Between Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd February 2022, Administrative Assistants in Landmark University had a two-day in-house training themed, “Maintaining Relevance as University Administrative Assistants”, organized by the Registry of Landmark University to further strengthen its administrative base.

Declaring the two-day training open, Landmark University acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Charity Aremu appreciated the proprietor base which has given Landmark University a platform to operate and also the Registry for coming up with the special training which she described as apt. She enjoined all the Administrative Assistants to maximize the opportunity Landmark University had given them for the development and building of relevant skills. The Ag. Vice-Chancellor who described training as an activity that involves persons who impact knowledge and participants who acquire knowledge for better performance urged the participants to make the most of the training. 

The Registrar, Miss Adefunke Fola Oyinloye enthused that the training is inspired by the passion to build capacity for the administrative assistants on their job for effective service delivery. She expressed her delight over the crops of facilitators for the training. According to her, they comprised members of staff who have over the years learned from their leaders. She encouraged the Administrative Assistants to be open-minded to learn, unlearn and re-learn in order to build required skills and knowledge that would guarantee their relevance on the job. “Any Organization that will not train its workforce is at its own detriment. Before you know what is happening, you think you are still there but you are no longer there. So open your heart to this training, glean everything you can from it because you don’t know the level of your next assignment and what it will demand of you”, she advised.  

The Chair, Local Organising Committee of the Training and Head of Corporate and Public Affairs (HCPA) Mr Olugbenga Olajide, a Senior Assistant Registrar, in his presentation titled, “Towards Becoming a Professional University Administrator: The Place of Communication Skills”, stated that communication is vital to actualizing the good service delivery goal of every forward-looking institution. “No one probably needs communication skills more than the professional administrators who play a significant role in the affairs of the University as they are most often fully in charge or collaboratively involved in all the institutional service windows”, he said. 

In another presentation titled “Time Management: A Panacea for Administrative Incompetence and Redundancy”, Assistant Registrar Samuel Dare, identified setting smart goals, task prioritization, setting time to complete a task, organization and planning as some of the tips for effective time management while poor workflow, wasted time, poor reputation and poor quality of work among others could be some of the implications of poor time management. 

The Head, Human Resources, Assistant Registrar Toba Adekanye, emphasized the importance of attitude to productivity in his presentation titled, “The Relevance of Attitude to Productivity in a University Workplace”. Mr Adekanye revealed that workers with good attitudes perform excellently, while workers with poor attitudes exhibit low performance.  

The Head of Admissions, Assistant Registrar Oluwabunmi Hassan, who spoke on “Understanding the Roles and Demands of a Good Front Desk Officer: Landmark University Perspective”, noted that a front desk officer is often the first point of contact a person will meet at any organization. Hence, organizations usually expect that the front desk officer maintains calm, courteous and professional conduct at all times, regardless of the visitor's behaviour. 

Other presentations include, “The Administrative Assistant of the 21st Century: The Place of Etiquettes”, delivered by the Sub Dean, Directorate of Student Affairs, Assistant Registrar Oladayo Ibitoye who emphasized the significance of ettiquetes in building competence which not only endeared them to their senior colleagues but also make them stand out among colleagues as well as from others in a competitive job market. 

Mr. Emmanuel Adeoti who presented on “Leveraging ICT Towards Becoming an Efficient and Effective Administrative Assistant”, stated that knowledge of ICT creates new opportunities especially in administration to make process much easier, faster and cheaper. He enjoined them to acquire skills in relevant software such as Microsoft office word, excel and powerpoints among others for effective time management, elimination or reduction of paper work, space management, reduction of transportation cost, avoidance of duplication and less manpower engagement.

In his presentation, Mr. Opeyemi Onaolapo harped on the importance of being a team player with the topic “Becoming an Indispensible Team Player: An Espouse on the Requisite Skills”. According to him, “the ability to be a productive member of a team is vital in almost every occupation. This is the reason that the ability to collaborate and cooperate has become an indispensable skill”.

Miss Apata Ruth, also an Assistant Registrar presented on “The Significance of Interpersonal Skills to Administrative Assistants in a University Environment”. She identified self-confidence, improved verbal communication, non-verbal communication and listening skills, team players, leadership skills, positive attitude, reliability and respectfulness as some of the benefits of developing interpersonal skills.  

The eight special presentations featured in the two days training were expected to equip members of staff in the Administrative Assistant cadre with the relevant skills and build their capacity towards rendering quality and excellent service to the University thereby gaining relevance and setting standards. Also, there were different sessions of questions and answers which availed participants the privilege to ask relevant questions as related to their work demands.