Skills, Skills and More Skills

Ever heard the expression ' I got skills.'? It's a slang term in some cultures. But, nowhere is it more important to solidify and know your skills than in our profession. (Well, maybe a brain surgeon needs skills.)

The point is- and this comes back to certification- What do you know. Even more so.. what can you do. For example, I know Excel. I can answer moderately difficult questions on the timed test provided at agencies. What can I do? Well, it's like any foreign language.. if you don't use it.. you lose it.

My punctuation.. is always unorthodox and incorrect in this blog because I write very much like I speak to my peers. In a work setting.. this is not great. It has caused me to revisit my grammar texts and contact peers to help me remember some of these old rules I have forgotten.

One skill I do know I have- is communication. I can write and I speak in public a great deal.
I can answer alot of the exam questions for Certification- but.. would I be able to put them to use in every day work. I have DEFINITELY been tested on this when it comes to filing methods... being consistent with labeling and filing styles.

I think for administrative staff.. more and more - management is relying on us for our organizational skills. We need to know how to find things fast, make documents consistent and grammatically correct quickly and be able to track an answer down for our supervisor while we have them on their cell from the road.

Consistency is a challenge for me. What is your challenge? I've posted a poll on the site to see what skill do you think is most important. For DC area admins, I think Political Savvy wins by a landslide. We'll see if you agree.