OFFICE

MANAGEMENT

John Paul V. Buhain, RND

“Never make promises you cannot
keep.

Never lie.

Never assume anything”.

The objectives of Office Management are
listed below.
 To explain the role of an office
Manager
 To discuss personnel relationships
 To present leadership and human
relations skills
 To give tips about handling special
situations
What is Office Management?
 is generally described as organizing and
administering the auxiliary, day-to-day
chores of the front office—chores that
are often the responsibility of an office
manager. Possible duties of an office
manager include ordering and purchase
approval of office supplies and services,
hiring and supervision of front office
workers, handling customer service,
managing accounting functions, and
analyzing sales—but office management
can be virtually anything the company
owner wants it to be.
 According to chief executive
officers responding to a survey
from Inc. magazine, good office
management and office managers are
the grease that keep the wheels of
business rolling smoothly. In a similar
vein, an author in Medical
Economics magazine wrote that the
main function of an office manager of a
medical practice is to "free you [the
doctor] from hassles and let you
concentrate on medicine."
Managing an office is not an easy task, It
requires a variety of skills and lot of
patience, The scope of Office Manager is
vide , For example:
 You must be an effective planner, for both
the short and long term.
 You must take appropriate action to ensure
that your plans are met, and be flexible
enough to change plans and actions, a
necessary.
 You must develop standards and controls
that support the goals of your organization.
 You must be a employees person,
capable of putting together effective
teams to get the job done. You need to
know how to hire, train, evaluate, coach,
and counsel employees.
 You must lead effective to get the results
you need. This requires you to know
how to manage and resolve conflict and
negotiate solutions that result in win-win
situations for everyone.
 You have to make sure your customers
are happy and that their needs are being
met.
Every Office needs someone how can
mange the three W’s so that clients
receive quality service and the
business is a success.
Every Office needs someone who can
mange:
 Employees
 Workflow
 Workplace
That “ someone” is the
Office Manager.
Who is the office manager?
 There is no traceable history of office
management. The job of "office
manager" is generally found in smaller
companies where the owner depends on
a single person who performs a variety
of tasks to keep the office functioning.
As a company grows into a corporation,
office managers seem to disappear,
while other departments such as
purchasing and human resources
expand.
Who is the office manager?
 The office manager is usually not
considered to be a member of the
management team. She or he
probably would not participate in
management strategy sessions on
how to increase sales, but would
participate in sessions on how to
cut operating expenses.
 RESPONSIBILITIES :
  Planning Creating a design for future action
 Organising Identifying and allocating all necessary
resources
  Decision Making Researching relevant information and
choosing a course of action.
  Communicating Giving and receiving feedback.
  Motivating Using human relations skills to stimulate
employee productivity.
  Acting Implementing plans and decisions.
  Controlling Measuring performance against plans.
  Evaluating Analyzing results versus effort, time and
cost.
  Leading Demonstrating by example that the office
team is productive, professional, and
positive.
What are the jobs of an office
manager?
 In the area of supplies and services, an
office manager is usually responsible for
buying short-term supplies such as
photocopy paper, envelopes, and
letterhead, longer-term purchases such
as telephone systems, and other
ongoing necessities such as making
sure the postal meter has enough
postage. This person usually handles
the company's service purchases, such
as long distance telephone service and
photocopier service agreements.
Staffing….
 Another responsibility of office
managers is staffing. They will
recruit, interview, and hire
employees for the office. Office
managers need to know how to
select the right people and train
them. For example, the telephone
receptionist will need to be skilled
in telephone etiquette and
customer service.
Customer Service…
 Office managers sometimes take on the role of
monitoring customer service. They may listen
to calls, or answer the phone themselves. They
may also ask the customers directly how the
company is doing in this area. They then report
their findings to the company owner on a
regular basis. They also know enough to turn
over particularly thorny problems to the
company owner immediately so faithful
customers do not become angry if they think
the company owner is ignoring them and
passing them off to an office manager.
Accounting…
 Accounting functions are often handled
by office managers, provided they have
some background in handling money, or
can be trained to do so. They may keep
track of accounts payable and accounts
receivable, assign vendor bills to be paid
during specific weeks, prepare outgoing
bills as customer orders or jobs are
finished, and control the company's
petty cash
Sales…
 A final possible area of responsibility for
office managers is to compile and
analyze sales information. This might
involve calculating the profitability of the
company and specific projects or
tracking various expenditures.. An office
manager performing these duties must
be able to retrieve all the necessary
documents and be able to analyze the
information.
REMEMBER….
 An office manager position can
sometimes lead a person up the
corporate ladder without a formal
business degree. The experience
gained from organizing and running
the front office successfully can
provide a person with a variety of
transferable skills.
A SYSTEM OF PLANS
 As the Office Manager, probably
will be responsible for developing
and implementing operation and
project plans and occasionally
contributing to strategic plans.
 Become a More Effective Office
Manager
 Office managers are expert multitaskers. If
you're doing more than four things at once,
that's probably still not enough. Your
knowledge of the office is incomparable — you
know exactly whom to call and when. Plus, you
have a sixth sense about office crises. In other
words, you're practically indispensable. What's
your secret? You're organized, understanding
(to a point), a good communicator, and can
always see the big picture. Still, like any key
employee, office managers are often looking for
ways to become even more effective. Here are a
few key tips:
 Hone Your Oral Communication
Skills 
 Knowing how to talk to people is
paramount for office managers. In many
cases, you're the go-to person, so your
ability to listen well is critical. You're
also the one responsible for making sure
things get done. Knowing how to ask
questions and obtain clarification will
also help you to become more effective.
For example, if you don't understand
how an assignment is to be completed,
seek clarification.
Hone Your Oral Communication
Skills 
 You don't necessarily have to admit
that you don't understand
something; simply ask for
clarification. Likewise, if you're
discovering that people don't
understand your instructions, ask
yourself if you need to be clearer in
your communication. For some
helpful tips on becoming a better
communicator with your colleagues
Don't Neglect Your Email Skills 
 Just because e-mails often suffer from
poor grammar and punctuation doesn't
mean that your written communication
should be anything less than
professional. But knowing what to write
and how to do it is just part of your
mission; you also need to know about
your reading audience. Do people tend
to read your entire e-mail or will they
stop reading after the first two lines?
Don't Neglect Your Email Skills 
 For the latter, you'll want to incorporate
the most important information up front.
Also, always remember that once you
put anything in writing, it's there for the
world to see. Be particularly sensitive in
your e-mails and memos when informing
staff about new equipment, a change of
policy, or any report. You never want to
patronize or insult anyone. Make sure
your subject line has enough
information to encourage reading
further. Most important: Re-read your
email before you hit the send button.
Don't Neglect Your Email Skills 
 And don't ever underestimate the power
of misinterpretation. Consider the
confusion — and bad feelings — that
could arise if you were to write "I resent
that" meaning you sent a report again
versus you were offended by something
that might have been said earlier.
Clearly, you want to know where to
insert hyphens (re-sent) and when you
should simply pick up the phone or stop
by someone's desk for a face-to-face
conversation. We
Consult Your Internal Customers 
 Remember always that your
primary role is to ensure the
efficient operation of the office.
Engaging in regular communication
with your coworkers can help you
avoid troublesome issues and
attack the ones that do arise more
creatively.
 Treat Your Vendors Like Best
Friends 
 As the purveyor of office supplies, it's in
your best interest to cultivate and
sustain solid, mutually beneficial
relationships with your suppliers. It
makes good sense to build a pleasant
rapport with the companies that help
keep your organization running
smoothly. Just as you expect loyalty
from them, you also need to
demonstrate a commitment to the
relationship.
 Treat Your Vendors Like Best
Friends 
 On the other hand, it's also important to
maintain high (but fair) expectations. Try
to do both and you're likely to
experience above-average to excellent
service. But don't forget to compare the
supplier landscape. As the person
overseeing costs, it's your responsibility
to ask suppliers what they can do for
you and your organization. Their job is
to keep you a happy customer.
Maintain a Positive Attitude 
 This one's pretty obvious. Still, we
sometimes forget how a smile or a
clever remark can diffuse a
troubling situation. Using humor in
the workplace, smiling, and
exuding a positive attitude
whenever possible are all good
strategies for overcoming a variety
of office situations.
 Office Manager Skills and Job
Requirements
 Office managers are professionals
who ensure office operations run
smoothly. Whether they work in
small or large organizations, they
must juggle a variety of
responsibilities. A typical day of an
office manager may include hiring
new employees, ordering supplies,
calculating payroll and motivating
employees to increase productivity.
 Office Manager Skills and Job
Requirements
 People who wish to become office
managers must be organized
individuals, demonstrating
common sense and negotiation
skills. According to the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics, they must have
the ability to monitor work
performed by staff so that it is
completed on time, within budget
and meets high quality standards
 Office Manager Skills and Job
Requirements
 Office managers must handle stress well
since they confront a variety of problems
throughout the day. They may be
subsequently blamed for any unresolved
problems or issues within the workplace.
For this reason, office managers must be
adept at assigning responsibilities to
staff and meeting deadlines. They must
be able to motivate employees in order
to increase productivity and sales. Office
managers should have strong decision-
making skills as well.
 Office Manager Skills and Job
Requirements
 Office managers are usually required to
be familiar with various computer
software packages, including Microsoft
Word, PowerPoint, Outlook and Excel.
Since they often are responsible for
writing proposals, presentations and
memorandums, they should also
possess strong written communication
skills. Overseeing other employees
requires them to be effective oral
communicators as well, able to interact
with many different individuals in a
professional manner.
 GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES
OF THE OFFICE
Effective guidelines and procedures :
 Are realistic and easily understood
 May be develop with input from
employees
 Should be communicated, understood,
and accepted by employees
 Should be flexible to allow for revision
when business reasons require
changes.c