Administrative assistants and secretaries are both essential roles within an organisation. However, while some of their responsibilities overlap, their roles are considerably different.
What is the difference between an admin assistant and a secretary?
A secretary is clerical and their role involves tasks such as transcription, typing up documents, copying and call handling, mainly supporting the admin assistant. Whereas an admin assistant is more of a decision-maker and will typically work independently, covering the responsibilities of a secretary while having the responsibility of projects.
Therefore, an admin assistant's role extends further than clerical tasks and will have the ability to make judgments and decisions.
The most prominent difference is that an administrative assistant will supervise other team members. They will also have responsibility for arranging conferences, reviewing reports, memos, and submissions. Some admin assistants may even be tasked to prepare statistical reports.
What are the responsibilities of an admin assistant?
Here are 10 of the most common tasks that an admin assistant will regularly do:
- Processing new business
- Correspondance with clients and providers
- Research
- Document production
- The first point of contact for the business
- Data entry
- Schedule and create agendas for meetings
- Bookkeeping
- Create the spreadsheets that secretaries use
- Management of long-term projects
What are the responsibilities of a secretary?
Here are 10 of the most common tasks that a secretary will regularly do:
- Answering calls and redirecting them where necessary
- Diary and appointment management
- Preparing memos and forms
- Filing and updating employee information
- Travel management for the business
- Taking control of regular receptionist tasks
- Ensuring the office has essential supplies
- Document expense forms
- Typing, preparing and collating reports
- Implementing new business procedures
How are their roles changing?
The modern workplace has evolved dramatically and is only looking to evolve further. Admin assistants and secretaries are at the heart of this. Their tasks have moved online and the day of paperwork and filing cabinets are a thing of the past.
To be skilled in these roles, you need to be moving with the times. Whether it's being fully trained on Microsoft Excel or being able to effectively maintain relationships remotely, the admin assistants and secretaries of today have faced a big learning curve.
They are now a remote, virtual powerhouse, embracing the freedom working from home offers whilst maintaining a productive, professional relationship with the executive or executives they are able to support thanks to modern technology.
Read more about the changing landscape for executive assistants.
Are admin assistants and secretaries transitioning to remote working?
Businesses both small and large are increasingly adopting the remote working strategy into their model. The benefits are experienced by both employers and employees alike.
A recent survey noted that 56% of companies allow remote working globally, of which 16% are fully remote & 40% are hybrid; the hybrid system being the most popular. This is becoming increasingly popular with admin assistants as we have seen with the spike in virtual assistants.
A virtual assistant is the same as an admin assistant, providing administrative services, however, will conduct their work outwith the office environment. A virtual assistant often works from home or anywhere suitable, making them a useful, flexible resource for many companies.
