Administrative efficiency is key to a positive and well-run higher education system. School administrators are the main points of contact and are responsible for running the behind-the-scenes meetings, tasks and information smoothly and efficiently. With so many tasks and stakeholders involved in an administrator's day, streamlining their responsibilities to ensure they’re not bogged down with smaller tasks is crucial so they can focus on the projects that really matter. With that in mind, it is important to equip admin with the skills, knowledge and resources they need in order to excel in their position.
Most importantly, higher-ed administrators need support when it comes to maintaining personable and efficient communication. As communication internally and externally becomes increasingly digital, it is imperative to know what resources are available to stay organized and how to be time-efficient when scheduling and managing others' time as well as their own.
Dedicate Time to Plan Your Day
A higher-ed administrator’s day can become overwhelming if prioritization of tasks isn’t front and center. In order to master time management, block out sections on the calendar to complete tasks. A calendar’s job isn't just to show meetings for the day, it can also be leveraged to set reminders and designate time for items that should be completed throughout the day, week, or month.
Utilizing a calendar to its fullest extent, allows you to stay organized, productive and streamlined. If you block out 10-20 minutes in the morning to schedule tasks, later in the day during important meetings, your mind won’t wander to all of the smaller tasks you need to complete. Claim time back by designating timeblocks on your calendars as a reminder to complete tasks such as making phone calls, sending emails or updating documents. During these timeframes, you can also pause their inbox and other notifications in order to fully focus on the task for the amount of time allotted.
Efficiently Schedule Meetings
A main part of an administrator's role is to schedule and manage others' time. Departments, staff, students and external partners rely on the administration to accurately and efficiently schedule events and meetings for the benefit of the school. It can be difficult and time consuming to juggle so many dates, times, locations and attendees, but if the right technology is utilized, the institution can run without a hitch.
In today’s digital environment almost everything is scheduled over email. Whether you are meeting a person virtually or in person, locking down a time can be difficult. You could send multiple time-slots that work for the institution, yet that doesn’t guarantee any of those slots will work for the recipient. This ultimately leads to endless back and forths and takes up chunks of time that could have been dedicated elsewhere.
A study from the University of California found it takes over 20 minutes to refocus after an interruption. Administrators want to use tools that encourage efficient communication and don't require them or the recipient to break out of their workflows. With an increase in hybrid work, workers across industries are receiving more email than ever before. Prioritizing tech tools that make meeting scheduling easier for both the sender and the recipient will help foster stronger relationships between both parties and increase the likelihood of a meeting getting scheduled in the first place. Operational efficiency is key to the success and features are available to take the pain out of scheduling, such as allowing your calendar to be available in the body of any email, for easy access.
Provide Administrators with Tools to Succeed
Higher-ed administrators are heavily relied upon by all aspects of the institution as well as external participants. By taking time at the beginning of the day to align administrative goals, you will be able to more efficiently utilize their time throughout the day. Leveraging technology and integrating new softwares can significantly help you stay organized when juggling multiple tasks and schedules at once. Knowing what resources are available to prioritize time-efficiency in the growing digital environment will ultimately help you succeed in the long run.
Aye Moah is CEO and co-founder of Boomerang.