There’s always something new to learn, and luckily, you don’t have to be enrolled in a degree-track program to take stimulating Office Manager training courses. These online and in-person training selections offer something to help any Office Manager’s career flourish—whether they’re looking to refine a specific skill or boost their well-rounded arsenal of office skills.
The online and in-person selections we’ve outlined below cover a variety of skill areas Office Managers can develop and refine to become leaders at their companies. To make sure there’s something for every Office Manager, we’ve selected courses that cover both highly specific skills and the general, well-rounded skill sets every Office Manager should develop.
ONLINE OFFICE MANAGER TRAINING COURSES
Certification Management and Strategy Institute – Certified Business Office Manager (CBOM)™
- What Office Managers will learn: A framework of skills and processes they can use to make any office more productive and efficient.
- Best for Beginning Office Managers who need to learn the ropes before they get started.
SkillPath On-Demand Training – Emotional Intelligence
- What Office Managers will learn: How to understand, regulate, and leverage emotions in any supercharged office situation where feelings need to be carefully managed to avoid lasting consequences.
- Best for: Office Managers who need high emotional intelligence to deal with stressful offices and a variety of personalities.
Fred Pryor Learning Solutions – Webinars – The Secrets of Successful Time Management
- What Office Managers will learn: How to take control of time drainers they previously believed to be beyond their control and make the day seem hours longer.
- Best for: Office Managers who are constantly saying they wish they had more time in the day. This course can’t give you more time, but it can allow you to take back the time you were previously losing.
Dale Carnegie Training – Getting Results Without Authority
- What Office Managers will learn: How to transcend business ranks and office politics, gain trust, build respect, and get cooperation and buy-in across different individuals and positions in any organization.
- Best for Office Managers who want to make big changes and need strategies that inspire cooperation and trust from high-level coworkers.
U.S. Career Institute Online Office Administrator School
- What Office Managers will learn: The writing, math, communication, and computer skills necessary to smoothly run an office. The course outline includes lessons such as “Interpersonal Relations,” “Record and File Management,” “Integrated Computer Applications,” and “Spreadsheet Fundamentals.”
- Best for New Office Managers looking to learn the ropes of their position before they get started or accelerate their path to expertise.
- Reviews: Here’s a five-star review from the U.S. Career Institute Success Stories page: “I am usually not a good learner or reader on a computer but the way US Career Institute has set up the online courses has really helped me learn in an easy way. The online instructors are fast to respond and always very welcoming. Also every time I call them they are quick to answer and very very nice over the phone. No matter what the question. I am new to the program but so far so good!”
Pitman Training – Office IT Diploma
- What Office Managers will learn: How to best use the most popular computer programs available in nearly every office environment. They will also learn keyboard and computer tips and tricks they can leverage to work with greater speed and urgency.
- Best for: Office Managers who want to gain the IT skills they need to improve their work and help others around the office with technology as well.
Pitman Training – Office Manager Diploma
- What Office Managers will learn: A diverse range of skills might otherwise take years on the job to build. Students will master a wide range of tasks to make them both agile and versatile office assets in any situation imaginable. The course includes instruction in human resource topics, leadership, software, and so much more.
- Best for Proactive Office Managers looking to increase their versatility so they can be ready to take on anything that comes up instead of waiting (and scrambling to find viable solutions) when challenges arise that require urgent attention.
Surry Community College – Online Degree in Office Administration
- What Office Managers will learn: The suite of skills necessary to build a career managing office in multiple industries. The course covers skills in communications, task coordination, office procedures, record keeping, and a variety of office-centric computer applications.
- Best for Office Managers looking to gain a core foundation of skills they can take with them to positions in any location or industry.
- Reviews: The program at Surry Community College was named by com as the number one online associate’s in the office administration program.
Coursera – Psychology at Work
- What Office Managers will learn: How to apply principles of psychology to improve their empathy, quality of work, and working relationships. They’ll also learn about factors contributing to individual differences, personalities, teamwork dynamics, and occupational wellness.
- Best for Office Managers looking to deepen their abilities by gaining an even better understanding of the human aspects of their work. The course is especially helpful for Office Managers tasked with performing functions usually reserved for Human Resource departments.
- Reviews: Here’s a five-star review from the course’s Top Reviews page: “Really great intro course. The content is well curated and presented in small sizes. This course has the potential to have very high impact on a working professionals’ daily work.”
Udemy – Conversation And Communication Mastery Conversation Skills
- What Office Managers will learn: Communication skills they can use to improve multiple aspects of their work lives. The course features complete how-tos on starting conversations with many different people in various situations, being direct and transparent, leading conversations, and gaining confidence in speaking with anyone.
- Best for: Office Managers who are introverted and want to enhance their existing people skills, or are planning to start interfacing with more people and/or giving presentations more frequently.
- Reviews: Here’s a review from the course’s Student Feedback page: “The topic is engaging and I would agree on most of what he’s said so far. The examples provided are relatable and I think I can practice them easily.”
LinkedIn Learning – Learning Graphic Design: Presentations
- What Office Managers will learn: Tools, tips, and techniques for creating visually stunning, balanced presentations that turn heads and inspire compliments.
- Best for “Non-designer” Office Managers who want to wow audiences with captivating, memorable presentations.
American Payroll Association – Implementing Payroll Best Practices
- What Office Managers will learn: Tried and true strategies and tactics to manage office payroll. The program includes an overview of various models, inevitable compliance issues, and a host of technological concerns. Students will also dive into real-world case studies that make finance concepts easy to understand and apply at the office. Objectives from the course’s main page include:
- Obtain the analysis tools needed to implement best practices
- Understand how to make a best-in-class continuity plan
- Determine the return on investment for the proposed process change
- Best for Office Managers who’ve been tasked with managing employee payroll and need to learn all the basics quickly and efficiently. The course is also great for Office Managers who’ve been managing payroll for a while but want to improve their processes by implementing best practices.
Professional Convention Association Management Association – Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) Exam Prep
- What Office Managers will learn: All the skills necessary to excel at event planning instead of just scrambling to “get by” with each meeting. Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) prep includes every facet of meeting planning from start to finish. Students learn about event design, site management, contracts, strategic planning, and more.
- Best for: Office Managers tasked with planning a variety of high-profile meetings. The course is perfect for Office Managers assigned responsibilities for a major, one-time event and those looking to make their meeting planning process more efficient than ever.
Alison – Introduction to Conflict Management and Negotiation
- What Office Managers will learn: Memorable tools and techniques to apply to conflicts in a variety of situations. Students learn about why conflicts arise, the different types of conflicts, and resolution tips for every situation.
- Best for: Office Managers who’ve struggled to find effective ways to resolve issues that spring up in the workplace.
Harvard Online Learning – Contract Law: From Trust to Promise to Contract
- What Office Managers will learn: The knowledge necessary to understand, negotiate, and enforce office contracts. Students will learn how contracts work, how the law treats the different kinds of contracts, how to spot and handle contract breaches, why contract enforcement can be limited, and more.
- Best for: Office Managers tasked with handling office, vendor, and event contracts. Any Office Manager that might touch contracts should build these skills so they know current laws and best practices.
Human Resources Training Center – Human Resources For Anyone With Newly Assigned HR Responsibilities
- What Office Managers will learn: All the key elements necessary to perform a variety of HR functions when HR isn’t their sole responsibility. Students will learn how to advise employees, provide accurate information, answer questions about employee policies and government regulatory issues, hire and fire personnel with grace, and address a variety of other concerns that can be tricky.
- Best for: Office Managers who have new roles involving a lot of in-depth HR responsibilities.
IN-PERSON OFFICE MANAGER TRAINING COURSES
Certificate of Business Administration at a University or University Extension in Your Area
- What Office Managers will learn: High-level managerial skills they can apply to advanced business functions, including business analysis and human capital management.
- Best for: Office Managers looking to gain a competitive advantage, take the next step in their career, or deepen their skills in one area of concentration.
London Corporate Training – Advanced Dynamic Office Management and Administration
- What Office Managers will learn: Advanced interpersonal skills necessary to build strong office relationships. Students learn how to arrange meetings, take detailed minutes, speak eloquently, and plan travel itineraries, special events, and recurring meetings.
- Best for Office Managers looking to focus specifically on maximizing their interpersonal effectiveness.
- Reviews: Here’s a five-star review from the course’s home page: “I have really enjoyed the training. The consultants were well prepared and there was a lot of interactivity on the course. The customer service team was also fantastic, ready to help out at any time. The tour of London and catered lunches came as welcome additions to the training and were enjoyed by all. What differentiates LCT from other providers is that there is a spirit of belonging where delegates feel at home and part of a family.”
Pryor Learning Solutions The Indispensable Office Manager Seminar
- What Office Managers will learn: Practical, actionable tools they can use every single day in their careers. The seminar covers procedures, accounting, payroll, dealing with people, handling multiple tasks, and more.
- Best for: Office Managers who’ve just been given additional responsibilities and want to rise to the occasion by brushing up on core skills.
- Reviews: Here’s a review from the course’s home page: “Excellent!! As always, Fred Pryor’s courses are easy to follow, very informative and presented in a format that keeps your attention!!”
American Management Association – Fundamentals of Finance and Accounting for Non-Financial Managers
- What Office Managers will learn: Practical financial skills to read financial reports and make strategic decisions, determine the return on investment (ROI) of initiatives, apply financial values to plans, and develop sound budgets. Here’s a selection of coverage points from the course’s home page:
- Key finance terms: assets, liabilities, capital, depreciation, capitalization, current ratio, and others
- The accounting process: journals and ledgers, how debits and credits work
- Mastering the mindset: see business in terms of dollars-and-cents decision options that pay off—short- and long-term
- Basic accounting principles
- Applying accounting conventions and guidelines
- Best for: Office Managers who want to take leadership roles in office finance, budgeting, financial reporting, and more.
Delta Collect Professional Studies in Office Administration – Certificate of Achievement
- What Office Managers will learn: How to run an office with efficiency in a way that increases the company’s bottom line by reducing costs or boosting profits.
- Best for: Employed Office Managers looking to leverage their existing experience into new competencies and learn how to reinforce their value to the company using facts and figures.
College of North Atlantic – Office Administration Certificate
- What Office Managers will learn: Skills in written and oral communication, interpersonal and teamwork skills, data analysis, and research skills, and relevant technological skills.
- Best for Entry-level Office Managers who want to cover all the bases before they hit the ground running in new positions.
American Management Association – How to Turn Data Into Compelling Visual Presentations
- What Office Managers will learn: Techniques to turn data into compelling visualizations and also how to effectively present visualizations using popular technological tools. Here’s a sampling of objectives from the course’s key benefits section:
- Learn how to make use of emphasis, color, layout, and typography to maximize the clarity of your messages
- Understand the differences between “Glanceable” and “Referenceable” visualizations and how to harness the power of each
- Best for: Office Managers tasked with giving many presentations or helping their associates develop compelling presentations. This course will prove invaluable to Office Managers who work with a lot of data and want to learn how to use it to tell a story.
