Week-2-Module-1-Lesson-2...pdf

Lesson 2  TYPES OF OFFICE Front Office: It is a business term that refers to a company’s departments that come in contact with clients including the marketing, sales and service departments. The front off...

Lesson 2  TYPES OF OFFICE Front Office: It is a business term that refers to a company’s departments that come in contact with clients including the marketing, sales and service departments. The front office welcomes visitors, meets and greets them and handles their queries. The middle office: Comprises departments of financial service that manage position keeping. These divisions ensure that transactions capture profit flows. The middle office is usually a part of operations division, which is also in charge of settlement. The electronic office or e-office. it was a term coined to cover the increasing use of computer based information technology for office work, especially in the 1980s. it is widely used since all modern office are electronic office. E-office reduces most of the paper work and also makes the office communication electronic. The virtual office: It is the combination off site live communication and address services that allow users to reduce traditional office costs while maintaining business professionalism. Virtual office implies space utilization, but a full application includes professional live communications of tele conferencing.  Back Office: It is a part of most operations where tasks dedicated to operating the company are performed. The term comes from the building layout of early organizations where the front office would contain the sales and other customer facing staff and the back office would be those manufacturing or developing the products or involved in administration but without being seen by customers. Different types of Office Layouts According to the recent research, an office design/layout directly impacts the morale of an employee which affects the quality of their work and other operational tasks. 1. Cellular Office is one of the most popular layouts in which the entire floor space is divided into individual spaces or cubicles for one or more employees. It is sequentially arranged areas that give employees their own private space. Pros of Cellular Office Foster Autonomous Work: It promotes an efficient working environment to a great extent. The chances of enhanced productivity become higher when an employee gets an apt workspace where he/she can manage their own work without any hindrance. Improves Focus and Concentration: Often a peaceful environment for both the employees and employers with the sole aim to let them focus on their respective jobs. Usually, these types of office plans are deal for programmers, writers, analysts and technical staff. It need high level of concentration, and thus, private cubicles work great for them. Ensures Privacy: One will get a high, level of security and privacy. It means your confidential documents and other relevant papers will remain safe as nobody has the permission to enter into your private working space. Cons of Cellular Office Consumes a lot of space: Take extra space as compared to any other design plan. Since you are dividing your entire floor plan, you will need additional space for each cubicle. Even the passageways and door in cellular plan consume a huge space. So, if your commercial space is small, then this would not be an ideal design plan for your office. Lack of communication: The mode of communication among employees lack because of separate workspaces. Though employees can communicate via emails and memos, still it is not effective as verbal communication.  2. Open Office Layout. An entire floor is divided by low partitions where employees may have their own desks or may share a table with other employees. However, each employee will be given a separate chair and a computer, but the overall workspace will remain non-territorial. Those who prefer this office layout says that it provides greater opportunities for effective communication, transparency collaboration while promoting employee relationships. Pros of Open Commercial Office Plan Enhances Verbal Communication: Since open office plans do not have doors or any other physical barriers, there is a good chance of improved communication among employees. It makes it super easy for staff members to interact with each other and assign their work accordingly. This can also fasten the flow of information and encourages teams to perform their jobs without any hindrance. Cost-effective: Are more economical as compared to cellular offices. Instead of constructing separate workstation for your employees, you can provide more workspaces in this office plan. It will help you place more people without any mess. Make supervision easy: The design structure makes it easier for administrators to supervise their teams in an effective manner. You do not need to track your staff as everything is open in such a vivid working environment. Cons of Open Office Plans Leads to distraction and noise: Leads to noise and distraction due to the undivided workspace. This makes it difficult for employees to concentrate on their work, which directly affects the company’s productivity. Lack of Privacy. This is one biggest disadvantages of open office plans that have emerged these days. It not only reduces the privacy aspects of employees but also makes them uncomfortable. It also affects their concentration power and restricts them from making most out of their potential. 3. Co-working Office Layout. In this layout, a worker may or may not have his own workspace. It simply approaches a first come and first serve policy that encourages individuals to operate whatever they want to within the premises. In fact, you are free to choose your own space as per requirement. Being an employer, you can assign particular desks to your workers according to their assigned job. Pros of Co-working Layout Professional Networking. Promote an environment that boosts social interaction with same intellectual individuals Interact with customers and clients. Allow self-employed workers to meet their potential clients and customers for their current or upcoming projects. Cons of Co-working Office Layout Zero Privacy. You will not get a higher level of privacy as many other coworkers will be working with you in the same premise. Lack of Security. Usually, cloud serves available in Co-working office layouts do not provide wired access to the Internet. It means you have to use Wi fi if you have sored something in the cloud server. This can be a serious problem if you need secure access, especially if you keep your client’s file in the cloud server. The hackers can easily gain access to the secured documents via wireless internet. 4. Combination Office Plan. This is one of the versatile office plan layouts that can help business owners to design their offices the way they want. If you want both the open and cellular layouts, then a combination office plan is perfect for you. You can design your office in an individual or separate cubicles but use smaller space as compared to the cellular layout. Pros of Combination Office Plan Improves productivity. Encourages employees to focus on their specific work while increasing their productivity. They can interact with their seniors whenever they stuck in the middle of their operational process. That saves productive hours and encourages employees to work in a better way. Ensures Smooth Communication. Communication becomes easier between teams and departments when you adopt combination office plan. Employees can clear their doubts, and discuss their upcoming projects without any communication barrier. Cons of Combination Office Layouts Leads to distraction. People passing through the working space could distract you, and in closed office layouts, it really annoys when someone passes through you. That leads to distraction which is not all good for both employees and a company. Difficulty in maintaining standard operating system. It becomes quite difficult in introducing and maintaining a subsequent operating system for all employees in combination office plan because all employees are partitioned by smaller cubicles. Importance of Office The term office has been defined in a variety of ways. In common parlance, an office means a place where clerical work is performed and where all kinds of paper work is maintained and dealt with. However, in modern sense of term, office denotes an activity and not a place. Office is regarded as an important part of an organization. The very existence an organization necessitates the presence of an office. whether it is a Government institution, a business house or an educational institution, office plays a pivotal role for its functioning because a well-managed office helps management to plan its operation intelligently and to put them in action competently. Some of the major importance of the office are listed as follows:  Planning and decision making center  Coordinating and communicating center  Controlling center  Public relation center  Record center  Service center  Resource management center  Proof of existence Types of Offices for Startups  Home Offices  Virtual offices  Co-working space  Rental office Functions of a Modern Office The functions of a modern office may be classified into two categories: 1. Basic Functions. Are those functions of an office which need to be performed in all types of organizations. They are mainly related to receiving and giving of information.  Collecting Information  Recording Information  Arranging, analyzing, and processing the information  Preserving Information  Supplying Information 2. Administrative Functions. These relate to the tasks of protecting and safeguarding assets, maintaining and enhancing the operating efficiency, stationery control, choice and use of the office equipment and section, training, placement, and remuneration of the personnel etc. The following functions are normally considered as administrative functions of an office:  Management function  Instituting office systems and routines  Procuring stationery and supplies  Designing and control of office forms  Purchasing office equipment and furniture  Safeguarding of assets  Personnel Management