Table of Contents
Want your boss to think you’re a miracle worker?
Benefits of Improving Productivity
Realistic Time Management for You AND the Boss
Improve Organization with AI Tools
Seamless Collaboration: Empowering Administrative Professionals
Achieve Pinpoint Accuracy with These AI Tools
Accessible 24/7/365 from Anywhere
Reduced Paperwork and Clutter
Six Must-Have Tools to Get You Ahead
Mail Forwarding: Digitize Your Mail with a Virtual Mailbox and Scanning Services
Task Management Software: Streamline Admin Tasks
Document Collaboration Tools: Teamwork Is Fun Again
Office Mail and Email Management Apps: Efficient Inbox Organization
Virtual Meeting Platforms: Facilitating Communication and Collaboration
Virtual Assistant/AI-Powered Tools: Automating the Mundane Tasks
Hey Admins: Rock at Your Day Job with these 46 AI Prompts!
The Takeaway
Learn how new artificial intelligence tools can help you impress the boss with stuff like managing office mail with a virtual mailbox and virtual address, enhancing efficiency, improving organization, enabling seamless collaboration, ensuring pinpoint accuracy, and supporting realistic time management for administrative professionals.
#Want your boss to think you’re a miracle worker?
That YOU are the administrative assistant who can sort the office mail plus tackle more than the job description with time to spare? Of course, you do. Who wouldn’t want their manager to think they walk on water?! The fact is that today there are more artificial intelligence tools than ever to assist administrative professionals in their daily tasks. Use these 46 AI prompts to keep yourself and your manager on task and productive.
Benefits of Improving Productivity
You know the reality of your business and your position within the company. You understand that every day brings some new and some repetitive tasks. You get the boss. Let’s also say, for the sake of this blog, that you’re a conscientious employee who cares about the quality of the work product and the positive image of the company. (Otherwise, you probably won’t be reading this!)
First, consider the benefits of having artificial intelligence on your side. How will your newfound productivity and organization benefit you and your business?
Realistic Time Management: For You AND the Boss
Unless you’re working overseas in a far-flung locale such as Spain or Greece (well, far-flung from Detroit anyway) where it’s culturally acceptable to be constantly late or miss deadlines, you’ll want to get a handle on your – and your boss’s – time management. Look for features like task prioritization, reminders, and scheduling, productivity tools like the ones mentioned here help administrative professionals effectively balance their many daily duties. They can allocate resources efficiently, meet deadlines, and achieve a better work-life balance. Top reviewed software includes Harvest, BambooHR, and BigTime.
Improve Organization with AI Tools
When people see piles of paper strewn across a desk, they don’t think “organized chaos. That person must be very creative.” They see a mess. Even worse, they might see a disorganized mess. Which is never copacetic in an organization that prides itself on staying…organized. 😬 That’s why we’ve done our due diligence on the tools suggested for managing tasks, schedules, documents, and communications while prioritizing and tracking your work so nothing slips through the cracks.
Seamless Collaboration: Empowering Administrative Professionals
The ability to work and play well with others has always topped employers’ wish lists when it comes to positions that interact across the organization. Put another way: if two heads are better than one, it stands to reason that three people can deliver an even more impressive product. Leverage productivity tools – like Slack, Proofhub, or Google Docs – that offer collaboration features to facilitate seamless communication and teamwork. You’ll be able to share documents, delegate tasks, track progress, and more.
Achieving Pinpoint Accuracy with AI Tools
There’s nothing worse than getting called out in public for an error. While AI can help, it’s really the work of automation tools that feature advanced productivity tools programmed to minimize errors and ensure accuracy in administrative tasks. At this stage, AI can’t be trusted to check its own facts. From proofreading documents to managing data, tools such as Grammarly, FactCheck.org, or Google’s Fact Check Tools provide checks and balances to enhance accuracy and overall quality.
Access Work 24/7/365 from Anywhere
Cloud-based tools give administrative professionals access to their work so they can collaborate anywhere from Starbucks to the Spanish Steps. This flexibility provides convenience and enables remote work scenarios too. If your workplace doesn’t have cloud access, here are some good ones to investigate: Hostwinds.com, Cloudways.com, or the uber-ubiquitous Drop Box.
Important note: As much as this blog glorifies the ability to work anywhere, anytime – we also recognize the need for work-life balance and highly recommend a good meditation session or yoga class to stay in peak mental health. Ask Siri – the AI you already know – and she’ll hook you up with a five-star rated studio near you!
Reduced Paperwork and Clutter
By digitizing documents and centralizing information, productivity tools help minimize paperwork and physical clutter too. Administrative professionals can enjoy a clutter-free workspace, find information easily, and contribute to a more sustainable work environment. The ultimate goal is for your office to no longer require a recycling bin because it’s completely paperless!
Six Must-Have Tools to Get You Ahead
Enough of the commercial. Whether you’re an admin or a manager, there’s no need for a full-court press to improve productivity for the whole team. As we’ve seen, quite literally everybody benefits. Let’s drill down to it and talk specifics. Here’s what to pitch the boss:
Mail Management: Digitize Your Mail with a Virtual Business Address and Mail Scanning Services
There are only two words to describe how a virtual business address with mail forwarding and scanning affects your workload: game changing. The days of checking the ol’ P.O. box twice a day have gone the way of Sunday delivery. Companies like US Global Mail now arrange a virtual business address for your company with a physical address. That means no P.O. box or long lines at USPS. Your mail is forwarded to a centralized location within the United States and scanned for secure access and sorting. Your virtual business address serves as a layer of privacy and convenience for your company.
Admins can conveniently view and manage all mail items online (including packages) from anywhere – saving hours every week. Moreover, US Global Mail takes mail forwarding a step further by providing mail scanning services too! Their high-quality scans allow administrative assistants to quickly review, search, and forward important documents electronically. They’ll even deposit checks at the bank for you!
Note: US Global Mail provides enterprise customers with a physical business address that accepts incoming mail and packages. Their facilities are located in California, Texas, and New York.
Task Management Software: Streamlining Admin Jobs
Online, cloud-based tools like Trello, Asana, and Monday.com provide administrative professionals with a centralized platform to manage and track tasks, set deadlines, collaborate with team members, and prioritize work effectively. Get to know the software with free trials and don’t forget to read reviews for yourself!
Document Collaboration Tools: Teamwork is Fun Again
Platforms like Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), Microsoft 365, or Dropbox Paper enable real-time collaboration on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Administrative professionals can team up with colleagues, make edits, provide feedback, and ensure overall smooth document management.
Office Mail and Email Management Apps: Efficient Inbox Organization
Most people get so much email and office mail now that they could literally spend the entire day sorting and replying to the important ones. (Some people do just that!) The rest of those emails either get read in due time or relegated straight to the sticky abyssal that is your trashcan.
Applications like Spark, Microsoft Outlook, and Gmail’s advanced features can help admins efficiently manage multiple email accounts. Features such as email filtering, prioritizing, color-coding, snoozing, reminders, and smart organization, allow admins to stay on top of important messages and reduce email overload.
Virtual Meeting Platforms: Facilitating Communication and Collaboration
The pandemic introduced many of us former office dwellers to tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet that have since become essential for remote or hybrid work environments. Admins can schedule and host virtual meetings, share screens, collaborate on documents, and even record sessions to facilitate smooth communication and more efficient collaboration. Of course, you can always just use these tools to have a simple conversation with a coworker, too.
Virtual Assistant/AI-Powered Tools: Automating the Mundane Tasks
Virtual assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, or Amazon’s Alexa, as well as AI-powered chatbots or voice-activated AI platforms, can assist admins with tasks such as scheduling appointments, setting reminders, retrieving information, and managing calendars. Recent leaps and bounds in artificial intelligence also put tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT at your disposal. The limits to what you can accomplish using artificial intelligence are only now being tested. These tools can help you streamline administrative processes and boost productivity by automating your most mundane tasks.
Hey Admins: Rock at Your Day Job with these 36 AI Prompts!
If you’re using artificial intelligence on the job, you should develop a basic understanding of how to prompt the AI for intelligent, accurate(ish) responses. While these ideas and prompts were curated specifically for administrative assistants, everyone in a business environment can benefit from some productivity tips on how to drive their friendly neighborhood AI.
According to ChatGPT and the New York Times, these are some of the most useful questions administrative professionals can ask an artificial intelligence. Remember that these are only prompts and that you will have to input additional information when you want specifics.
For example, if you ask the first question: How can I create an effective work plan for myself – you’ll want the AI to understand the work you do and how long each task will occupy your attention. After the AI responds to your prompt, ask your follow-up questions and include new information in the thread below your initial question. Since this is artificial intelligence, it will pick up on what you’re trying to do and adjust its output to your new parameters.
- How can I create an effective work plan?
- What strategies should I use to stay organized?
- How can I best manage my time?
- How do I complete a task efficiently?
- What are some tips for good communication?
- What techniques should I use to prioritize tasks?
- What ideas can I use to increase productivity?
- What are the best practices for scheduling?
- How do I effectively delegate tasks?
- How can I manage conflict in the workplace?
- Write a professional email template for use in communicating with clients and colleagues.
- Create a comprehensive schedule for the executive’s daily tasks and appointments.
- Write a list of FAQs and answers for the executive to use in meetings.
- Develop a system for tracking and managing the boss’ expenses.
- Write a memo template for use in communicating important information within the company.
- Create a database of important contacts and information for the executive.
- Write a script for the executive’s next presentation or meeting.
- Develop a method for prioritizing and organizing the executive’s inbox.
- Write a letter of introduction for the executive to use when meeting new clients or colleagues.
- Create a standard format for creating reports and presentations for the executive.
- Write a sample email response for handling difficult client inquiries.
- Develop a process for scheduling and conducting conference calls and video meetings.
- Write a letter of recommendation for a former employee or colleague.
- Create a system for organizing and storing important company documents.
- Write a brief guide for new employees on working with the executive.
- Develop a method for tracking the executive’s goals and progress.
- Write a professional out-of-office email for the executive to use when traveling or unavailable.
- Create a database of local restaurants and services for use when traveling with the executive.
- Write a sample follow-up email for use after important meetings or discussions.
- Develop a system for managing the executive’s personal and work calendars.
- Write a letter of congratulations for a colleague or employee on their recent success.
- Create a process for arranging and coordinating business travel for the executive.
- Write a professional email to decline a job offer or business proposal.
- Develop a method for keeping track of important deadlines and due dates.
- Write a letter of thanks to a client or colleague for their support or partnership.
- Give me a professional out-of-office email that lets people know I’ll be at a leadership conference. Tell them I will respond to them when I get back.[i]
The Takeaway
We live in one of the most thrilling “ages of exploration” since humankind first perambulated their hunting and gathering, loincloth-wearing behinds out of the East African rift. Every day technology makes advances that improve our lives in ways we didn’t even know needed to be improved. Maybe in ways we never fathomed.
The chattering classes can’t stop worrying that artificial intelligence will be a job killer, but that’s truly a myopic view. Sure, there is a list of hypothetical professions in danger of becoming obsolete (including mine!) but that’s been true since the invention of the wheel. Every professional can leverage artificial intelligence to improve processes and enhance many other aspects of their lives.
In these early days, artificial intelligence can be a boon to everyone including administrative professionals.
Use your new power wisely.
[i] https://boldly.com/blog/the-best-chatgpt-prompts-for-executive-assistants/#automated-responses
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