It’s been a while since I properly put fingertips to keyboard to write some new blogs, and there are a few reasons for that... most of all it was down to writer’s block! I had become somewhat fearful of doing another one as I began to find them rather challenging to continue being interesting, creative and relevant to our audience. It’s also been such a wildly crazy-busy time that I’ve had to prioritise so many other areas of the business.

This all got me thinking about that point in time when your job becomes much the same, although perhaps remaining challenged in a role IS what keeps you there. But what about the other items? If you are no longer interested, can’t be the creator of your own role’s objectives and no longer feel you are relevant, (and running out of time!) what do you do? 

Little support and training

Many of us have likely found ourselves in this position, and I think it is particularly pertinent for office management roles whereby the job spec is so, so vast that you can lose sight quite easily of your core role, the support for that position and therefore the appetite to keep doing it. I heard at our event in June 2019 from a number of office managers (OMs) and other administration professionals that they had begun to find their role challenging but in a negative way, where they were on an uphill battle to get support from above and had, as a result become de-motivated and stuck or are (rather sensibly in my opinion), looking to go elsewhere.

I’ve also seen a lot in my LinkedIn feed over the years and on other platforms, articles and blogs about a lack of support and / or funding where training and development is concerned for these types of roles. So why are they so neglected, what is it about these sorts of professions that mean managers don’t give them the attention, support and credit they so rightly deserve? And, if you’re one of the unfortunate individuals in this position, what can you do to turn this around so that you don’t have to look elsewhere? 

Communicate, and communicate well

We all know its key, yes, it’s obvious. But any relationship, be it personal or professional is built on good communication and will undoubtedly breakdown without it. So, from the off or as soon as you’re able to, build a strong communicative relationship with your management and direct manager. This doesn’t necessarily need to be lengthy meetings, awkward 1:1s or endless emails “looping them in” to everything you’re doing. It can be simple, effective and straightforward updates.

In doing this, you will have built a solid relationship demonstrating your value, and build on trust and openness that should lead nicely to asking for more responsibility, more challenges, being able to shape and curate a role progression route for you and, ask for training when you want to develop further.

Be visible

You feel invisible and isolated, right? Stuff just happens in your office because you swiftly take care of it and no one really knew they closely avoided running out of coffee because someone decided to up their intake over dry Jan to get them through! Or that the leak over the weekend was taken care of and Amy’s desk that was soaking wet is back to exactly how it was because you jumped on a train and rushed in when the engineer on call contacted you.

Ensure you are seen. Let people know you saved the day. Be proactive and tell people about your plans to improve things further, to save money, time and build a better, more productive environment for them to work in, even if it is the small things.

Build a case

If you have your eye on a specific responsibility you’d like to take on, a training course (such as The Office Management Course) you want to attend, or you want to join a platform (like The Office Management Portal) to support you, start to sketch out your reasons, objectives, outcomes, pros and cons (if any) for doing it. Present this in and amongst other successes and wins when the time comes either formally in an email or casually in a catch up, with all the facts ready to answer. These can be:

·        When

·        Why

·        How much (have you checked the budget already?)

·        How long

By doing this and having some handy notes prepared, you are ready to fight the good fight (and hopefully win!) And if the answer is no, get the answers you need as to why. If it’s a no, is it always a no and why might that be? Is there a way of meeting halfway with them or reviewing in 2-3 months’ time.

Be honest

If nothing else, be honest with your employer but more crucially yourself. Are you happy? Is this the right role for you and the right company? What is important to you in an employer, is it a positive working environment and successful business. What do you enjoy doing in your role and are you getting to do enough of it? How are the people you’re surrounded by?

If you’re not actually content in your role or the business, is it time to review and make some changes? This is not an easy step by any means, but given the amount of time spent at work and the cap being put on you and your career development, is it not worth at least exploring the option to move on?

So, what’s the advice for my manager?

And finally, you’ll note the title of this blog was advice for office managers and their managers – here’s my two pence worth if you are a line manager to anyone responsible for the running of the office.

Enable them to grow.

Empower them to learn and develop because the role is so crucial that without it, and without a capable, motivated individual doing it, things in the office simply won’t happen. That positive, productive and safe working environment won’t run how it should do. So, take care of them. Check in on them and ensure they are developed and mentored just like any other professional in your business. And the rest will happen rather naturally.

How do you feel about your line management and support as an office management professional? Or are you a business leader / line manager responsible for office management professionals – do you value and develop your staff? I’d love to hear from you!