The administrative assistant: the organizational wild card?
To a certain extent, the administrative assistant is like the joker in the pack, the card that can be substituted for the others, for a moment, thanks to the variety of her skills.
Versatility is undoubtedly at the top of her list of skills, whether technical (time management, office automation, writing, planning...) or behavioral (communication, emotional intelligence, influence...).
This versatility offers a number of advantages:
Variety of tasks to be performed
Interaction with (almost) every department in the organization... and with the outside world
Autonomy and freedom of action
Contribution to project progress
Ability to choose your area of activity (all organizations need this)
As organizations evolve, so do the needs of their teams.
Above all, this versatility paves the way for the profession to evolve in line with the marked changes taking place in the world of work, whether in terms of organizational changes or technological advances.
This is particularly true of support staff, who are expected to take on more and more responsibility and develop their skills accordingly. Soft skills, such as strategic thinking, personality decoding, problem-solving, decision-making, negotiation, leadership and change management.
As organizations evolve, the assistant who develops these skills can be seen as a collaborator - a great step forward for a profession on the verge of change.
AI in all this?
Another factor impacting on the role of the administrative assistant is the arrival of artificial intelligence, which raises the question of whether it is destroying the role of administrative assistant, or simply contributing to its evolution.
AI replaces administrative assistants
The tools that make it possible to dispense with a person for a certain number of tasks (such as calendar management, e-mail sorting, document management or statistical reporting...) already exist. Indeed, anyone (it seems) can ask to add a meeting to their calendar, configure a tool to automatically sort their e-mails, leave document management to SharePoint and metadata, and simply share their dashboards from Power BI.
All this is true, and is in line with the figures observed in the field: a steady decline in the number of administrative assistants as a result of technical and technological developments. Which raises the question of the future.
It is clearly essential for administrative assistants to rethink their role and their contribution to the organization, with a revised job profile.
AI helps administrative assistants
If technology can indeed help some managers to handle tasks they previously delegated to their assistant, this same technology contributes to increasing the flow of digital information to be processed. Who better to do this than administrative assistants? On the other hand, they can also use AI to get help with their own tasks, especially those that are repetitive and low value-added. And most importantly: AI can't do everything, especially when it comes to research and analysis (of data or documents), leaving the field open to assistants (who will have developed their skills accordingly).
Administrative assistants without AI
In fact, if a task requires a critical eye, creative input, interaction with others or collaboration... AI won't be there, assistants will.
This is all the more true given that the human aspect is essential in teamwork, which is typical of all organizations. In this respect, the administrative assistant plays a concrete role in team commitment and mobilization, supporting both the person to whom she reports and the rest of the team to which she belongs. For example, in the integration of new employees or the organization of social events (previously the responsibility of HR, but increasingly delegated to teams).
In many cases, it is the assistant who develops or maintains the network of external contacts with suppliers, customers, consultants, sub-contractors, etc.
Administrative assistant: a reinvented profession
There's no doubt that the list of tasks assigned to the administrative assistant has changed. The question is whether this is to the assistant's detriment or advantage.
If we see the glass half empty, we cannot deny that the workforce has decreased and that automation can take over work previously carried out by administrative assistants. This did not prevent them from rethinking their careers and considering a reorientation according to their affinities (towards HR, marketing, sales, etc.).
If we see the glass half full, automation and AI have only reinforced the natural need to evolve the role, encouraging assistants to maintain their digital maturity (training to stay afloat with literacy, etc.) and to develop their interpersonal skills... which AI cannot offer.
To find out more
Administrative Assistant: Role Performance
