As a young admin assistant, your tech skills are valuable to employers, but you must be careful not to make any etiquette blunders that could put your job in jeopardy. If you send rude instant messages or spam your entire team with email messages that have no place in the office, you are putting your career at risk. Follow these tech etiquette tips to avoid major blunders that can destroy your reputation as a skilled admin assistant.
As an admin assistant, you likely have access to the email list for your entire department. Use the information you have wisely because the way you communicate via email can help or hurt your reputation. Sarah Kaufman of Manilla.com says you should only use the reply all feature when it is absolutely necessary. A good example is if you need to send a meeting agenda to everyone in your department. If you constantly send irrelevant emails, people might start to doubt your professionalism and commitment to being an admin assistant.
Telephone manners are also important for your success as an admin assistant¾especially in the digital age. If you have to send text messages to members of your department, use professional language and avoid smiley faces and other emoticons. It is easy for people to misinterpret the tone of written messages, so send text messages only when you are conveying very straightforward information. A text message would be fine for reminding someone about a meeting or asking if anyone wants lunch from the nearby restaurant, but text messages would be inappropriate for serious topics that require discussions.
If you use a laptop to take notes or perform other tasks during meetings, it is important to follow established tech etiquette rules. Looking at your laptop the entire time is rather rude, so try to look at the presenter occasionally to show that you are listening. Loud typing is a distraction for speakers, so use a laptop with a quiet keyboard if possible. Shut off any applications that make noises, such as email and calendar notifications. If your admin assistant responsibilities do not include taking notes at meetings, leave your laptop at your desk.
Social media is a potential minefield when it comes to a new administrative assistant and job success. Facebook, Twitter, and other social media tools make it easy to share information and keep in touch with others, but you must use them professionally. Try to keep your personal life and work life separate. Do not reveal confidential information on your personal accounts, as it could come back to haunt you. Avoid posting negative comments about coworkers and supervisors because you never know who is reading your posts.
Today's technology makes it much easier to be an admin assistant. Instead of making copies on a mimeograph machine and taking notes by hand, you can type documents and print hundreds of pages in just a few minutes. However, you must be careful not to let major tech blunders ruin your reputation and hurt your career as an admin assistant.
(Photo courtesy of Ambro / freedigitalphotos.net)
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