TEXT 1

What is administrative excellence?

Administrative Professionals perform some of the toughest functions in an office. Not only are you required to keep pace with ever-changing technology, you need to work with and through many people to meet deadlines, resolve conflicts, gather information, and coordinate schedules and logistics. Additionally, you are often the first point-of-contact for customers – your competence and professionalism in meeting their demands might be one of the most important factors in how your organization is perceived in the marketplace. To satisfy the needs of so many, your technical skills and your interpersonal skills must be well-balanced to generate efficient and effective results.

Administrative excellence pertains to the quality of work and the caliber of service that you provide in carrying out your responsibilities. Excellence by definition exceeds the routine expectations of managers, coworkers, and other customers, but it is a standard first set by you. It is something that many aspire to and work hard to deliver. I once read that excellence means "you are better today than you were yesterday, but not as good as you will be tomorrow." With that understanding, you can see there is no finish line. Excellence is a commitment to continually do and give your best.

Although we each have personal standards and differing values in terms of excellence, there are a few things that help to streamline administrative efforts in reaching high levels of job performance. Here are what I considered to be the "5Ps" of administrative excellence:

1. Perception – Self-awareness of behaviors and skills that maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses.

Know yourself and what you like and what you dislike about your job. Pay attention to those activities that excite and engage you. Typically, these are things that come naturally or easily for you – your strengths. Find opportunities to do more of what you love to do – you’ll be happier and more satisfied with your work. Take control and find solutions for those parts of your job that are less fulfilling so that your emotions and attitude don’t work against you.

2. Purpose – Understanding the importance of job responsibilities and identifying with the overall objectives of the team, department, and organization.

It’s one thing to know how to do your job, but it’s more important to know why you do what you do. Understanding your role in the bigger picture of organizational success helps to ignite feelings of inclusion and professional pride.

3. Progress – Ability to think progressively for continuous personal and professional improvement.

Challenge yourself to try new things and new ways of doing routine things. Don’t let yourself stagnate or become too comfortable – seize opportunities to showcase your skills or push self-imposed limitations. People rarely gain a professional edge when others can’t see or don’t know what they are capable of achieving.

4. Partnership – Willingness and ability to foster good relationships and teamwork with coworkers, managers, and customers.

Good relationships are the foundation for resourcefulness in your job. Treat others with respect. Do what you say you will do, offer to help others, exhibit a sense of urgency in responding to requests, and extend common courtesy – when others reciprocate, a trusting partnership is formed.

5. Professionalism – High standards of appearance, personal conduct, work product, and expertise.

Don’t leave doubts in the minds of others. Match image with skills and knowledge to help shape the thoughts and experiences of others. Continue to learn and produce accurate, timely work and your reputation and credibility will "speak for itself."

There are many other measurements of excellence. Find things that are unique about you and make your pathway to excellence your own. No one else will do it or achieve it in exactly the same manner. It’s often the small things that make a person stand out in a big way. Several years ago, a manager described his admin’s stellar performance in this way, "I don’t know how else to explain it…everything she does for me comes back just a little bit better than I expected it to." That’s a strong endorsement for administrative excellence – a little effort, a lot of admiration.

©Administrative Excellence – 2010 (Adapted from: https://adminexcellence.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/what-is-administrative-excellence/, in 12/01/2017)

Read the text about a tribute to Franz Kafka for the question

Google Doodle celebrates Franz Kafka’s 130th birthday with ‘The Metamorphosis’ tribute Google has created a ‘doodle’ in tribute to Franz Kafka on the 130th anniversary of the Germanlanguage novelist’s birth.

The doodle is based on Kafka’s 1915 novella ‘The Metamorphosis’ – considered by many to be one of the most important works of fiction of the 20th Century – and shows the character Gregor Samsa walking into a room in the guise of a large insect.

In the much-celebrated work, Samsa is a travelling salesman who transforms into an insect overnight. The rest of novella focuses on his struggle to come to terms with his new existence and the burden it places on his family.

Kafka was born into an Ashkenazi Jewish family on 3 July 1883 in Prague, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

He originally trained as a lawyer but began writing short stories in his spare time - eventually coming to consider it his calling – despite only a handful of his works being published during his lifetime.

Regarded as one of the 20th Century’s most influential authors, Kafka’s works are dominated by unreliable narrators who often tell dark tales of existentialist difficulties.

Kafka’s notoriously difficult relationship with his father Hermann is believed to have strongly influenced his work – with The Metamorphosis itself thought to be based upon Kafka’s own fears of insignificance and repulsiveness to his own family.

From: HALL, John. Available at:<http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-doodlecelebrates-franz-kafkas-130th-birthday-with-the-metamorphosis-tribute-8685557.html>.

Read the following article and answer question based on the text.

Faced with the unprecedented stream of migrants fleeing war and trauma in the Middle East and North Africa, Europe needs to take clear-sighted action.

        For its part, the UK has agreed to take 20,000 refugees, a significant portion of whom will likely be children and orphans according to report. One key aspect in ensuring their smooth settlement in the UK will be providing these refugees with language training.

       Many Syrians are well-educated and many speak fluent English. Others, however, do not speak English well enough to function professionally within the UK. The issue of language is so fundamental to our lives that we often overlook it. Several multi-million pound training contracts have failed to be delivered on account of not addressing the language barrier. All the goodwill, financial backing, and technical expertise to deliver needed medical, economic, military,engineering, or navigational training may be present; but unless there is a shared language in which to impart that knowledge, little will be accomplished.

        One of the biggest misconceptions about language is that if you “just go to the country,” you’ll pick it up. Many people believe that immersion will guarantee fluency; yet you may well know several immigrants who have been in this country for years and still only speak broken English. You might also know dozens of expats in various countries across the world who have failed to pick up the local languages of their host countries. Training and effort are both necessary.

        Though not a guarantee of fluency, immersion is a wonderful opportunity. The first issue we need to address with respect to refugees is ensuring that those who come will actually be immersed. That is, that they will be welcomed as part of larger communities, and not simply join communities of other refugees. On the other hand, immersion is just an opportunity, and in order to take full advantage of it, training and education are required. In terms of refugees, we need to consider options for the provision of language training, whether by self-study, classroom instruction, private tuition, or some combination of the three.        

       The array of needs is staggering. In truth, every language learner has a different set of learning objectives, and will require different training to meet those objectives. Coordinating the actual needs with providers in different regions and accounting for different personal schedules and start dates is a significant challenge. It is, however, a challenge that must be addressed immediately, as proficiency in English will be a key enabler of success for refugees in this country.

(Adapted from Aaron Ralby http://www.blogs.jbs.cam.ac.uk/ socialinnovation/2015/11/16/)

As questões de números 56 a 60 verificam o domínio do conhecimento sistêmico da língua inglesa. Cada uma das questões apresenta uma frase com uma lacuna. Assinale a alternativa que contém a palavra ou expressão que completa a lacuna de maneira adequada quanto ao sentido e ao uso da norma-padrão da língua inglesa.