The office

An office is defined as a room set aside in an organization for all clerical activities. An office can also be defined as a place where the planning and organization in connection with the production and distribution of goods and services are done. Examples of offices are the principal’s office, Banks, Restaurant, Shops etc. In the Principal’s office, records of both students and staff are kept.

Types of Office

There are two types of office namely, a small office and a large office.

A Small Office

A small office is usually found in a small organization because the volume of clerical activities is small.  A small office usually has one to ten clerical workers.  Example of small office are a trader’s shop, the Principal office Patent Medicine shop etc.

Advantages of a Small Office

A small office has the following advantages:

1. The workers perform a wide variety of duties thereby reducing monotony of work and idle time.
2. It assists workers to learn more of office skills.
3. Workers are able to learn more about the activities within the whole business.
4. The workers enjoy a close relationship with their employers, customers and suppliers.

Disadvantages of a Small Office

The following are the disadvantages of a small office:

1. There is absence of division of labour and specialization.
2. There is little or no staff welfare.
3. Enough office aids such as photocopier, telex etc are not usually provided.
4. There may be no opportunity for the employee to further his career.

A Large Office

A Large Office is usually found in big organizations with many clerical staff.  Examples of large offices are Banks, Airports, Hospitals, Railway station etc.  It has more than ten people working in it.  In a large office, work is divided among many clerical staff.

Advantages of a Large Office

A large office has the following advantages:

1. The high degree of specialization enables workers to be efficient in their work.
2. There is provision of a variety of office aids depending on the needs of the various departments.
3. Workers enjoy attractive social and welfare facilities
4. There will be higher Salaries for the employees.
5. There are usually chances for career advancements, depending on the ability of each employee.

Disadvantages of a Large Office

The following are the disadvantages of a large office:

1. There is no privacy.
2. The relationship between the employer and employees is impersonal.
3. There is the problem of communal noise which results in distraction.

EVALUATION

1. What is an office?
2. Name the two types of office with two examples each.

Functions of an Office

Whether the office is small or large, it performs six basic functions. These are:

1. Giving Information: In an organization, the office gives out information to people. For example, if the Principal wants to call a Parents-Teacher’s Meeting, he can do this by:

(i) Sending a letter to each parent

(ii) Putting notice of such meeting on notice board.

(iii) Advertising such information in the newspaper.

2. Receiving Information:The office receives information in many ways such as through letters, telephone calls, fax messages, internet, newspaper etc.
3. Recording Information:The information given or received in the office is very necessary to the operation of the organization. Therefore, the office performs this important function of recording such information. This is necessary in order to have an accurate record of information whether given out or received. The office can make reference to this information from time to time.
4. Arranging Information:The office arranges information by putting related matters together. All the information concerning JSS 1 students can be arranged in one place, so that when needed it can be made easily available.
5. Processing Information:The office sorts out the information it receives and sends it to various sections of the organization to act.  For example, letters concerning fees or accounting are sent to the bursar’s office.
6. Storing Information:Storing of information involves the safe-keeping of records which are important to organization’s existence. Such information is stored in cabinet or computers.  For example, every student/staff has a file opened on him/her.  In this way, information about the student or staff can easily be recovered when needed from the file cabinet or the computer

Different Offices in an Organisation

An office has been described as a place where clerical and administrative duties are carried out in an organization. It is also where different types of business are carried out in an organization. In schools, the following offices exist: the principal’s office, the vice principal’s office, the open office where all teachers sit-the staff room and the account’s/bursar office. The building where postal activities are carried out is called post office. There is registry office in big organization like institutions such as university, polytechnics and colleges of education and so on. Other offices usually attached to the registry office are the computer/typing room, photocopy/duplicating room. Account office may also have a cash office, personnel office, sales office. In government, apart from the Governor’s office, there are various office for government official, there must also be tax office, licensing office, cash office and so on.

EVALUATION

1. Give five functions of an office.
2. Name two types of office and two advantages and disadvantages of each.