What is your full name?
What is your full name?Louisa Kambile (Nickname Lulu)
What is your professional job title?
Department Administrator at Hensoldt Optronics (Pty) Ltd
What does a typical day in your life look like?
There is no such thing as a normal or typical day. Everything depends on what is happening in the moment. I review my to-do list from the day before. Re-prioritise my list for the current day. I do a lot of scheduling of meetings.
What does it mean to you to have achieved your Professional designation as an Office Professional?
Being in the office profession for ±15 years this is really an achievement to have obtained a professional designation. I am deeply humbled and overjoyed. I don’t think it is the completion part that feels the best. I am not saying it does not, of course it does quite a lot for the matter. But it’s not about the destination as much, as it is about the journey.
Finish this sentence: The ideal way to start my day is
…read my bible and pray. Thinking good like “the weather is great today” I will definitely have a cup of coffee first thing. Starting my day with a positive thinking makes my days much happier and less stressful.
What are the most important tools, programs and systems you use for your work?
- Microsoft Office
- Skype for business
- SAP
- Time and Attendance Systems (Jarrison)
- Leave Management System
What are your favourite apps and why?
- CamCard: Is a professional business card reader app. It reads business cards, saves them instantly to phone contacts and syncs across smartphones, tablets computers.
- Google: It has tons of useful applications like google maps and google translate which I can access anywhere with my phone.
- Linkedin: Allows me to search for jobs, make connections with like-minded people and check what is happening in my professional industry.
- Watsapp messenger: Is the most instant popular messaging at the moment. I am able to create a group for my team.
- Skype meetings: enables me to connect with our team overseas, sharing screens makes it awesome.
How do you deal with conflicts or problems in the office?
Conflict exists in every organization and to a certain extent indicates a healthy exchange of ideas and creativity. I deal with conflict as follows:
- Address the situation immediately, directly and respectfully
- Speak directly to the person and not to someone else about another person’s behaviour
- Separate individuals from the problems. Remind myself that the problem is the issue or relationship, not the individuals themselves
- Objectively try to understand what is behind the difficult person’s actions rather than reacting right away
- Examine my own contributions to the situation
- Be clear in all my communication so the situation is not further complicated with misunderstandings
From the problem I learn from both the conflict and the resolution. The fact is that we spend more hours with our colleagues than we do with our family and friends.
Do you have some advice for aspiring Office Professionals?
Build a good relationship with people within the organisation that will make your daily life easier. Have initiative and passion for what you do. Know the industry you work in and how it works. Don’t limit yourselves to learning opportunities and study further to enhance your skills. Hard work, dedication, respect and exceptional performance will take you places.
“Without hard work and discipline it is difficult to be a top professional” Jahangir Khan
Finish this sentence: My favourite thing about being an Office Professional
is being able to work with a great team and a leader that makes my day!