ACTION Skills

To prepare for success, administrative professionals should focus on six key areas that form the acronym ACTION. They are:

Analysis: Encompasses "3-C Thinking." Critical - Evaluating information and making recommendations based on an understanding of a company's strategic objectives. Creative - Taking initiative to develop innovative solutions to challenges and problems. Connective - Perceiving links among people, data and ideas, and using these ties to work more effectively.

Collaboration: Quickly establishing rapport and facilitating team-building with people on-site and off. Managing relationships by accurately identifying and responding to preferred work styles and personality traits.

Technical aptitude: Using the most effective tools for a variety of tasks. Willingness to be an early adopter of new devices, researching the best technology solutions for an organization and training teams how to use them.

Intuition: Proactively identifying the best ways to provide support based on the goals and processes of the business, as well as the needs and work styles of colleagues.

Ongoing education: Actively seeking information sources and utilizing multiple modes of learning, from traditional classroom seminars to online workshops. Constantly expanding knowledge base, pursuing any subject that enhances productivity.

Negotiation: Using tact, diplomacy, empathy and business savvy to engage in productive discussions with vendors and employees that result in positive outcomes.

To see how your ACTION skills rate, take our quiz.