Greater Productivity through Improved Work Processes

Greater Productivity through Improved Work Processes: A Guide for Administrative Professionals

OBJECTIVES

• Do your job better
• Gain additional knowledge and understanding about your current role
• Apply your new skills at work
• Maximize your personal development and equip you for promotion
• Progress to roles supervising and training others

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

• This qualification is aimed at people with some experience of working in administration who want to develop their professional skills. So, if you have twelve months work experience or more, you can go straight on to this qualification
• This work-related qualification provides the link between being a basic practitioner and the next skills level 

COURSE OUTLINE

Inside organizations

Understanding your organization

• The purpose of organizations
  • the Mission Statement, long-term aims, short-term objectives
  • the growth of the organization, specialization (including administration)
  • forms of ownership, range of stakeholders, the role of profit
• The growing organization
  • size and complexity, organizational structure
• Organizational culture
  • the concept of organizational culture, the nature of bureaucracy

Managing the organization

• What managers do
  • controlling and co-ordinating, planning and decision-making
• Management skills
  • delegating, mentoring, coaching
• Leadership
  • leadership styles, support roles
  • ethical and social responsibility

A systems view of the organization

• Basic systems concepts
  • the system as a whole, system components, boundaries
  • performance, efficiency and effectiveness
• The administrative system
  • inputs and outputs, processes, workflow

On completion of this Unit, you will be able to:

• Describe an organization in terms of its purpose, objectives, structure, culture and systems
• Explain the role of a manager, and the importance of effective support roles, in achieving the organization’s goals
• Understand the concept of workflow and of efficiency and effectiveness in relation to administrative performance

Working with People

Work, Jobs and People

• The purpose of jobs in relation to organizational aims and objectives
  • the nature of administrative work, the impact of technology
• Designing jobs
  • motivating employees, creating satisfying jobs
• The role of the supervisor
  • allocating tasks, monitoring performance, providing feedback

Dealing with change

• The causes of change and their impact on administrative processes
  • the concept of change drivers, both external and internal
  • office automation, linking the supply chain
  • interpersonal communication, management choice
• Responses to change
  • employee resistance to change
  • the stress of change
• Planning and implementing change
  • fundamentals of project management
  • preventing resistance, managing stress

Working in teams

• The importance of team working
  • co-operation and support, decision-making and problem-solving
• Building an effective team
  • the team-building process, team-working skills, team roles
• Teamwork in administration
  • team working skills
  • job sharing and flexi work, virtual teams, office design

On completion of this Unit, you will be able to:

• Identify the different users and uses of information in a work organization and good practice in managing information resources
• Use information and communications technology to improve information flow and business communication processes
• Propose ways for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of administrative procedures and processes

Administrative Practice

Managing information resources

• Information in the organization
  • the nature of information, its users and uses, issues of quantity and quality
• Organizing data and information
  • filing systems, databases, data security and protection
• Retrieving online information
  • information searching, evaluating information

Technology in administration

• Objectives and benefits
• Information technologies – intranets, document management systems
• Communication technologies
  • email, teleconferencing, computer-mediated communication

Improving administrative practice

• Performance measures in administration
  • quantitative and qualitative measures
  • performance indicators (e.g. clerical, purchasing), quality assurance, management performance
• Solving administrative problems
  • information overload, poor communication, low productivity
• Taking a strategic view of administration
  • administration and competition, administration and the customer
• Professionalism in administration
  • being ‘professional’, Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

On completion of this Unit, you will be able to:

• Explain the purpose of jobs and the importance of motivation and satisfaction in relation to administrative roles
• Identify the causes of change in an office environment and propose techniques for minimizing employee resistance and stress
• Understand the importance of teams in the workplace and the factors involved in successful team working