How do you handle/manage your administration in your business?

Administration is the glue that holds your business together. Yet this aspect of business is often neglected by leaders. As a business leader the way that you organize your administrative responsibilities, your systems and your facilities reflect the importance that you place on them.

• You are a role model for your staff, and you do not want to waste time and effort dealing with administrative duties that should be handled properly first time or delegated to someone else. 
• The time you and your staff spend retrieving information and data should be minimal.
• Your staff should develop desk files detailing the procedures of all their key administration processes.
• These desk files are an excellent resource for training new staff and for capturing organizational knowledge. This responsibility can be written into position descriptions.
• Have an overall understanding of all the business administration systems so that, if necessary, you can retrieve information as required when key staff are away from work.

‘Lean’ methodologies that originated in Toyota are used by many businesses to streamline operational and administration processes.

Ensure that you have up-to-date, relevant information from your state/country’s regulatory offices and have applied it correctly.

Simplify and organize your administrative systems, de-clutter your environment, then concentrate on those activities that add the most value to your business.

Some aspects you should be considering are:

• Minimize workplace risk with a facilities and business equipment checking process
• Develop a digital strategy for both hardware and software
• Have a document control system
• Have a yearly planner to organize key events
• Comply with business legislation and any relevant occupational and/or professional standards
• Comply with your country/state occupational health, safety and well-being legislation.