We will continue to advance the Profession through our sophisticated training programs, coaching and resources that transform careers and lives of secretaries, administrators, support staff and executive assistants worldwide. Our products and services are offered by always professional and caring team members.
Office Dynamics International
Inspiring Excellence in Administrative Professionals Since 1990
Table of Contents
Our Expertise
Since 1990, Office Dynamics International has been the global industry leader in the development and presentation of sophisticated executive and administrative assistant training, coaching and resources. We offer a broad range of solutions that create behavior change and produce sustainable results.
Office Dynamics’ experience and expertise in the administrative training industry are unparalleled. We have crafted and refined a unique line of premier educational products and training programs that boost success for progressive employers and enterprising administrative professionals, secretaries, and support staff.
Our programs teach administrative professionals how to create, renew and sustain their focus on excellence in the workplace, igniting heightened engagement in thousands of support staff worldwide.
Office Dynamics’ quest to provide extraordinary life- and career-changing educational programs, along with their passionate support of the administrative profession has earned the respect of elite clients including Cisco Systems, The Boeing Company, Humana Inc., Procter & Gamble, Nationwide Insurance, Kindred Healthcare, and Chevron Corporation. (See client list.)
“We help clients transform their corporate culture, resulting in administrators who desire to perform their jobs with excellence, thereby providing even greater support to leadership.”
Our expertise is found in how we partner with our clients to find the best solution, whether that means training a group of assistants, coaching a C-level executive assistant, facilitating a workshop, teaching managers how to utilize their assistants for maximum benefit, or identifying administrative competencies.
Office Dynamics International is the brainchild of Joan Burge who was an eager receptionist who worked her way up through the ranks to eventually become a C-level Executive Assistant, expertly supporting mid-size and Fortune 500 company executives. In 1990, Joan launched her company, dedicated to staff development in the profession she loved. (See Joan’s full bio.)
Joan Burge is a bona fide business success story in her own right. Having worked on “both sides of the desk,” she infuses her rare perspective into every aspect of the business—and it remains a primary reason clients consistently rely on Office Dynamics International for their training and development needs.
" I don't know of anyone better than Joan Burge to guide executive assistants into the 21st Century. With her trademark combination of hard-minded, researched-based advice, and her unparalleled respect for the profession's importance, she instills–with wit and enthusiasm–the courage to excel."
The First And The Best:
Office Dynamics International is the first dedicated administrative training company whose CEO’s credentials include:
- A wealth of hands-on experience and specialized knowledge gained through 20 years of administrative experience.
- A rare perspective having worked on both sides of the desk; including 20 years in the administrative profession and more than 23 years as an executive.
- Designer of superior administrative training, conferences, and educational products (books, workbooks, videos, webinars, blogs, CDs, DVDs).
- Wowing audiences across the country with her no-nonsense brand of wisdom, wit and expertise as the seasoned, highly sought-after professional speaker who relates to younger workers and experienced professionals alike.
- Working side-by-side with executives and assistants daily, Joan is still in the trenches, relating, guiding, listening to, and inspiring administrative professionals and their leaders!
- Joan Burge is on-site, in small and big offices spanning a wide spectrum of industries, seeing first-hand the challenges, obstacles, and opportunities for success.
We Accomplish this by
- Showing administrative professionals the step by step path to excellence.
- Setting uncompromising standards of excellence.
- Listening to, and partnering with, our clients.
- Providing superior quality, sophisticated educational programs specific to the administrative profession.
- Creating and implementing mind-stretching experiential learning.
- Providing solutions that make sense.
- Remaining flexible and responsive to client needs.
Our History
Joan Burge, founder and CEO, started Office Dynamics Ltd. in 1990 while living in Virginia Beach with her husband and two children. She started the company because she felt that, for decades, there was a lack of in-depth training for administrative professionals. This did not make sense to Joan as someone who had worked in the administrative profession for 20 years and diligently worked side-by-side with key leaders and executives who regularly developed their own potential and pursued professional excellence through education.
Joan began working as a Receptionist following high school (in Beachwood, OH) and quickly worked her way up to executive assistant, working for top executives in various organizations. She devoted herself to performing with excellence for 20 years. During that time, she worked for 12 different companies in 5 states. The numerous changes occurred for three reasons: 1) Joan was hungry to learn and grow in her profession so when she had an opportunity to advance, she did. 2) Joan’s husband had a successful career which led them to various out-of-state moves thus changing Joan’s job status. 3) Joan experienced organizational downsizing twice.
During her administrative career, Joan worked in a variety of industries, experiencing various work cultures, management styles, assistant/executive relationships, and personalities. It was this broad experience that gave Joan the ability to work with many kinds of clients in various industries and business sizes. Her broad and deep experience as an administrative assistant and C-level executive assistant gave her the ability to effectively communicate with administrative professionals at all levels.
When Joan started Office Dynamics in 1990, there were only a handful of big seminar companies offering public workshops for administrative professionals but they did not come from a place of years of hands-on experience in the profession. Rather than create another public seminar company, Joan focused on creating partnerships with her clients and working onsite at their locations to provide superior, content-rich training programs and resource information directly applicable to the administrative staff. By doing so, she greatly impacted sustainable behavioral changes in the administrative ranks, thus achieving organizational goals. Training specific to support roles and their direct desk duties was an untapped niche; Joan had to overcome monumental obstacles involving corporations’ and managers’ attitudes, prejudices and stereotypes about executive assistants and administrative professionals.
In 1993, Joan began turning around the administrative community by working with US Airways and Caterpillar Inc. This opened the door to Joan working with many large corporations and mid-size businesses. Initially, she offered onsite training programs and consulting work. She also helped executives and assistants increase team productivity and build partnerships.
Her reputation for turnaround changes grew; the accolades rolled in, and the phone rang.
Growth and Innovation
Office Dynamics continued as a leader in creating and presenting sophisticated training programs and information specific to secretaries, administrative assistants, executive assistants, support staff and their executives and managers.
Joan always had a vision for the competencies necessary to be successful in the profession. She coupled this with listening to clients, potential clients, and analyzing industry trends. As a result, company services and products expanded to many industry firsts, including:
- A unique approach to hosting an Annual Conference for Administrative Excellence, later re-named Joan Burge “Event of Distinction”
- Program exclusively for executives called Maximizing the Time & Talents of Your Assistant
- Comprehensive, in-depth learning program for administrative staff consisting of 12 full-day workshops, with 3 levels of learning, certification, and curriculum-based designation: The Star Achievement Series®
- More than 30 standalone workshops and seminars specifically designed for administrative and executive assistants
- 4 desk reference administrative and executive assistant books, including the top-selling Become an Inner Circle Assistant
- Trainer Certification for the The Star Achievement Series®
- Concierge Coaching™ of executives and their executive assistants
- Launching of Adminology, a formula for administrative success
- Administrative-specific assessments
- High-end boot camp, World Class Assistant™, offering certification and curriculum-based designation
- Educational CDs, DVDs, MP3s
- Online learning
- 150+ free educational videos
- Nearly 1,000 blog posts
Certifications and Professional
Designations Emerge
While numerous community colleges and associations offered administrative certification, Office Dynamics was the first to offer a curriculum-based professional designation, the CEAP Certified (Certified Executive Administrative Professional).
It is Joan’s passion, love of the profession and desire to improve the quality of work life for assistants and executives worldwide, that drives Joan to continually develop cutting-edge information. All educational programs are designed and tested personally by Joan Burge, who also personally certifies the family of Office Dynamics trainers.
Global Impact
Joan Burge and the Office Dynamics team have impacted executives and administrators worldwide. Executive assistants from Italy, Qatar, France, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Canada, Germany, and Japan have attended Joan’s high-end boot camp, World Class Assistant™, in Las Vegas and her Annual Conference for Administrative Excellence.
In 2012, it seemed only natural for the company to change its name from Office Dynamics Limited to Office Dynamics International.
Sponsorship/Support
Because we have grown as a company, we are able to donate to Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, Whitney Schools in Nevada and other organizations that provide care to hurting people.
What’s Next?
We Believe
- The administrative role is a noble calling.
- In a “Career of Choice” mentality.
- “Falling into a job” will never compare to “falling in love with your career.”
- A sophisticated, modern executive assistant is an extension of the executive.
- Administrative professionals are strategic partners in business success.
- “Administrative” cannot be separated from “professional.”
- This vibrant profession is continuously expanding to encompass higher levels of responsibilities and broader, dynamic opportunities.
- Succession planning for administrative professionals is critically necessary to ensure future success in every industry and every business, regardless of size.
- Technical skills can be gleaned, but behavior must be taught. There is a spectrum of professional administrative behaviors necessary to ensure successful executive support and business success.
- Teaching transformational principles focused on the whole person, with emphasis on career and holistic approach to work will set the star-performing assistant apart from ordinary support staff.
- Raising the attainable level of excellence, sustained by consistent behavior modification, has life-long impact.
Our Clients
Office Dynamics International is proud to call some of the world’s best-known companies, institutions and organizations “clients.” To have earned a reputation for excellence among those who define its meaning is, to us, proof of success.
We’ve built our clientele carefully, over time—exceeding their expectations by taking the time to learn about their goals, values, and cultures so we can tailor our extensive learning and enrichment solutions to meet their specific needs.
While our clients range in size, they all share the same vision: properly trained administrative office professionals who excel in their positions, thereby increasing the effectiveness of their performance and the performance of those they support. The result is a more effective organization.
" Joan has honed her talent for scouting out a company's core competencies, learning them, and then tailoring her program to incorporate her teachings with relevant company objectives. I have found her to be polished, professional, gracious, and extremely focused on helping companies accomplish their business goals by enhancing associate performance."
Abbott Laboratories
Ameren
AT&T
Bank of Bermuda
Battelle
Bechtel Nevada
Bob Evans
Boeing Company
Capital One
Caterpillar Inc.
Chevron
Children’s Services Council
Cisco Systems
ConAgra Food
Corning, Inc.
Crowe Chizek and Co.
Czarnowski Exhibit Services
Deloitte
DCWASA
Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP
Duke University
Elanco Animal Health
Eli Lilly
Enbridge Pipelines
Faegre Baker Daniels LLPFifth Third Bank
Forrester Construction
Geisinger Health System
Gideons International
Grainger
Honeywell
Humana Inc.
Indiana Hospital Association
Intel Corporation
Kindred Healthcare
Kraft Foods
Lawrence Livermore Laboratories
LensCrafters
Lockheed Martin
LSI
McDonalds
Memphis Light, Gas & Water
Michigan State University
MSX International
Nationwide Insurance
National Association of Realtors
Novant Health Inc.
NSA
Nevada Title
Ocean Spray Cranberries
Pacific National Northwest Laboratory
PHI Medical
Plante & Moran, PLLC
Procter & Gamble
Rockwell Collins
Sands Expo & Convention
Sandia Labs
Schwan Food
SelectHealth
Shure Inc.
Spectrum Health
Steelcase
Sunoco
TIAA
University of Tennessee
Utah State University
Ventana Roche
Walt Disney World
Case Studies
Cisco Systems
Changes Corporate Culture By Teaching Their Administrative Assistants To Reach For the Stars.
Novant Health
Leaders Recognize The Value Of Being Invested In Administrative Staff Development Program
