Office Practice · Lesson 1

Meaning, functions and importance of the office, layout, organisation, personnel and principles

WAECNECO

What the syllabus asks

WAEC: definition, functions, importance, layout (open and closed: advantages and disadvantages), factors in office planning and layout, office organisation (meaning, objectives, structure), office personnel and responsibilities, principles (span of control, unity of control, unity of function, etc.), sections of the office and functions. Extends cm11.7–11.8.

NECO: definition, functions, importance, layout (open and closed: advantages and disadvantages), factors in office planning and layout, office organisation (meaning, objectives, structure), office personnel and responsibilities, principles (span of control, unity of control, unity of function, etc.), sections of the office and functions. Extends cm11.7–11.8.

What you will learn

Define the office in its narrow and wide senses.
State and explain the functions and importance of the office.
Compare open and closed office layouts.
Explain the factors in office planning and layout.
Describe office organisation, its objectives and structures.
Describe office personnel and their responsibilities.
Apply the principles of office organisation, including span-of-control calculations.
Name the sections of the office and their functions.

Key points

Office: place and function for handling information.
Five functions: receive, record, arrange, store, give information.
Importance: memory, planning, coordination, control, image, compliance.
Open office: cheap, supervised, flexible; noisy and not private.
Closed office: private, quiet, secure; costly and isolating.
Plan layout for work flow, light, air, noise, safety and public contact.
Structures: line, line and staff, functional, committee.
Principles: span of control, unity of command, unity of function, delegation.
Sections: reception, mail, registry, typing pool, reprography, cash, stores, ICT.
Office automation brings speed but needs power, training and security.

Start here: Meaning of the office and the WAEC examination

In everyday Nigerian speech, “the office” is the room where a person works with a desk, a computer and a filing cabinet: the principal’s office, the bursar’s office, the local government secretary’s office. In Office Practice the word has two meanings, and examiners reward candidates who give both.

The narrow (physical) view: an office is a place, a room or a set of rooms, where clerical and administrative work is done. The registry at the Lagos State Secretariat in Alausa, the records room of a general hospital and the cashier’s cubicle at a filling station are all offices in this sense.
The wide (functional) view: an office is a function, the set of activities by which information is received, recorded, arranged, stored and given out to help an organisation control its operations. In this view the office exists wherever the work is done: a sales representative in Onitsha who records orders on a tablet, or a lorry driver who fills a waybill at the Kano depot, is performing office work even though he is not inside a building.

A good examination definition combines both: the office is the place where, and the function by which, information is received, recorded, processed, stored and communicated to help management plan, control and coordinate the activities of an organisation.

Why every organisation needs an office

A church, a school, a bank, a mechanic workshop in Ladipo and the Federal Ministry of Finance all differ in what they produce, but each must keep records of money received and paid, people employed, goods bought and promises made. Without an office, the organisation would forget, duplicate and lose. Office work is therefore described as a service function: the office does not usually make the final product, but no product can be made, sold or paid for efficiently without it.

The WAEC examination

Office Practice is a WAEC (and NECO) senior secondary subject; JAMB does not set an Office Practice paper. According to the official WASSCE syllabus, there are two papers taken at one sitting. Paper 1 has fifty compulsory multiple-choice questions answered in one hour for 50 marks. Paper 2 has a compulsory question on a simple case study (a passage of about 200 to 250 words) and six other essay questions, of which you answer any four; Paper 2 carries 100 marks and lasts 2 hours 10 minutes.

The case study is always compulsory, so practise reading a short office scenario and answering in clear numbered points. Every unit in this course ends with that kind of practice.

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Practice questions

1. The office is best defined as

a place where clerical work is done to record, process and give information
any room with a desk
the manager’s private room
a shop where stationery is sold

Show answer

A: a place where clerical work is done to record, process and give information
Function, not furniture, defines an office.

2. Which is a function of the office?

manufacturing goods
farming
retail selling
receiving and storing information

Show answer

D: receiving and storing information
Core office functions handle information.

3. A main advantage of the open-plan office is

quiet
security of documents
easy supervision
privacy

Show answer

C: easy supervision
Supervisors see everyone.

4. A main disadvantage of the open-plan office is

difficult communication
noise and distraction
high cost of partitions
poor supervision

Show answer

B: noise and distraction
Many people in one space.

5. A closed office is most suitable for

a manager who holds confidential interviews
a typing pool
mail sorting clerks
a large accounts team

Show answer

A: a manager who holds confidential interviews
Privacy is needed.

Key words

Office: Place and function for handling information.
Office layout: Arrangement of desks, equipment and people in office space.
Open-plan office: One large room shared by many workers.
Closed office: Walled private room with a door.
Landscaped office: Open office grouped by work flow with screens and plants.
Span of control: Number of subordinates under one supervisor.
Unity of command: Each worker answers to one superior.
Unity of function: Each function handled in one section only.
Delegation: Passing authority to a subordinate.
Scalar chain: Unbroken line of authority from top to bottom.
Typing pool: Central unit of typists serving all departments.
Office automation: Use of machines and computers for office tasks.

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