Today’s Administrative Professionals Challenged By Demanding Bosses And Technologies According To Quill Study

Almost 30 percent of administrative professionals are asked to make coffee and keep the breakroom clean, while about 13 percent manage executive calendars and/or correspondence. Just less than two percent of administrative professionals surveyed are asked to run personal errands for their bosses. One office administrator surveyed indicated that she “orders tickets for sporting events, manages her boss’children’s activities and maintains his auto.”

Almost 80 percent of administrative professionals believe that e-mail has been a positive impact on their productivity. Three-quarters of those surveyed think that e-mail “allows me to communicate quickly and with a wide audience,” while just over 71 percent appreciate the fact that they can respond to e-mail messages “at a time convenient to me.” Other positive attributes of e-mail that enhance productivity include avoiding lengthy phone conversations (69 percent) and making it easier to communicate with co-workers and managers (51 percent).

On the other hand, 56 percent of administrative professionals believe that trivial e-mail messages (spam), wastes their time. Nearly 35 percent feel that e-mail adds pressure to the job since it creates expectations that an instant response is required, which correlates to the 23 percent who indicate that e-mail causes them to stop work frequently to reply to these messages.

One of the most telling drawbacks to the growth of e-mail communication are the number of administrative professionals who think that e-mail reduces the one-on-one time she can spend with her boss, as well as her computer becoming a “dumping ground”for messages (complaints) that no one else in the office wants to handle.

When it comes to managing e-mails, 45 percent constantly check for new e-mails, 28 percent set aside a period of time each day to handle e-mail, while 25 percent use an auto notify function and only open e-mails that seem to be a priority.

While plagued with a flow of their own e-mail each day, almost 10 percent of administrative professionals told Quill that they provide e-mail support to more than four other people, while 15 percent manage e-mail for two to four other people. About 17 percent of administrative professionals support e-mails for themselves and one other person. The majority (56 percent) manage only their own e-mail.

Disruptions as productivity killers

As if e-mail disruptions were not bad enough, more than 41 percent of administrative professionals responding to the Quill survey indicated that their work is disrupted at least once a week when their company’s computer equipment/IT experience problems. More than five percent experience computer problems daily. The good news is that 45 percent do not attribute productivity drops to these technology-related problems.

On a scale of one to five (with <“one” for improving productivity and “five” for reducing productivity), administrative professionals were asked to rate how various interruptions impacted their productivity. According to their responses, the greatest time wasters were e-mails from coworkers (2.7 average) and visits or e-mails from supervisors (2.7 average). Disruptions scoring a neutral average of score of about three were meetings, phone calls, visits from co-workers and outside phone calls.

About Quill Corporation

Founded in 1956 and headquartered in Lincolnshire, IL, Quill Corporation is the nation’s premier business-to-business direct marketer of office products, custom printing, furniture and technology supplies. Quill maintains 11 regional distribution centers, located strategically throughout the United States, to facilitate fast delivery. Renowned for its outstanding customer service, Quill serves customers through direct marketing, telemarketing, outside sales and online at www.quill.com. Introduced in 1996, Quill.com was one of the first successful web sites launched in the office products industry and is consistently ranked as one of the best online merchants by Bizrate.com. Quill Corporation has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Staples, Inc., since 1998.