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 one umbrella issue that we talk about most often in our daily life:
office work. Some people may think office work means paper work, which is completely
15 not accurate.
So in this topic, we will understand clearly what is office works, characteristics and types
of job related to office works, required qualities, skills, characteristics.
Accordingly, an office staff is supposed to perform the following works in a modern
office:
Job analysis/ task design, allocation, coordination and controlling- what to do and how to
do, the way to communicate downward to make sure things are on the right track.
Cost Benefit analysis- to consider how much investment is required to complete one task
in terms of HR, production, sales and so on.
Standardization- standardization is required to complete tasks and jobs without any error
in a decided way. Procedures, regulations, etiquette are forms of the standards set by the
company to provide referral framework for employees to follow so that least mistakes are
made or least risk may be encountered.
16
Work Simplification- It is required to reduce perplexity, time and cost in completing a
particular task. Not all the tasks are easy. For difficult and challenging ones, the manager
should know how to make it simpler and motivate his or her subordinates to perform
them successfully.
Follow up activities are required to check errors and correct it to eliminate the repetition.
This can be done by checklists, logs, performance reviews and regular meetings.
Establishment of control mechanism is required for proper implementation of plans
ensuring effectiveness and efficiency. The management builds up the policy, manual and
all employees are obliged to comply strictly to ensure proper implementation to gain
certain effectiveness and efficiency.
17 The company cannot run without an office. The office work is very distinctive with the
following characteristics:
It is not just a geographical place but more importantly, it is for social interactions and
 business transactions for many strategic goals.
It mainly consists of paper work. This means that paper work and office are not
synonymous.
Office work consists of service functions. Nowadays companies try to give customers
various offerings. So the accompanied services (customer care, services, support…are
kinds of office work).
It indirectly contributes to the profit. Sales dept and marketing department play an
important role in directly boosting the sales and revenue, profit of a company. In order
for them to go smoothly, office work can support in form of procedural work to facilitate
the progress, creating customer value and satisfaction.
The volume of the work depends on the external factors (economic, political, social
factors…)
It is difficult to measure/ quantify the work in office. Office work is assessed in the
correlation with performances of other specialized tasks.
It is very difficult to know when the work in office will be interrupted.
The contents of work in office are similar in all organization (typing, mailing etc.).
However the format, design, template, implementation procedure may be tailored, which
means they are either simpler or more complicated, depending on the business mindset
and situations.
We see that office work contributes indirectly to the costs and profits of a company. As it
covers a lot of aspects, in general, all aspects are integrated to be a part of a business
unit/ division to which special attention should be paid.
18 Moreover, it contributes to the management of data and records, planning and setting
objectives and also in controlling & rectifying errors. Office work can be considered as a
tool for managers of all levels to fulfill their four functions, namely: planning,
organizing, leading, controlling.
19 Those taking charge of office work have tried their best and continuously improved
themselves to move forward because of the following drives:
Management needs proper and timely information all aspects of business operations in
order to make decision intelligently and wisely
When the business grows, office work also grows proportionately
The work concerned with the preparation of corporate governance, return to the
governmental authority, FS, dealings with employees…
With the increase in service activities such as accounting, tax, banking, advertising,
marketing, insurance, import, export…paper work has increased tremendously.
CRM- office acts as the channel that links the business organization with its customers.
The changing economic arena and technology advancement also create more incentives
 and stress for office staff to develop themselves.
In this slide I have listed all main groups of office jobs in all business practices:
Administrative Assistant: it is at entry-level. Primary training is required (document
controller, receptionist).
Executive Assistant: to support the high-level people (admin assistant, sale admin, CEO
assistant, project assistant). more training and development are needed.
Human Resources Assistant: assist your company’s HR directors in personnel-related
20 tasks such as recruiting, hiring, and training.
Customer Service Representative
Accounts Payable and Receivable
Office Manager/ demonstrative office manager
Medical Office Jobs: all administrative work in hospital to support doctors
There are other jobs but they involve more in their specialization and managerial work
like consultant, property manager, executive and so on.
To perform the job well, people-in-charge should master the following skills:
Communication skills: both verbal and nonverbal (listening skills). You should nurture
your listening skill to have empathy and improve interpersonal skill, which can have a
big impact on organization behaviour of both employees and managers.
Filing / paper management: We will study further in the last chapter of the course.
IT literacy (book keeping, file control, typing)
Equipment handling: Fax, photocopying machine, scanner, phones, shredding machine,
and other supplies
21 Customer service skills, in which problem solving skills are emphasized.
Research skills: People should be think critically and analytically.
Organizational skills: People should be discipline and organized for the office
arrangement, work sequence and so on.
Time-management skills: As you have 8 official work hours and the work load is mostly
heavy. So this skill is indispensable.
When you first start with the jobs, you just have some skills at basic level. But if you
keep working and make further progress, you can gain more skills and become more
professional.
22 From the above skill, you can infer the characteristic and quality needed to match
yourself with the jobs, or perform them better. According to the slides, there are many as
follows:
Self-motivation and Autonomy; Flexibility, Initiatives and Drive; Honesty and
Discretion;
Be a Team Player; Remain Calm under Pressure; Professionalism; Be meticulously
organized; Adaptability; Openness; and Be Outgoing, Fair, Trustworthy.
But it does not mean that when you have many of these characteristics and quality, you
can perform the job well. You have to invest time, energy, effort and money to dig
deeper into the specialization of the principles you are working on.