Being a Better Office Manager, part one

“The right person in the right role, given the right tools and the right encouragement, is a key to good management.”    —Ted W. Engstrom

Of the many responsibilities encountered in your professional life, none is more challenging than developing management skills—those skills enabling you to effectively supervise others.

During your first days in the church office, it is likely you were responsible only for producing your own work. You were given assignments and you did them.

As office manager you move from the supervision of work to the supervision of people. Besides maintaining excellent technical skills, you must exercise supervisory talent as well.

• the position
A person who supervises others is in a management position. This position should be reflected in title, authority, and salary. The supervisory role should be clear cut.

Basics you as supervisor must know: the limit of your authority, the decisions you may make, and the assignments you may give.

Equip yourself with an up-to-date position description. In some churches, the ministry assistant serves as an unofficial office manager. Making that position official is a positive step toward more effective office management.

The single most important thing a minister can do to make the manager’s efforts more productive is to validate the position. Making a personal announcement to the staff, acknowledging the title of office manager, and giving the manager sufficient authority to back up the responsibilities of the job are starting places for this validation.

• the authority
Establishing the limits of your authority means you will know without question what kinds of decisions you may make, what kinds of assignments you may give, what funds you may use, and what commitments you may make. You will know clearly who is to answer to you and to whom you must answer.

Make a list of any questionable areas that occur to you as you work this week. Then, make an appointment to go over the list with your supervisor. Items that might need clarification: May I contract for overload help? May I give someone an afternoon off? May I arrange a short-term change in a coworker’s hours? May I have the work stations moved?

The most effective managers know not only the boundaries of their authority, they are comfortable using that authority to the limits available.

 • in the middle
As office manager you represent your supervisor to the support staff, while also representing the support staff to the supervisor. Your role calls for you to be both a sender and receiver of instructions, information, criticisms, and praise. You are a communication hub.

As you function as the middle person, a sensitive spirit and a genuine concern for the work of the church will keep you on track. The human element you bring to the job, what you are, is every bit as important as what you know.

• walking the talk
This is another way of saying “practice what you preach.” If what you do doesn’t support what you say, you are worse off than if you hadn’t said anything about performance at all.

As office manager, you can be sure others notice how you perform.Your professionalism paves the way for others to accept your leadership. Talking about excellence is never enough; leaders must lead. By example you show those you supervise the standard of work expected, the importance of every task, and the value of working together as a team. To lead the team to be punctual, the manager must be punctual. To lead the team to be conscientious, the manager must be conscientious. And so it goes. The manager must walk the talk.

• management principles
Becoming a manager is much like becoming a parent. It is both a science and an art. First you learn the science by taking courses, reading, and using Internet resources. Only then are you equipped to begin gaining the experience that will teach the art of parenthood—or the art of management. You learn best by doing, but you will always do better if first you become familiar with the principles.

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To read part two: CLICK HERE.

To read part three: CLICK HERE