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Both administrative professionals and their managers generally agree on the job components that administrative support staff do, but there is a significant difference of opinion on the competencies that are most important for administrative professionals.

Specifically, while administrative professionals believe initiative, a professional demeanor and communication skills are most important, their managers rank problem solving and decision-making, and meeting and event management, as paramount.

These findings are based on two recent AMA surveys, one of 280 administrative support staff in October 2002 and a second of 318 managers in November and December 2002.

Components of Job

While the order differs, both administrative staff and managers identify the same five tasks as the ones on which administrative professionals spend the most time. ?Calendar Management? was first with admin staff, second with managers, while ?Information Management and Budgeting? topped the managers? list (it is fifth with administrative professionals). The chart indicates the percentage of respondents who ranked a particular task in the Top 5.

Top 5 Tasks

Based on # of times included in “Spent Most Time” Top 5.

	Administrative Professionals	Managers
Calendar Management	68%	57%
Correspondence/Communications	65%	35%
Meeting and Event Organization	58%	31%
Making Travel Arrangements	56%	42%
Information Management and Budgeting	32%	74%

There is general agreement on the time spent on all components of the job, although administrative professionals ranked “Participating in Meetings” and “Project/Team Coordination” higher than managers, who think “Designing and Making Presentations” rates higher.

Rank of Tasks

Required Competencies

Two aspects of this comparison are of interest. First, admin professionals tend to rate all competencies much higher on a 5-point scale than managers, and, secondly, they believe that individual initiative and the way they conduct themselves are most important.