Last reviewed 30 October 2026 against the sources linked in this post.
The all-hands is booked, the pizza is ordered and the slides are ready. Then a colleague asks whether the video will have captions, and another asks what there is to eat besides pepperoni. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says more than 1 in 4 US adults have some type of disability, so in any room of 20, several people may need something you did not plan for.
Office manager and office administrator courses usually focus on scheduling, budgets and admin software. This list covers the other half of the job: the events, announcements and shared spaces where inclusion and security slips show up first. You get 13 ready-made courses in 4 groups, what each fixes and how to roll them out. Each group ends with an Our pick. The legal points describe US federal rules, so use this as a syllabus, not a ruling.
All 13 courses at a glance
| Course | What it covers | Length | Federal rule behind it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accessible meetings & events | Captions, venues and formats that work for everyone | 30 min | No |
| Accessible email, chat & social posts | Messages people using assistive technology can read | 25 min | No |
| Change announcement briefing | Announcing a reorganisation or policy change clearly | 45 min | No |
| Inclusive food & drink at work events | Dietary, religious and health needs at events | 25 min | No |
| Planning inclusive celebrations & holidays | Dates, observances and events that include everyone | 25 min | No |
| Social media & communications policy | What staff may post and say about the organisation | 25 min | Yes (US federal rule) |
| Cybersecurity Awareness Month kit: kick-off session | Planning and launching the month | 20 min | No |
| Cybersecurity Awareness Month kit: weekly huddle pack | Short weekly security huddles | 10 min | No |
| Data classification & handling | Classifying and handling sensitive information | 25 min | No |
| Discrimination & equal employment opportunity | Protected characteristics and spotting discrimination | 45 min | Yes (US federal rule) |
| Preventing retaliation | Never punishing anyone who raises a concern | 40 min | Yes (US federal rule) |
| Code of conduct | Gifts, honesty, conflicts and speaking up | 35 min | No |
| Legal hiring, interviewing & pay transparency | Lawful job ads, questions and pay rules | 45 min | Yes (US federal rules; pay transparency varies by state) |
The laws set rules for how you treat people. They do not require a course.
Accessible events and communications
Accessible meetings & events
This course shows organisers how to make meetings and events work for everyone: captions, venues and formats. Office managers book the rooms, set up the calls and send the joining details, so most access problems start or stop with them. Its lessons cover asking about needs early, virtual and hybrid meetings, in-person venues, and what to do on the day and after. A good interactive moment is a Pick Answer quiz: which of four invitations asks about access needs in the right way?
Accessible email, chat & social posts
Office managers send many of the all-staff messages. This 25-minute course makes emails, chat messages and posts readable by people using assistive technology, such as screen readers. It moves from why it matters to the rules, then practice and applying them to your own messages. Try this in the practice round: ask learners which of two versions of the same announcement a screen reader user would find easier, then fix the weaker one together.
Change announcement briefing: reorganisation or policy change
When the office moves, the desk policy changes or a team is reorganised, the office manager often sets up the briefing and fields the questions afterwards. This 45-minute briefing template, run by a senior leader for the people affected, covers what to do before the briefing, how to say it well and what happens afterwards. Collect anonymous questions in an Open Ended slide during the session, so people ask what they would otherwise only say at the coffee machine.
Our pick: Accessible meetings & events. It fixes problems people notice straight away, and every other course in this post works better once the room, the call and the invitation work for everyone.
Inclusive food and celebrations
Inclusive food & drink at work events
Food is an easy place for an event to leave people out. This course helps event organisers respect dietary, religious and health needs, with lessons on knowing the needs, collecting and briefing them, drinks and timing, and serving and labelling. Office managers need it because they place the catering order. A quick Word Cloud works well: "What has stopped you eating at a work event?" The answers often change the order form.
Planning inclusive celebrations & holidays
The year-end party, the festive decorations and the team lunch during a fasting month all land on the office manager's desk. This course covers dates and calendars, marking observances well, an inclusive event checklist and warm-ups and quizzes people of any belief can join. Use a Rating Scale to ask how included people felt at the last celebration, from 1 to 5, before and after you change the plan.
Our pick: Planning inclusive celebrations & holidays. Celebrations are meant to bring people together, and a short course stops the one that quietly excludes a colleague every year.
Security awareness campaigns and social media
Social media & communications policy
This course sets the rules for what staff may post and say about the organisation online. The template page bases its rules on the National Labor Relations Act, and the National Labor Relations Board says Section 7 of that Act guarantees employees the right to engage in concerted activities for mutual aid or protection, while Section 8(a)(1) makes it an unfair labour practice for an employer to interfere with those rights. Ask your lawyer how that shapes your own policy. The scenario: a colleague posts a complaint about office conditions. Is it a policy breach?
Cybersecurity Awareness Month kit: kick-off session
Office managers often run the internal campaigns the security team plans. This 20-minute kick-off session, for the whole organisation, covers planning the month and making sure everyone can take part and learn. Open with a Pick Answer poll on which scam people have seen most this year, then show the results live. For a lighter weekly follow-up, see our guide to phishing pulse checks in Slack.
Cybersecurity Awareness Month kit: weekly huddle pack
A kick-off fades by week two. Run one huddle at the start of a team meeting each week of October, on a single topic such as passwords, phishing or someone following you through the front door, which office managers are often first to notice. These 10-minute huddles keep the message going through the month, with one lesson on running a weekly huddle and one on keeping it welcoming, so people ask questions rather than feel caught out. The pack ends on a 5-question final check. You could also close each huddle with a one-question poll to keep it lively.
Data classification & handling
Office managers handle visitor logs, staff lists, contracts and delivery details every day. This course teaches teams to classify and handle sensitive information correctly, covering what is allowed, red flags and how to escalate. Try it in the case-practice round: ask learners to sort everyday documents (a visitor sign-in sheet, a supplier invoice, a staff birthday list) into the right class. Then practise what to do when a sensitive file lands in the wrong inbox.
Our pick: Cybersecurity Awareness Month kit: kick-off session. It is a quick way to turn a security calendar into a moment people join, and the weekly huddles build on it.
Fairness and conduct
Discrimination & equal employment opportunity
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says it is illegal for an employer to make any employment decision because of a person's race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. The same page says harassment can take the form of slurs, offensive or derogatory comments or other verbal or physical conduct, which can happen at a party as easily as at a desk. This course covers the laws, spotting discrimination, accommodations and reporting. The scenario: a joke at the team social targets one colleague. What should the organiser do?
Preventing retaliation
The EEOC says it is unlawful to retaliate against applicants or employees for, among other things, communicating with a manager about discrimination or harassment, or requesting accommodation of a disability or a religious practice. Office managers receive exactly these requests when they plan events and allocate space. This course covers protected activity, what counts as retaliation and a manager module. Ask the room: a colleague complained about the party venue last month. Is it fair to leave them off the planning group?
Code of conduct
This course gives office teams one clear standard for gifts, honesty, conflicts and speaking up. Office managers choose suppliers, caterers and venues, so they are the people a vendor sends the hamper to. It works through grey areas and a decision framework. Scenario: a caterer offers free tickets to a concert after a big order. Learners vote on what to do, then see the policy answer.
Legal hiring, interviewing & pay transparency
Office managers often write the job ads and book the interviews for admin roles. The EEOC says it is illegal to publish a job advertisement that shows a preference for, or discourages someone from applying because of, a protected characteristic. This course covers lawful ads, questions and pay transparency rules where they apply. For anyone who sits on the panel too, our guide to interview training for hiring managers goes further. Start with a quiz: which of five job ad phrases would you rewrite?
Our pick: Code of conduct. Office managers choose suppliers, caterers and venues, so gifts and favours come up in the job often.
How to roll the plan out
Start with the Yes courses that apply to everyone (discrimination and EEO, preventing retaliation, social media policy), because they carry the legal risk, and add legal hiring for anyone who writes job ads. Then put accessibility early: with more than 1 in 4 US adults living with a disability, according to the CDC, the accessible meetings and messages courses help at your next event.
- In the first month: discrimination and EEO, preventing retaliation, the social media & communications policy, and accessible meetings & events.
- Within the first quarter: accessible messages, inclusive food and celebrations, data handling and the code of conduct.
- Each year: a refresher quiz on the Yes courses, the Cybersecurity Awareness Month kit each October, and the celebrations course before the holiday season.
- When you need it: the change announcement briefing for a reorganisation, and legal hiring for anyone who writes job ads.
Add your state or country rules where your offices are. Ask HR or a lawyer what applies. If you also lead a team, our guide to leadership training for supervisors covers that side of the role.
Ways to run these courses on AhaSlides
You can build any of these as a self-paced course with the AhaSlides course creator, run them as a live session deck, or both, with a post-course survey and a 30-day check-in to see what changed.
- Pick Answer: show four event invitations and ask which one asks about access needs well, or which scam people have seen most this year.
- Word Cloud: ask "What has stopped you eating at a work event?" The biggest words show what to fix on the next catering order.
- Rating Scale: before and after the celebrations course, ask "How included did you feel at our last celebration?" from 1 to 5.
- Open Ended: collect anonymous questions during a change announcement briefing, so people ask what they would otherwise keep to themselves.
FAQ
What training do office managers need?
Office managers need admin and organisation skills, plus inclusion basics, accessible communication, data handling and security awareness. The courses above cover the second group, which admin-skills courses may not cover.
How do you plan an inclusive office event?
Ask about access and dietary needs in the invitation, check the venue, offer varied food and labels, and avoid building the event around one faith's holiday. Publish clear details in advance so people can plan.
Is office manager certification worth it?
It can be, if you want to move into a senior or facilities role and your employer values the credential. Day to day, practical courses on accessibility, conduct and security can matter just as much to how the office runs.
What is an accessible meeting?
It is a meeting where the venue, materials and format let everyone take part. That means captions or a transcript, readable slides, a step-free room and asking people about their needs before the day.
This post is general information, not legal advice. For a decision about your own workplace, speak to a qualified employment lawyer or the regulator.
