Management Skills for Administrators Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Senior Administrators, Office Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-OA-027

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience in an administrative, coordination, secretarial, office support or executive support role.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Administrators are often expected to coordinate people, protect standards, resolve competing requests and keep office services running without formal management training. As responsibilities grow, the role requires more than diary control and document production: it demands clear priorities, delegation, meeting leadership, stakeholder communication, process control and evidence-based reporting. Poorly defined ownership, inconsistent procedures and weak follow-up can create delays, service failures, avoidable conflict and unnecessary workload.

This five-day course develops the management skills needed to lead administrative work confidently. Participants learn to set service expectations, allocate work, plan workloads, run productive meetings, communicate with authority and manage difficult conversations. They use practical methods including RACI, the Eisenhower Matrix, SMART objectives, SBI feedback, SIPOC process mapping and PDCA improvement cycles. The course also covers office projects, supplier coordination, confidential records, data quality and management reporting.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with sector-relevant cases, group analysis, simulations and structured application planning. Participants work with realistic situations such as an executive office receiving urgent conflicting requests, a delayed procurement process, a staff performance issue, a confidential records concern and an office relocation project. They leave with reusable management templates, including a service charter, delegation brief, action register, process map and 90-day application plan. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course suits experienced administrators moving into supervisory duties, office managers and coordinators responsible for service quality, staff support and administrative operations.

What you will be able to do

  • Define administrative service standards using a service charter and RACI matrix
  • Prioritise workloads using the Eisenhower Matrix, time blocking and Kanban controls
  • Lead meetings using outcome-based agendas, decision logs and action registers
  • Delegate work through clear authority, SMART objectives and structured check-ins
  • Conduct feedback and conflict conversations using SBI and interest-based negotiation
  • Map and improve administrative processes using SIPOC, SOPs and PDCA cycles
  • Plan office projects using charters, work breakdown structures, Gantt charts and risk registers
  • Produce management reports using service measures, variance analysis and action plans

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence directing work without relying on informal authority
  • Clearer methods for handling competing executive and operational requests
  • Stronger evidence for progression into office management or supervisory roles
  • Practical language for giving feedback, setting boundaries and resolving disagreements
  • Reusable tools for reducing personal workload through delegation and process control

For your organisation

  • More consistent administrative service standards and response times
  • Fewer missed actions, duplicated effort and unclear ownership
  • Better visibility of office workload, backlogs, risks and improvement priorities
  • Improved staff accountability through clearer delegation and follow-up
  • More reliable handling of records, confidential information and office projects

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define their management remit, service expectations and decision responsibilities.

  • Administrative service charter defining customers, outputs, response times and ownership
  • Manager versus coordinator responsibilities, authority boundaries and escalation routes
  • RACI matrix assigned to recurring office services and decisions
  • Stakeholder mapping by influence, interest, service need and communication preference
  • Office operating rhythm linking daily controls, weekly reviews and monthly reporting
  • Decision rights documented for approvals, exceptions, spending and confidential information

Participants can organise administrative workloads around priorities, capacity and deadlines.

  • Eisenhower Matrix distinguishes urgent requests from important planned work
  • Weekly work plan sequenced by deadlines, dependencies, capacity and risk
  • Time blocking protects coordination, follow-up, focused work and contingency capacity
  • Kanban board visualises request status, bottlenecks, work-in-progress and handoffs
  • Delegation brief specifies outcome, authority, deadline, resources and check-in points
  • Interruptions handled through triage rules, service channels and agreed response standards

Participants can communicate decisions, requests and boundaries clearly with varied stakeholders.

  • Audience-purpose-message structure produces concise emails, briefings and meeting papers
  • BLUF format places decision, recommendation and required action before detail
  • Active listening uses paraphrasing, probing questions and confirmation of commitments
  • SBI feedback frames observations, effects and requested changes without personal judgement
  • Assertive boundary statements decline inappropriate requests while preserving working relationships
  • Communication channel selection considers urgency, confidentiality, record and audience access

Participants can prepare, facilitate and document meetings that produce accountable action.

  • Meeting purpose statement distinguishes information sharing, consultation, decision and problem-solving
  • Agenda design assigns outcomes, owners, timings, papers and decision points
  • Facilitation techniques manage dominant voices, silence, disagreement and scope drift
  • Decision log records options, rationale, approver, actions and review dates
  • Action register tracks owner, due date, status, dependency and evidence
  • Minute-writing separates decisions, actions, risks and discussion summaries

Participants can allocate work fairly, support performance and maintain accountability.

  • Task allocation matches staff capability, workload, development need and authority
  • SMART objectives define expected results, measures, deadlines and constraints
  • Check-in conversations diagnose progress, barriers, support needs and accountability
  • Coaching questions build ownership without taking back delegated work
  • Performance documentation records agreed expectations, evidence, feedback and follow-up
  • Recognition methods link specific contribution to service outcomes and standards

Participants can address workplace disagreement early and seek workable agreements.

  • Thomas-Kilmann modes selected according to stakes, relationships, time and principle
  • Interest-based negotiation separates positions from underlying needs and concerns
  • Conflict conversation prepares facts, impact, requests and acceptable agreements
  • De-escalation language acknowledges emotion while maintaining behavioural boundaries
  • Informal resolution records agreements, owners, review dates and escalation triggers
  • Bullying, harassment and grievance concerns referred through established procedures

Participants can document administrative processes and target service improvements using evidence.

  • SIPOC diagram defines suppliers, inputs, process steps, outputs and customers
  • Process maps expose duplicate approvals, rework, waiting and unclear handoffs
  • Standard operating procedure format states trigger, steps, controls, owner and records
  • PDCA cycle tests service improvements using measures and review points
  • Error-proofing controls reduce filing, scheduling, purchasing and data-entry mistakes
  • Service-level measures track timeliness, accuracy, backlog, satisfaction and exceptions

Participants can plan and control administrative projects from scope through completion.

  • Project charter sets scope, deliverables, sponsor, constraints, milestones and success measures
  • Work breakdown structure converts office projects into accountable work packages
  • Gantt chart sequences tasks, dependencies, milestones and critical deadlines
  • Risk register scores likelihood, impact, response owner and contingency action
  • Vendor coordination confirms specifications, lead times, approvals and acceptance criteria
  • Change control evaluates requests against scope, cost, timing and service impact

Participants can apply sound controls to administrative records and sensitive information.

  • Records retention schedule classifies administrative files by purpose, owner and disposal
  • Access controls apply least-privilege principles to personnel and financial records
  • Version control prevents conflicting documents through naming, dating and approval rules
  • Confidential meeting papers handled through secure distribution, storage and destruction
  • Data quality checks test completeness, accuracy, timeliness, validity and duplicates
  • Incident escalation protects sensitive information following internal reporting procedures

Participants can report administrative performance and create a focused improvement plan.

  • Administrative dashboard combines workload, service levels, risks, costs and actions
  • Variance analysis explains differences between planned workload, spend and actual results
  • Monthly management report presents decisions required, trends, exceptions and recommendations
  • Root cause analysis uses Five Whys for recurring service failures
  • 90-day application plan prioritises improvements, owners, measures and review dates
  • Personal management routine schedules planning, delegation, feedback and stakeholder contact

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Administrative service charter template
  2. RACI responsibility matrix
  3. Delegation and check-in brief
  4. Meeting agenda and action register
  5. SIPOC process map template
  6. 90-day administrative improvement plan

Who should attend

  • Senior Administrators — preparing to coordinate colleagues, priorities and office services
  • Office Managers — responsible for administrative standards, staff performance and service delivery
  • Executive Assistants — managing complex stakeholder demands and executive office workflows
  • Administrative Supervisors — requiring practical methods for delegation, feedback and reporting
  • Facilities and Operations Coordinators — coordinating office projects, vendors and service requests
  • Team Coordinators — moving from individual contribution into people and workflow management

Skills and tools covered

Workload prioritisationDelegation managementMeeting facilitationProcess improvementConflict resolutionAdministrative reporting

Tools and standards

RACI matrix, Eisenhower Matrix, SMART objectives, SIPOC diagram

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce each method, followed by case work, group analysis, role-based simulations and structured planning. Participants assess office scenarios involving conflicting priorities, difficult stakeholders, delayed actions, performance concerns and process failures. They practise writing concise management communications, agendas, delegation briefs, action registers and reports. Facilitated discussion compares approaches from public sector, banking, NGO and corporate administration. Individual application planning connects course tools to participants’ current responsibilities and improvement priorities.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience in an administrative, coordination, secretarial, office support or executive support role. They should be familiar with routine office workflows such as scheduling, correspondence, records handling, procurement requests or meeting administration. Some responsibility for coordinating colleagues, suppliers or shared tasks is useful but not essential. The course does not require prior formal management training, a business degree, project management certification or advanced spreadsheet skills. Participants should be ready to discuss realistic workplace situations and apply the methods to their own administrative responsibilities.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have practical experience in an administrative, office support, executive support or coordination role. No prior management qualification is required, although familiarity with normal office workflows will help you apply the material quickly.

Bring examples of recurring administrative tasks, current service issues or an office process you would like to improve. You do not need to bring confidential documents; anonymised examples or notes are sufficient.

It is designed for experienced administrators, office managers, executive assistants, coordinators and new administrative supervisors. It is particularly useful for people who now direct shared work or influence colleagues without holding a senior management title.

This course applies management methods to the specific realities of office administration: requests, records, meetings, service standards, suppliers and executive support. It includes leadership and project methods, but focuses on daily administrative control rather than broad corporate strategy or formal project certification.

Participants can use the templates to clarify responsibilities, improve meeting follow-up, delegate recurring tasks and map inefficient processes. The final application plan identifies practical actions, owners, measures and review dates for the next 90 days.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, case analysis, group work, simulations, feedback and application planning across ten modules.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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