Office management has long since replaced the classic secretary role. Few job profiles are changing as much as that of the office manager. Work models are shifting with hybrid work and remote work, there are more and more tools, processes, and structures to understand, and wellbeing at work matters just as much as business factors. In this article, we look at what's expected of modern office management and what the most important DOs and DON'Ts are.

What are the traditional office management tasks?

Office managers used to have a primarily administrative role. Filing, organizing events, employee management, travel arrangements, billing, managing the office itself, hosting guests, ordering office supplies, just to name a few of the varied tasks involved.

Depending on a company's needs and focus, this could mean mostly secretarial tasks, but also other areas like marketing, event management, or administration.

The changing role of the office manager

Teams increasingly no longer sit in one place, and at the latest since the pandemic, remote teams and home office work have become everyday reality. Rising strain in the world of work has been the subject of various studies for years, and employee wellbeing has become a priority on the agenda at many companies, no longer just a footnote.

This is also changing office management's responsibilities, shifting toward more creative, shaping tasks. How can the office be made more "employee-friendly," what do individuals need for their wellbeing? How should workstations and the office itself be equipped, which processes and structures matter, where might potential conflicts arise?

Virtual office manager

As circumstances change, a new role is becoming increasingly important: virtual assistance, or virtual office management. What might sound like a contradiction at first: how can you manage a non-physical office, or how can an office or team be managed remotely? Leading from a distance is possible, and the office management role can be carried out entirely virtually too. For remote teams, this task might be even more important, since there's no physical office bringing all employees together, and communication works completely differently.

11 dos and don'ts in modern office management

Office management tasks in 2021 are complex and require diverse skills. Our dos and don'ts give you tips and ideas to work with, but given how varied the job is, they can only provide a rough overview, since many other points matter depending on the company and its requirements.

Account for the requirements of remote work and hybrid work

At the latest since the Covid pandemic, the days of teams working exclusively on-site in the office are over. Screen-based work can often be done from anywhere with a laptop and a working internet connection. Even after Covid, it's become clear that hybrid work is the work model of the future.

Modern office management needs to account for these new circumstances, through an office space designed to hold hybrid team events and calls, that makes in-office days as effective and pleasant as possible, and encourages exchange within the team. The use of tools also needs to adapt to these developments, maybe new tools or structures are needed (a room for virtual coffee breaks, for example), or old tools need replacing (traditional time-clock tracking no longer fits remote and hybrid teams).

Growth mindset instead of fixed mindset

The world of work, and many industries, are changing at breakneck speed, as is the workplace itself. Companies, teams, and individuals all face numerous challenges. Office managers stuck in a rigid, fixed mindset don't help companies, teams, and employees grow, solve problems, or navigate crises.

A growth mindset, on the other hand, focuses on growth, on accepting feedback and criticism and learning from it, and on enjoying change and lifelong development. This mindset isn't just essential in office management, it should also be conveyed to the team and practiced and encouraged through inspiration and challenges.

Focus on employee experience

In the past, it was mainly salary and other contract details that motivated employees to accept a job, or to switch or stay. Even though vacation days, salary, and benefits still play an important role, other factors often make the real difference, ones that affect wellbeing, motivation, and identification with a team and company.

Focusing purely on processes, efficiency, and administration is no longer enough. Office management also needs to keep a positive employee experience in focus. How is each individual doing, where might there be problems? How can the workday and workplace be made more pleasant for each individual? What's the relationship like between employees and managers? These are points an office manager needs to keep an eye on.

Inclusion and safe space

Inclusion isn't just a buzzword that's gotten more attention in recent months and years. It's a necessity in a modern company that values the wellbeing of all employees and wants to counter existing discrimination wherever possible.

Office management, therefore, also means being sensitive to these questions: is the office a safe space for everyone, free of racism, sexism, ableism, and other forms of discrimination? If incidents do occur, can affected people turn to someone? Especially in international teams, intercultural communication is an important factor too, which is exactly why it's on the agenda of the IHK office manager course.

Emotional intelligence

Beyond a wide range of skills, business knowledge, basic marketing knowledge, and familiarity with tools and processes, soft skills are also what make good office management. Sensing the mood within a team and how individuals are feeling, assessing it, and responding accordingly contributes a great deal to successful work and effective, satisfied teams.

Recognize and address problems early

This also means that emerging problems should never be ignored, but recognized and named so solutions can be found. High empathy and a sense for when individuals aren't feeling well, or when something in a project is at risk of going wrong, can nip potential disasters in the bud and find solutions.

Do employees seem unmotivated, is there frequent negative feedback from a client on a project, are deadlines constantly being missed, or are results unsatisfactory? Every signal should be taken seriously and investigated.

Mediating between all parties

Especially at larger companies and teams, bosses often don't have the time or capacity to engage directly with each individual. Interests between leadership and employees, requirements, expectations, and assessments sometimes diverge and carry potential for conflict.

Office managers stand between all parties, leadership, HR, employees, and so on, and mediate in case of conflict, talk to everyone involved, bring the right people together, and help find solutions.

Big picture thinking & prioritization

As important as accuracy is, a sense for the big picture is a valuable skill for all employees, and absolutely essential in office management. With such a large number of tasks and responsibilities, it's essential to be able to set priorities, and that's only possible if you keep the bigger goal in focus. Only then can the team also be reminded of the "bigger picture," of company values, mission, and business and value-based goals.

An eye for detail

Conscientiousness, combined with an eye on the big picture, and the ability to zoom into detail as well as zoom back out, are what make good office management. Not every task and project requires perfection, often "done is better than perfect," especially when it comes to efficiency and cost-effectiveness, but some tasks do require absolute precision, legal matters, for example.

Modern office managers, with their wide range of responsibilities, need to be able to distinguish between different requirements, and pass that distinction on to the team too. Where does the level of detail matter, and where does it block progress? Only this way can teams work professionally and effectively.

No micromanagement

One of the most important factors for employee satisfaction is the feeling that they're trusted and appreciated. Excessive control and micromanagement can seriously damage that feeling. As important as delegating tasks is, and keeping an overview of who's working on which projects and tasks, keeping an eye on timelines and deadlines and checking in when in doubt, an overly tight control system isn't appropriate in many cases.

A certain degree of personal responsibility and trust can be extended to all employees, even trainees and interns can be given small tasks to solve independently. Depending on the boss, office management can also help dissolve micromanagement at the leadership level, creating a more relaxed atmosphere within the team.

Automate and delegate tasks

The more tools there are, and the more tasks get added to the daily workload, the greater the risk of working inefficiently. Simple, repetitive tasks can often be automated, and new processes and tools make work easier and support productivity.

Staying flexible, questioning tasks and workflows, and finding and establishing new solutions is what modern office management is about. For business reasons, but also to maintain satisfaction within the team. Where can work be simplified, where can tasks be automated or delegated, freeing up space for individuals to take on more interesting, more responsible tasks?

heycater! supports wellbeing within your team

Modern office management isn't just administration, filing, and paperwork, with New Work and the demands of an attractive, healthy work environment, office managers' responsibilities have grown too. Wellbeing within a company can be boosted through a wide range of measures, from delegating responsibility to encouraging team building activities to rewarding and appreciating employees.

Wellbeing within teams is one of the most important topics for us at heycater!. Healthy nutrition, mental wellbeing, and team cohesion are more important than ever in 2021. That's why we focus on the small and big things that help teams grow together and stay motivated. In the Marketplace, you'll find everything from complete team events to home office care packages, everything you need to reward, motivate, and unite your team.

Did this article inspire you? Feel free to share it with colleagues or managers, maybe you can implement some of these tips to further boost wellbeing at your company through team-oriented office management.