This first day aims to help prepare the office administrator to the notion of leadership without authority. Just as Steve Biko once said, “Black man, you are on your own”, today, we say, Office Administrator, you are on your own. This day prepares you to become even bolder and more empowered than before.
8H00-8H30 : Registration and tea
8H30-8H45 : Welcome, housekeeping
8H45-9H00 : Down EAC memory lane
9H00-9H30: SETTING THE TONE | MS TONI GUMEDE
If there is one thing we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that there were many expectations from us – be it family, colleagues, friends, and our line managers. Today, there are many broken relationships because of unmet expectations, poor performance and the feeling of having been thrown into the deep end. Join our esteemed speaker as she tackles our conference theme, “No greater time than now”. The focus will be Leadership in the VUCA world.
9H30 – 10H00: SCENARIO PLANNING, A KEY REQUIREMENT FOR AN EMPOWERED OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR | MS THANDO RADEBE
This session stems from the aftermath of COVID-19 which caught office professionals unaware. Various calamities have occurred, either related to climate change or acts of terror within the country. When these calamities took place, office professionals were once more at the centre of what needed to take place.
This session will provide details on the following:
Understanding latest developments in climate change, health issues and technological advancements and/or failures and how they could impact on operations. These are some of the challenges that the office professional will need to understand in order to help with equipping the office or department with futuristic planning.
A step-by-step guide on developing actual scenarios that will equip the office professionals to move from being ordinary to being extraordinary office professionals.
The scenario planning exercise will enable office professionals to develop scenarios based on the strength and weaknesses of various scenarios.
10H00 – 10H30: LEADERSHIP WITHOUT AUTHORITY – BEING THE CENTRE THAT HOLDS | MR MTHOKOZISI LUTHILI
Office Administrators, when they say the stage belongs to you, they just mean that. How many times did you realise that you move your department, division, faculty, centre or unit? You are the neck that moves the head. This session will take you through a process of being better prepared to sustain the accolades you received for being the one. Sit back as we take you on a journey to become the centre that holds the department/division, etc. together. The session will focus on the critical skills for you to hold that department/division/unit together: You will also learn how to develop a departmental needs analysis and department plan. During this session, we will enhance your skills of becoming even more proactive. We will show you how to become the centre that holds. Beginning with a needs analysis, the Office Administrator sets the agenda for engagement and implementation.
10H30-10H45 : BREAK
10H45 – 11H30: GETTING THE MESSAGE ACROSS TO WIDE-RANGING STAKEHOLDERS | MS LIILE LEKANA
Who gets the flack when things go wrong, when there is no communication? This session will help protect your brand and move your brand to acceptable standards, even among your critics. Your voice will still be heard in your meetings, and in various stakeholder engagements. You will not get lost in complex concepts or phrases which business partners or stakeholders may use, thus leaving you high and dry.
The session will assist you in identifying the best way to communicate to wide-ranging stakeholders and help you pitch your ideas with just the appropriate jargon without sounding too pompous, or fake; which will help you gain the attention of your stakeholders and boost your morale, and show your stakeholders that they could gain something from you as well. This session will also cover the following components: Stakeholder analysis and needs | Mandate of my line managers to these stakeholders | Analysis of what needs to be communicated, why and when | Selection of appropriate vehicles for transmitting the messages | Tricks of endearing yourself even to your most critics by constant communication and at the right time.
11H30 – 12H15: POWER TO YOUR WRITING SKILLS | DR CONNIE ISRAEL
Remote working has given rise to writing: writing to colleagues, bosses, bosses’ bosses, boards and so forth. The list is endless. There is no need to discard that skill just because the pandemic is no more. In fact, the high expectations of an office administrator with excellent writing skills remains prevalent. Be it persuasive, informative or creative writing, office administrators have been at the centre of message transmission, in the main as message originators. This session will help you elevate your writing skills by giving you tricks and tips for writing articulate emails and reports, as well as short and crisp messages.
The session will focus on how you climb the mountain of a blank page/screen. You will be taught to first classify messages:
Is it a follow up message, or new message – how do you start each?
Is it an enquiry, expression of gratitude, a sympathetic, or apologetic message?
Is it an instruction or counsel?
The session will incorporate presentation with spurts of activity and practice..
12H15 – 13H15: LUNCH
13H15 – 14H15: DATABASE AS A GATEWAY TO STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT | MS DANIEL VENTER & MR PRITHAM SEETHAL
For years we have been taught the importance of creating databases. Of course, databases make our lives easier, and we minimise on time and effort. However, with the new Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI-Act) of 2021, we will address the challenges this poses to us against organisations which believe that the data needs to be shared. This session will address what you need to guard against in database management and how to update your databases without stirring the wrath of your stakeholders.
14H15 – 15H00: MASTERING THE VIRTUAL COMMUNICATION ART OF MICROSOFT TEAMS | TEAM MICROSOFT
One of the perks of the Coronavirus pandemic was the evolution from face-to-face communication to virtual communication. The distance between line managers, office administrators, and stakeholders became a threat to traditional work processes. This meant that the mode of communication and interaction had to change. Everything had to be done virtually to facilitate productivity while not compromising on safety. In many organisations, Microsoft Teams took centre stage as it became the fundamental solution to virtual meetings, calls, events, and many other necessary virtual connections. Some of you grappled with the App as you were thrown into the deep end, while others optimised its use through self-learning. MS Teams is here to stay; this is your opportunity to learn some intricate skills for maximum results using Teams. This session will cover the following aspects of MS Teams:
Conversations, call, and chat function
Document storage in SharePoint
Group discussions and team break-up discussions
Video calling and screen sharing
Online meeting and audio conferencing
Integration of MS Teams with YouTube, Facebook, live audience, and other channels.
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Today, we will focus on enhancing your skills in technology. Without advanced skills in technology, you are in danger of being left out as an office dinosaur and being put at the risk of colleagues talking over you, taking decisions for you and relegating you to the basement office. Technology advancement is the cornerstone of the Office Administrator’s role in the 2020s.
8H30 – 09H00: GET THAT PROMOTION. NOW IS THE TIME TO MOVE ON. UPGRADE YOURSELF – MAXIMIZE ON ONLINE LEARNING | DR THANDEKA ELLENSON
There is a dramatic increase of online learning programmes since the beginning of the pandemic. We are now spoilt for choice to upgrade ourselves academically while learning in the comfort of our home. This is the opportunity we have always wished for. Find out how online learning is done, and how it can benefit you and move you up the corporate ladder.
9H00 – 09H30: OVERCOMING PHYSICAL PREJUDICES IN THE WORKPLACE | MS SENAMILE MASONDO
Prejudice has no boundaries. It enters various spaces in numerous forms. In the workplace, it can take the form of gender, race, sex, body shape, physical appearance, and many other subtleties. This session will take you through various forms of prejudices and the best way to tackle them. It will be an interactive session where the speaker, as well as the EAC delegates, will share their experiences.
9H30 – 10H30 MAKING THE MOST OF MICROSOFT 365 | TEAM MICROSOFT
The 2020s have shown us that time is of essence when working in a hybrid or completely virtual environment. Without any warning, office administrators find themselves inundated with all sorts of requests, instructions and counsel from one office to the next. In this session, you will learn how to stay productive using mobile devices to create, chat, present and access your organisation’s intranet wherever you are. You will also learn how to make Cortana your best friend and make her work for you and with you.
10H45 – 11H15: BRINGING BACK OFFICE DECORUM TO OFFICE PROFESSIONALS | MS JESSIE NDLELA
At the start of 2020, most office professionals were left holding the fort in the offices as line managers and other staff members were allowed to work from home.
For some offices, this independence has become abused as the offices turned into dens for gossip and toxicity. This session will focus on the following:
a. Integrity, ethics, loyalty and confidentiality as key requisites in office support.
b. Assisting office professionals with developing codes of civility.
c. Importance of decorum on email, telephone and in public as a representative of a particular office.
11H15 – 12H15: SYNERGY 101 | MICROSOFT TEAMS AS A HUB | TEAM MICROSOFT
This session will take you through processes on how to optimize Microsoft 365. At a time when office administrators need to keep pace with deadlines and low productivity by some in their teams, Microsoft 365 provides solutions on how office administrators could synergise their efforts with colleagues or teams for the greater good of the organisation. Synergy 101 focuses on collaboration. Together with colleagues or their line managers, office administrators would be able to collaborate on a document by editing it in real time and will be able to send links, not files.
12H15 – 13H00: BREAK
13H00 – 14H00: SYNERGY 101 | MICROSOFT TEAMS AS A HUB CONTINUED … | TEAM MICROSOFT
This session will take you through processes on how to optimize Microsoft 365. At a time when office administrators need to keep pace with deadlines and low productivity by some in their teams, Microsoft 365 provides solutions on how office administrators could synergise their efforts with colleagues or teams for the greater good of the organisation. Synergy 101 focuses on collaboration. Together with colleagues or their line managers, office administrators would be able to collaborate on a document by editing it in real time and will be able to send links, not files.
