BÀI GIẢNG DẠNG VĂN BẢN (SCRIPT)

Môn học: Nghiệp vụ văn phòng

CHAPTER 1: A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT OFFICE SKILLS AND OFFICE

Slide Description
Now we move on to the last part of the chapter to discuss about office organization,
organizational chart, job arrangement, business manuals, work procedures, the
most comprehensive aspect to look into.
When it comes to a company, we often think of it, at first, of the location, the size, the
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scope and more importantly the professionalism. Professionalism here means the way it
is organized with transparent policy, procedure, job design, allocation and arrangement
which in return bring the best to enhance the identity and the corporate culture and help
attract more talents.
So what exactly is office organization. Organization here means the arrangement of
functions which are considered to be necessary for the achievement of personal,
25 departmental and corporate objectives and is an indication of the authority and the
responsibility allocated to individual in charge of the execution of their respective
functions, to complete their task effectively and align with the company goals.
From the definition, we can see that organization is not simply the firm, the business at
large, but it is associated with a type of work process with the participation of many
people, group (small or big).
The group in the organization works under the direction of executive leadership.
It consists of some direction authority which controls the collective efforts of the group.
It refers to a structure of duties and responsibilities, indicated clearly in the
organizational chart of the manual communicated within the company itself.
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It is established for identity accomplishments of common objectives (in terms of
branding, sales, profit, market share…).
It is continuous function and is preferred in varying degrees by all levels of management,
from the first line supervisor to the top executive of the enterprise.
The structuring way needs periodic changes and modifications according to current needs
and situations in terms of objectives, jobs and personnel, the impact of external factors,
esp. the economic one)
 In general, under organization perspective, there are two types of organization which is
very popular and used in combination in every business today to capitalize the advantage
and minimize the disadvantages of each type. They are: formal and informal
organizations.
Formal type: The one in which position responsibility, authority and accountability at
each level are clearly defined, based on the formality and legal system. A formal
organization is bound by the rules, systems, procedure and methods as laid down by the
top management from time to time.
Informal type: an informal organization is that network of personal and social relations
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which is not established by formal organization
Each type exposes certain benefits and drawbacks. For formal one, everything is
systematic and people have a vivid framework to refer to, therefore less confusions arise.
On the other hand, if applied rigidly, it is too mechanism, too bureaucratic, and too time
consuming for informal one, when being overused, it can cause disorder, chaos, and
employees are less disciplined and more likely to break the rule, encounter more conflict
and face interest group but it also works in lessening the burden of the formal type,
creating more friendly and people -oriented work place. Therefore management should
combine properly to offer better working condition for all stakeholders
Whatever types of organization, the office and company should be organized based on
the following principles:
28 Principle of being objective, inter-related function, transparency, work assignment,
ultimate responsibility, flexibility, division of work, discipline, continuity of operations,
employee’s participation
As mentioned earlier, the principles, the formal arrangement will be first indicated in the
foremost illustration, ie. the organizational chart/ diagram clearly indicated in the manual
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or company policy description. This slide give you a practical illustration of
organizational chart in a typical corporation.
In reality, the organizational (org) chart is designed based on the following principles:
Unity of command, he Scalar principle, Responsibility and authority principle, Span of
control/ frequency.
30 Based on these principles, there are many types of structures may companies are
employing, which are:
Hierarchical org structure, Functional org structure, Horizontal or flat org structure,
Divisional org structure, Matrix org structure, Team-based org structure.
31 It is a common practice that job design and description follow the org chart in any
manual presentation of a business. For the time being, there are 04 types of job designs:
- specialization: based on the specialization requirement of the job to be performed the
 primary and fundamental one)
- rotation: after sometime, in order to avoid repetition and demotivation among the
employee, the manager can rotate the job detail and requirement within their
specialization
- enrichment: give the employees more scope and specialized to engage in
- enlargement: the work load and responsibilities are added within the work scope itself.
Besides, the development pathway should be clearly indicated in the organization, so that
the employee can have more incentives to perform better. The development can be
achieved by delegation or decentralization - giving employees more authority, more
power to actualize and make a big stride in their career development.
All org chart, job design and instruction should be written officially in manual, which is
kind of the book where the office systems or procedures are produced as the instruction
as to clarify:
A. what has to be done and who is in charge
32 B. When it has to be done
C. How it has to be done
The office manual is prepared by relevant parties and approved and maintained by the
management.
Company manual is circulated within the company and is kept confidential.
Under administrative perspective, manuals play in important role. Regardless the
glamorous design, they are essential to the success of any enterprise. A well run office
reduces miscommunications and helps to eliminate common errors. It contributes to the
professional image of a company. We can use to train the new comer, facilitate and speed
33 up training program.
Personally, it also brings you peace of mind, more confident and motivated to perform
the tasks assigned. You know what to do first, who to refer to, how to address properly
other peers or colleagues. Moreover, when you take leave and go on vacation, other staff
can use the manual to get your crucial tasks done.
The manual includes not only the org chart, but also business procedure and SOP
(standard operating procedures)
Office procedures set the standard for how a staff works together in the office. It is often
34 a set of rules or policies guiding the operations of an office or small business.
SOP: A set of written instructions that document routine or repetitive technical or
administrative activities followed by employees or business.
These are tools used to systematize most activities and tasks in a company.
35 The way to represent, the format/ template to apply may be varied. In the slides you can
see two examples of presenting the procedure and SOP of one business. In reality, the
way they design, the sequence they choose will differ, depending on business
 philosophies, the scope and budget limits.
For those responsible for preparing the procedure or SOP, they should know the proper
ways to develop procedure statement properly.
- search and study related information from the actual practices: The writer should
interview each person carrying out the various steps in the process to fully understand
what is done and why. If items are files, the writer should determine who uses the files
and what they are for.
It is helpful for the writer to prepare a flowchart of the current steps and have this
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reviewed with the people carrying out the work to ensure complete understanding of the
process.
A draft of the proposed procedure should be prepared and reviewed by those carrying out
the work to ensure that the process will work and all elements are included.
When the procedure is accurate and complete, it should be approved by the senior
manager and it can be either put into place administratively or announced officially by
the BOD.
This course will help us have better insights and skills in preparing verbal and non-verbal
communication procedures, such as memos, email, telephoning, meeting minutes, letters,
reports, contracts, proposals and last but not least the document retention and archive, all
of which will be presented in the following chapters.
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This is the end of chapter 1. We will continue chapter 2, focusing on memo and email
writing procedures.
Thank you for your participation. Remember after each chapter you have assignments to
do.