee? Who changes the toilet paper rolls in the restrooms?The administrator who currently attempts to ‘humanize’ automated digital functions is called a Programmer. It seems unlikely to me that ‘every nuance’ of any office routine could be plugged into an iPod. HAL went bananas with that sort of information overload. While Siri applications may become increasingly sophisticated it seems unlikely that an iPod will ever be able to plug itself into a power line to charge its battery up.  

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