What Is the Importance of Good Communication Skills to an Administrative Office Manager?

At work, everyone turns to the admin office manager at one time or another. Whether it's to order new supplies for the office, provide help with understanding a company policy or procedure, or teach someone how to operate a piece of equipment, a successful administrative office manager uses her communication skills to convey her ideas successfully.

The administrative office manager is at the hub of a smooth-running office. Everyone in the organization interacts with her eventually. One of her key strengths is the ability to communicate with everyone in the organization's structure, regardless of position or title. She respects individual viewpoints and has developed the means to communicate easily across all cultures and backgrounds. People feel at ease when they come to her with a problem.

The admin office manager often coordinates a variety of supportive services for the entire office. She might oversee or manage clerical or administrative staff, plan budgets, coordinate special events, manage travel arrangements or oversee the maintenance of office equipment. These duties require her to interface with multiple internal customers or suppliers outside the organization. Her savvy and perceptive communication skills help her transmit her needs and ideas to all these people when needed. Because of her responsibilities, her good communication skills are at the heart of what she does.

The office manager is the go-to person to help solve issues that arise. While it's important for her to know how to talk to workers at all levels, her ability to listen and interpret others' needs is paramount. Her listening skills help her ask the right questions to get clarification. Because she might assign tasks or duties to clerical or administrative staff, she must first understand the parameters of what needs to be done to communicate this effectively to her staff. Her excellent communication skills help her provide the appropriate instructions so the staff can successfully complete their duties.

In addition to her excellent verbal communication skills, an administrative office manager communicates just as clearly through emails, memos or letters. She has developed clarity in her written communications and doesn't ramble or provide unneeded information. Her written communication is open and direct. She avoids using terminology that people will misunderstand and knows all the protocols of written communications, including formats and styles, and whom to include on written notes.

Administrative services managers earned a median annual salary of $90,050 in 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On the low end, administrative services managers earned a 25th percentile salary of $66,180, meaning 75 percent earned more than this amount. The 75th percentile salary is $120,990, meaning 25 percent earn more. In 2016, 281,700 people were employed in the U.S. as administrative services managers.