OFFICE

In traditional concepts, office is known as the place where all the official work are done or performed. it is also known as the place for doing paper work. Office means a central place where the office personnel perform some sort of paper work. According to J.C Denyer,' Anoffice is the place where clerical function are carried on.' The clerical work may be handling of incoming and outgoing mail , writingand typing letters , report , receipt and payment made by cash or cheques , filing documents etc.

But now in the era of information technology,office doesn't refer to a place but it is known as set of function for doing office work or activities. It is known as the set of clerical function which are to be carried out.It also helps us to do different activities such as collecting the data ,recording them,analysing them,presenting them in systematic n scientific way, etc. It is the brain of an organization .

It can be also known as informational desk , where all types of information is collected,prcessed , stored , and distributed. All the function of management like planning, organizing, directing, or controlling are controlled by office which involves paper work. According to Edward Roche,'office exist anywhere, where certain kinds of work are performed.'

In conclusion we can say that office does not refers to particular place only but more important is office work. Office may be defined as the function of receiving , recording, processing and supplying the infoemation to manager for planning and control purposes.

IMPORTANCE OF OFFICE

Office is an indespensible part of any organization. It helps to plan it's operation intelligently and put them in action completely. Modern office is reguarded as a memory center or store house of information. The importance of office are as follows :

1. Information center :

As we know that office collect the information from different sources and record them in systematic and scientific way. All kinds of information of the past and presentare available in an office.So we can get any kinds of information whenever it ios required.So , office is known as information center of organization.

2. Communication Channel :

Proper communication is very necessary for the smooth running of an organization.All the inward and outward mail or correspondence are manage by the office which passes through all the concern department and person related to organization. so office provide the channel for communication.

3. Coordinating Center :

The process of communication is impossible without an office. It provide the competent clerical services to whole organization. It keeps contact with all the departments and provides necessary information for the coordination of the various activities of an organization. So office can be known as coordination center.

4. Control Center :

One of the necessary function of management is control. It is a common way to prepare plans and targets of all the activities of the organization. It controls the unwanted derivations and monitors the process of work. So office can be also known as control center.

5.Service Center :

Office provide or serves all the department of the organization with all the necessary information so that their department may function properly. It also provide the clerical service to the department of an organization. So office can be known as service center.

6. Memory Center :

All the information , datas which are collected from different source are recorded in systematic and scientific way . It acts as an store house of an organization. Without records the oganization may not operate properly. Therefore, office is known as the brain and memory center of an organization.

7. Helps Employees :

It helps the employee by preparing the wages and salary sheets and their payment. It keeps the record of workers attendance, leave due, provident fund balance, calculation of overtime, etc.It contributes in maintaining good relation between the management and workers.

8. Office As An Intermediary :

An office is an intermediate between the department and the outsiders. Office helps to make links of the organaization with it's suppliers, shareholders, government and the general public.In short , office is responsible for:

a. Office attends the enquries, order and complaints of its customer and suppliers.

b. It answer the enquries of the shareholders and creditors.

c. It issues share certificate, notice of company meetings, dividents and works related to shareholders.

d. It helps to creat a good image of the organization in front of general public.

e. It helps to maintain liaison with the government and other institutions.

Therefore , these are the major importance of the office , without which an organization can't be operate properly , effectively and efficiently.

FOLDERS

Folders are the basis of filing because records are kept in the folders first. It is creased at the bottom to hold papers , letters and other records . Several types of folder are designed for special needs . They are made of manila papers or some other strong flexible substance. Now a days , plastic folders are being widely used. The front of the folders is slightly lower than the back. The extended back or the tab is used to write the caption .It also provide the necessary details about the contents. Folders tabs are obtainable in nearly any cut or position desired. In the cabinet when folder are kept , the tabs or extended edges are visible in a sequence so that captions can be read easily ,quickly and promptly. The folders may be of two kinds, in one the papers are held by clip or holder or punched hole device and in the other the papers remain loose.

GUIDES

Guides are the key to efficient filing. It helps in filing and locating folders accurately and quickly. Without them , records will not stand up right properly in the drawer. Guides are usually made of heavy cardboard or press board. This materials is strong enough to last a long time,and also to help hold the records in an upright position.
guides also serves as signpost to speed finding and filing folders. Records are always fled behind the guides, which indicates their position. To make visible all the tabs of the guides, these tabs are often staggered so that the second tab is at the right of the first, and so on. Without guides we would be wasting a great deal of time in finding records. The number of guides , the tab size and position , and the quality of construction depend upon the filing system being used . Guides can be alphabetic guide , geographic guide , numeric guide , out guide etc.

OFFICE LOCATION

As we all know that , Office is a place where business work are carried on. Office needs a building. The building should be capable of providing sufficient place of work. It must be located at a place where work of flow must be smooth and official activities can be performed efficiently. This is known as office accomodation . The arrangement of all physical components and departments in appropriate building and location. Office location is the physical facility of an office. The place of work and its surrounding are important factors which affects the efficiency of employees to a large extent.It is very necessary for the smooth of the work .It will also helps to increase the efficiency of the work. It contains the different factors like vantilation, furniture, offie equipment , secrecy, security, safety etc.

OFFICE MANAGEMENT

Management is a universal process in all organized activities. Whenever there is certain number of people working together for a common goal, some kind of management becomes essential. Without a proper management, the organization can not work properly. So, the organization need someone to manage the organizational activities. The direct effort of a personnel toward the acheivement of goals of organization is management.

Office also need a proper management to operate it efficiently and effectively. The main objective of the office is to provide service to all the department in the organization. Receiving the information, recording , processing, supplying and retaining are the major function of the office. The branch of management which deals with the performance of these functions is called 'office management.' Office management is concerned with the application of theprinciple of management for getting work done through office. In other words, office management is the application of management process to the office activities. According to George R terry,'office management can be defined as a task of planning, coordinating, motivating the efforts of others towards the specific objectives in the office.'

Therefore , the management of office or an organization for acheiving the goals of organization or to run the organization properly , smoothly and efficiently is known as office management. The office management is concern with the following elements:

• Personnel : It is a person who is respon sible to manage the organization or office. It is the main element among this component. There should be sufficient number of trained personnel. The office personnel must be selected properly , placed, trained, promote ane controlled for the purpose of accomplishing desired goals.
• Means : Means are the tools with the help of which official activities are done or performed. It include the materials , machines, and equipment required by the office personnel or for office work.If the office is not provided with the appropriate means, it is very difficult to manage the organization properly.
• Environment : Environment plays an important role for managing the office and for efficient and effective office work. It means the sorrounding where emplyees work. It include the factor like layout, interior decoration, lighting, vantilation , cleanlines etc.
• Purpose : An office has to set up definite purpose. The purpose purpose of the office provide direction and guidelines to other activities. If the purpoise of the office is cleared then efforts and activities can be directed in its acheivement.

So, office management is a distinct purpose of planning , organizing , staffing , directing , and controlling office work in order to perform office work efficiently and effectively to avheive the objective of the organization or enterprise.

FUNCTION OF THE OFFICE MANAGER

The basic function of the office manager is to plan, organize and controll office services. The function of the office manager may be varies from place to place because of its nature, size and volume of office work. Some of the function are as follows :

• He has to plan , organize and control the office in order to acheive the goals of the organization.
• He helps in determining the manpower requirements, recuiting , selecting, and training people to perform the office work efficiently and efectively.
• He acts as the line executive for his own department and staff executive or advisor for other departments.
• He has to select , designand plan the office layout so as to ensure smooth flow of work.
• He is incharge for safeguarding and maintanance of building and other assets of office.
• He has to observe the rules, procedures and policies of the management within the office.
• He has to design and improve system , procedures and methods.
• He has to maintain good relation with the outsiders or general public in order to create good image for the organization.
• He has to influence , inspire , and guide subordinate and get the best out of the office staff.
• He is responsible for procurring suitable machines , equipment , furniture , stationery and other suppliers and for maintaining good working conditions so that effiency can be increased.

Therefore, these are the function of the office manager which helps to manage and control the office and helps office to work efficiently and properly.