An office is where work involving information processing, storage, and distribution takes place. An office manual provides standardized instructions and policies to guide office work and ensure uniformity. It aids in training and allows employees to understand their roles and responsibilities. The main activities of an office include processing mail, dictation, transcription, typing, printing, filing, record retrieval, and communication between departments. An effective office system aims to streamline work flow, reduce duplication, and make optimal use of resources.

2. OFFICE – An office is generally a room , a hall,
or other area in which people work. An office is
a place where work in connection with the
pairing and furnishing of information is done .
The collection , processing , storing and
distribution of information .
e.g a company or any organization office

3.  Office Name
 Address
 Status
 Numbers of employees
 Head

6. The purpose of an office is mainly to
provide services , communication between
services and keep record . An office is a
processing medium , is also responsible for
directing and co-ordination the various
activities of the organization. It is like the
mainspring in a watch. It works like force.

7. The main purposes of an office are-
1.To direct and co-ordinates the activities of various
departments.
2. To plan the policies of the business and ensure their
implementation
3.To preserve all the records of the business
4. To handle all types queries
5. To maintain accounts ledgers, balancesheets etc of the
business.

8. Each office has a personality of its own.this is because the
work of a particular office. The manufacturing office will have
different activities and records from that of a particular office .
Some of these activities are
1.Processing incoming mails – the activity of the office is
concerned with the mails or letters or application which have
been sent to the particular office . It reads those mails and
taking necessary actions.
2. Processing outgoing mails- it is typing , numbering and
checking the mails etc which are to be sent by the office after
checking posting of these mails etc are part of activity.

9. 3. Dictation - it is something like taking the material from the
offices in dictation by the stenographer. This includes like to
whom it must be referred and what should be the matter etc.
4. Transcription – in this activity the format or template of letter
is already there. Simply the main matter required for the letter
is collected and the given format is used.
Transcription: A written or printed representation of something.
5. Typing – this activity is the next step after taking dictation and
transcriptions . After taking dictation every letter needs to be
typed using typewriter etc. to have a hard copy.
6. Printing - if the letter is typed in computer then it needs to be
printed to have a hard copy this also is an activity of an office .
If the same letter is meant for sending to many offices then we
need to take its carbon copies or xerox copies. This is the
activity obtaining copies of the same matter.

10.  Filing - it is organising or arranging various faxes
, mails, letters and application for future reference. It is very
important activity of an office . It is storing of records in an
organised manner.
 Record retrieval - if any existing letter , mail or fax etc.are
required by anyone concerned then it it is the job of the office
staff to locate it in the files or records and make it avialable to
that person.
 Records disposal – this is also an important activity of any
office .it is disposing or deleting the record which are of no use
in future i.e which are not required in future.
 Communication - one department of an organisation needs to
communicate with other departments of that organization as
well aa other organization so this communication is taken care
of by the office of that particular department.

11. A system may be defined as a group pf inter-realted and
interdependent parts operating in sequence , according to a
predetermined plan in order to achieve a goal or series of
goals.
e.g human body , or any organization system
In terms of management also and Office sytem may be
regarded as a planned approach to the activities which are
necessary for the attainment of desired objectives set for
any office . It refers to the complete picture of the
personnel, forms, records, machines and equipment
involved in completing a major phase of office work.

12. 1. Flexibility – it should be sufficiently flexible to allow for
special or unusual circumstances.
2. Adaptable – it should adapt the changes without destroying
or hindering its functions.
3. Systematic – it must be systematic and logical.
4. Simple- it should not be complex .
5. Resourceful – it should properly used as organizational
resources.
6. Dependability- it should produce consistent and reliable
output with minimum time.
7. Acceptability – it should be designed to be easily accepted
by the human who have to follow or use it.

13. These differ from organisation to organisation. Some of
the major ones are –
1. To ensure efficient usage of organisational resources.
2. To control operating costs.
3. To improve operating efficiency
4. To help to achieve the objectives of the organisation.
5. To assist in carrying out various functions of the
organisations.

14. Some general principles of office system are-
1. To have a good work flow without bottlenecks.
2. To avoid duplication of work and records.
3. To keep the movement of staff to the minimum.
4. To avoid unnecessary writing
5. To make the best use of specialization
6. To keep the amount of paper work to the minimum
7. To use the principle of management by exception
8. To make as few as exceptions to the rule as possible
9. To avoid unnecessary checking
10. To use the machines efficiently
11. To seek simplicity.

15. 1.Smooth flow of work
2.Uniformity can be achieved
3.Duplication can be avoided
4.Helps in training office personnel for efficient performance without
supervisors.
5.Eliminations of unnecessary operations and control wastage of any nature.
6.Responsibility can be fixed for each employee
7. Office personnel can perform their jobs independtly and confidently.
8.Ensures better control and eliminates fraud possibilities
9.Aims at better form design and form control.
10.Chances of errors are eliminated
11.Better co-ordinations
12.Liberates the management from 90 percent of its work.

16. 1.Effectiveness of an office depends on planning
2.Strictness makes it inflexible and unworkable
3.The repetitive use of an office system adversely
affects its efficiency whereas frequent changes
impose expenditure burden on the organization
4.Cost-benefit analysis is required to check the
efficiency
5. System need to changed to meet changing
environments but it impose a limitation of
operation of system.

17. An office manual is an authorized guide to office
organization.It is a source of information,knowledge of
which is essential for the office work.It may be in the form
of a book or booklet.
For the benefit of the office staff, it contains information on
operating office system and procedures,methods and
routines, executive decisions,standard
practices,organisational policies and so on.If office
employees are supplied with copies of the office
manual,they do not have to approach their superiors again
and again for necessary guidance ,instructions and
decisions.Since, instructions,rules and regulations are
written for each employee receiving manual can be held
responsible for their work and for manner in which they are
carried out.

18.  An office manual usually contains the following information:
 General Information: Name, address,telephone number etc., of
company; its branches and departments and executives.
 General rules and regulations of office: These relates to office
ours,salary, vacations and
holidays, promotions, dismisssed, compensation,etc.
 General office facilities: The location of rest room, lunch
room, dispensaries,telephone faclities, recreation facilities etc.
 Safety instructions: These instructions indicate what should in
case of fire, accident or any other emergency. The name and
address of the doctor or nurse who is in permanent service of the
company is also mentioned.
 Organizational Policies: It includes policies bearing on credit
sales, selection of advertising media, training and development
programmes etc.

19.  Executives relationship: Laying down the relationship
betweens different executives/departments, or individuals
responsible for policy decisions, the nature of supervisions
and control etc.
 Job Descriptions: Laying down the basic functions of each
job, it is explained in terms of the authority and
responsilbility. It helps the employees in understanding
what is expected from them.
 Standard Practice Instructions:Laying down instructions
related to repetitive works such as instructions for handling
incoming and outgoing mails,replenishment of stationary,
filling, etc.
 General instructions- these instructions are regarding the non-
standardised work i.e the work which are not repetitive
 Appendix – this contains various forms(specimens) used by
different departments of the office.

20. 1.It contains printed instructions and important
decisions on the executive of office work
2.An office manual is a useful aid in the training of new
employees
3.In large firms/offices it brings about a uniformity in
the office system and procedures .
4.It enables executive to make decisions more easily by
giving reference to the instructions and policies in the
manual.
5.It is the best way of bringing useless work to light.

21. 6. Everyone gets the idea of responsibility, duties , and
authority of his job and its relationship to other jobs.
7. During transfers it helps employees to pick up their work at
new locations quickly without delay or hesitation.
– The disadvantages of the office manual are
–
1.Small firms cannot afford office manual because time and
cost
2.If its not stated clearly a manual can be misinterpreted
3.To keep a manual up –to-date is a difficult job
4.It may put on record the relationshipd which everyone may
not like.

22. Document flow is concerned with the way ,documents of work
move along from one operation to another. It has to do with the
documents gone through , the rate at which documents move along
and the smoothness of flow of documents .
A steady , constant flow of work following a routine results in high
efficiency.
Flow of documents – a management Problem - the flow of documents is
a management problem for it can be solved only by managers.
Management cannot completely control the document flow but it can
take steps to minimize the effects of any uncontrollable factors. it is a
test of the mangement ‘s abilityto analyse and plan a proper document
flow .

23. 1. The office manger should see to it that
a) The document flow is un interrupted
b) Each duty in document flow is performed in its prpoer sequence
c) Work is finished according to a predetermined schedule.
2. The office manger should know
a) By whom and using what means each document is checked or
completed etc.
b) This means available to accomplish the desired results.
c) If any department is getting behind in document flow , steps should
be taken to correct the situation.
3. work getting behind schedule may be due to
a) A sudden and unexpected increase in the volume of documents

24. b) the absence of one or more workers assigned to that work
c) ineffective documents
d) Interruption to work
e)ineffective supervision
4. The mangers of each department should know
a) the volume of documents received each day
b) The quantity of documents handled each day
c) The documents left over ,if any ,at the end of that day and reasons for
their being left over.

25. Many difficulties may arise in getting the ideal document flow .Few of the
factors can be:
1.Unequal flow of document: At certain seasons, in almost every kind
of business ,the document flow is much heavier than at other times.
2.Interruptions to document flow: Every interruption
causes delay. Interruptions can be internal or external.
Internal interruptions can be lack of material or information, changes in
the plan or pattern or methods etc. External interruptions can be
visitors ,external noise, telephone calls, absenteeism.

26. 3.Unequal times required for different operations: Usually different
operations of a job require different times for their completion. this
difference can be from few seconds to few minutes.
4.Lack of standards :the amount of documents to be processed by
different workers of the same rank is usually unequal. So it is necessary
to standardize the workload for all the workers in the office

27. 5.Lack of planning and scheduling: Without planning ,there can be
no scheduling .this adversely affects the steady flow of processing of
documents.
6.Faculty layout :whether the layout is a straight line, a circle or whether
it is u-shaped, the movement of people and documents should be
reduced to the minimum. It ensures smooth processing.

28. The documents must always move forward from the beginning to the end
of each operation. as far as possible, the straight line flow of document
which involve very few backward movements should be adopted. the
advantages of straight line document flow for processing includes:
1.Increased speed: the document pass from one clerk to another for
further processing
2.Less danger of documents being lost or mislaid
3.Less massenger work when document flows in straight line
4.Keeps executives and clerks at their desks
5.Conveyor belt or other transportation device may be used carrying the
documents from