5 Simple Steps to Creating Your Administrative Procedures Binder By Julie Perrine, CAP-OM, MBTI Certified Founder & CEO, All Things Admin www.AllThingsAdmin.com
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© 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC Printed in United States of America. All rights reserved worldwide. ISBN: 978-0-9829430-2-1 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Copyright, Legal Notices, and Disclaimer This electronic book and its contents are © (copyrighted) 2011 by Julie Perrine International, LLC. All rights reserved for the entire publication and its contents. No part of this publication may be copied, or changed in any format, sold, or used in any way other than what is outlined within this tutorial under any circumstances. Reproduction or translation of any part of this work by any means without permission of the publisher is unlawful. You do not have resell rights to this publication or its contents. This publication is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws, and all rights are reserved, including resale rights: you are not allowed to give or sell this product to anyone else. If you received this publication from anyone other than All Things Admin or Julie Perrine International, LLC, you've received a pirated copy. Please contact us via e-mail at
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Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 5 What is an admin binder? ............................................................................................. 5 Why create an admin binder? ....................................................................................... 5 My simple 5-step plan ................................................................................................... 6 Step 1: Assemble The Right Tools For The Job ........................................................... 8 Assignment #1 .......................................................................................................... 10 Step 2: Track Your Tasks for a Few Days ................................................................. 11 Assignment #2 .......................................................................................................... 16 Step 3: Document Your Top Five Procedures ............................................................ 17 Assignment #3 .......................................................................................................... 22 Step 4: Identify What To Include In Your Admin Binder (and what not to include) .. 23 Pull from documentation and other resources that already exist .......................... 23 What NOT to include…and how to handle that vital information......................... 29 Form a Collaborative Team ..................................................................................... 30 Assignment #4 .......................................................................................................... 32 Disaster Preparedness Procedures .......................................................................... 33 Assignment #5 .......................................................................................................... 37 Step 5: Organize Your Binder for Ongoing Use and Success.................................... 38 Potential Sections to Include in Your Admin Binder .............................................. 38 Creating a Table of Contents ................................................................................... 39 “How to Use This Binder” Welcome Letter ............................................................. 41 © 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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Updating your admin binder.................................................................................... 41 Sharing the materials with those who cover for you .............................................. 42 Presenting the materials to your executive............................................................. 43 Additional benefits/uses for your administrative procedures binder ..................... 43 Assignment #6 .......................................................................................................... 45 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 46 Appendix A: Procedures Documentation Template .................................................. 47 Appendix B: Weekly Plan of Action ............................................................................ 49 About the Author ......................................................................................................... 50 Additional Resources ................................................................................................... 51 Read What Others Are Saying… ................................................................................ 53
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Introduction Many admins cringe when they think about creating an administrative procedures binder (“admin binder”) or standard operation procedures binder for their position. Where in the world do you begin when it feels like you are responsible for EVERYTHING that happens in your office? How do you put on paper what you actually do? While this project may sound overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be. The secret is breaking it down into simple steps and approaching them one at a time.
What is an admin binder? An administrative procedures binder is also commonly referred to as an: •
Administrative training manual
•
Administrative desk reference binder
•
Administrative desk template
•
Administrative job responsibilities manual
•
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) manual
It consists of a combination of reference lists, checklists, job duties, processes, procedures, and other relevant information on how to do your job. This reference tool keeps things handy and centrally located for you each day, but it’s also a tool for others to use when you are absent. The best format typically includes a 3-ring binder divided into sections with the supporting data.
Why create an admin binder? Let’s identify why you need to create an admin binder in the first place. Have you ever wanted to take a vacation or attend a training seminar but no one could cover for you? Have you ever been out of the office unexpectedly due to illness? Have you © 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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ever changed jobs and not had time to train the person they hired to fill your position? These questions reveal just a few compelling reasons why you need an admin binder. However, creating this dynamic tool for your office or position also shows your professionalism and demonstrates an attitude of service that your executives and team members will recognize. It’s also a fabulous tool for your own reference and use. When you present your admin binder to your executive for review prior to your next performance review, their eyes will be opened to all of the additional tasks you perform and manage daily. Perhaps the best reason to create an admin binder is so others can fill in for you with relative ease and without a major disruption to the business. On a side note, if you want to take on new responsibilities, having your current responsibilities documented so you can easily pass them on to someone else will create a much smoother transition for all.
My simple 5-step plan Let me share my five simple steps to not only getting your administrative procedures binder started, but also populating it with all of the vital procedures to keep your office running smoothly. Step 1: Assemble the Right Tools for the Job Step 2: Track Your Tasks for a Few Days Step 3: Document Your Top Five Procedures (repeat) Step 4: Identify What You Should Include In Your Admin Binder (and what not to include) Step 5: Organize Your Procedures Binder for Ongoing Use and Success Throughout this book, we’ll explore each of these in greater depth.
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A few notes before we dive in… If you are not sure how to adapt a process to fit your situation or how to modify the approach for your specific circumstances, send me an email with your specific questions via our website contact us page at www.AllThingsAdmin.com/contact-us.
Throughout this book, I will refer to additional resources or templates above and beyond this e-book that may be of use to you if you would like additional support to get your admin binder started. Many of these resources are available through the product lines in the All Things Admin online store. Those references will be noted beside a green sticky note like the one pictured here. Some of those products include: Administrative Procedures Toolkit Binder (all-in-one template, pre-assembled) Kick-Start Creating Your Administrative Procedures 5Part Self-Guided Training Course For simplicity purposes throughout this e-book, I have primarily focused on creating documented office procedures in the corporate environment. However, these same steps still apply to independent business owners and virtual assistants as they create documented procedures for their businesses or clients. A small business owner or a virtual assistant may not need to document how to make the coffee or turn on the copy machine, but they do need to identify what their daily routine entails and document the procedures that support it accordingly.
Let’s get started!
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Step 1: Assemble The Right Tools For The Job To get started, gather a few basic office supplies: Sturdy 3-ring "D" binder that is about 1-1/2" to 2" wide. I recommend the Wilson Jones D-Ring Extended Cover Vinyl View binders. I also recommend a color that is unique from all of the other binders on your desk, if possible. Or create a fun, yet professional, cover and spine to clearly identify the contents of this binder on your desk.
If this project does not seem like a fun project for you, you may need to find some fun clip art or use some bright, cheerful colors, etc., to add some visual appeal to this project. Find things that make you happy and put them on the binder cover, at least through the documentation and creation process. One of my students named her binder, “Brenda Won the Lottery - Here's How to Do Her Job”. Now that’s one way to make this project more fun! You can always change it to something more appropriate for corporate use later, if necessary. Creating a cover and spine to clearly identify the contents of this binder on your desk is really important. The cover identifies the contents when it’s lying flat on your desk; the spine identifies the contents when it’s standing upright on a shelf. This combo makes it easily identifiable to anyone who needs to find it in your absence. Tabbed dividers – 2 sets of 8-tab dividers. I recommend the Avery Protect ’N Tab Tabbed Sheet Protectors – 8 Tab Sets # 74161. © 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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Heavy duty sheet protectors for the commonly referred to lists, checklists or form templates that will receive the most use. You’ll need some heavy-duty non-tabbed sheet protectors also. I don’t recommend putting every procedure in a sheet protector. As you use your procedures and get used to having them available, you may want to make some updates, notes and changes to them. If you don’t have to pull it out of that sleeve, make changes and place it back in the sheet protector, then that is one less thing you have to do. If you just leave that plain paper accessible in your binder, the procedure will be easier to write on as you add notes to it. There are some procedures that you know will be used all the time, or you may realize that you haven’t updated or changed in a while. These are procedures you may want to put into a sheet protector immediately. Once you have your tools assembled, create a permanent home for your binder that is within easy reach of your chair, computer, and phone. This is important, because you need this binder to be easily accessible any time you need to use it or add to it. Finally, create a general list of the sections you want to include. The sections may include: general info, accounting, facilities, human resources, mail processing, office supplies, technology tools, office machines, travel, forms, and templates. I don’t recommend labeling the tabs on your section dividers until you have gotten used to using them and figured out for sure what sections you are going to need. If you do want to label the tabs, it is probably best to use numbers. In the All Things Admin Administrative Procedures Toolkit, you will find a printout of 16 colored tabs inside the back cover pocket. You can slide them into the sheet protector tabs so that each section is numbered. Then, if you happen to reorder your sections, you only have to reprint the table of contents which is at the very front. It’s easier to pull out your cover sheets for each section and reorganize them than it is to re-label each tab if the order of your sections change.
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Assignment #1
Assemble the tools you need to create your administrative procedures binder. Binder Tabbed dividers Sheet protectors Binder cover and spine List of possible sections to include
Create a permanent home for your Admin Binder on your desk within arm’s reach of where you primarily sit/work.
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Step 2: Track Your Tasks for a Few Days You may already have a list of some obvious things you need to include in your admin binder, but there are a lot of things you do each day that you take for granted that others may need to know in your absence. The best way to identify those notso-obvious procedures is to track your time and tasks for a few days. You can track them with a notebook next to your computer or you may prefer to use a spreadsheet. I created a template to help you track your tasks: www.allthingsadmin.com/free-templates. Make a list of your specific job responsibilities and how often you handle them (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually). Create a list for each manager you specifically support and identify the types of recurring meetings, events, or items that you handle for them (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually). Start with the things you do daily; you might want to begin by making a short checklist of the things you do to start or end the day.
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Document everything you do from logging into your computer to turning on the copy machine, to printing out meeting agendas for the day’s meetings. Whatever those tasks or projects are that you’re doing all day long, write them down or add them to the spreadsheet. If I came and sat down at your desk, I could look at this spreadsheet and see what I should be paying attention to. This overview will be one of the first documents at the very front of your Admin binder. As you’re writing these things down, you can note which days of the week you do each task. It may be on Friday or on Tuesday or during the first week of the month or the third Friday of the month. Document this however it works best for you. If the spreadsheet doesn’t work for you, just use pen and paper. The point is to start writing down all of the tasks and responsibilities that you have. This may seem a little overwhelming, but this will help you identify where you need to create some procedures. The first tab in the Excel file is labeled Administrative Assistant Job Responsibilities. This is for documenting what you do and your responsibilities. This second tab is about the people you support. If there are executives, managers, or clients that you are supporting, you’ll need to know what commitments they are responsible for and what tasks you must complete to support their ability to do those tasks. •
Do they have daily team meetings?
•
Do they have weekly staff meetings?
•
Do they go to the Rotary meeting every Wednesday at noon?
•
Are they a member of certain board committees?
•
Are they on the board of directors, and do they have quarterly or annual board meetings they have to attend?
•
Are there yearly or annual events?
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These are the kinds of things you want to keep track of on the VP schedules tab. These are the commitments and the things that you’re responsible for helping them prepare for or attend. As you go deeper into the procedures, you will get more specific. For example: if it’s a monthly status meeting that you help assemble the materials for, you will want to include a list of who is on the distribution list. Do you print the materials and provide them as people arrive, or does everybody print their own and bring it? What are the email communications that you have to send related to that meeting? For the routine daily items, you may consider creating a daily checklist like the example shown below. This sample outlines what needs to be done at the beginning of the day, during the day, and at the end of the day, plus the weekly or monthly items that I needed to be aware of.
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At one of the offices I worked in, I was responsible for unlocking the front doors and un-forwarding the phones. It may sound funny, but if I didn’t have it on my list and I didn’t visually glance at this in the morning, there were mornings I would forget to un-forward the phones. That’s not very professional when you’re the person who’s the primary helpdesk support or if the primary line comes in to your desk. Another office was a very entrepreneurial environment and it was chaotic all the time. It didn’t have some of the structure that my corporate job previously had, so I needed to create detailed lists. I would get derailed at my office door most days if I didn’t create some structure for my day. After a few days and weeks getting derailed, you start to feel like you’re not getting anything accomplished. For me, this list provided the structure my morning needed, then again during the day and at the end of the day. I always felt rushed and certainly didn’t want to forget to lock © 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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the front door! Such a list made sure I got the things accomplished that I was responsible for at the end of the day.
If you’d like to model this template, it’s available in the All Things Admin Administrative Procedures Toolkit and the Kick-Start Creating Your Administrative Procedures 5-Part SelfGuided Training Course. You can modify it and turn this into something that works for you.
As we wrap up step 2, there are two questions I want you to ask yourself: 1. What are those things I’m doing every day out of habit just because I’m used to doing them? 2. If someone were trying to cover for me, or if I had to be on medical leave for a month or two months or three months, what would they need to know? Those are things we don’t always plan for. You may have no intention of ever leaving your job, but I guarantee you, these things happen. Whether it’s health issues for you or a loved one, the loss of a friend or family member, a union strike, or even a natural disaster, certain situations will require you to be out of the office for unexpected amounts of time. It doesn’t matter if you’re a solo entrepreneur or if you are working in a corporate environment; the job and the work still has to get done to prevent a major disruption to the business. If you’re a part of the day-to-day operations that make things run smoothly, it’s very important that people can manage without you should you become unavailable.
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Assignment #2
Print out the tracking form (or place it electronically on your PC desktop) to begin tracking your daily, weekly, monthly, annual tasks for both yourself and those you support. o Download it here: www.allthingsadmin.com/free-templates
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Step 3: Document Your Top Five Procedures In my experience, the secret to success is to work on no more than five procedures at a time. That’s one procedure per day for a week — it’s manageable and motivating. So pick your top five procedures and start documenting how you do them. Try these tips to keep the procedures succinct and easy to use: Use a template to stay on track and consistent from process to process. [See Appendix A.] Go through each task or process step by step (in detail). Be specific without being excessively wordy. Think commands, not sentences. This is not an English or research paper; it’s a procedures binder. People are more likely to read bulleted commands than complete sentences – especially if they are in a hurry. Use bullets or numbers as much as possible. Number steps that must be done in a specific order. Use other bullets for non-order specific instructions. Provide screen shots where helpful for computer-related tasks. Have another person try to do the task based only on your instructions. See where any potential gaps exist. Below is an example of a mail sorting procedure that I documented from two different administrative procedures binders at two different companies. Sometimes procedures can be very basic, like the first one with five simple bullets. Other procedures can be more complex, like the second example. There are more steps involved in this procedure. For every section of the mail sorting procedures that I had documented, the last bullet you’ll see is very important: If you have any questions regarding (this category), contact: (name of person at phone number or email address). You know who you call every day when you have a question, but if someone else is sitting at your desk, they may not know. It’s important that you can tell the person who’s © 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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filling in for you who else might be a good resource if you haven’t left enough detail in your procedures. The goal in creating your procedures is to provide as much value and as much service as possible for your team when you’re not there. Procedures Example: Mail Sorting For example, if you have "sort and distribute incoming mail" as something you do daily, add some details to your procedure about how you sort it and route it. It may look something like this: Example 1: Sorting the Incoming Mail (short version) • • • • •
All incoming bills, bank statements, invoices, payments - Route to Accounting All incoming trade magazines and trade show flyers - Route to Sales and Marketing All incoming resumes and interview thank you notes - Route to HR All incoming contracts - Route to Legal Any office equipment or office supply mail - Leave in my inbox
======================================================== Example 2: Sorting the Incoming Mail (long version) Contracts • Photocopy the incoming contract. • 3-hole punch the photocopied contract and put it in the executed contracts binder on [Name of Person’s] 3rd bookshelf inside her office door. • Forward the original contract to [Name of Person] in Legal. • If you have any questions regarding contract routing, contact [Name of Person] at [phone number] or [email address]. Bank Statements • Open the envelope. • Stamp the statement with the date received stamp. • Forward the statement to [Name of Person] in Accounting. • If you have any questions regarding bank statement routing, contact [Name of Person] at [phone number] or [email address]. Trade Publication or Trade Show Flyers or Marketing Related Mail • Forward to [Name of Person] in Marketing. © 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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Invoices (Accounts Payable) • Open the envelope. • Stamp the invoice with the date received stamp. • If it’s an office supply or office equipment related invoice, verify that the amounts and charges match what you anticipated for the month. Refer to my office supplies folder to match up my individual order confirmations with the monthly statement. • Initial the amount. • Forward to [Name of Person] in Accounting. • If you have any questions regarding Accounts Payable routing, contact [Name of Person] at [phone number] or [email address]. Go through this process for your top five procedures. After you finish the first five, then pick another five, and keep building your admin binder from there. Your admin binder doesn't have to be perfectly formatted; it just needs to be functional and available to the person(s) who may need to assist in your absences. Five documented procedures are five documented procedures – no matter how they look! They can even be handwritten (see example below). If you use the template (see Appendix A), they already have some consistency and structure built into them until you have time to type them.
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There are times when you’re creating documentation (perhaps for a certain kind of report or instructions on how to log into a website) where it may make sense to actually type it up on the computer as you go through the process. This will allow you to add some screen shots to capture the data on the screen. If you have Windows 7 operating system, there is an accessory called a Snipping Tool. It’s a fantastic tool. I’ve pinned it to my toolbar so that it’s visible all the time. Anytime I’m on a screen, I can just click on that snipping tool and highlight what I want to capture as a graphic and immediately paste it into my document. If you are not using Windows 7 yet and you’re using an older version of Office 2003 or maybe Office 2007, you can still do screen shots if you press the ALT and the Print Screen (Prnt Scrn) key at the same time. It will capture everything that’s on your screen and then you can just crop it down to exactly what you want using the graphics cropping tool inside of Microsoft Word. If you’d like to learn more about creating screenshots, graphics, and custom bullets for your documentation, the All Things Admin Kick-Start Creating Your Administrative Procedures 5-Part Self-Guided Training Course includes a copy of our 15 page bonus report: “How to Add Value to Your Administrative Procedures Documentation: Creating Screenshots, Graphics, and Custom Bullets.” As a bonus with this e-book, I am providing you with a basic procedures documentation template to get you started with your handwritten procedures (see Appendix A). You may also download an electronic copy at www.allthingsadmin.com/free-templates. There are two pages. It is designed to be printed double sided so that both sides have lines and space to write information on it. I recommend you run 30 double-sided copies of this template, three-hole punch them, and put them in a colored folder on your desk or in the very front pocket of your procedures binder so they are easily accessible. © 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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This is what you’re going use to get started by quickly hand writing some procedures, even if you only fill two or three lines per sheet. Even if it’s a short procedure, every procedure goes on its own sheet of paper. This will give you some structure to get started. Be sure to include the procedure name, category, etc. Put your name as the one who created the procedure and the date so when you come back to update them later, you know when it was originally created and by whom. It’s also nice to know who created it, in case you have any questions. You may be the primary person using these procedures right now, but there may be others using them also at some point, so it’s still important to be as thorough as possible.
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Assignment #3
Print 30 double-sided, 3-hole punched, BLANK procedures forms to start hand-writing your daily procedures on (see Appendix A). Place them in a brightly colored file folder which is easily accessible from where you sit at your desk. o You may also download it electronically at: www.allthingsadmin.com/free-templates
Identify the first FIVE procedures you are going to document this week. o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________
Document the first FIVE procedures. Procedure
Date Completed
1 2 3 4 5
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Step 4: Identify What To Include In Your Admin Binder (and what not to include) Don’t reinvent the wheel; fast track your procedures documentation. Think about what procedures are already documented for your position that you can include. If you don't have anything documented, start with your job description. Ask coworkers or other admins in your company if they have some company-wide procedures documented that you should include. What other departments do you interact with, and do they have relevant documented procedures? When all else fails - Google it!
Pull from documentation and other resources that already exist The first thing I want you to think about is what processes or procedures already exist for your position that you can include in your binder. This may even include notes that you took when you first started the job, when somebody first showed you how to run reports, or when somebody taught you how to use a new piece of software. These are things to include immediately even if they aren't in perfect form. Pull them out, find a way to hole punch them, or stick them in a sheet protector, and put them in your binder until you have time to type them up. Now you have something started! If you need to, add a note to the procedure that spells out what this procedure is so you have more clarification attached to it. If you don’t have any specific documentation of how to do your job, I recommend starting with a copy of your job description. Add it to the binder. It will work well as a guide to get you started in establishing the general responsibilities of your position. It will help you identify what might need to be documented. Ask coworkers or other admins in your company if they have any company-wide procedures that they have documented. You may find that it is not common practice for them to have documented procedures, but it never hurts to ask. Partner up with your coworkers. Let them know that you are working on this project and you would be happy to share some of the things you are documenting so that they may not have to start from scratch either. Work together to make these procedures work for each specific department or team. You will find it to be a much more collaborative and productive effort than just trying to do it all by yourself.
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I always recommend you check with all of the internal departments that you work with, as well. As you work over the next couple of days, start thinking more specifically about whom you speak with daily. Start with your Accounting Department. Do they have any documented procedures on how to complete expense reports, check requests, or reimbursement forms of any type? If accounting already has these procedures documented, there is no need for you to recreate them. You might want to add additional notes to their procedures, but if they can give you a base to start with, it saves you a lot of time and effort. Contact your Travel Department or travel provider. For example, all of the travel that I coordinate for my clients is through a specific travel agency. We use a webbased system, and we make all of our reservations through that website. When they first brought me on to their system, they taught me how to use it and provided a user guide for me. I have notes in the margins, and it is a great example of an existing document that would be a great procedure to add to my binder. If some of the documents that you have are old, it doesn’t hurt to see if updated versions are available to ensure that you are using the most current version. Check with your Mail Room. You may use resources like the UPS, FedEx, or US Postal Service websites. You can sometimes print user guides and other documents right from their site, again without having to reinvent the wheel. If you work with the Marketing Department, could they provide a document that outlines how the logo is supposed to be used and what are the correct logo PMS colors? What about HR? Some companies have documents or procedures posted on an Internet site. They may already have some documented procedures aside from the templates or forms that you already use that may be helpful as well. Don’t be afraid to ask. If you have a Facilities Department, they can give you the forms or the procedures for how to get things repaired, how to get new keys made, and how to address other types of maintenance issues. When all else fails, Google it! If you are looking for user guides for phones, voicemail, or any of the office equipment that you might have either on your desk or © 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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in your space or area, do a specific Google search with the make, model, and type, and then add the words “user guide” to your search. Most manufacturers have guides posted on the web. The All Things Admin Administrative Procedures Toolkit and Kick-Start Creating Your Administrative Procedures 5-Part Self-Guided Training Course includes more comprehensive lists of specific procedures for all of the general categories that typically go into an administrative procedures binder. We will cover these briefly to give you ideas on where to get started.
Brainstorm a list of procedures for each of these categories / potential sections of your binder:
General Info Department Specific Info Accounting Info Facilities Info Human Resources (HR) Info Mail Info Meeting / Event Planning Info Office Supplies Info Office Machines Info Phone Info Travel Info Forms / Templates Info Other Procedures Info
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How to handle basic office operations o o o o o o
o o o o o o o o o
How to forward/un-forward the phones How to answer the phone and route calls (i.e. Is there an escalation process for upset customers?) How to transfer calls to voicemail or a cell phone number How to make the coffee How to take/distribute phone messages (i.e. Joan prefers email notification. Bob prefers written note.) How to send department or company-wide emails (i.e. Do you have a standard email template/form you use, does someone have to approve it before you hit send, etc.) Morning start-up checklist End of the day shut-down checklist How to login to the instant messaging system How to sort/process the mail (incoming and outgoing) Filing systems – electronic and paper Supply storage locations and how to reorder How to feed letterhead or envelopes through the printer How to use specific equipment or software at your workstation Proofreading tips and style sheets
What information/resources do you refer to on a regular basis? o o o o o o o o o o o
Phone lists (commonly called vendors, internal departments, individuals, etc.) Conference room locations and phone numbers Facility maps Executive or board contact sheets Travel planning forms Event planning checklists Corporate logo/branding guidelines Accounting codes or cost center information FedEx or UPS shipping information How to process daily, weekly, or monthly reports you may be responsible for Time zone chart
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What events, board meeting dates, or recurring committee meetings do you need to be aware of for planning purposes? o
Phone, Computer, Video Conferencing System User Guides o o o o o o
Keeping a list of all of these dates in your admin binder makes it easy to find them quickly.
Phone user guide Voicemail user guide How to transfer calls "How to set up your Outlook auto signature" sheet Any tips that you were given/ shown in training sessions or by your IT guys How to set up the video conferencing equipment in the various conference rooms
Department or Manager Specific Information There may be manager specific or department specific sections you want to include to document how to handle specific things for an individual or for your department. If someone from another department was filling in for you, what would they need to be aware of that may be different in your area? o Does your executive have certain preferences for how they receive phone messages, etc? o Do you have organizational charts you should include? o
What types of checklists might be helpful? Daily or Weekly Checklists o Daily Start-up or Shut-Down Checklists o HR Checklists for New Hires, Terminations, Employee Setup o Event or Meeting Planning Checklists o
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What forms or templates do you use regularly? o o o o o o o o
Fax Cover Sheets Accounting Forms / Templates Travel Forms / Templates Event and Meeting Planning Forms / Templates HR Forms / Templates Shipping Forms / Templates Sales and Marketing or Corporate Board PowerPoint Templates Other forms or templates…
A few notes on using forms and templates in your admin binder: o
Keep several blank forms in your binder with a completed template in front of it so others can see how to complete the respective forms. Here is an example using a FedEx shipping form:
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o
If the forms are used primarily in an electronic format, keep a hard copy in the binder as well in case you need one immediately or the network goes down for some reason and you can’t access it electronically. (You’ll look REALLY smart then!)
This list is to get you started brainstorming your own list. The goal is to help you get thinking about different areas of your work and to give you some ideas for things you hadn’t thought of or documented yet on your list for tracking your tasks. If you need to encourage yourself, start by pulling together the “quick hit” items on your brainstorming list first. Then go back and chip away at the procedures on your top five list. Or complete the quick hits in between the procedures on your top five list. The primary goal is to add five procedures to your binder each week.
What NOT to include…and how to handle that vital information As admins, we have access to a lot of confidential information; it’s part of doing our jobs. For confidentiality and security, some key pieces of information should NOT be stored in your admin binder on your desk. Those items include passwords, credit card information, social security numbers, dates of birth, and other highly confidential information. So what do you do with this information? Store it in a separate folder in a locked file drawer in your desk or in a password-protected file in a secure location. Then make sure your executive knows how to access the information if you are out. Consult with your employer on best practices for documenting confidential information. The key here is NOT to have it openly accessible to anyone walking by who could pick up your administrative procedures binder.
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Form a Collaborative Team If you’re still wishing you didn’t have to work on this all by yourself, let me give you a few strategies for teaming up with others to create your procedures documentation. ASK someone to collaborate with you. Most people know that they need procedures documented for their job, but most people also struggle getting it done. Having a “binder buddy” to work on this with, or having the right collaborative team assembled, gives you built in accountability. I recommend that you plan to meet regularly – once a week is ideal. Consistency will keep things moving forward. Mapping it out by putting it on paper and tracking your progress will ensure that you get more done. What you track and measure will grow because you are paying attention to it. Be willing to collaborate. If you want someone to help you, be willing to help them. Sharing the load is a two-way street. So if you find somebody that you can work with who is an interested or willing participant, make sure that you are as willing to share with them and that they are willing to share with you. If you don’t have that collaborative element, it’s not going to do you a lot of good. Be able to “sell” the idea by showing them how it will benefit them also. Benefits sell!
o Address pain points first. Help them feel the pain of not having this amazing tool. Is preparing for vacation stressful and traumatic? When you’re currently out of the office, does work stack up because no one knew how to do it? Do you constantly get phone calls and emails when you are out asking questions about how to do things? Wouldn’t you prefer to do this before you’re asked or required to than after? And wouldn’t you prefer to be the one who did it FIRST and created the corporate standard vs. having to follow someone else’s model?
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o Help them feel the relief of having a “binder buddy” (like you!) to work through it together. o Outline the professional benefits it will provide once completed.
It’s great for an annual review to be able to show a project that you worked on and collaborated on with other members of the team.
It’s a great tool particularly from an emergency or disaster planning perspective. Your procedures can become a component of a larger plan and, if you have proactively put this together without having to be told, it can be a way to show your initiative and your leadership skills.
One of the greatest personal benefits is peace of mind when you are preparing to be out of the office. If you know you have this stuff documented and put in that binder, and it’s ready for someone to use, you don’t have to worry about it as much. You will know that they can get through your time out of the office and that it’s going to be fine. If issues do arise, well then, we will make it better for next time. Your administrative procedures binder provides a great sense of relief knowing that they don’t have to be waiting for you to get back in order to make things happen.
© 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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Assignment #4
Brainstorm about who you can team up with or collaborate with to speed up the procedures documentation process.
Identify the next FIVE procedures you are going to document this week. o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________
Document the next FIVE procedures. Procedure
Date Completed
1 2 3 4 5
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Disaster Preparedness Procedures In June of 2008, the city where I live was devastated by massive flooding. It’s truly mind boggling to grasp how much damage water can do when it’s associated with a flood. While my home was safe from the flood waters in 2008, many of the companies that I supported were directly hit. (I currently work out of the 8-story building pictured here. As you can see, the entire first floor was FULL of water! The building is fully recovered from the flood.)
I watched in amazement as some companies quickly pulled together their vital files and computers and setup operations in remote facilities without any interruption of service. Others were not so prepared. Because of delayed responses, lack of planning, and no processes and procedures for this type of event, some companies lost way more than others. But at the heart of most disaster recovery operations – no matter which company you looked at – were the administrative professionals! If disaster were to strike your company, would you be prepared to step into a leadership role of guiding and supporting them through the disaster response? Disasters come in all forms and levels of severity: floods, fires, power outages, ice storms, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, server failures, hackers, burst pipes, and many more. Some disasters are worse than others. Each disaster requires a different type of response effort. But companies that successfully recover from disasters are typically companies that have prepared for them ahead of time. Here are a couple of pretty alarming statistics: © 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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•
“Small businesses that don’t have a plan in place generally don’t survive after a disaster, whether it’s a flood or a tornado. We see that anywhere from 4060 percent of those that are hit like that simply don’t come back to business,” said David Paulison, former executive director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). http://www.propertycasualty360.com/2009/11/11/experts-say-small-firms-lagin-disaster-planning
•
Following a disaster, statistics show 90 percent of companies fail within a year unless they can resume operations within five days. http://www.preparemybusiness.org/planning
If you’re an employee in of these companies, lack of planning could quite possibly put everyone out of a job. Whether your company currently has a formal disaster recovery plan in place or not, here are some things you can do right now to proactively prepare yourself and your company if disaster strikes. 1. Find out if your company has a disaster recovery plan. If so, ask if you can get a copy of the plan. Read it and familiarize yourself with what it contains. If you have questions, ask them. You may very well identify gaps or holes that should be addressed. Don’t be afraid to speak up. 2. Educate yourself on Business Continuity Planning (BCP) and Disaster Recovery Planning. I’d start with these awesome sites: o http://www.preparemybusiness.org/ Read every page…and take full advantage of their FREE webinars and training series! o www.ready.gov 3. Download, print, and assemble in a binder all of the free templates and files from http://www.preparemybusiness.org/. Use these as your personal guide to creating your own disaster recovery plan/kit. Even if your company has a “master disaster recovery plan,” you still should create an individual plan for your position/team if one doesn’t already exist. 4. Start creating a disaster recovery plan for yourself and your immediate team.
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For starters, you’ll want to include: Emergency Contact Lists – company executives, team members, home phones, cell phones, email addresses, etc. o Key Vendors/Suppliers Contact Lists – names, emails, office phones, cell phones, etc. o List of vital files, paperwork, equipment, machines you’d need to work remotely o Contingency plans for fire vs. water vs. power loss emergencies. (e.g. In case of fire, you might need to act or do things differently than you would with a power outage.) o
5. Share your plan with your team and get their feedback and ideas on how to make it better or more complete. Once you’ve taken the initiative to get things rolling, stick with it until you have it fully assembled. Then make sure everyone on your team knows the procedures and has access to the information you’ve assembled in case of emergency! You don’t have to be given the directive from your executive to develop your own disaster recovery plan. Take the initiative and create something on your own. It doesn’t have to be perfect. But you MUST have a plan. The admins at the center of keeping business operations running smoothly with flood waters raging through our city were the ones who acted quickly and with purpose. They were the ones who knew they needed to get to Sam’s Club before every other business in town to purchase folding tables to serve as makeshift desks for the next six months. They were the ones who had administrative procedures binders ready with emergency contact lists and key supplier contacts at their fingertips. They were the administrative professionals who didn’t wait for someone to tell them it needed to be done…they just did it! PRINT THESE DOCUMENTS to get you brainstorming on what you might need to assemble or think about including in your binder related to disaster recovery: http://www2.agilityrecovery.com/assets/SBA/recoversba.pdf Emergency Communications Plan sheet: http://www2.agilityrecovery.com/assets/SBA/emercommsba.pdf Phone Recovery Plan: http://www2.agilityrecovery.com/assets/SBA/phonerecovsba.pdf
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Disaster Recovery Kit: http://www2.agilityrecovery.com/assets/SBA/drkitsba.pdf Unique Supplies List: http://www2.agilityrecovery.com/assets/SBA/unisuppsba.pdf If you find things that you have questions about or you identify some areas where there are some potential gaps or holes that you think should be addressed, don’t be afraid to speak up and say something. The more people who can get involved in the planning stage, the less likely it will be that important steps will be missed. At the very least, it may give you some ideas for items you can include in your procedures binder so that your department will be prepared even if, for whatever reason, the rest of the company is not. Your admin procedures binder may not be an all-inclusive disaster recovery plan when you are done putting it together, but you are going to have a lot of important components that could potentially be a key factor in helping recover from an emergency or a disaster should it happen to your business or the company where you work. Once you have taken the initiative to get things rolling, most people are more than happy to help you fill in the important details. This is one of those things that, if your company or your department doesn’t already have it, can be considered as a professional accomplishment at annual review time, showing that you took some initiative and did something, on your own, to better prepare your team and your company should any of these things happen. The other thing that I have always done is to keep an emergency work-from-home binder. Sometimes it just includes emergency contact lists, the key vendors, and the lists of vital information. I try not to keep confidential information in it if I am going to have it at home unless I can store it in a locked file drawer there also. I have always kept an emergency work from home binder that was a more compact version of my administrative procedures binder so that if I was sick or I wasn’t able to physically get to the office due to weather or other circumstances, I could still contact someone to let them know what was going on. So it’s a good tool to have and something to think about as well. If disaster strikes, will you be ready?
© 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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Assignment #5
Find out if your company has a disaster recovery plan. If so, ask if you can get a copy of the plan. Read it and familiarize yourself with what it contains. If you have questions, ask them. You may very well identify gaps or holes that should be addressed. Don’t be afraid to speak up.
Identify the next FIVE procedures you are going to document. o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________
Document the next FIVE procedures. Procedure
Date Completed
1 2 3 4 5
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Step 5: Organize Your Binder for Ongoing Use and Success Now it’s time to organize your binder for ongoing use.
Potential Sections to Include in Your Admin Binder Start by finalizing the tabbed sections you will include based on the procedures you have identified and created.
Accounting Info
Admin Info
Calendars / Meeting Dates
Catering / Menu Planning
Contacts/ Phone #’s
Daily/Weekly/Monthly Checklists
Department Specific Info
E-mail Distribution Lists
General Info
HR / Attendance / Payroll Tracking Info
I.T. Info
Mail Distribution
Meeting / Event Planning
New Employees Info & Setup
Office Supplies
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Person Specific Info
Phone Info
Projects
System How-To’s
Travel Planning
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
You’ll notice this list has some blanks at the end. That is because the list is by no means all inclusive. These are a lot of the big categories or potential sections that you may want to break your binder contents down into. You can use each item in its own tabbed section, or if you don’t have much information for any one particular section, you can combine it with something else. For example: you may put the Catering/Menu Planning with Meeting/Event planning because they all go together better. The goal here is to do what makes the most sense for you and your organization, knowing that over time it may evolve. Right now you might not have that much in your meeting and event planning section. Down the road you may determine that you need to divide that section into two categories: monthly events and annual events. So let your duties dictate what will make the most sense to get started.
Creating a Table of Contents Create a table of contents and a clearly labeled cover sheet for each tabbed sheet protector. You may want to list the section (e.g. Accounting) and a bulleted list of the procedures that are included in that section (e.g. processing check requests, submitting expense reports, etc). © 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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As I mentioned earlier, I prefer numbered tabs versus named tabs for my procedures binder. I am one of those people who likes my tabs to be perfectly alphabetized if I have named tabs. But everything gets messed up when you need to insert a new section. So what I started doing instead was using numbered tabs so that no matter what I change around, all I have to update is my Table of Contents at the beginning of my binder. For example: If I no longer need an Event Planning section, and now I need to insert Catering, I can just assign Tab #3 to Catering and change that title on the Table of Contents. If I organized them alphabetically, I would have to change both the tab title plus the title on the Table of Contents. So the numbered tabs are my preference.
The All Things Admin Administrative Procedures Toolkit and Kick-Start Creating Your Administrative Procedures 5-Part Self-Guided Training Course include a template for the Table of Contents and Tabbed Section Dividers (shown above) to help you get started.
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“How to Use This Binder” Welcome Letter Another thing you may want to include is a “How to Use This Binder” welcome letter in the front of the binder. The “How to Use This Binder” letter is designed to help those covering for you get started with ease. I like to write it like a personal letter from me. For example: If you are reading this letter right now, then you are probably filling in for me at the office. Let me start by saying, “Thank you!” Here is how you will benefit the most from the information included in this procedures binder… First, advise them take a couple of minutes to become familiar with the tabbed sections and the procedures in them. If they just take a couple of minutes when the day begins to flip through each of the sections to familiarize themselves with what is included, or even just scan the Table of Contents, it gives them a glimpse of the content included in this binder. Encourage them to make notes about anything that doesn’t make sense or where there could be additional clarifications. On the backside of the letter, include some blank lines for the person covering for you to leave you notes. Invite them to write down their concerns or issues and leave that list inside the front cover of the binder so that you can review it when you get back. All you have to do is open it up, take a peek, and see what they have for suggestions.
Updating your admin binder If you put all of this time and effort into creating a great administrative procedures binder, the last thing you want to do it let it get out dated! Here are the strategies I recommend for keeping your admin binder updated and current: Write notes in your binder on the pages that need updates as you realize them. If you have time to update it on the spot, do it. If you don’t, come back and do it when you see you have several pages with marks or post-its with additional information included on them. Review it on a monthly or quarterly basis depending on how busy your office is and how many changes occur from week to week or month to month. Add a reminder to your Calendar or Tasks so you don't forget. © 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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Tips to make updating or revising this binder easier: Create an electronic folder called "Admin Binder" for ease in filing these documents once you have them created. Create a desktop shortcut to this folder for easy access. Add the document path and file name to the footer of each document before you print it. Do not store multiple copies of the same file in multiple online folder locations. Setup a SharePoint site or a shared internal online folder. For external shared folders, you may check into a free, secure site like Dropbox.com.
Sharing the materials with those who cover for you Just because you know where your admin binder is doesn’t mean everyone else does. So here are a few tips to help you share the news that this awesome new tool exists for the next time someone needs to cover for you: Give those who cover for you a chance to preview it or flip through it before your next scheduled time off. Make sure those who cover for you (and your boss) know where the binder lives on your desk. It may take a little time for everyone to get used to having something to refer to while you’re away. Just keep reminding them that the tool is there for their use. Realize some may be more open and willing to use it than others…that’s o.k. But if there are snags in how business flows or how things get done while you’re out, and you had the procedure documented, but it wasn’t used…make sure you politely note that with your manager also.
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Presenting the materials to your executive It’s also important to make sure your executive knows about this administrative procedures binder you’ve invested your time and energy in creating. They may never personally use it, but they need to know it exists. Place it prominently on your desk so they see you using it…and when the time is right to put it into their hands, do so…and give them some time to flip through it. Before you take your next vacation or time off, make sure you show the binder to your boss again to remind him or her that this awesome tool now exists. Make it part of your weekly or monthly one-on-one meetings to review progress. This provides built-in accountability to keep adding to it until it’s substantially completed, too! Use it before and/or during your annual performance review time. This is a major accomplishment, so make sure it gets noted on your review documentation.
Additional benefits/uses for your administrative procedures binder One of the key things that I encourage administrative professionals to do after they get their binders started or assembled is to look at some elements or components of your binder and your procedures that you can pull out as samples of your work product for your professional portfolio. If you don’t know what a professional portfolio is, I recommend you to go to www.allthingsadmin.com and click on the Products and Services page. There are a couple of videos on the portfolios page that talk about the professional portfolio and the electronic professional portfolio. I have programs and tools to help you get those created, as well as a short version if you are compiling samples of your work that
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you maintain yourself which are useful when interviewing or if you are at a job review (or if you just want to keep a record of some of your professional accomplishments). A professional portfolio is like a scrapbook of all of your documents, work samples, and even awards or certificates. You can use all kinds of different things that show your ability and talent. One of the coolest things about your procedures binder is that there are a lot of blank forms and templates and things that you probably created or modified to make you efficient at what you do that will also make great professional portfolio pieces. Even showing documents before and after you modified them is a great way to show how you took a concept and turned it in to an actual document. In regards to confidential information, you certainly don’t want to be sharing those documents unless you black out the sensitive info. For the most part, if you are using just blank forms and templates that you have created to help you do what you do every day, there is probably not going to be too much proprietary information.
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Assignment #6
Identify the next FIVE procedures you are going to document this week. o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________
Document the next FIVE procedures. Procedure
Date Completed
1 2 3 4 5
Turn this homework template [see Appendix B] into your weekly plan of action sheet to keep you on track to get your administrative procedures binder completed!
© 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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Conclusion When it comes to procedures documentation, you may not ever feel like it is 100% complete, but getting it started is the biggest part of the battle. Keep working on it, keep plugging away at it. You’ll make progress daily if you simply focus on one procedure per day. With an average of 22 work days each month, next month at this time, you’ll have 22 more procedures documented than you do now. Putting together a quality binder is not only going to help you enjoy your time away from the office, but you are going to feel better knowing that your office is covered while you are gone. Plus, down the road, you may decide to move on to a new opportunity, take a promotion, or even transfer within your own company. When the person who assumes your position sees this binder, they are going to know that you are a value-added admin. It is rare to walk into a new position and have a binder packed full of helpful information handed to you. It’s a great way to ensure that you are leaving a positive legacy when you go. So don’t delay one day longer. Get started on your administrative procedures binder right now. Then the next time someone needs to fill in for you while you’re out of the office, you’ll look smart because office operations won’t come to a halt. You’ll enjoy your time away more – with less stress – because you have documented what they need to do while you’re away. And the person who fills in for you will know you were one of the most efficient, productive, thoughtful professionals ever!
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Appendix A: Procedures Documentation Template PROCEDURE NAME: DESCRIPTION: CREATED BY: DATE: PROCEDURE DETAILS:
WEBSITE:
LOGIN:
PASSWORD:
OTHER NOTES:
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PROCEDURE NAME:
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Appendix B: Weekly Plan of Action Administrative Procedures Project PLAN OF ACTION Week _____________
Identify the FIVE procedures you are going to document this week. o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________ o _____________________________________
Document the FIVE procedures. Procedure Date Completed 1 2 3 4 5
© 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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About the Author Julie Perrine, CAP-OM, MBTI Certified Personal Brand Analyst. Personality Strategist. Administrative Mentor. Certified Administrative Professional ® - Office Management Certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Administrator
Julie Perrine, founder of Julie Perrine International, All Things Admin, Julie Perrine Virtual Associates, and Personality Strategies, is a speaker and author, online business model consultant, information product guru and personality type expert. She has transformed a career as an administrative professional into several successful enterprises. She shares her knowledge, expertise and resources with individuals, corporations and organizations. Since 2005, Julie’s main mission has been to guide, encourage and assist entrepreneurs, authors, administrative professionals, and employees with the knowledge they need to be effective and productive. In the early years, she served as a virtual assistant, where she thrived on helping startups and solopreneurs enhance their productivity and discover their potential. Prior to founding Julie Perrine International, Julie served as an admin and executive assistant in corporate and startup settings for 15 years. She has been active in local and international organizations, including the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP). Julie also serves as a contract trainer for Kirkwood Community College and serves on their Computer/Office Applications Advisory Committee.
Connect with Julie Perrine online: • • • • •
Connect with Julie! www.linkedin.com/in/julieperrine Follow Julie! www.twitter.com/julieperrine “Like” All Things Admin! www.facebook.com/allthingsadmin Visit the All Things Admin blog! www.allthingsadmin.com Watch All Things Admin on YouTube! www.youtube.com/allthingsadmin
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Additional Resources • • •
www.allthingsadmin.com/free-templates www.allthingsadmin.com/products-services/admin-binders/ www.allthingsadmin.com/admin-binder-course
Administrative Procedures Toolkit •
All-in-one template to get your procedures binder started quickly. Learn more at: www.allthingsadmin.com/products-services/admin-binders/
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All modules are provided online, with downloadable MP3 audio files, training handouts, sample files, templates, and more. Register now: http://www.allthingsadmin.com/admin-binder-course/
Module 1: Getting Started: The Tools, Templates, and Tips You Need for Successfully Creating Your Administrative Procedures Binder BONUS: You’ll also receive several of our best templates and checklists to get the brainstorming juices flowing so you don’t have to start from scratch!
Module 2: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel: How To Fast Track Your Procedures Documentation
Module 3: Checklists, Forms, and Templates BONUS: You’ll receive our “how to” guide on capturing screenshots and editing graphics for your procedures documentation with simple software applications you already have on your PC.
Module 4: Meetings, Events, and Travel Planning BONUS: I’ll share my best (and most frequently downloaded) templates for meeting, events, and travel planning for getting you started during this class.
Module 5: Organizing Your Procedures Binder for Ongoing Use and Success BONUS: Each participant will receive a signed certificate of course completion from Julie Perrine when you submit your list of documented procedures upon completion of the course. © 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
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Read What Others Are Saying… I ordered the Administrative Procedures Toolkit binder because when I started my job, I felt like I was floundering for direction in the district processes that intersected my job. I am in a 2.3 person department so I am the only one who does most of my daily duties. We had a family tragedy 3 years ago, and I learned that there may come a time when I can’t come to work and things have to go on in our district even if I’m absent. I spent time on the internet searching for something like this binder. I had an idea of what I wanted and Julie’s was the only one that met my needs. My favorite aspect of this product is you can use it as you go. Several of my duties are done once or twice a year. As I am building my binder, I complete the templates and add the examples as I get to the duties. Before implementing the “Administrative Procedures Toolkit” binder from All Things Admin, I relied on my memory and the memory of my coworkers to complete duties when someone (including me) was absent. Now I feel confident that the needs of my boss and my “customers” will be met in my absence. Terri Plank, Student Services Secretary Public Education Sauk City, WI
My number one obstacle to getting my admin binder project was making the time and commitment to get it started. The “Kick-start Creating Your Administrative Procedures Binder” course made me set aside time for myself to work on this project. So often in doing for others we put ourselves last, but this is going to help not just me but also others in the office. I loved the handouts and support that was provided throughout this course for getting my binder created. This Administrative Procedures Binder project is so important to me that I blocked off the same time each week for the rest of the year to work on it. I know it sounds like a little thing, but I got excited about getting it together. Thank you for your Kick-Start course — your passion and excitement for the topic is infectious! Karen Coyne, Executive Assistant, Financial Services Industry Dallas, Texas
© 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
www.AllThingsAdmin.com
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Before taking this course, creating my admin binder was such a daunting task! I just didn’t have the motivation or impetus to get it started. But I’m happy to report that with the ideas, SUPER TEMPLATES, motivation, and positive reinforcement from Julie, the project is successfully started! Rhonda in Minnesota
I ordered the All Things Admin “Administrative Procedures Toolkit” binder because I wanted to have a more complete and useful binder, for others to use. I had compiled one when I first started in this position–it was more for me, not for others to use. You gave me the idea that this would be a great tool to have for others to use also. This template gave me a wonderful guideline of what information should be included and what should not. The time I saved is immeasurable. The guess work was cut in half. Sometimes it is hard to determine what other users will need to know and how to tell them to use it. As the person who does this position in my sleep and ‘knows’ what is expected, other users do not. For this reason, the time and money saved by using this product is great! My favorite aspect of this product is the organization. It is very well organized and dissected into proper little compartments. It begins with the basics and you may always add to it as you go along. It is not industry specific but admin specific, with room to grow and add as needed. This particular product was made by an admin for admins. And, as one admin to another, this product encompasses all the information others need, to answer any question, in an administrative professional’s absence. Before using the “Administrative Procedures Toolkit” binder from All Things Admin, I was at a crossroads, as to how-to proceed with my project. I knew what I wanted to accomplish but needed a little guidance. Now I have completed my project with time to spare. I am now very confident that anyone who opens my Administrative Professional Binder will know exactly where to find the information they are seeking. I would highly recommend this product. Ruth M Berman Sr. Administrative Assistant Electronics Industry Dallas, Texas
© 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
www.AllThingsAdmin.com
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I was preparing to go on medical leave and would be gone for at least eight weeks. At the time, I was supporting two busy senior officers and knew that anyone covering for me would be totally overwhelmed. To prevent that from happening, I started developing my administrative procedures binder. The person covering in my absence would have to hit the ground running, and this guide would serve as the tool to help them do it. Before leaving for medical leave, I was able to spend a few days going over the binder with my temp. She was very appreciative to have such a detailed point of reference to help her quickly get up to speed. As a result, she felt more confident about covering for me. From a professional development perspective, my managers were blown away by my administrative procedures binder. A few initiatives were developed out of the creation of this guide. • I was asked to share my binder with the Legal Secretaries in my division in our Chicago and Washington, DC offices and train them in how to create their own desk reference guide. This is my current initiative. • At the completion of the first initiative, I will present the guide to other administrative staff in my Association to get them on board. • After I complete that initiative, I will revise my current guide to fit a “general” Association standard for presentation to my HR division to possibly implement into a company standard for the administrative personnel. These initiatives are essentially goals for my 2011 Professional Development Plan and each goal will be weighed and rated on. Needless to say, this entire process has become very near and dear to me.
A few of my direct manager’s comments on my administrative procedures binder were: “A very impressive piece of work!” “I do not know of any document like it in the Association. I’m going to suggest that each Legal Secretary in the Legal and Governance Division prepare a similar Desk Reference Manual for their positions.”
“The binder, which could potentially be used by all employees with secretarial functions throughout the Association, demonstrated not only that she has a thorough understanding of her job duties, responsibilities and performance expectations, but also that she is willing to share her knowledge with others for the benefit of the Association.” I am very pleased with the results and the many compliments I have received. It’s a very rewarding feeling. I am excited to share with my colleagues this product and how it can make a difference for them in their professional development as it has done for me. – Lá Shawn J. Sandifer, Executive Assistant, Insurance Industry, Chicago, IL © 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
www.AllThingsAdmin.com
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© 2011 Julie Perrine International, LLC
www.AllThingsAdmin.com
