Office Management for Administrative Managers Training Course

Course overview

Administrative managers are expected to keep offices productive, controlled and responsive while priorities, people and information compete for attention. That means more than arranging meetings and supervising support staff: it requires clear service standards, dependable records, workable budgets, safe facilities, effective supplier coordination and timely escalation. When these controls are informal, managers spend their days resolving avoidable disruptions, chasing approvals and responding to complaints rather than improving how the office operates.

This five-day course develops the practical management systems needed to run an efficient office function. Participants learn to map administrative workflows, define service-level standards, allocate work, manage diaries and meetings at scale, maintain controlled records, track office expenditure, coordinate vendors and oversee facilities and business continuity arrangements. They apply Microsoft Outlook, Excel, Teams and ISO 15489 records-management principles to build routines that make responsibilities, deadlines, costs and decisions visible.

Teaching combines instructor-led models with realistic office-management cases, process-mapping workshops, spreadsheet exercises and peer review. Participants work throughout the week on an Office Management Operating Plan for their own workplace or a supplied case organisation. The completed plan includes an administration service catalogue, RACI matrix, workflow map, records controls, supplier scorecard, budget tracker, issue log and 90-day implementation schedule—materials that can be adapted immediately after the course.

The course is designed for administrative managers and experienced office professionals taking on broader operational responsibility. It is also valuable for managers who need a consistent management framework for multi-team, hybrid or growing office environments.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Map end-to-end administrative workflows using SIPOC and swimlane process maps
• Create an office service catalogue with response times, ownership and escalation rules
• Allocate administrative work using a RACI matrix, workload priorities and delegation controls
• Configure Microsoft Outlook and Teams routines for shared calendars, meeting actions and task follow-up
• Apply ISO 15489 principles to define file naming, retention, access and disposal controls
• Build an Excel office budget tracker with variance analysis and forecast fields
• Evaluate office suppliers using a weighted scorecard, service-level measures and review records
• Produce a 90-day Office Management Operating Plan with risks, actions, owners and milestones

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Administrative Managers — who are accountable for office services, support teams and daily operational control
• Office Managers — who need structured systems for facilities, suppliers, records and administrative workflow
• Senior Executive Assistants — who coordinate complex schedules, communications and cross-functional administration
• Administration Team Leaders — who supervise administrators and need fair workload allocation and performance routines
• Facilities and Workplace Coordinators — who manage office readiness, service providers and workplace issues
• Operations Coordinators — who are expanding from task coordination into office-wide process ownership

Requirements and prerequisites

This is a foundation-to-intermediate course and does not require a formal management qualification. Participants should have experience of routine office administration, such as coordinating meetings, maintaining files, ordering supplies, handling requests or supporting a manager or team. Familiarity with email, calendars and basic spreadsheet use is assumed; participants should be able to enter data, sort a list and use simple formulas in Microsoft Excel. No prior knowledge of ISO 15489, facilities management, procurement or budget forecasting is required. Complete beginners can attend, but should expect practical terminology and hands-on planning work from the first day.

Training methodology

The instructor introduces office-management models through short, focused teaching sessions, then participants apply each model to an office scenario or their own work context. Workshops use service-request data, meeting calendars, filing examples, supplier quotations and budget figures to practise decisions rather than discuss theory alone. Small groups critique workflow maps, RACI assignments and supplier scorecards against operational risks. Each day adds a section to the participant’s Office Management Operating Plan, and the final session includes peer challenge, facilitator feedback and a 90-day implementation commitment.

Course outline

Day 1: Building the office operating model

• Administrative manager accountabilities and office service boundaries
• Service catalogue design for reception, meeting, records and support requests
• SIPOC analysis for administrative service processes
• Swimlane mapping of request-to-completion workflows
• RACI matrices for decisions, approvals and task ownership
• Priority triage using urgency, impact and dependency criteria
• Service-level standards, escalation paths and issue logging

Workshop: Participants map a high-volume office service and produce a SIPOC diagram, swimlane workflow and RACI matrix for it.

Day 2: Managing people, time and communications

• Workload planning and capacity assessment for administrative teams
• Delegation briefs using outcome, authority, deadline and control points
• Microsoft Outlook shared calendars and scheduling rules
• Meeting governance: agendas, decisions, actions and minute templates
• Microsoft Teams channels, file ownership and communication etiquette
• Daily huddles and weekly operational review routines
• Managing difficult requests, conflicting priorities and stakeholder expectations

Workshop: Participants design a weekly administration control rhythm and create a delegation brief and action-tracking template for a busy office week.

Day 3: Records, information and office controls

• ISO 15489 records-management principles for office environments
• File plans, naming conventions and document version control
• Retention schedules, secure disposal and legal-hold awareness
• Access permissions and confidential information handling
• Registers for contracts, assets, keys and controlled documents
• Business continuity arrangements for office disruption
• Internal control checks for approvals, purchases and petty cash

Workshop: Participants create a controlled filing structure, retention decision guide and records-control checklist for a case office.

Day 4: Budget, suppliers and facilities performance

• Office cost categories and cost-centre responsibility
• Microsoft Excel budget trackers with actuals, variance and forecast columns
• Variance investigation and management commentary
• Purchase requisitions, approval thresholds and audit trails
• Supplier selection using weighted evaluation criteria
• Service-level agreements and vendor performance measures
• Facilities inspections, maintenance logs and workplace issue escalation

Workshop: Participants build an Excel budget tracker and complete a weighted supplier scorecard for competing cleaning-service proposals.

Day 5: Measuring service and leading improvement

• Office service KPIs for response time, backlog, cost and satisfaction
• Dashboard design for monthly administrative reporting
• Root-cause analysis using the five whys and fishbone diagram
• Risk registers for office operations and treatment actions
• Change communication for new administrative procedures
• 90-day implementation planning with milestones and owners
• Presenting operational recommendations to senior stakeholders

Workshop: Participants complete and present their Office Management Operating Plan, receiving facilitator and peer feedback on priorities, controls and implementation actions.

Tools & standards covered

Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Teams, ISO 15489

A typical training day

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

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions