When starting a business, important considerations include office location, space needs, support requirements, and investment level. Options for office space include home offices, managed/serviced offices, virtual offices, and purchasing an office. Office administration involves overseeing day-to-day operations, managing employees, maintaining supplies and equipment, and keeping the office within budget. Scientific management aims to increase efficiency through systematic study of worker tasks and redesigning work processes. Establishing office systems and procedures provides consistency, efficiency, and uniformity in operations.

1. When starting a business there are many important factors that need to be
considered,
• And then there is the problem of location;
• where do you want your business to be situated?
• What kind of space will you need to run your new company successfully?
• Will you need any office support when you start out?
• And importantly what kind of investment do you want to make? There are
numerous options available from short term lease to purchasing an office of
your own.
Types of Office
• Home Offices
Depending on the size of your business, the number of employees, and the
requirement to hold face to face meetings with clients it might initially be
appropriate to work from a home office space. This would dramatically
reduce costs in the initial stages of a business start up and allow you the
flexibility to decide what office environment is best for you as your
company grows.

2. • Managed Offices
Managed offices, often referred to as serviced office space are office
environments that are managed by another company, allowing you to
rent a single office that suits your needs within their buildings. One of
the many benefits of managed offices is the lack of investment
required; the offices are rented on relatively short term contracts and
come with office furniture provided.
• Virtual Offices
Virtual office spaces are often adopted by companies who work in a
variety of locations. This allows a company to have one centralized
office whilst also maintaining a presence within other
locations, without the cost of traditional office spaces.
• Purchasing Office Space
This option if often adopted once a business has been running for some
period of time due to the investment required.

3. Office Administration
• Office administration is the process of overseeing the day-
to-day operations of an office.
• The task of administration is usually the responsibility of an
office administrator or manager. Depending on the general
operating structure of the organization, and the complexity
of tasks associated with the operation in general, the
responsibilities of the manager or administrator may focus
on a few core tasks, or involve the management of a wide
range of functions.
• One of the core tasks associated with office administration
is the management of the employees associated with the
office.

4. • Typically, office administrators are responsible for
supervising the office staff, making sure that each
employee has resources necessary to competently
carry out his or her assigned duties.
• Administrators also function as troubleshooters,
providing support and assistance to employees when
unusual situations arise during the completion of an
assigned task.
• It is not unusual for administrators to be responsible
for conducting periodic employee evaluations,
recommending pay increases, or providing employees
with remedial or cross training as a means of assisting
those employees to improve their relationships with
the employer.

5. • Along with managing and supporting employees, office
administration also involves making sure that the office
always has the resources needed to remain productive.
This involves coordinating the repairs on any office
equipment that is malfunctioning, or preparing and
submitting requests for new equipment when necessary.
• Office administrators are often charged with the task of
managing the use of office supplies such as
paper, writing instruments, printer ribbons, and other
items that are in constant use around the office.
• The office administrator strives to keep the office
operating within its assigned budget at all times, and
often has some input into the budget planning for
upcoming accounting periods.

6. Scientific Management Theory
• Evolution of Modern Management
– Began in the industrial revolution in the late 19th
century as:
• Managers of organizations began seeking ways to better
satisfy customer needs.
• Large-scale mechanized manufacturing began to supplanting
small-scale craft production in the ways in which goods were
produced.
• Social problems developed in the large groups of workers
employed under the factory system.
• Managers began to focus on increasing the efficiency ofthe
worker-task mix.
2–6

7. F.W. Taylor and Scientific Management
• Scientific Management
– The systematic study of the relationships between
people and tasks for the purpose of redesigning
the work process for higher efficiency.
• Defined by Frederick Taylor in the late 1800’s to replace
informal rule of thumb knowledge.
• Taylor sought to reduce the time a worker spent on
each task by optimizing the way the task was done.
• Taylor: increase specialization & division of labor to
make production process more efficient
2–7

8. F.W. Taylor and Scientific Management
• Scientific Management (Taylor) Principles
– Gather data about ways workers perform their
tasks; experiment with different ways to improve
performance
– Codify methods into written rules and standards
– Select people who have skills/abilities needed in
the task and train them on the particular task
– Establish acceptable level of performance and
reward for performance above that level
Organizations chose to select some, rather than all, of these principles.
2–8

9. Scientific Office Management
Scientific management, as the name implies, means the application
of the scientific method for the solution of the problems of
management. In its application, the scientific approach is used in
meeting problems of all types instead of depending on tradition.
In view of the present day complexities and growing magnitude
of management responsibilities, scientific office management is
perhaps the best solution.
It does not mean that office management is a pure science. It is
the application of scientific principles to management decision-
making. Scientific management is characterized by a scientific
method of attack in the solution of business problems and the
development of managerial techniques. It looks, considers and
evaluates customs and traditions, personal intuition and
experience, and inductive deductive thinking.

10. •
Techniques of scientific management involve in these steps
• Setting up of standard tasks through scientific investigation and
research (time, motion and method of studies),
• Analysis of operations to evolve the best method of doing the standard
task, scientific selection of personnel and their training in the methods
involved,
• Standardization of materials, equipment and working environment for
workers,
• Introduction of specialization in the administrative and organizational
set up and
• Improvement of worker-management relations through good
faith, perfect understanding and better incentive wage plans.

11. Office Systems and Procedures
• Office work involves the use of three inter-
related factors-
- personnel,
- form and
- equipment.
To ensure efficient and economical
performance of office work, each office sets
up an integrated pattern of systems,
procedures (routines) and methods.

12. • System
The term 'system' “may be regarded as a planned
approach to activities necessary to attain desired
objectives'.” It is the planned manner of doing a
particular work.
When used in connection with office work, it means
the planned use of personnel, forms and equipments
for the performance of a particular phase of office
work.
In every modern office there is a specific system for
each major phase of phase office work, viz., filling
system, mailing system, dictation and transcription
system, etc

13. • Procedures
The term 'procedure' or 'routine', on the other
hand, signifies “a planned sequence of
operations for handling recurring business
transactions uniformly and consistently.”
It refers to the series of routine steps or
operations needed for completing a particular
phase of work according to the planned
system.

14. • Procedures are simply defined as the processes employed to complete
specific tasks, such as how an invoice is entered in the system or how
returns are processed.
• When writing a procedure, it is important to imagine that no prior
knowledge exists.
• The procedure should be able to stand alone and be executed without
further clarification. This means that a well-written procedure will list
every action required to complete a task.
• Administrative procedures, such as how to request time off, and how
employees are disciplined, should be prepared before hiring the first
employee. These procedures, together with the policies of the company,
form the employee handbook, which should be as professional and well-
organized as possible.
Thus a system is a broad division or plan of work, whereas procedures or
routines are the smaller division comprising it.

15. Advantages of Systems and Procedures
To be able to operate with consistency, it is essential for any
business to establish the systems and procedures it will use
in its operations; doing so provides many benefits:
– Consistency in procedures increases efficiency (things
become routine) and
– morale (no one has to ask how nor can they disagree).
– Establishing set business and bookkeeping procedures
will help ensure a uniform and accurate
system, preventing employees from needing to ask how
to do everyday tasks.
– setting up office systems and business procedures from
the beginning will save time and money.

16. How to create a procedure
1 Define the scope of the procedure, exactly what the procedure
is intended to accomplish. Be reasonably detailed. For
example, you need a procedure for handling incoming mail
that is different from a procedure for handling outgoing mail.
You don't need a different procedure for junk
mail, bills, magazines and personal mail. Those subcategories
can be incorporated into the same general heading.
2 Define who is responsible for making sure the procedure is
done, including the deadlines or time lines associated with the
process. The person responsible doesn't have to do it
personally, but must check with the delegate assigned to
ensure completion and inspect quality.

17. 3. List the individual tasks inherent in this process.
Put them in chronological order.
4 Write a description of each task, including
reasonable time limits, the tools required and the
basic actions needed. Include a "completion
state"--what the task looks like when it's finished.
The completion state is vitally important to
inspecting work and rating employee
performance.
5 Write down the consequences of failing to
complete a task within the given time frame. This
includes disciplinary action for the employee and
a contingency plan for problems that arise from
the failure.

18. Areas of Procedures
Human Resource Issues
• Human resources is one area in which predetermined policies
and procedures can most eliminate confusion and conflict.
• There should be clear procedures on absences, phone use, sick
pay, vacation requests, health insurance matters and workspace
safety.
• It is often a good idea to compile a manual, no matter how
small, to provide answers for various issues in advance of
problems.
• Employee conflicts, theft, harassment, violence in the
workplace and other important issues can be headed off with
clear policies and procedures for managing these situations.
• Employee reviews and warnings can be covered as well as
benefit package dates and other questions.

19. Job Duties
• Offices may have difficulties outlining the exact
job duties of personnel.
• Confusion can be eliminated by making sure that
employees know what their jobs entail and what
additional duties they may be called upon to
cover.
• This may require organizational charts that
indicate who takes over when others are out of the
office on sick days or vacation time.
• Clear outlining of who has the final say in specific
areas can go a long way toward preventing
confusion and hard feelings within the office
network.

20. Financial Procedures
• A user-friendly office accounting program is crucial
to good office procedures.
• Accounts payable and receivable operations on a day-
to-day basis can be easily accessed to make sure the
business in running within budget constraints.
• Access to financial data can be limited to those who
need to know.
• Procedures for managing cash and small purchases
should be clear with easy record-keeping.
• Forms should be standardized for purchasing,
inventory, invoicing and maintenance issues.

21. Departments of an modern office
• Purchase Department. The main function of this
department is
- to deal with clerical work in connection with
purchase of materials and stores, plant and
machinery, fuel, stationery, etc.
-The usual work of this department includes
preparation of suppliers orders; receipt, checking
an recording of supplier's invoices and delivery
notes, maintenance of Purchase Journal and
Ledge, checking and certification for payment of
suppliers' bills; etc.

22. Sales Department.
• The main function of this department is to deal
with forms and records relating to sale of finished
goods marketing and advertisement etc.
• The work of the Sales Departments include:
receipt, checking and recording of customers'
orders; preparation of outward invoices, delivery
notes etc. maintenance of Sale journal and
Ledger; preparation; submission and follow-up of
bills an statements of customers; collection of
outstanding bills; preparation of sales statistics
etc.

23. Production of Works Department.
- The main function of this department is to deal with
clerical work concerning production control an other
activities relating to production and the information
provided must be immediately available to the factory
manger and executives, the office work of this
department is usually carried out in the factory itself.
- The office work usually includes preparation of
materials schedule and operations schedule;
preparation, checking and recording of materials
schedule and operation schedule; preparation,
checking an recording of materials requisition;
maintenance of stock records and job records and job
records preparation of wage bills; preparation and
maintenances of costing records, etc.

24. Accounts department.
- The main function of this department is the maintenance
of books of accounts, preparation of final accounts,
financial statements and budget papers, bills, statements of
wages and salaries, etc.; maintenance of investment
records; and supplying management with all other
information and statistics relating to the financial position
of the business for control purposes.
-Where there is no separate Cash Department, the
maintenance of the Cash and Petty Cash books, records in
connection with banking transactions, etc, are also
included in the functions of the Accounts Department.
Sometimes, the Accounts Department also undertakes the
function of maintaining the Cost Records and preparing the
Cost Accounts.

25. Cash Department.
• Sometimes, when the volume of cash
transactions is large, there is a separate
department to deal with all records relating to
the records relating to the receipts and
payments of cash.
• The usual functions of this department are
maintenance of the Cash Book and Petty Cash
Book; preparation and maintenance of cash
vouchers and other cash records, etc.

26. • General Office.
• The general office deals with those office
activities which are common to all the
operating
department, viz., correspondence, typing and
duplicating, filing, mailing, etc.
• There are separate sections of the general
office dealing with each one of these
activities.