7 major functions of office management May 9, 2018

7 major functions of office management

Office management is an integral part of general management. It refers to the process of planning, organizing, guiding, communicating, directing, coordinating and controlling the activities of a group of people who are working to achieve business objectives efficiently and economically.

Continue reading to find out about the 7 major functions of office management.

Planning

: Planning is the basic function of office management. It is concerned with deciding in advance what is to be done and how it is to be done. To plan is to produce a strategy to action.

Staffing:

An office manager is requested to recruit and select the office staff by the top management. For this purpose, they determine the number of staff required, their qualification and experience if any, decide the sources of recruitment, receiving applications, conduct the interviews and tests and finally select the right personnel.

Organizing Resources:

The organising function brings resources together to achieve the goals established in the planning function. Resources include materials, personnel and financial backing. Leaders need to identify what activities are necessary, assign those activities to specific personnel, effectively delegating tasks. Leaders need to coordinate tasks to keep resources moving efficiently toward goals. It is important to prioritise which resources are essential at any given time.

For example, if more inventory is needed but the company doesn't have the financial resources to obtain the inventory, then the priority is to tackle the financial need.

Directing:

The function of direction refers to the way a manager issues instructions to his staff and otherwise indicates what it is that should be done. Direction can thus be regarded as the process of guiding and supervising staff.

Training:

The need of training is decided by the office manager. The regular training programmes are also devised and imparted to the new recruits as well as existing staff. Orientation training programme is provided to new staff and refresher course programme is provided to existing staff.

Controlling Systems

: Controlling systems refers to all the processes that leaders create to monitor success. This business function requires leaders to establish performance standards, measure actual performance and compare the metrics to determine anomalies.

For example, a sales leader is focused on more than only the final sales numbers; he considers the leading activities such as the number of minimum pitches and outbound calls. Leaders review the data and make adjustments in processes, policies, training or personnel to address failures based on that data. Winning leaders don't look at poor performance as failures but as opportunities to solve a problem that gets the desired results.

Discipline:

The implementation of rules and regulation of office is in the hands of office manager. There should not be personal bias while implementing rules and regulations. He also attends to the grievances of office staff. In this way discipline is maintained.

In essence, office management is about a dynamic process, with a number of elements and activities as part of the process. The dynamic and social element of office management mean the functions of management are separate from operational functions. Whilst operational functions refer to activities and processes such as marketing, finances and purchases, the management functions differ depending on the organisational level at which they take place.

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