The Executive Secretary provides high-level administrative support by conducting research, preparing statistical reports, handling information requests, and performing clerical functions such as preparing correspondence, receiving visitors, arranging conference calls, and scheduling meetings. The Executive Secretary may also train and supervise lower-level clerical staff members.
Tasks of Executive Secretaries
- The Executive Secretary prepares invoices, reports, memos, letter, financial statements and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet, database, or presentation software.
- The Executive Secretary answers phone calls to appropriate parties or takes messages. In some cases they are able to answer the message.
- The Executive Secretary conducts research, compile data, and prepare papers for consideration and presentation by executives, committees and boards of directors.
- The Executive Secretaries are expected to attend meetings to record the minutes.
- The Executive Secretaries greet visitors and determines whether they should be given access to specific individuals.
- The Executive Secretaries read and analyze incoming memos, submissions, and reports to determine their significance and plan their distribution.
- The Executive Secretaries perform general office duties, such as ordering supplies, maintaining records management database systems, and performing basic bookkeeping work.
- The Executive Secretary files and retrieves corporate documents, records, and reports.
- The Executive Secretary opens, sorts, and distributes incoming correspondence, including faxes and emails.
- The Executive Secretary makes the travel arrangements for executives.
The Executive Secretary must have knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology. The Executive Secretary must have knowledge of structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar. The Executive Secretary needs knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs, assessments, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. The Executive Secretary needs knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming. The Executive Secretary needs knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
The skills of an Executive Secretary are many and varied and include some of the following:
- The Executive Secretary needs the skill of active listening. That includes giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- The Executive Secretary needs the skill of good reading comprehension. That includes understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- The Executive Secretary needs the skill of speaking. That includes talking to others to convey information effectively.
- The Executive Secretary needs the skill of writing. That includes communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- The Executive Secretary needs the skill of critical thinking. That includes using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- The Executive Secretary needs the skill of active learning. That includes understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- The Executive Secretary needs the skill of coordination. That includes the adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
- The Executive Secretary needs the skill of monitoring. That includes monitoring/assessing performance of you, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- The Executive Secretary needs the skill of service orientation. That includes actively looking for ways to help people.
The Executive Secretary must have the ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. The Executive Secretary must have the ability to listen and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. The Executive Secretary must have the ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. The Executive Secretary must have the ability to identify and understand the speech of another person. Also they need to be able to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand. The Executive Secretary must have the ability to speak clearly so others can understand them while doing their job function.