The role of an office manager is a huge responsibility. You will be the cog that keeps the entire machine moving smoothly and efficiently. While it’s difficult to define the position with one sentence, due to the constant role variations, you should expect to dabble with various different disciplines, such as bookkeeping, secretarial duties, resolving legal issues, assisting clients, arranging schedules and ensuring the general day to day activities of the office run smoothly.
What Skills Do I Need?
As an office manager the single most important skill is to remain adaptable. Every office manager job will be different; therefore, what works for one employer may not work for another. You will have to accept the changes on the fly and do it “their” way. This will require patience.
Office managers are responsible for the entire team. You may have to liaise with workers from different departments and deliver messages/ensure everything is streamlined. You will be speaking with lots of different people – so you better be good with names! – and will need to form positive relationships with them. When you’re an office manager, you can’t afford to get involved with office politics. You must stand on neutral ground at all times to ensure everybody is happy.
What Skills Will I Learn?
An office manager is a bit of a jack of all trades. You will be expected to conduct multiple different tasks from different disciplines to a basic level. For example, if you’re performing secretarial duties, you may have to dabble with accounting as well. When you take a course in office management, you will learn a little bit of everything, and how to combine it all in a cohesive manner.
When taking an office manager course you will learn everything from negotiation skills to time management. Conflict resolution, basic accounting, targets and budgets, human resources activities, motivation, delegation, health and safety, team building and career development paths are standard aspects of most courses. You will come away prepped and ready for employment and, depending on the course you take, may even learn where and how to network and find jobs.
Where Can I Find An Office Manager Job?
London is a global city that has a huge density of offices, from small to medium sized businesses renting a service office space, to multinational corporations. With developing areas, such as the London Bridge Quarter and Canary Wharf, there will be more and more office manager jobs becoming available. While you certainly don’t have to relocate to the capital to get a job, there are definitely more opportunities than any other British city.
While there are plenty of companies offering office manager courses in London, very few of them make the grade. If you are serious about education, then go with a tried and tested company, such as Souters. Not only will this guarantee a top class qualification that’s recognizable on a nationwide level, you may also meet valuable contacts during your course of study.
