Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing: User's Guide

Mavis Beacon TeachesTyping 12
Exercise 10
Should you gain employment in an office as part of the office support staff, you may not always
take part in the actual “business” of a business meeting, but your work is vital to its success.
Secretaries or administrative assistants who work closely with executives in charge of business
meetings have extra responsibilities, and often have to take charge of important aspects of these
events.
Preparation for the conference might include offering alternatives for when and where the meeting
will take place, confirming any guest speakers, checking that all who are expected to or desire to
attend know the necessary details, and perhaps even helping prepare visual aids for the
presentation.
It is during the meeting itself that the term “support staff” really comes to life. An efficient
assistant is always ready to make sure this event comes off successfully. The duties here might
include readying the hall or conference room (Do the people attending need paper? Pens?
Individual pitchers of water?) and even greeting the guests as they arrive. The assistant should be
ready to give an account of whom attended.
Follow-up after the meeting depends on the executive in charge. The room or hall must return to
its original condition, and the assistant tends to the further comfort of the attendees. Follow-up
correspondence and a financial report of the meeting’s expenses are also jobs the assistant may
perform. As you can see, in business as well as architecture, without support, the “structure” will
fall!
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