Welcome to our website.
The Ministry aims to drive the transformation agenda of Mr. President. This will be achieved by
Improving Road Sector Infrastructure for Socio-Economic Transformation. Please visit our
website on a regular basis for up to date information.
Photos


Add Photos
View All
Arc. Mike Oziegbe Onolememen - Honourable
Minister of Works is a chartered Architect and
professional construction manager of over 25
years cognate experience in the private and
public sector in Nigeria, Arc. Mike
Onolememen holds the Bachelor of Science
degree in Architecture, the Master of science
degree in Architecture, and the Master of
science degree in Construction management.
He is currently rounding up work on his Ph.D
dissertation in Public Policy and
Administration.
Click for more on the Honourable Minister......
Ambassador Bashir Yuguda- Honourable
Minister of State for Works was born on 20th
March, 1962 in Gusau town of Zamfara State.
He attended Tudun Wada Primary School,
Gusau, between 1968-1974 and proceeded to
Sardauna Memorial College between 19741979. He further attended Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria, School of Basic Studies
between 1979-1980 and then later proceeded to
the City Commercial College, London, United
Kingdom, where he obtained Higher National
Diploma in Business Management, from 19801982. He further went to the Lincoln
University, San Francisco, where he acquired a
Masters Degree in Business Administration
(MBA) between1982-1984. Also, in 1999, he
went to the American University, Cairo, Egypt,
where he earned a certificate in Arabic studies.
Click for more on the Honourable Minister of
State......
Dr. Abubakar Koro Muhammad - Permanent
Secretary was born on 26th November, 1956 in
Koro town, Patigi Local Government Area of
Kwara State.
He began his early education at the Local
Education Authority Primary School, Ungwan
Rimi, Kaduna in 1966 and for his Secondary
School education, Dr. Muhammad attended
Crowther Memorial College, Lokoja, from
1970 to 1974.
Click for more on the Permanent Secretary......
MISSION STATEMENT
“To use the intellectual, management and material resources available to the Federal Ministry of
Works to make Nigerian Roads functional all the time”
VISION STATEMENT
To elevate Nigerian Roads to a Standard where they become National Economic and Socio–
Political Assets, contributing to her rapid growth and development; to make Federal Roads
functional, pleasurable and an avenue of re-inventing Nigerians’ trust and confidence in
government.
Ads by Browse to Save




Login
Get Inspired
Explore Projects
Spark
Featured:
Life's Moments
Spring Clean
Grocery Guide
Mother's Day
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
eHow
Business
Offices
Office Automation
Advantages & Disadvantages of Office Automation
Advantages & Disadvantages of Office Automation
By Sharon Mcelwee, eHow Contributor




Print this article
Office automation is a great way to save money and time while protecting your important
business information. People no longer want to store paper records or hand write order forms and
other information needed to do business. Project management software, electronic invoicing,
scheduling software and credit card payments make it much easier to run your business without
the need for so much paper. But is office automation always wise? Check out the following list
of advantages and disadvantages to draw your own conclusion.
Other People Are Reading

Advantages & Disadvantages of Automation

Advantages & Disadvantages of Information Systems
1. Definition
o
Office automation is the action of using varied equipment, machinery and
software to store, manipulate and electronically capture or transfer data necessary
for business.
Key Employees Involved
o
o
Employees involved in office automation include administrative assistants,
accounting personnel, IT specialists and anyone else who handles the day-to-day
operations of the business. Many times larger companies will have a sizable
customer service staff involved, too.
Sponsored Links

Jobs in Nigeria
Find/post jobs in your area 100% free - Join the OLX community
OLX.com.ng
Training
o
Administrative staff must have knowledge of the latest computer software
packages, plus the ability to learn any proprietary software or databases the
company has acquired.
Advantages
o
Office automation can get many tasks accomplished faster, eliminating the need
for a larger staff. Less storage space is required for data, and copies can be easily
transferred off-site for safekeeping in case of fire or other emergency. Multiple
people can be updated simultaneously in the event of schedule changes.
Disadvantages
o
Older staff members may have a harder time adjusting to the new technology and
be unable to use it efficiently. Also, if something is "misfiled," it can be a lot
harder to find. Other disadvantages include the amount of money required to
implement and the cost of maintenance of certain equipment.
Departments
The Federal Ministry of Works is charged with several statutory responsibilities among which are:
Federal Highways (Planning, Design, Construction & Rehabilitation)
Supervision of the monitoring and maintenance of Federal roads nationwide
Provision of engineering infrastructure on Federal Highways
Structurally, the Ministry has undergone some changes in recent times aimed at ensuring the effective discharge of its
mandate. It is presently structured into fifteen (15) professional departments, four (4) service departments and five units.
The departments are:


















Planning, Research and Statistics
Finance and Accounts
Public Procurement
Human Resource Management
Highways, Planning & Development
Highways Design - Roads
Highways Design - Bridges
Highways, Mat. Geo-Technics & QC
Highways Public Private Partnership
Highways Road Sector Development Team
Highways, South-West Zone
Highways, South-East Zone
Highways, South-South Zone
Highways, North-West Zone
Highways, North-East Zone
Highways, North-Central Zone
Electrical / Street Lighting Services
Central Workshop
Engineering Management Services
The Units are:





Legal Services
Press and Public Relations
Office of the Permanent Secretary
Audit
Protocol
Reforms, Servicom and Anti-Corruption Unit
Finance and Accounts
IBRAHIM MUSA TUMSAH
DIRECTOR. FINANCE AND ACCOUNTS
Ibrahim Musa Tumsah hails from Burssari Local Government Area of Yobe State, Nigeria, and
was born on 24th April, 1960. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accountancy from the
University of Maiduguri. He is Certified Public Accountant of Nigeria (CRN) and a Fellow of
the Association of National Accountant of Nigeria (ANAN).
Ibrahim Tumsah served as Deputy Accountant General in Yobe State before transferring his
service to the Federal Civil Service as Assistant Director (Accounts), in 1995. Since his career in
the Federal Civil Service, he has served in difference capacities in the Account Department of
various Ministries, such as Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Office of
Accountant General of the Federation, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Police Affairs,
and Ministry of Interior heading divisions and departments of Finance and Accounts. He rose to
the Post of Deputy Director (Accounts) in 2004. In 2008 he was promoted Director (Accounts),
Grade Level 17 and posted to Federal Ministry of Works as Director (Finance and Accounts) in
May, 2010.
A widely travelled officer, I.M. Tumsah has attended various courses, seminars and Workshops
both in Nigeria and Overseas. His hobbies are farming and sport. He is happily married and
blessed with children.
The functions of this department are as below:

Planning, coordinating and control of the financial activities of the Ministry which include
payment of approved expenditure

Rendering statutory returns to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF)
which include statements and Revenue Returns

Collection and remittance of independent Federal Government Revenue

Responding to Audit queries from the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly

Processing of cash backing of all warrant released by Federal Ministry of Finance

Preparation of the Ministry’s Medium Term Sector Strategy (MTSS)

Preparation of the Ministry’s Annual Budget and

Monitoring and Evaluation of all Projects for the Ministry.
lanning, Research and Statistics (PRS) Department
ENGR. A. G. MAGAJI
DIRECTOR PLANNING, RESEARCH & STATISTICS
The Planning, Research & Statistics Department, as the title connotes, is charged with the
responsibilities of general ministerial planning, conducting sectoral research and collating
statistical data for planning purposes. The department is divided into three (3) divisions, namely;
Planning Division, Research & Statistics Division and Information & Communication
Technology (ICT) Division.
Planning Division
This division handles all matters relating to seminars, workshops, receptions and Parastatals'
matters. This division also oversees the activities of the Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E)
Branch.
Research & Statistics Division
Research & Statistics Division oversees the activities of the Ministry's Library, the statistics
Branch and the conduct of sectoral research coupled with the collection, collation and analyses
of statistical data of the Ministry and the infrastructure sector.
Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Division
ICT is tasked with the following duties;





Undertaking feasibility study of the existing mode of ICT operations in all departments and units
of the Ministry
Recommending the hardware and software requirement for each department/unit in the
Ministry
Co-ordinating the ICT infrastructure acquisition, installation and backup services in the Ministry
Setting up and maintaining a Network Backbone linking all offices in the Ministry on the Local
Area Network (LAN)
Development and maintenance of website, internet and intranet facilities and liasing with
Internet Service Providers (ISP)
Designing and supervising ICT Literacy programme for all cadres of staff of the Ministry
4D Automation. Inc.
Your Key to Office Automation
Home
Automation Examples
3D Piping Symbols
AutoCAD DVIEW
AutoCAD QLeader
Foreign Fonts
HTML Color Chart
Isometric Drawings
Steelcase Inventory
What is Office Automation?
What do we mean by "Office Automation"?
Office Automation is all about using the computer to:


Make your work less tedious.
Trim hours off your workload.
AutoCAD Solutions



Reduce repetitive keyboard strokes or mouse-clicks.
Make data entry easier with fewer tabs or mouse
movements.
Take any job you do longhand and make the computer do it
for you.
Office Automation does not always mean "punch a button and do
everything from start to finish". Sometimes the job still requires
some manual steps through the work process.
Of course, additional automation can be added to the work process
as the process is understood more clearly. Programming too much
into the work process in the first round of automation can
sometimes make the whole system inflexible and stop ideas from
coming to the surface. For this reason, automation sometimes
occurs in stages as new understanding of the work process comes
to light.
Office Automation may also be limited by the level of programs
available to the user. Or, perhaps they are limiting the automation
to a level of programs that they are familiar with. Some prefer
Excel instead of Access because of their familiarity and because
they are afraid that if the Access database breaks, they will not be
able to fix it themselves. This is perfectly understandable and
should be respected from the standpoint of the programmer.
Office Automation does not always mean programming a new
tool. Sometimes a better understanding of the existing tools is all
that is needed. A wise selection of the tools that are available may
be all that is necessary.
Experienced Office Automation consultants are available to help
you use the tools that you already have. The following examples
illustrate solutions to automating work processes.
Example - HTML Color Chart
Example - Steelcase Inventory
Example - Using AutoCAD DVIEW
Example - 3D Piping Symbols
Example - Typing in Foreign Fonts in AutoCAD
Example - How to create Isometric Drawings
Example - Using AutoCAD QLeader More Effectively
4D Automation, Inc.
P.O. Box 68
Steubenville, OH 43952-5068
Disclaimer and Privacy Policy
Powered by JRank
Reference for Business
Encyclopedia of Business, 2nd ed.
Reference for Business » Encyclopedia of Business, 2nd ed. » Mail-Op » Office Automation
OFFICE AUTOMATION
Office automation refers to the varied computer machinery and software used to digitally create,
collect, store, manipulate, and relay office information needed for accomplishing basic tasks and
goals. Raw data storage, electronic transfer, and the management of electronic business
information comprise the basic activities of an office automation system.
The history of modern office automation began with the typewriter and the copy machine, which
mechanized previously manual tasks. Today, however, office automation is increasingly
understood as a term that refers not just to the mechanization of tasks but to the conversion of
information to electronic form as well. The advent of the personal computer revolutionized office
automation, and today, popular operating systems and user interfaces dominate office computer
systems. This revolution has been so complete, and has infiltrated so many areas of business, that
almost all businesses use at least one commercial computer business application in the course of
daily activity. Even the smallest companies commonly utilize computer technology to maintain
financial records, inventory information, payroll records, and other pertinent business
information. "Workplace technology that started as handy (but still optional) business tools in the
1980s evolved into a high-priority requirement in the 1990s," summarized Stanley Zarowin in
Journal of Accountancy. "As we enter the new millennium, it has taken another quantum leap,
going from a priority to a prerequisite for doing business."
THE BASICS OF OFFICE AUTOMATION
Generally, there are three basic activities of an office automation system: data storage of
information, data exchange, and data management. Within each broad application area, hardware
and software combine to fulfill basic functions.
Data storage usually includes office records and other primary office forms and documents. Data
applications involve the capture and editing of files, images, or spreadsheets. Word processing
and desktop presentation packages accommodate raw textual and graphical data, while
spreadsheet applications provide users with the capacity to engage in the easy manipulation and
output of numbers. Image applications allow the capture and editing of visual images.
Text handling software and systems cover the whole field of word processing and desktop
publishing. Word processing, the most basic and common office automation activity, is the
inputting (usually via keyboard) and manipulation of text on a computer. Today's commercial
word processing applications provide users with a sophisticated set of commands to format, edit,
and print text documents. One of the most popular features of word processing packages are their
preformatted document templates. Templates automatically set up such things as font size,
paragraph styles, headers and footers, and page numbers so that the user does not have to reset
document characteristics every time they create a new record.
Desktop publishing adds another dimension to text manipulation. By combining the features of a
word processor with advanced page design and layout features, desktop publishing packages
have emerged as valuable tools in the creation of newsletters, brochures, and other documents
that combine text and photographs, charts, drawings and other graphic images.
Image handling software and systems are another facet of office automation. Examples of visual
information include pictures of documents, photographs, and graphics such as tables and charts.
These images are converted into digital files, which cannot be edited the same way that text files
can. In a word processor or desktop publishing application, each word or character is treated
individually. In an imaging system, the entire picture or document is treated as one whole object.
One of the most popular uses of computerized images is in corporate presentations or speeches.
Presentation software packages simplify the creation of multimedia presentations that use
computer video, images, sound, and text in an integrated information package.
Spreadsheet programs allow the manipulation of numeric data. Early popular spreadsheet
programs such as Visi Calc and Lotus 123 greatly simplified common business financial record
keeping. Particularly useful among the many spreadsheet options is the ability to use variables in
pro forma statements. The pro forma option allows the user to change a variable and have a
complex formula automatically recalculated based on the new numbers. Many businesses use
spreadsheets for financial management, financial projection, and accounting.
DATA EXCHANGE While data
storage and manipulation is one component of an office
automation system, the exchange of that information is another equally important component.
Electronic transfer is a general application area that highlights the exchange of information
between more than one user or participant. Electronic mail, voice mail, and facsimile are
examples of electronic transfer applications. Systems that allow instantaneous or "real time"
transfer of information (i.e. online conversations via computer or audio exchange with video
capture) are considered electronic sharing systems. Electronic sharing software illustrates the
collaborative nature of many office automation systems.
Office automation systems that include the ability to electronically share information between
more than one user simultaneously are sometimes referred to as groupware systems. One type of
groupware is an electronic meeting system. Electronic meeting systems allow geographically
dispersed participants to exchange information in real time. Participants in such electronic
meetings may be within the same office or building, or thousands of miles apart. Long-distance
electronic sharing systems usually use a telephone line connection to transfer data, while sharing
in the same often involves just a local area network of computers (no outside phone line is
needed). The functional effectiveness of such electronic sharing systems has been one factor in
the growth of telecommuting as an option for workers. Telecommuters work at home,
maintaining their ties to the office via computer.
Electronic transfer software and systems allow for electronic, voice, and facsimile transmission
of office information. Electronic mail uses computer based storage and a common set of network
communication standards to forward electronic messages from one user to another. Most of these
systems allow users to relay electronic mail to more than one recipient. Additionally, many
electronic mail systems provide security features, automatic messaging, and mail management
systems like electronic folders or notebooks. Voice mail offers essentially the same applications,
but for telephones, not computers. Facsimile transmissions are limited to image relay, and while
usage of this communication option has declined somewhat with the emergence of electronic
mail, fax machines remain standard in almost all business offices in America. In addition, new
technologies continue to transform fax use, just as they have influenced other modes of corporate
communication. For example, facsimile converters for the personal computer that allow remote
printing of "faxed" information via the computer rather than through a dedicated facsimile
machine are now available. Indeed, these facsimile circuit boards for the microcomputer are
slowly replacing stand-alone fax machines. Simultaneously, other traditional office equipment
continues to undergo changes that improve their data exchange capacities as well. Digital
copiers, for example, are increasingly multifunctional (with copying, printing, faxing, and
scanning capabilities) and connectable to computer networks.
DATA MANAGEMENT Office automation
systems are also often used to track both short-term and
long-term data in the realms of financial plans, workforce allocation plans, marketing
expenditures, inventory purchases, and other aspects of business. Task management or
scheduling systems monitor and control various projects and activities within the office.
Electronic management systems monitor and control office activities and tasks through timelines,
resource equations, and electronic scheduling. As in data exchange, groupware and network
computer systems are gaining in popularity for data management. Under such arrangements,
multiple members of the office environment are provided with access to a variety of information
at a central electronic location.
OFFICE AUTOMATION CONSIDERATIONS: PEOPLE,
TOOLS, AND THE WORKPLACE
Businesses engaged in launching or upgrading office automation systems must consider a wide
variety of factors that can influence the effectiveness of those systems. These factors include
budgetary and physical space considerations, changes in communication infrastructure, and other
considerations. But two other factors that must be considered are employee training and
proliferating office automation choices:


Training—People involved with office automation basically include all users of the automation
and all providers of the automation systems and tools. A wide range of people—including
software and hardware engineers, management information scientists, executives, mid-level
workers, and secretaries—are just a few of the people that use office automation on a daily
basis. As a result, training of personnel on these office automation systems has become an
essential part of many companies' planning. After all, the office automation system is only as
good as the people who make it and use it, and smart business owners and managers recognize
that workplace resistance to these systems can dramatically lessen their benefits. "It's true that
as technology matures the need for special training will decline—because tomorrow's software
and hardware will be much more intuitive and loaded with built-in teaching drills—that time is
not here yet," wrote Zarowin. "Training is still essential."
Choice—A dizzying array of office automation alternatives are available to businesses of all
shapes, sizes, and subject areas. Such systems typically involve a sizable investment of funds, so
it is wise for managers and business owners to undertake a careful course of study before
making a purchase. Primary factors that should be considered include: cost of the system, length
of time involved in introducing the system, physical condition of the facility into which the
system will be introduced, level of technical support, compatibility with other systems,
complexity of system (a key factor in determining allocations of time and money for training),
and compatibility of the system with the business area in which the company is involved.
As the high-tech New Economy continues to evolve over the next several years, business experts
warn small businesses not to fall too far behind. Some small businesses remain resistant to
change and thus fall ever further behind in utilizing office automation technology, despite the
plethora of evidence that it constitutes the wave of the future. The entrepreneurs and managers
who lead these enterprises typically defend their inaction by noting that they remain able to
accomplish their basic business requirements without such investments, or by claiming that new
innovations in technology and automation are too expensive or challenging to master. But
according to Zarowin, "those rationalizations don't acknowledge what many recent converts to
technology are discovering: the longer one delays, the larger the gap and the harder it is to catch
up. And though many businesses still can function adequately with paper and pencil, their
customers —and their competition—are not sitting on their hands."
FURTHER READING:
Bauroth, Nan. "Selling Upper Management on New Equipment." Office Solutions. April 2000.
Dykeman, John. B. "The State of Office Applications Software." Managing Office Technology .
June 1993.
Laudon, Kenneth C., and Jane P. Laudon. Management Information Systems: Organization and
Technology . Macmillan, 1994.
Lewers, Christine. "A Keystroke Away." Indiana Business Magazine. September 1999.
Page, Heather. "Branching Out: Network Computers Offer a Low-Cost Solution to Your
Growing High-Tech Needs." Entrepreneur. September 1997.
Stevens, Tim. "The Smart Office." Industry Management . January 17, 1994.
Zarowin, Stanley. "Technology for the New Millennium." Journal of Accountancy. April 2000.
Also read article about Office Automation from Wikipedia
User Contributions:
Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:
Name:
E-mail:
Show my email publicly
Type the code shown:
Public Comment:
(50-4000 characters)
Office Automation forum
« Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Office Romance »
Copyright © 2013 Advameg, Inc.
Nigeria: Local Government Intervention - Impact in Small Scale Farming
13 December 2011
Related Topics

Nigeria
Nigeria: Interview With 20-Year-Old Airline...

Agribusiness
Africa: Investors See Great Potential Buried...
National Council of Local Government, department of agriculture, and Agriculturist for all
Nations and International Society, gathered recently in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),
Abuja, for their 7th Annual National Conference and General Meeting on the way forward for
small scale farmers across the country, who they said, feeds the nation. Yemi Akinsuyi, who was
at the event, reports
Small scale farmers, no doubt, are the suppliers of food to the tables of Nigerians. In fact, a
report has it that more than 80 per cent of the total farmers, including medium and large ones, are
small scale farmers.
While the medium and large scale farmers, who are mostly educated and well connected to the
government in power access soft loans from financial institutions based on their collateral, the
small scale, otherwise known as peasant farmers, don't have access to these basic things needed
for the growth of their profession.
Forum Rationale
This, according to the president of National Council of Local Government, Department of
Agriculture, Comrade Gbenga Komolafe, was as a result of long abandonment of the sector for
the more lucrative oil boom.
Komolafe said this year's conference is centred on how to strengthen Local Government for
enhancing agricultural development in Nigeria.
This led to the theme of the workshop, which is 'Development through Agriculture: The Role
and Place of Local Government'.
"We all believe this gathering is coming up at this auspicious time when the issue of oil subsidy
removal is been debated in the country. This country can only be self-sufficient if more attention
is paid to agriculture, which holds the key to rapid economic development, social transformation,
poverty alleviation, stable democracy and good governance. To achieve this, the role of Local
Government cannot be over-emphasised.
"We shall examine the present strengths and weakness of Local Government towards the
implementation of national agricultural food policy; develop strategies towards the real
development of agricultural sector at the grass root through making it very attractive and to
develop a synergy of inter-governmental and inter-institutions between the local government,
state and Federal Government research and Development Institutions", he said.
CHAPTER 1
Today's Employment Opportunities for
the Qualified Professional
Secretary.
Objectives
Definition of a Secretary
Place of Work and Type of Employer
Advantages and Challenges of Secretarial Work
The Office Job Spectrum
Salaries
Employment Outlook
Personal Qualifications and Work Behavior
Summary Notes Review Questions
Discussion Questions Problems Readings
OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
1. List the advantages and challenges of secretarial work.
2. Describe the office job spectrum, including job titles, descriptions, responsibilities, areas of
work, and current salaries.
3. Describe the employment outlook for secretaries.
4. List and describe the technical skills and personal qualifications needed for success as a
secretary.
5. Apply problem-solving and decision-making techniques to office situations.
6. Locate information and set priorities needed to perform office work.
7. Exhibit the personal characteristics and responsible work behavior possessed by
professional secretaries.
The time to be a secretary is now! The profession of secretary offers excellent career
potential in today's modern office. Automated equipment, computerized information systems,
attractive physical environments, challenging job responsibilities, and good salary potential
are some of the elements of the present-day position.
DEFINITION OF A SECRETARY
The Professional Secretaries International (PSI) defines a secretary as
An executive assistant who pa mastery of office skills, demonstrates the ability to assume
responsibility without direct supervision, exercises initiative and judgment and makes
decisions within the scope of assigned authority.
From this definition, we can see that although various office workers perform some facets of
secretarial work, not all office workers are secretaries. Secretaries have more responsibility for
their work.
PLACE OF WORK AND TYPE OF
E0PLOYER
Secretaries work everywhere-in large and small firms, in private business and industrial
organizations, as well as in public and nonprofit organizations. They work in such areas as
banking and finance, distribution and wholesale-retail, educational research, accounting,
insurance, manufacturing, mining, public utilities, publishing, legal service, health service,
transportation, and government.
ADVANTAGES AND CKAIENOES OF
SECRETARIAL WORK
Secretarial work will allow you to use many different talents and work with many different
people. As an office professional, you will have the responsibility to organize the work flow
so that your employer will feel that everything is under control, with all projects completed
when needed.
You may have the opportunity to compose letters and write speeches and to type press
releases or minutes of meetings. You may communicate with office equipment salespersons
and be asked to help interview candidates for jobs.
In working for a doctor, a dentist, a lawyer, or a social worker, you may be called upon to
soothe nervous patients and clients. As a civil service secretary, a foreign service secretary, or
a secretary in an international business, you may be called on to help translate foreign
language letters.
You may be called on to drive to the airport to pick up the governor of your state for a
meeting or be asked to show a distinguished playwright round your office. You may be asked
to fill out reams of insurance forms or type and verify columns of numbers.
In other words, secretarial work provides a variety of experience. And the work is
important. Secretaries have always been indispensable individuals in all types of
organizations, for they have relieved countless executives of detail and cut red tape for
customers and employees.
To help you determine whether you would be happy or successful doing secretarial work,
answer the questions posed below. Yea answers to the majority of these questions indicate a
good chance for success in secretarial work.
1. Can I type at least 80 words a minute accurately?
2. Am I a good speller?
3. Is my English usage above average?
4. Do I enjoy turning a rough draft into beautifully typed copy?
5. Would f he able to draft a report from researched information?
6. Do I like to help other people?
7. Do I enjoy answering questions over the telephone and in person?
8. Do I like to meet people?
9. Am I organized?
10. Am I flexible?
11. Do I take responsibility for my own work?
12. Can I take the initiative to get things done?
13. Can I take the responsibility to correct someone else's mistakes?
14. Would I be able to tactfully make recommendations for better office procedures?
15. Would I be able to train other people?
16. Would f enjoy setting up a filing system?
17. Would I like setting up someone else's appointments?
18. Would I enjoy planning a two-week travel itinerary?
19. Would I enjoy planning luncheon meetings?
20. Would I be happy doing some routine work?
21. Do I enjoy paperwork?
22. Am I willing to admit that I don't understand something?
23. Do I like to search for answers to questions I don't understand?
24. Do I want a job where I can learn and grow?
THE OFFICE JOB SPECTRUM
Table 1-1 provides examples of jobs according to three positions on the office job spectrum:
entry-level, secretarial, and supervisory/management positions. These jobs are described in
more detail below. And although only a few of the many office positions available are
described, the descriptions provide a perspective of the various levels of office work and
career paths. Note how each aspect of office work builds on the knowledge and attainment of
skills required for positions on the lower levels.
Specific factors that affect office job titles and position classifications are the
• Complexity of the job
• Degree of responsibility for own work
• Degree of supervision required
• Degree of interpersonal relationships required
• Degree of responsibility for the work of others
Entry-Level Positions
Entry-level positions require special office skills but minimal on-the-job experience. High
school graduates usually begin in these positions. Typists, file clerks, receptionists, and clerks
in general at this level generally perform relatively routine work, with judgment decisions
being limited to being able to follow prescribed procedures closely.
Beginning word processing operators and stenographers are also expected to follow
prescribed procedures closely, and hence are also closely supervised, but they may also be
asked to gather facts from several sources to complete typewritten transcription assignments.
Secretarial positions
A secretary's duties require analysis of the situation, judgment, technical knowledge and
creativity. And because a secretary's responsibilities are more complex than entry-level
responsibilities, additional on-the-job experience and/or education is required.
The list below outlines many possible duties of a secretary. Although all secretaries do not
perform all these functions, most secretaries perform many of them. The number and type of
activities secretaries are assigned depend on whether they are generalists (multifunctional
secretaries) or specialists (such as legal or word processing secretaries).
1. Administrative responsibilities
• Assists supervisor in general management responsibilities.
•Maintains budgets, expense accounts, and other financial records.
•Maintains office procedures manual.
•Researches and abstracts information to be used for meetings, projects, and reports.
•Supervises and trains other office workers; helps hire office employee.
2. General responsibilities
•Helps select office equipment and supplies.
•Maintains appointment calendars and schedules meetings.
• Meets visitors.
•Organizes routes, and responds to incoming mail.
•Performs duties requested by supervisor or employer.
•Prepares business itineraries and coordinates executive's travel requirements.
•Prepares copies of documents.
3. Records management responsibilities
•Logs time spent on various projects.
•Organizes and maintains filing systems for various types of information and media.
4. Telephone responsibilities
•Answers or routes incoming calls.
•Places outgoing calls.
•Recommends new equipment and procedures.
5. Typing and transcription responsibilities
•Compos m letters, memorandums, and reports.
•Edits and proofreads copy and makes corrections.
•Transcribes from manual shorthand or machine dictation.
•Types letters, memorandums, reports, and other documents from handwritten or other
rough drafts.
Multifunctional Secretaries
Three common titles for traditional secretaries who perform a
variety of tasks for their employers are junior secretary, senior secretary, and executive
secretary. The titles reflect increasing levels of responsibility.
A junior secretary usually performs routine secretarial duties for a supervisor or head of a
small organizational unit, while a senior secretary is usually assigned to a higher level
manager and has more complex and confidential duties. An executive secretary is assigned to
top management-the chair of the board, the president, vice president, or other corporate
officers. Executive secretaries might also work for the owner or partner of a business
organization or the manager of a large division of an organization.
The executive secretary is a highly skilled person with considerable authority for making
decisions and may be assigned a clerk-typist to help with the routine aspects of the job. For
example, in addition to normal secretarial duties, the executive secretary may have specific
responsibilities to administer special programs or functions in the company. In thus capacity,
the executive secretary would keep statistical records of activities, assemble materials for
reports, and maintain strictly confidential files and records.
An executive secretary may also supervise and train other employees, communicate
company policy, and perform bookkeeping and accounting or other specified functions. This
secretary may maintain personnel promotion files, interview and recommend applicants for
office positions, design and draft business forms, secure information from the library, or
obtain and supply information to other offices. He or she might also obtain credit cards and
endorse checks for employers, maintain income tax records, and keep petty cash accounts.
Table 1-2 illustrates the different responsibilities of entry-level office workers, first-level
secretaries, and high-level secretaries or administrative assistants.
Specialized Secretaries Secretaries employed by professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, or
engineers, may have titles that reflect their specialties. Possibilities include legal, medical, or
technical secretary, as well as international/foreign language secretary, civil and foreign
service secretary, or educational secretary.
Secretaries who have expertise in the area of word processing may have the title word
processing specialist, correspondence secretary, or administrative secretary, depending on
their particular functions.
Legal secretaries, along with general secretarial duties, prepare legal papers and
correspondence such as summonses, complaints, motions, and subpoenas. They may review
law journals and other legal publications to identify court decisions pertinent to pending cases
and submit the articles to company officials.
Medical secretaries perform general secretarial duties but need a knowledge of medical
terminology and hospital, clinic, or laboratory procedures. They compile and record medical
charts, reports, and correspondence; and may prepare and send bills to patients and record
appointments.
Word processing secretaries work in offices that rely on automated equipment to process
much of the information produced. In these offices, secretarial work is specialized according
to the type of work performed. Secretaries who operate automated, text-editing typewriters
and whose main tasks are typing handwritten o machine-dictated correspondence and reports
are known as correspondence secretaries or word processing specialists. (Job descriptions and
career paths for word processing secretaries are discussed in detail in Chapter 4.)
Secretaries who specialize in no typing aspects are known as administrative secretaries.
Although administrative secretaries sometimes type documents on standard electric
typewriters, their main tasks are in such areas as mail handling; filing and records
management, travel, appointments, and meetings; and reprographics (the copying or
duplicating of documents). As executives delegate more of their management responsibilities,
administrative secretaries responsibilities increase.
Supervisory and Management Position
With extensive experience and/or education, a person may reach top-level positions in the
office job spectrum. Job titles at this level include administrative assistant, word processing
supervisor or manager, records or information manager, and administrative or office manager.
The term administrative assistant is being used increasingly to designate a management
position that requires administrative secretarial or executive secretarial skills, although not all
administrative assistants need typing skills.
Administrative assistants perform tasks that have supervisory and policy implementation
functions. They may prepare administrative orders or publication releases, gather data to fill
out questionnaires, prepare reports from rough data, implement employee suggestion
programs, receive and process requisitions for forms and publications, recommend policy
decisions on questions asked by members of the office force, determine personnel
requirements, and draft budget estimates. They may also supervise the work of other
administrative support personnel, such as accounting clerks, typists, and/or secretaries.
Word processing and records managers or supervisors have management responsibilities for
one specialized area within an organization, while an administrative or office manager is
usually in charge of several areas, such as records management, word processing, mail and
shipping, reprographics, and telecommunications.
Other Secretarial Job Titles
Because each organization usually uses its own job classification scheme, job descriptions
rather than job titles help one determine what a particular position entails. For example, one
organization may classify a word processing specialist as a "typist II," while another
organization may classify a typist position as a "secretary I"
Titles used to identify secretarial positions have included communications specialist, field
office administrator, senior office assistant, staff assistant, finance coordinator, and even
parking coordinator.
SALARIES
Based on 1981 salaries, 1985 salaries for beginning-level secretaries should be at least
$15,000 a year, with many higher. Table 1-3 shows average salary ranges for selected general
office positions, while Table 1-4 shows salaries for selected word processing positions. To
estimate current salaries, add yearly inflation percentages and study your local classified
advertisements for office personnel.
Differences in salaries paid within occupational levels reflect a variety of factors other than
duties and responsibilities, including the following:
•
Location: Metropolitan or urban areas have higher salaries than suburban areas or small
towns.
• Size of company: Larger companies tend to have salary schedules based on skill and
experience.
• lob responsibility: Increased responsibility usually results in increased pay.
• Position classification: Civil service or union classifications may raise pay scales.
• Type of industry: Some industries have higher pay scales than others.
• Hourly work week: Fewer hours worked a week may result in lower yearly pay.
• Fringe benefits: Benefits, such as child care and employee stock option plans, may reduce
salary level (while increasing the value of the job).
• Education: Higher educational levels tend to result in higher starting pay.
• Experience: Experience increases salary levels.
• Supervisor's position: Secretaries to higher level and higher paid executives tend to earn
more.
Generally, salaries for office workers are highest in public utilities and in manufacturing and
mining industries and are lowest in the finance, insurance, real estate, and retail areas. Salaries
tend to be higher in private organizations, yet many government positions have salaries
comparable to those in the private business sector. And lower salaries may be offset by a
sense of personal fulfillment individuals obtain from working for such organizations as a
service agency or a doctor's office.
EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK
A career in office work offers a large and varied number of job openings that are the result of
such things as a high turnover rate in current positions, new white collar positions created by
the computer-generated information explosion, and equal opportunity legislation that
advocates job placement based on individual ability and performance and thus encourages
steady advancement within or out of secretarial and office management classifications.
Men, in particular, should find. attractive openings in office work. Employers once relied
mainly on women to fill the growing number of secretarial positions. As women have
branched into careers in such areas as construction, insurance, police work, accounting, and
general management, however, a shortage of qualified office workers has occurred. With this
shortage, plus the introduction of sophisticated computers and other office equipment, salaries
and office career paths have improved. When one couples these facts with the knowledge that
work in the industrial sector is declining, it is evident that office work is desirable. The U. S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that, by 1990 approximately 22 percent of the total
employment in all occupations will be in office occupations.
While all office positions will increase in number, secretarial employment wilt continue to
be the largest job category through 1990. As shown in Table 1-5, 925,000 additional positions
will be created during the 1980s, with a projected employment of approximately 3.4 million
secretaries by 1990.
Although positions for skilled shorthand reporters will continue because of increasing court
loads, the number of positions as office stenographers is declining due to the increased use of
dictating machines. At the same time, the increased numbers of jobs as typists reflects the
growing demand for typists who can handle a variety of office duties and operate word
processing typewriters and dictating machines.
In the five years from 1975 to 1980, more change took place in the office than had taken
place in the preceding 50 years. For example 73 percent of office workers had learned new
skills, 72 percent had experienced changes in tasks performed, 45 percent had begun using
computers and other new equipment, and over 50 percent had changed location or were
working in redesigned offices.
PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS AHD WORK
BEHAVIOR
To meet the changing job requirements, a variety of skills and personal attributes is needed.
Basic Technical Skills
Basic technical qualifications for secretarial work include typing, transcription from machine
or shorthand dictation, filing ability, good telephone techniques, and written and oral
communication skills. Important language skills are grammar, spelling, punctuation,
proofreading, and vocabulary.
Depending on the particular position, a secretary will also need to be able to process mail,
operate specific office equipment (such as calculators and word processing equipment), and
follow through on appointments, meetings, trips and assigned projects.
Typewriting and Shorthand Skill Levels Firms in metropolitan areas, which demand both
typing and shorthand ability, generally require a typing speed of about 65 words a minute
(wam) and the ability to take dictation at 90 m. As shown in Table 1-6, the higher the dictation
speed, the greater the employability level. With 80 wam dictation speed, an individual may
expect to fill 81 percent of ail positions that require shorthand. With 100 wam, an individual
qualifies for 98 percent of all positions.
Shorthand and Transcription Use Although the availability and efficiency of dictating and
transcribing machines have resulted in many "nonshorthand" secretarial positions, shorthand
is still required for many traditional multifunctional secretarial positions. Table 1-7 shows
that, according to one survey, 41 percent of practicing secretaries take both face-to-face and
machine dictation, while 36 percent take only shorthand dictation.
This survey, as well ca others, indicates that a person who aspires to be an executive
secretary should have both machine transcription and shorthand transcription skills. Although
shorthand may not be used in every entry-level position, it may be required for promotion to
higher level executive secretarial jobs. While its use is declining as the use of word processing
equipment increases, shorthand is a communication skill that enables an individual not only to
transcribe verbatim correspondence but also to take down general instructions and telephone
messages rapidly and accurately and to outline presentations and minutes of meetings.
Occupational Survival Skills
In addition to basic technical skills, secretaries in a changing job market need a variety of
other skills and personal attributes, called "occupational survival skills." One study identified
the following general abilities and traits as those required for any office job:
• be dependable
• To get along with people with a variety of personalities
• To work as a team member
• To understand written information
• To have basic writing skills
• To maintain good health
• To know ones own abilities, strengths, and weaknesses
• To give an honest day's work
• To be loyal to the organization
• To make independent decisions
• To use initiative and imagination
• To know what is expected of one
• To locate information, materials, or equipment
• To have basic speaking skills
• To be neat and clean in appearance
• To be punctual
• To have basic arithmetic skills
• To have a basic knowledge of the organization's operating procedures
These traits and abilities, plus a sense of humor, are discussed throughout this book. The
rest of this chapter focuses on the general topics of resourcefulness through problem solving,
responsible work behavior, personality, and social behavior.
Resourcefulness through Problem Solving
How will you decide the most expedient way to transmit letters and packages? How will you
handle the correspondence in your office? Will you draft a reply for your employer or write
the letter yourself? How will you select the most economical means of communicationtelegram, letter, mailgram, telephone, or other form of telecommunication?
Finding the answers to these questions calls for resourcefulness, which involves several
important forms of problem-solving ability: decision making, locating information, and setting
priorities.
Decision Making Decision making is complex to analyze because making just one decision
involves putting together many different skills and abilities. For example, what is involved in
the decision to sign your employer's name to a letter and mail it without his or her having seen
it? Very little decision making is involved if this is a routine procedure in your office. On the
other hand, if your employer insists on signing every letter but is inaccessible for a week,
you'll have to make a decision about a letter that must be mailed immediately.
You begin to think about the effect of sending the letter. Is the letter controversial? Is it
mail able in terms of correct format, usage, coherence, and completeness? Is it a letter the
company could stand behind? Are you willing to take the responsibility for signing this letter
yourself? If you have been mentally answering yes or no to these questions, you have been
exercising decision-making abilities.
Decision making involves analytical and creative skills. Analytical ability is the ability to
look at all the facts in a situation and then determine possible outcomes. For example, you
may have to guarantee that a package sent to New York City from Los Angeles will arrive the
following day. How will you determine the best way to send it? You will need analytical
ability to judge the strengths and weaknesses of various possibilities so you can select the best
one.
The following guidelines for decision making help turn problems like the one just posed
into challenges:
1. Determine what the problem or challenge is. What needs to be done or corrected?
2. Gather all the facts about the situation; list your specific responsibilities and authority in the
situation.
3. Analyze the facts and try to determine the cause of the problem. Was there a
misunderstanding? A need for more information?
4. Propose alternative solutions.
5. Determine the advantages and disadvantages of each solution. Look at solutions in terms of
company policy and procedures.
6. Select the best solution to the problem or challenge.
7. Apply the solution--do it yourself or assign it to someone else.
Using good judgment, brainstorming, intelligence, and imagination will improve your
decision-making ability.
Brainstorming. If you prefer help in decision making, call on other people. The final outcome
may take more time, but different viewpoints offer more alternatives for a solution-and gain
group support for the final decision.
Brainstorming is an effective method for group decision making that involves the following
steps:
1. Write out all ideas offered by group members. (Do not evaluate any ideas, however, until
all ideas have been expressed.)
2. Combine and build on these ideas. Be creative!
3. Once group members have had a chance for free expression, proceed to evaluate the ideas.
Brainstorming can be used for getting any type of ideas or solving any type of problem.
You can, for example, use the process for office decoration ideas, selecting equipment, or
solving a problem of excessive absenteeism.
Intelligence and Imagination. An employer who demands "an intelligent secretary" wants a
person who has the ability to acquire and retain knowledge, to learn from experience, and to
respond quickly and successfully to new situations-someone who has native ability to learn
plus the flexibility to apply this learning to a variety of situations.
Intelligent persons are also imaginative. Imagination isn't needed to perform a task the way
it has always been done, but imagination is required to complete the task in a new way. You
could, for example, set up a weekly report in the same typing format week after week, or you
could periodically evaluate the effectiveness of the format and design new formats for the
information presented.
Mental ability can be developed to some degree. When you want to remember what you
read or what you hear, do you concentrate on the task at hand? Do you underline what you
read? Do you take notes? Do you concentrate on remembering names, for instance, by
associating an image with a name? Yes answers to these questions indicate a continuing
process of mental development.
Locating Information Securing answers to such questions as the minimum or maximum
envelope size the post office will accept, the name of the president of a corporation, or the
time in Australia may involve a search for information. Seven major information resources
include both people and printed material
1. Friends, peers, supervisors, or staff specialists
2. Public library information services
3. Specialized periodicals and pamphlets available in your company's offices
4. Current desk reference materials
5. General and specialized reference materials in the public library
6. College and university faculty and other experts
7. Government personnel and publications
Library reference resources include almanacs, atlases, biographies, book indexes, directories,
encyclopedias, financial reports, periodical guides and indexes, services, and U.S. government
publications (these are described in Chapter 9). Librarians in public (and sometimes in private
or university libraries) are often willing to look up information in response to a phone call.
And public libraries in urban areas usually have an information number and may have
branches that specialize in such areas as business and science.
References that you need within reach of your desk include
• Dictionaries (regular and specialized)
• Typing style manual
• Secretarial procedures handbook
• Thesaurus
• English usage handbook
• Company policy and procedures manuals
• Parliamentary procedures handbook
• Business etiquette handbook
• Postal/zip code guides
• Book of quotations or speech ideas
• Personal notebook or file of frequently used add- and job procedures
Setting Priorities During an eight-hour day, you may accumulate as many as 15 tasks in your
office in-basket. To help yourself meet deadlines, it's important to review all pending tasks
periodically and place or list them in order of priority, (Don't assume that you must do all
tasks in the order you receive them.) To determine the priority of the work, ask yourself these
four questions:
1. Has a deadline been established for the item? If not, do you know when the document
originator needs it? Even if a report is not to be distributed until next week, have you
considered the possibility of the work originator being out of the office and unable to
approve the completed work?
2. Will you need approvals or information from other people? Will these individuals be
available "at the last minute"?
3. How much time will the task involve? Have you considered copying, collating, and
assembling time? Have you allowed for interruptions?
4. Can you delegate the job to anyone? Even if giving instructions takes time, the time will be
we11 spent if it allows for continued delegation in the future. Experienced administrative
secretaries often have many ongoing projects that need to be completed. These projects can
be kept on a special list or in a folder so that part-time employees can pick them up any
time.
Remember that you will need to plan ahead for large, time-consuming projects. And
whenever you know of upcoming deadlines, you will need to start working ahead of time so
that the final preparation of the project will be se smooth as possible.
Once you have determined the priority of the task, you can place it into am of the following
categories:
1. Do immediately.
2. Do today.
3. Do by the end of this week.
4. Do when possible.
Further subdivisions might be;
1. Work I most do by myself.
2. Work I can give to an assistant.
3. Work that requires input from other people or a specific person.
At least once each morning and afternoon, it will he helpful to review all tasks still to be
completed. Relist them by priority, and remember to reorder them as more important jobs
come up. Remember also that what you like to do is not always what should be done first. Be
flexible, yet discipline yourself to do the high-priority work first and then reward yourself
with an enjoyable job. Pacing yourself by alternating difficult and easy jobs will make life in
the office more pleasant for you and your co-workers.
Another helpful procedure is to group related projects together; for example, plan to do
you’re your copying at one time. If you most run an errand, try to complete another task along
your route. The time you save on routine tasks can be used for more important projects.
Be sure to study your organization's policy manuals and regularly confer with management
to develop a sense of priorities, especially when you are doing work for several executives
who all want their work completed at the same time. Executive rank is not always a priority
indicator. While the president's work usually takes precedence over any other work, in some
cases the work of a junior staff member may be more important.
Responsible Work Behavior
Responsible work behavior stems largely from initiative, organizing and delegating skills,
ability to meet deadlines under pressure, reliability, accuracy, and flexibility.
Initiative Do you anticipate what must be done rather than waiting to be asked? Do you
discover new ways of doing work without being asked? Do you think you could directly
approach your supervisor and suggest a new way of doing something in the office? Yes
answers to these questions demonstrate that you have initiative. Most managers really
appreciate ideas for improvement and respect a sincere compliment or suggestion. Managers
also appreciate persons who do not need constant supervision and who find work to do instead
of waiting for work to be given to them.
Organization, Delegation, and Responsibility In solving a package deliver problem, for
example, a well-organized, responsible secretary usually make a quick decision based on a
similar situation in the past. Secretaries usually have a booklet, handbook, or loose leaf binder
that lists sources for sending packages quickly; or, if not, would delegate that responsibility to
the mal department. But, even though the assignment is delegated, the secretary would be
responsible for verifying that the jab was completed.
Deciding what to delegate will be based on both your need for special. expertise and the
time available. At times, even though you may be able to do the job yourself, you will
delegate it to someone else because you have work that requires your own special expertise.
Productivity and Efficiency For greatest efficiency it helps to set up you work station like a
production line. For example, organize paper, envelopes, forms, erasers, pens, pencils, and
correcting materials so that a minimum of motion is necessary to obtain supplies and
information. Follow the principle of time and motion and work simplification outlined in
Chapter 3.
Time yourself on your work. Can you type a short letter in five minutes? Ten minutes?
Fifteen minutes? In general, your production rate will be hall of your straight copy typing
speed, but test yourself by using copy of varying complexity. This will give you practice in
estimating completion times for any given task.
Accuracy Accuracy in all work performed-from typing to filing to recording appointments
and telephone messages-can save your company innumerable dollars and embarrassment.
Even one misplaced decimal point can cost a company thousands of dollars in sales. For
example, a chemical company was contracted by a stove manufacturer to develop a special
paint formula for stoves. The paint had to be heat-resistant as well as tough enough to resist
chipping that might be caused by heavy pans.
The paint was developed and used on the stoves. Soon the many stoves were being sold,
and the well-known appliance company seemed to be profiting. Eventually, however,
customers began to complain about chipping paint-in some cases, whole sections of the paint
on the stoves they had purchased peeled off. But the cause of the chipping and peeling was a
mystery. Finally, the search for the problem reached the files of the chemist who had
developed the paint formula. The proportion of one of the ingredients was listed as .10 instead
of 1.0-altering the chemical makeup of the paint. Personal Behavior Traits The sum of
personal traits has been called "personality." Personality affects everything you do and
includes your personal values, integrity, maturity, attitude, health, appearance, and social
behavior. Each of these traits is examined below.
Personal Values and Integrity Values are beliefs, ideas, or measures of worth. To have the
most meaningful work experience, your personal values should be similar to the values of the
company and those individuals with whom you will be working. Common values for all office
workers include the belief that a full days work is an obligation of each employee and the
belief that people are the most important element of an organization's operation.
Value systems also include integrity-the consistent adherence to moral and ethical standards
of behavior. Persons demonstrate integrity by being conscientious, honest, and sincere in what
they say and do.
Maturity Maturity means taking life and work seriously, but still being able to laugh at
yourself. It means having the optimism that anything is possible, while knowing that personal
wishes must be balanced with the expectations of others. It means being realistic about
personal limitations and strengths.
Attitude Persons who smile when given work to do, who enjoy challenges, and who exhibit
friendly behavior toward other people are exhibiting positive attitudes. Attitude is the way you
feel about and/or react to your environment and the individuals in it. A positive attitude is the
feeling that you area worthwhile person who is capable of making a contribution to your
organization and society. This positive attitude is reflected in a sense of optimism about future
activities and events and in a sense of urgency about getting things done.
In addition, a positive attitude offers you the chance to develop your potential, to gain
confidence in yourself, and to make a good impression on others. If you walk into a job
interview thinking that you will be hired, for example, your chances for success will be
improved.
Health and Stress Stress is a response of the body to any demand on it. Within limited
amounts, stress is necessary for proper functioning. Stress overload, however, can damage the
body and cause physical or mental illness. Symptoms may include headaches, tense or aching
muscles, anxiety or nervousness, nausea, and weak knees. Because each person has a unique
capacity for stress, you most learn how much stress your own body can accommodate. To
manage stress you can
•Analyze the situations or events that cause stress-plan your reactions to stress in advance of
the situation; avoid impulsive acts.
•Learn how to cope with stress and ask other people for their opinions.
•Find ways to eliminate the things that cause stress or tension or find ways to reduce the stress
they cause.
•Remember that stress is only temporary.
•View achievement realistically.
•Realize that sometimes a whole system, rather than just you, needs to be changed.
A study conducted to explore relationships between work patterns and their effects on
health showed that while 94 percent of secretaries like their work, 61 percent usually or
always felt stress in their work environment. Other studies have shown that secretarial work is
among the most stressful occupations because it involves constantly working to meet the
deadlines of others rather than deadlines that are personally set. Table 1-8 list, job stress
factors that affect secretaries.
A healthy person has a strong set of commitments, a sense of control over life, and
generally seeks novelty, challenge, and achievement. A commonsense path to good mental
and physical health includes getting enough sleep to do a full day's work at peak performance
and eating properly to maintain high-energy performance. Exercise and participation in
activities outside the office will also help you maintain optimum health.
Appearance: Your Professional Image Your appearance communicates, nonverbally, who
you are and what your company is like. Although employers cannot legally defend most dress
codes, the fact is that many men and women lose chances for both entry-level positions and
promotions solely because of appearance.
Elements that make a favorable first impression are neat grooming, good posture, pleasant
facial expressions, polished speaking habits, good manners, end lack of distracting
mannerisms. You project poise and confidence in your abilities through your hair, hands, feet,
weight, cleanliness, and clothing style. An orderly, attractive appearance reflects organized,
responsible work habit.
Grooming. Clean, neatly combed hair, polished shoes, and pressed, well-kept clothes project a
professional image. For women, minimal makeup and trimmed, manicured nails polished in a
light, neutral color project a businesslike attitude. Both men and women are advised to use
only lightly scented colognes or perfumes.
Clothes. Your personality, complexion, life-style, job, and budget will affect your clothes
selection. A sense of style and an attractive appearance can be developed, however, even on a
limited budget. Just remember that, generally, it is safe to dress neatly but conservatively for
the office-especially until you determine your organization's acceptable dress code.
John Malloy, a business dress researcher, recommends an appearance for secretaries that is
"dignified, prestigious, and efficient"-to reflect the "authoritative look" of the employer's
office.4 (Specific recommendations for males are given in his book Dress for Success (New
York: Warner, 1975. Recommendations for female dress are provided in his book The
Woman's Dress for Success "Book (New York: Warner, 1977).) His recommendation, along
with that of other authorities on business attire, is to dress for the position you are aiming for,
not just for the job you have. Thus, the suited look would be appropriate attire for both males
and females in executive offices,
To develop ideas for your own style, study magazines, newspapers, and other people.
Notice particularly what people similar to your coloring and build are wearing in your area of
the country, then ask a friend (with good taste) to go shopping with you. Both males and
females can follow these guidelines:
1. purchase only clothes made of high-quality materials.
2. Buy well-made clothes that fit you well.
3. Be consistent in your style choices so that you can mix and match the pieces in your
wardrobe.
4. Avoid clothes that emphasize sexual seductiveness, such as see-through or low-buttoned
shirts or blouses, or tight-fitting pants and sweaters.
5. Select coordinated, good quality accessories and jewelry to add variety to your wardrobe.
Social Behavior The basic guideline in professional conduct with other employees as well as
in hospitality extended to visitors is common courtesy-- being considerate, cooperative,
gracious, and polite.
Hospitality. Because the reception area is the first view a visitor has of an office, the lobby
should not be used as a social gathering place. If employees are lingering in the reception area,
the receptionist should courteously and quietly suggest that the conversation be continued in
the cafeteria, for example. The receptionist also has the responsibility of welcoming visitors
and seeing that reading material (or refreshments, if company policy permits) are available for
people who have to wait. In large offices, the receptionist arranges to have visitors escorted to
their meeting places.
Personal Relationships with Other Employees. Because a secretary is in the unique position of
representing both the office staff and management, he or she must be friendly, yet cautious, in
forming close relationships with any one group of employees. Discretion and impartiality are
the keys to forming professional relationships. Every office, however, is different with respect
to the formality of personal relationships.
Sexual Harassment. Title VII of the 1989 Civil Rights Act bans discrimination by employers
on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin or sex. Within the context of sex
discrimination, sexual harassment of either male or female employees was ruled illegal;
however, until 1980 no guidelines existed that defined such harassment. On November 10,
1980, the following guidelines were issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC):
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct
of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when (1) submission to such conduct a made
either explicitly or implicitly a term condition of an individual's employment, (2) submission
to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions
affecting such individual, or (3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably
interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or
offensive working environment.
Employers are liable for acts of supervisors regardless of whether the conduct was known
to, or authorized or forbidden by, the particular employer. An employer must investigate all
complaints of sexual harassment and take measures to see that such situations do not recur.
The guidelines do not suggest that every friendly or personal comment with sexual
connotations constitutes sexual harassment. Instead, harassment is defined as unwanted,
unwarranted, or repeated sexual advances. Examples might include repeated questions about
your personal life, distasteful innuendos, frequent use of such endearments as "honey;" or
unnecessary and unwanted physical contact.
If such advances occur, several courses of action are possible, depending on the particular
situation:
1. Ask the offender to stop the unwelcome behavior.
2. Keep a log or diary of offensive behavior to document it.
3. Write a memo to the offender documenting the behavior and asking that the relationship
return to a professional basis.
4. Keep copies of any personnel evaluations that might reflect sexual harassment.
5. Talk to trusted -workers, to see if there is a pattern of harassment in the office.
6. Speak to individuals in the organization who have the responsibility to help employees in
such matters, such as the personnel department or special committees.
7. Consult an attorney.
8. Seek help from organizations such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the
American Civil Liberties Union, or the Working .
Women's Institute in New York (they all can advise both men and women)
Additionally, common sense precautions have been suggested: Dress and act
professionally; avoid lingering in empty offices, unraveled stairwells, and vacant garages.
Even with such precautions, however, sexual harassment is possible, and a victim will need to
obtain help. Ignoring the situation is generally ineffective.
SUMMARY
A secretary is an executive assistant who possesses a mastery of office skills, demonstrates the
ability to assume responsibility without direct supervision, exercises initiative and judgment,
and makes decisions within the scope of assigned authority.
The employment outlook is excellent for secretaries and other office professionals in
private and public business and in government organizations. Specializations include legal,
technical, medical, and word processing. Job titles are related to the complexity of the job, the
degree of responsibility for work, the degree of supervision required, the amount of
interpersonal relationships required, and the degree of responsibility for the work of others.
Office salaries depend on several factors but are generally good and are increasing rapidly.
The professional secretary needs personal skills and attributes in addition to technical skills.
Personal skills include resourcefulness and responsible work behavior. Resourcefulness
requires decision making, locating information, and setting priorities. Responsible work
behavior involves initiative, responsibility, productivity, efficiency, and accuracy. Personal
attributes include values and integrity, confidence and maturity, a positive attitude,
appropriate social behavior, and attention to health and appearance. With changing social
standards, business behavior may tend to become more informal, but common courtesy will
always be expected.
Sexual harassment has been acknowledged as an office problem, and federal guidelines to
protect victims have been drawn.
NOTES
1. Nhora Cortes-comerer, “ ‘The Girl’(‘The Secretary’) Really Has Come a Long Way ,”The
Secretary ,August/September 1997,p.36.
2. Sharon Lund O’Neil and Robert E. Nelson, “Workers View Occupational Survival as a
Combination of ‘Skills,’” The Delta Pi Epsilon Journal, Vol.XX, NO.1 January
1987,PP.13—19.
3. American Academy of Family Physicians and Forecasts report on life-styles and personal
health care in different occupations, in “Secretaries Are ‘Not Never’ Happy, Survey
Shows,” The Secretary, December 1979,PP.1—10.
4. John T. Malloy, Dress for Success (New York: Warner, 1975 ), p. 206.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is a secretary? What are some different responsibilities of a beginning secretary and a
top-level secretary or an administrative assistant?
2. List five factors that affect salary.
3. Briefly describe the duties of three specialized secretaries or other office professionals.
4. List five benefits of being an office professional.
5. List five factors that affect job titles and position classifications.
6. Locate three advertisements for secretarial or office management related positions.
a. Explain why you qualify for them,
b. Explain what type of person is meant by a "mature employee with a good attitude."
7. Is "common sense" all that is needed to make good business decisions? Explain your
answer.
8. List at least two sources you would use to find each of the following types of information:
a. Information about your city to be given a new executive who has transferred to your
office.
b. Articles and books on the subject of sexual harassment.
c. Salaries for office professionals in your area of the country.
9.What is brainstorming? Give three examples of situations in which you would use this
technique,
10. How can accuracy affect the profits of a company?
11. How do flexibility and adaptability relate to the traits discussed in this chapter?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Write a job description for an office position you would like to obtain.
2. What advice would you give an individual who was interested in becoming a secretary?
3. Would you be happy or successful as a secretary or other office professional? Why? What
are your career objectives for the next five years? The next ten years?
4. Do you think all secretaries should be required to possess both shorthand and machine
transcription skills? Explain your answer.
5. Ask two secretaries how they organize their "to do' work. What advice would you give
them that might improve their system of setting priorities?
6. What is personality? How can you change your personality?
7. Describe your personal value system. What values will you transfer to your work situation?
8. List two situations that are stressful for you, How do you cope with the stress? What could
you do to lessen the stress?
9. Should secretaries be required to make and serve coffee to their employers and business
associates? Why or why not? What would you say to an employer who asked you to serve
refreshments to his or her associates?
PROBLEMS
1. You have just been hired as a secretary to the loan manager at the main office of a large city
bank. What ten items would you purchase to establish your working wardrobe? Why
would you buy these particular items? If you were working in a small town, would your
wardrobe choices be different? Why or why not?
2. For two weeks, John had been working overtime to finish a long financial report. His
Supervisor, Beverly, usually was around the office, but everyone else had gone home.
While John worked, Beverly frequently came over and talked with him; she constantly
complimented him on his work. When the report was finally typed, Beverly clasped John's
hand and suggested they go out to dinner to celebrate. John declined the invitation, Two
weeks later, Beverly's six-month evaluation of his work indicated poorer performance than
his previous evaluation showed. This surprised John, since he felt his work had been
constantly improving and was, in fact, excellent. What should he do and why? What are all
the factors you will consider as you analyze this situation?
3. Samantha Tennet is a secretary to George Baumgartner, an attorney. Waiting in the office
to see Mr. Baumgartner Is Susan Eberly, a client. The telephone rings and the man on the
phone says he is Tom Eberly and asks if his wife Susan has shown up at the attorney's
office. Ms. Tennet says, "Yes, she just came In." Mr. Eberly says, "Thank you" and hang
up. Evaluate what happened here. Did the secretary act judiciously? Why or why not?
Outline any assumptions you feel were necessary in evaluating this situation.
READINGS
Business and Professional Periodicals
Business Week
Fortune
Harvard Business Review
Information and Retards Management
Office Administration and Automation (combines former Administrative Management and
Word Processing and Information Systems)
The Secretary
The Wall Street Journal
General
Blockhouse, Constance, and Leah Cohen. Sexual Harassment on the Job. Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.: Prentice-H.11, 1981,
Culver, Gordon F. "Shorthand and the Office of the Future." Business Education World,
November-December 1982, pp. 5-7.
Fusselman, Kay. "The Secretary 1982 Newspaper Help Wanted Advertisements Survey." The
Secretary, January 1983, pp. I1-19.
Gorden, William I.; Craig D. Tengler; and Dominic A. Infante. "Women's Clothing
Predispositions as Predictors of Dress at Work, Job Satisfaction, and Career Advance vast:"
The Southern Speech Communication Journal, Vol. 47 (Summer 1982), pp. 422.434.
Haney, C. Michele, and Edmond W. Boenisch, Jr. Stressamap: Finding your Pressure Pains.
San Luis Obispo, Calif, Impact Publishers, 1982.
Holes, Mary Margaret. "Employment Agencies Support Shorthand." Business Education
World, November-December 1982, p. 23.
Kaylor, Diane. 'Skill Plusses: Shorthand and Word Processing." Business Education World,
November-December 1982, p. 25.
On-the Job Sexual Harassment: What the Union Can Do. Washington, D.C.: The American
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, 1983.
Orlando, Jeannette, and Friends of the Women' s Legal Clinic. Sexual Harassment in the
Workplace: A Practical Guide to What It is and What to Do chant It. Los Angeles, Calif.:
Women's Legal Clinic, 1981.
Selye, Ham. The Stress of Life. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976.
White, Shirley. "An Analysis of Secretarial Employment Ads with Implications for Curricular
Modification." Journal of Business Education, Vol. 58, No. 4 (January 1983), pp. 13C, 140,
Government Publications: Employment
Statistics
Area Wage Surveys: Metropolitan Areas, U.S. and Regional Summaries
Dictionary of Occupational Titles
National Survey of Professional, Administrative, Technical, and Clerical Pay
Occupational Employment in Selected Nonmanufacturing Industries
Occupational Employment in Transportation, Communications, Utilities, and Trade
Occupational Outlook Handbook
Occupational Outlook quarterly
Research Reports
"Today's Secretary: An Overview of a Profession in Transition" [a paper on the critical issues
facing business education and the secretarial profession]. New York: Today's Secretary and
the Research and Development Department of Gregg Division/ McGraw-Hill, 1980.
Scriven, Jolene D.; et al. Summary Report of National Study of Word Processing Installations
in. Selected Business Organizations. St. Peter, Min-Delta Pi Epsilon, 1981.
Secretarial Procedures Handbooks
Clement, John, ed. The Grosser Secretarial Handbook. New York: Grosser & Dunlop, 1980.
Carson, Betty, ad. The New Secretary's Handbook. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Morgan & Morgan,
1981.
Doric, Lillina, and Base M. Miller. Complete Secretary's Handbook, 4th ed. Englewood
Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1977.
Lovely, Yvonne, Practical Secretary's Manual and Guide. West Nyack, N.Y.: Parker
Publishing Company, 1978.
Prentice-Hall Editorial Staff. Private Secretary's Encyclopedic Dictionary, 2d ed. Englewood
Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1978.
Smith, Genevieve. Genevieve Smith's Deluxe Handbook far the Executive Secretary.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1979.
Thompson, Margaret H., and J. Harold Janis. Revised Standard Reference for Secretaries and
Administrators. New York: Macmillan, 1980.
Webster's New World Secretarial Handbook, new rev. ad, New York: Simon & Schuster,
1981.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF AUTOMATION: The Past, Present and Future of the
Industry
By Stefani Mingo | May 15, 2000



Email This
Print
Newsletters



inShare


Article
Comments
In 1981, IBM introduced its personal computer (PC) for use in the home, office and schools.
Prior to that time, there had been several MS-DOS compatible personal computers that ran DOS
programs. As computers became more widespread in the workplace (ie. an independent agent’s
office), new ways to unleash their potential developed. As smaller computers became more
powerful, they could be linked together, or networked, to share memory space, software and
information, and communicate with each other.
So where does the insurance industry enter the “automation” picture?
Independent agents have come a long way in using technology over the past 20 years. From the
early 1980s through the mid-1990s, independent agents for the most part used PC-based
automation systems to boost efficiency and cut costs.
Since 1970, ACORD, a not-for-profit standards-setting association for the insurance industry,
has been involved in automation. The association is comprised of carriers, agents, vendors,
solution providers, associations and other interested parties. “We aren’t the ones who ‘built’ the
automation system,” said Carolyn “Cal” Durland, managing director of Standards for ACORD.
“What we did and still do is provide standards-Forms and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
upon which the vendors or solution providers base their automation systems.” She explained that
to find out how the industry became automated, one must look to the vendors and solution
providers.
In 1972, the first ACORD form, a property loss notice, went into use. Today, ACORD’s
standards include Forms, AL3 (Automation Level 3), XML, OLife and ObjX. The Forms are
point of sale, data collection vehicles, AL3 is ACORD’s EDI standard (or machine-to-machine,
business-to-business, data transmission formats or components), OLife is a data integration
standard and ObjX is “much more than EDI.”
In the 1980s-when the number of PCs in use increased dramatically-ACORD members asked for
standardized electronic transmissions between the agents’ computers and the carriers’ computers.
“The industry has come to ACORD to consolidate efforts to eliminate duplication of work,”
Durland said. “For example, without one approved, countrywide ACORD application, all of the
2,400-plus insurance carriers would have to have their own form. And the vendors or solution
providers who automate those forms would have to customize each form.”
Now that ACORD and the industry are working hand-in-hand, there is one form accepted and
used by many of those carriers. In addition, the vendors or solution providers have the option to
become licensed by ACORD to redistribute the Forms. “ACORD provides them with tools…to
print the ACORD Forms,” Durland said. “ACORD’s Forms efforts have stripped the costs out of
this distribution channel.”
According to Durland, in the same manner that the industry came together with ACORD to do
Forms, they have also worked to develop EDI Standards. “Through our subcommittee process
and strict compliance to anti-trust guidelines, we bring together carriers, agents, vendors,
solution providers and other interested parties to discuss what is needed to transmit the data
collected,” she said.
Change is good
The industry on the whole, according to Durland, is slow to make changes, “although there are
some carriers that have the resources to be on the leading edge of technology.”
The beginning was a bit archaic. “Carriers realized the benefits of automation and developed
proprietary systems that they placed in the agents’ offices,” Durland said. “This resulted in the
agents having to physically go from one terminal to another to interface with the carriers
automating their process.”
With the inception of the agency management vendors and ACORD’s standards implemented in
those systems, the agents were conceptually able to eliminate those proprietary terminals and
work through one system. “This concept called SEMCI, Single Entry Multiple Company
Interface, allowed the agents to keep the data in one place and transmit it electronically to any of
the carriers it was licensed to represent,” Durland explained.
One step forward, two steps back
Ten years ago, when Durland joined ACORD, there were many agency management systems
attempting to enable SEMCI. “Today, due to acquisitions and mergers, there are three primary
vendors and a few smaller ones,” she said. “SEMCI is still the goal for the agents and the
carriers. However, with the inception of Web enabled processes, the carriers-in an effort to
streamline their costs-reverted back to proprietary applications.
“Those leading edge carriers put up Web sites that required the agent to go to the site and enter
the information. So instead of going to a separate terminal in their office, they now had to
connect to a Web site and rekey the data that was already in their databases.”
This resulted in the acceptance of the new standard XML. “XML is a standard that enables
connectivity between Web applications and agency management systems, in addition to
business-to-business, business-to-customer, etc.,” Durland said.
The goal to secure SEMCI, according to Durland, can still happen with the implementation of
XML. “Plus it broadens the trading partner base to be more than the agent to insurance carrier,”
she said.
A push for implementation
In the 1990s, implementation guides were written and a certification process was developed.
Today, there are more than 12,000 upload and 40,000 download implementations using AL3
standards. AL3 continues to evolve and there are new implementations every day, including
using AL3 standards over the Internet.
Ever since the dawn of the industry’s automation, forms standardization continued and still
continues to be an important focus for ACORD as the standards-setting association works with
many different trading partners within the industry.
Today there are roughly 400 ACORD forms. And although it’s important to note how many
forms there are, what is even more important to note is the fact that these ACORD forms have
eliminated or prevented 80,000 proprietary forms-saving the industry millions of dollars.
Communicating on a global basis
According to Durland, ACORD has staff dedicated to building relationships with other
standards-setting organizations. The fact is, the industry handles business on a global basis, so it
just makes sense that the goal is to be able to communicate on a global basis.
As an example, Durland pointed out that carriers write coverage for properties owned by people
all over the world. In turn, these carriers work with other carriers or reinsurers to share the
exposure.
When asked why it is so important for the industry to be automated, Durland said, “Automation
strips costs out of workflows.” Simply put, to only have to go to one place for information and to
be able to service customers quickly and efficiently is key.
“For example, the agent and carrier agree to indemnify the customer if they have a loss which is
covered under their policy. The customer pays a fee based on that promise. When the loss
occurs, they want someone to handle it promptly…to be given information on the progression of
the resolution…and be paid or have the item replaced ASAP,” Durland said.
Automation makes it possible.
“With the technology and automation available to us today, the opportunities to share
information are unlimited,” Durland said. “The industry realizes that and is working together to
figure out how to communicate electronically with each other.”