How does your usual day look?
First, coffee! Each day is completely different. My days involve anything from strategic planning, reporting, training new and existing administration staff, HR and recruitment, overseeing the administration workflow across the four offices and anything else in between.
How did you start your career in commercial real estate and administration?
I worked in legal administration for five years prior to pursuing my career in real estate. I joined the Northern Corridor Group in 2014 as Chris Massie’s personal assistant - a role I enjoyed for four years, before transitioning into the group executive assistant role.
What do you enjoy most about being at Ray White Commercial? What makes Ray White Commercial different?
I don't have experience with other agencies to compare to, however, when I first joined the Ray White family, I was warmly welcomed by not only my particular office but by the corporate team as well. I always feel that I can rely on anyone within the network for support when needed.
I also love the recent Facebook Workplace forum created by Nina Clarke from our corporate team. It is a really great space for us to collaborate with like-minded admin experts. Everyone in the forum is so genuine and always offering assistance to any questions, whether that be giving advice or simply sharing their learnings or wins!
Tell me about one of the most efficient processes you use to keep your office running?
A major part of my role is working closely with our admin superstars on a daily basis; it's hugely important for our team to maintain an even capacity in workload to maximise team efficiency, performance and productivity. Recently we started utilising Asana (project management software) which I've found great so far. It has assisted us in identifying workflow capacity, allowing me to delegate tasks to other staff members when needed which in turn allows everyone to work as effectively as possible across the group. Having a clear view of what tasks each admin has to do has really enabled a more cohesive effort across all our offices.
What’s the one thing you know now, that you wish you knew when you first started out?
Strive for progress, not perfection and just start! In my role, I am always reviewing where we are right now vs where I want to be individually and where I would love our office to be in the next few weeks, months or years. Obviously, as we excel the “expectation” bar keeps getting higher and sometimes feels like we never “get there” but if you stop for a minute to look at how far you have come then it's easy to see that you have hit some incredible milestones and that we are always growing and bettering ourselves.
How do you feel the role of administrators will change in the future?
I personally feel that the role of the administrator in an office has a huge impact on whether or not an agent/office is successful. That might sound a little unusual but I truly believe that behind every successful agent is a great administrator who has contributed to their success. Not only that but I think clients still want that ‘personal touch’ and communication style from a ‘real’ person that sometimes isn't possible with a virtual assistant. So I guess the change in the future is agents understanding the impact having a great administrator will have for them and their team. Opportunities are endless with the right support!
CONTACT
Email: shayna.kirk@raywhite.com
Phone: 0433574694
