Unité 2: Office Administration

Today's office workers do more than make coffee, make travel arrangements for their bosses, answer the phone, and type letters. Office workers today are often no longer called typists or secretaries, but administrative assistants or personal assistants. Typewriters and shorthand are mostly a thing of the past, but modern secretaries must do more tasks and need more skills than ever. They must be able to use computer applications such as a word processor, spreadsheets, databases and so on, as well as other office equipment. In a small business, the secretary is often the first point of contact, so he or she must make a good impression and be professional when dealing with visitors.

department? :Deborah: Yes, this is Deborah speaking. How can I help you? :Alec: Well, it's about our invoice of January 13th. I'm afraid we haven't received payment yet. :Deborah: And how much was it for? :Alec: £7,896.65. :Deborah: Oh, I'm very sorry. We need an invoice in dollars. Our computer program can't deal with non-dollar invoices.

Mr Smith is talking about his secretary:

My PA, Margaret, is very efficient and professional at all times. She has excellent oral and written skills. She is very discreet, especially when dealing with complaints. She is willing to assist and shows initiative in times of crisis. Her duties include: dealing with correspondence, planning and organising work, arranging appointments, arranging travel and preparing for meetings and conferences.

The layout and organisation of an office depend on the type of services which it provides and on the size of the company. A large firm will probably have open office space separated by partitions into desks or work-stations. Each department in a large organisation, for example Sales, Accounts, Marketing, Production, may have its own manager and offices. In a small firm the members of staff, for example the manager, accountant and secretary, may all have individual rooms, and the organisation of work will be more flexible.

In all cases, however, the duties of secretarial staff will be similar and will include word processing, taking minutes of meetings, filing, reception of visitors and so on.

Because of this, many companies nowadays use the services of agencies which specialise in sending temporary secretaries, known as 'temps', in order to save on staff costs. Also in recent years much more importance has been given to working conditions in offices, with regard to things like safety, lighting, ventilation and temperature.

The layout and organisation of an office depend on the type of services which it provides and on the size of the company. A large firm will probably have open office space separated by partitions into desks or work-stations. Each department in a large organisation, for example Sales, Accounts, Marketing, Production, may have its own manager and offices.

In a small firm the members of staff, for example the manager, accountant and secretary, may all have individual rooms, and the organisation of work will be more flexible.

In all cases, however, the duties of secretarial staff will be similar and will include word processing, taking minutes of meetings, filing, reception of visitors and so on.

Because of this, many companies nowadays use the services of agencies which specialise in sending temporary secretaries, known as 'temps', in order to save on staff costs. Also in recent years much more importance has been given to working conditions in offices, with regard to things like safety, lighting, ventilation and temperature.