The Role of the Administrative Professional in the Management of Complex Projects

Abstract

RESUMOComo uma profissão do tempo dos escribas, o secretariado se desenvolveu significativamente ao longo do tempo, contudo a pesquisa nesse campo parece não ter acompanhado o papel dos praticantes. Atualmente a especialização requerida do profissional de secretariado envolve não somente as habilidades que anteriormente caracterizavam seu trabalho mas também um conjunto de novas habilidades mais relacionadas com a administração da organização. Essas podem incluir mas não se limitam à viabilização de resultados que de forma geral inclui o envolvimento em gestão da mudança, criatividade e empreendedorismo, planos de aumento da produtividade, ações de corte de custos e gerenciamento de projetos. Devido à complexidade que caracteriza o ambiente de negócios e os projetos das empresas, este artigo busca investigar o papel do profissional de secretariado na gestão de projetos complexos. Como uma pesquisa exploratória, três casos foram estudados em empresas globais nas quais projetos complexos fazem parte de sua realidade e o profissional de secretariado existe oficialmente. Os resultados demonstram que o envolvimento desse profissional foi muito positivo para o desempenho do projeto devido à forma como ele forneceu suporte ao gerente do projeto e à equipe do projeto. Tanto as habilidades hard quanto as soft foram muito importantes para o desempenho do projeto, especialmente a comunicação, a negocição e a atitude. O secretariado executivo evoluiu de uma perspectiva operacional para uma estratégica. Para continuar crescendo na profissão o secretário precisa aprimorar seu conhecimento sobre gerenciamento de projetos.Palavras-chave: Profissional de Secretariado; Projetos Complexos; Gestão de Projetos. THE ROLE OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONAL IN THE MANAGEMENT OF COMPLEX PROJECTS ABSTRACTAs a profession that dates back the scribes' time, the secretariat has significantly evolved over time but research on this field seems not to follow the practitioners' role. Nowadays, the specialization required from the administrative professional involves not only the previously skills that for long time characterized the secretary's job but also a set of new ones that are more related to the organization's management. They may include but are not limited to enabling results in a wide sense as getting involved in change management, creativity and entrepreneurship, productivity increasing plans, cost cutting actions, and project management. Due to the complexity that characterizes the business environment and companies' projects, this article aims at investigating the role of the administrative professional in the management of complex projects. As an exploratory research, three case studies have been conducted with global companies in which complex projects are part of their reality and the administrative professional is officially existent. Findings show that the involvement of this professional has been very positive to project performance due to the way he supported the project manager and the project team. Both secretary's hard an...

Competences of the Executive Secretariat in project management

“…With respect to contextual skills of the project team, the results showed that the ES has yet to become better acquainted with these skills, corroborating the literature (Piscopo & Silveira, 2013). On the one hand, the general view of the ES, not being specialists in PM, were not expected to be perceived as having these skills.…”

“…We identified the following activities carried out by ES in PM, according to the perception of the project manager: teamwork, communication on multiple levels, problem solving, and people management. Corroborating the literature, communication is a strong competence of the ES (Piscopo & Silveira, 2013), and at the same time is one of the most cited reasons for failure in PM (Kerzner, 2017;Vezzoni et al, 2013). The activities related to the technical and contextual skills, although also identified as performed by the ES, showed a need to be better developed by the ES.…”

“…By studying the ES's performance in projects, Piscopo & Silveira (2013) revealed that the role and responsibilities of this professional should be set initially. ES who are inserted into complex projects provide support to managers and project teams, and contribute to a positive result, especially in the information flow and communication of projects studied.…”

“…Since the ES creates a link between the members of a company, it is believed that the skills and profile of this professional can contribute directly to the success of projects, improving many aspects of communication (Piscopo & Silveira, 2013), which is a factor of project failure (Kerzner, 2017;Vezzoni et al, 2013). However, the literature is still lacking in work to establish this association.…”

Analysis of the Role of BPK RI in Promoting Organizational Capacity Development of ASEANSAI in the Period 2018-2023

“…The secretariat provides support for the implementation of transparency, managing other initiatives quickly and effectively, deepening partnerships, and establishing new collaborations where necessary. Over time, the role of the secretariat in organizational capacity development has evolved from an administrative function to a strategic function (Ege, 2017;Trim, 2020;Hickmann et al, 2019;Bieńkowska, 2016;Mahoney & Deckop, 1986;Piscopo, M. R., & Silveira, F. F., 2013).…”