Lesson 1 office management PDF

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LESSON 1 OFFICE MANAGEMENT

1. Introduction to office administration and management a. Definition of terms:  Office; “An office is the administrative Centre of a business. The purpose of an office has been defined as the providing of a service of communication and record”- Mills & Standing Ford. 

“An office is a place where business is transacted or professional

service

is

available”-

Random

Hours

Dictionary 

“Office is a unit where relevant records for the purpose of control, planning and efficient management of the organization are prepared, handled or preserved.



Office provides facilities for internal and external communication and coordinates activities of different departments of the organization.” – Little field and Rachel.



“The essential feature of the office is the work itself, not who does it or where it is done. If it is office or clerical work

in

one

place,

it

is

office

or

clerical

work

everywhere regardless of where the work is done or who does it” –  Management; Management can be defined as the process of

administering

and

controlling

the

affairs

of

the organization, irrespective of its nature, type, structure and size. It is an act of creating and maintaining such a business environment wherein the members of the organization can work

together,

and

achieve

business

objectives

efficiently

and

effectively. Management acts as a guide to a group of people working in the organization and coordinating their efforts, towards the attainment of the common objective. In other words, it is concerned with optimally using 5M’s, i.e. men, machine, material, money and methods and, this is possible only when there proper direction, coordination and integration of the processes and activities, to achieve the desired results.  Definition of Office Management: Office management can be defined as the art of guiding, directing coordinating and controlling the salaried people of an organization in order to achieve specified objective within a time schedule.  Administration; the process or activity of running a business, organization, 

The management of public affairs; government.



Administration is a process of systematically arranging and co-coordinating the human and material resources available to any organization for the main purpose of achieving stipulated goals of that organization.

 Office administration is a set of day-to-day activities that are

related to financial planning, record keeping & billing, personnel, physical distribution and logistics, within an organization. An employee that undertakes these activities is commonly called

an office administrator or office manager, and plays a key role in any organizations infrastructure, regardless of the scale.

 Distinction

between

office,

administration

and

management 

According to Theo Haimann, “Administration means overall determination of policies, setting of major objectives, the identification of general purposes and laying down of broad programmes and projects”. It refers to the activities of higher level. It lays down basic principles of the enterprise. According to Newman, “Administration means guidance, leadership & control of the efforts of the groups towards some common goals”.



Whereas, management involves conceiving, initiating and bringing together the various elements; coordinating, actuating, integrating the diverse organizational components while sustaining the viability of the organization towards some pre-determined goals. In other words, it is an art of getting things done through & with the people in formally organized groups.

 COMPARISON CHART

On the Basis of Functions: Basis

Management

Administration

Meanin g

Management is an art of getting things done through others by directing their efforts towards achievement of pre-determined goals.

It is concerned with formulation of broad objectives, plans & policies.

Nature

Management is an executing function.

Administration is a decision-making

function.

Process

Management decides who should as it & how should he dot it.

Administration decides what is to be done & when it is to be done.

Functio n

Management is a doing function because managers get work done under their supervision.

Administration is a thinking function because plans & policies are determined under it.

Skills

Technical and Human skills

Conceptual and Human skills

Level

Middle & lower level function

Top level function

On the Basis of Usage: Basis

Management

Administration

Applicabilit y

It is applicable to business concerns i.e. profit-making organization.

It is applicable to non-business concerns i.e. clubs, schools, hospitals etc.

Influence

The management decisions are influenced by the values, opinions, beliefs & decisions of the managers.

The administration is influenced by public opinion, govt. policies, religious organizations, customs etc.

Status

Management constitutes the employees of the organization who are paid remuneration (in the form of salaries & wages).

Administration represents owners of the enterprise who earn return on their capital invested & profits in the form of dividend.

 Scope of office administration and management

What is Office Administration? A set of day to day activities related to financial planning, maintaining personnel

records,

processing

of

payroll,

record-keeping,

maintaining files, billing, distribution of data, logistics are part of office administration It can be said as overseeing those day to day functions or operations in an office or managing the people working in the office. It involves the main task of ensuring that resources are available for smooth functioning like coordinating repairs of office equipment required for work, submitting requests for the new resource. Most of the times, the administration is associated with maintaining office supplies like stationery items, printer cartridges, papers, that are constantly used within the budget provided. Persons who are dealing with office

administration works have to face a few advantages and disadvantages of organizing things.

Administrative Functions of an Office: A company sets goals and objectives to achieve the targets. There are certain steps or roles played to reach the goals . In other words, we can say that it’s a roadmap to reach a destination.

1. Planning: These are a set of functions that are broken down to indicate what to do, when to do, how to do, and who should do them. The organization lays down a map showing the path from where the company is to where it has to be. For this, goals are established and arranged in order for various activities to be carried out. Facilitators are the administrators who engage in shorttermed goals and long-termed goals.

2. Coordinating: Once the goals are given, then there is a need on how to get it done. There is a need to identify the responsibilities that need to be taken care of and which section or departments should be involved. Grouping these functions is also required to maintain an organizational relationship. Why does co-ordination have to happen? Otherwise, none of the work would be accomplished if everyone works in islands. Therefore all the people in various sections are linked with one another to achieve. Administrative activities like delegation of authority, control measures are necessary for bringing out successful work.

3. Filling in people: It is known that all jobs are being split to specializations to bring about the best results. To fill these posts requires people. Administrative functions are involved in filling the right people at the right time. The needs of the functions required are determined and job descriptions are written. Based on those, advertisements are displayed seeking people. The screening is the last process of selecting the right candidate.

4. Leading: This requires directing the people in the right manner to achieve the goals of the organization. Through the proper allocation of resources and providing an effective system, a balance is created between the needs and economic production that leads to the goals of the organization. The administrative officer here would need exceptional interpersonal skills to fulfill these criteria.

5. Evaluating: Without evaluation, no one would know if organizations plans are achieved. The staff performance is being evaluated from time to time to see if there is a quality of work always. It also hints whether there is a deviation from the actual targets. Controlling is one way of ensuring high-quality performance and results that are satisfactory while maintaining a problem-free environment. These activities

are

basically

constituting

of

management

of

performance measurement and establishing corrective actions.

information,

As it is the backbone of the organization, administrative functions are critical as it is associated with the efficiency and productivity of the organization.

Importance of Administration in an Organization: The administration of an organization has to cover many activities and responsibilities. This is lead by proper organizing, sorting and controlling things basically targeting business accomplishments and targets.

The

success

of

any

business

depends

upon

the

effective

office

administration. The increase in productivity, employee satisfaction along with perfect work management are all advantages of a legitimate office administration. It also focuses on the physical environment of the office like light, seating, space, tidiness etc.

So the administration as a process should control and coordinate different sectors of an office with the clear idea of leading the business to meet its predefined targets and ensure that its growth and development are not halted by any type of obstacles.

Importance of office administration: 1. Innovation for advancement and growth 2. Managing and inculcating change 3. Provides Leadership 4. Imbibing strong loyalty towards the organization 5. The best resource use of the organization 6. Managing public relations 7. Proficient stream of work 8. Retaining best talents

9. Cost control 10.

Benefits society

11.

Target achievements

12.

Easy coordination

13.

Supports in managing office efficiency

14.

Administer different office functions

Advantages of Office Administration: Office

administration

involves

overseeing

of

functions

within

every

department and coordinate activities to see that work does not get stopped. There are certain benefits like

1. Good organizational skills: This skill gets developed during the course of work. As the person has to manage all the department functions they need to be focused and know which project is important. This functionality requires one to manage time, manage the people within the team, bring in focus with the goals and keep information organized. This quality gets more enhanced that can lead to successful career growth.

2. Fast and efficient: As the administrator function requires one to gather information, organize them and keep in an orderly manner, they always see that their desks are clutter-free. This helps them indirectly to perform their work, fast and efficient.

The administrative functions require one to have the information right at the moment required for. This quality is more visible in people who perform these administrative functions.

3. Detail-oriented: As information about all work and people are gathered by this function, they have a tendency to put in more details along with it. Depending on the type of organization and business, information is collected from various sources to bring in co-ordination within each section. This quality of working with details pushes the administrative function to be detail-oriented whenever required to.

4. Prioritize tasks: Job descriptions are broken down into individual tasks to every function. But for administrative function, every task is important for the day. Depending on the importance or severity of the responsibility, the tasks are prioritized. The person carrying out this function would know which task to prioritize depending on the importance. The person handling this role learns which task is important depending on the situation.

5. Work autonomously: There are certain activities in a department that need the involvement of all the different functionalities or certain product cannot be manufactured without the involvement of ‘x’ people. But administrative personnel is mostly handling functions single-handed and manages to carry them out.

Their functions demand to work independently and in due course learn to work autonomously. As they are most of the times closely associated with managers, they need to work alone.

6. Good communications skills: Having to work in coordination with various sections of the organization or with global associations, this function requires a person to have good communication skills. These people know what to say and when. Their communication needs to be good and they are known to maintain that.

7. Good tolerance: As they have to deal with a wide range of people from managers to supervisors or next levels, these administrators would be subjected to pacifying conflicts between departments or act as mediators between people. There could be instances when they would hear the unwanted. The level of tolerance is greatly enhanced as this function also has to keep the word or maintain the confidentiality of the managers.

8. Positive in approach: The administrative functions are to carry forward the goals of the company through an assignment of tasks. They have to motivate people to get the work completed. Motivation can only be achieved if the person is positive in his/her approach. Their role here fosters positive approach in all walks of life.

9. Flexible: The function of administration allows a person to be flexible as they know that all work or assignments cannot be done as determined. There could be some hitches or problems arising. Managing people is one part of it. But the administrator itself knows how each section performs and allows a tolerance factor. Further, this also helps in maintaining a friendly relation with the entire staff and they feel comfortable enough to talk things through.

10. Multitasking: As the word itself clears, the administration functions have a lot of tasks on their table. Besides as they are co-ordination between each section, they would be helping out one section while another section would put out a query.

Their functions range from filing the documents, providing administrative support, arrange travel, answer phone calls, enter data, sort the mail, send a communication, to organizing events, organizing meetings, manage appointments, manage invoicing and payroll, maintain office equipment and supplies, submits reports. They have to be skilled in IT to handle the various functions.

Based on all the functions given above, the role played gives more importance in the eyes of the management. There is a wide variety of industries who would be interested in getting people with this experience.

Disadvantages of Office Administration: Office administration includes a variety of tasks and overseeing them is quite a handful of duty. The tasks are of course very important and are to be handled on a daily basis. But just like ‘ every coin has two sides‘ similarly, along

with

the

benefits

accompanies

the

disadvantage

of

office

administration.

1. Piled tasks: It is quite a job to manage. Office administration requires various task completion on a daily basis without fail. It requires various office administration skills to perform each task and look into for details and any required corrections.

Multi-tasking is an urgent requisition and on an everyday schedule. A break, no matter how mandatory it is, is impossible due to various important tasks residing on the shoulders.

2. Patience beyond limits: This job requires patience to a large extent. It teaches you being flexible and tolerating all the glitches in tasks, but at the same time coordinating and managing people can be very exhausting. On a regular basis, it could be a lot of stress-filled tasks to conduct.

3. Work v\s pay: Multitasking or not, the pay is always minimum when you compare a number of tasks to be taken care of daily. Due to a lot of competition for the position of an office administration executive, there are more options

available to choose from and thus, minimum pay is what you have in hand. Further, the workload is never any lesser.

4. Motivational burden: As an administrator of the office, it is the sole duty of the person to motivate the entire staff in different departments in order to get all the work done on time. A positive approach at all times is easier said than done. To continuously maintain proper work and tackle all kind of obstacles can take a toll on anyone. If only one is confident and can organize the entire work along with the personal life then only it is an advisable job. It requires dedication and priority towards work.

5. Working independently: Sounds fun, doesn’t it? Working autonomously is a blessing to all, but as it is said boon and bane come along together. Similarly, working independently brings certain responsibilities as well as restrictions. As a manager, one needs to look into all kind of works and that certainly comes with restrictions. Single-handed working can be a delicious task. Unless balanced well, this job can certainly lessen the required personal time.

6. Steps and processes: Steps and processes can be a great hassle and maintaining the process and system is another big hassle to deal with. At times this brings a lot of stress and burden along with it. Again this task brings a single-handed description and with that being said it is another complex thing to take care of.

Processes are made to simplify the tasks for people. But to maintain the system is the work of the administration.

Boon and bane, pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages are ‘deeply in love’ companions. They always appear together in all aspects of life regardless of the subject matter it belongs to. Similarly, office administrative department has varieties of advantages and disadvantages.

Conclusion:...