The Staff Assistant is likely the first face your constituents see when they walk into your office. These constituent ambassadors generally sit at the front desk, manage the reception area, greet guests, and log phone calls. They also respond to constituent requests for flags and tours as well as manage incoming mail. Watch eLearning videos we've handpicked for this role.
Entering Constituent Opinions
As the person running the front desk, Staff Assistants are also frequently in charge of answering and logging phone calls. When recording phone calls or any other type of incoming mail, such as emails or faxes, an assistant will often have to log an opinion expressed by a constituent. IQ has an opinion center where users can easily record constituent comments as well as contact information should the office need to follow up with them.
Fulfill Tour Requests
Congressional offices get as many as thousands of tour requests each year, so it's important that each office has a foolproof system for tracking and responding to constituent tour requests. In IQ, users can receive, view, and edit tour requests. Staffers can also set alert dates and respond to constituents using form letters.
Fulfill Flag Requests
Flag requests can be easily entered and processed within IQ. Staff can also respond to constituent flag requests by sending a form letter or customized message to the primary contact.
Manage Calendar Events
Along with the incoming mail, Staff Assistants will need to manage the incoming meeting requests that come into IQ as web form submissions from the Member's website. Like other messages, these requests can be assigned and routed to the appropriate staffer (i.e., the Scheduler) for follow-up and scheduling.
Process Intern Requests
Staff Assistants are also often in charge of managing internship applications. These applications can be submitted via email and flow directly into IQ, or offices can solicit applications on the Member's website and all application information including any attachments will be automatically entered in IQ as service request.
Manage Incoming Mail
Staff Assistants may also be the first to look at incoming mail, sorting messages into the appropriate batches, assigning staffers to respond, or tagging the relevant form letter.
Manage Interns
When intern season finally comes, Staff Assistants are often in charge of training and overseeing the office's new interns, who share responsibilities such as managing flag and tour requests, mail, and even casework. We provide dedicated training resources for interns, including virtual classroom training and online elearning videos.
Reserve Meeting Rooms
On Capitol Hill and in the district, Schedulers manage room requests for available onsite meeting spaces, which are often limited. Whether the meeting is for caseworkers, the outreach team, or visiting constituents, Schedulers can easily set up an internal calendar for these meeting rooms and field meeting requests by creating a workflow that sends requests directly to the calendar.
Customize IQ
IQ users can easily configure the IQ home screen to display tiles relevant to your position. For instance, staff assistants may opt to include the open casework, flag requests, or tour requests tiles.