Course Overview
This is an entry level course for persons with little or no experience in establishing or maintaining a small office operation. The central objective of this course is to provide a practical introduction to small office operations. Topics include office management, customer service, handling mail and correspondence, managing simple information systems and an introduction to financial transactions.
Prerequisite(s)
- No prerequisites are required for this course.
Credits
2.0
- Not offered this term
- This course is not offered this term. Notify me to receive email notifications when the course opens for registration next term.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, the student will be able to:
Module 1 - General Office Management
- List the duties and responsibilities related to general office management.
- Develop an action plan that includes:
- A clearly stated objective,
- A time frame for achieving the objective,
- A specific sequence of tasks to accomplish the objective,
- Deadlines assigned to each task, and
- Identification of the resources required to achieve the objective.
- List the duties related to managing staff.
- Identify common causes of conflict and determine how to resolve them.
- State techniques for enhancing listening skills.
Module 2 - Customer Service
- Define customer service.
- Identify ways to build customer trust and loyalty.
- Identify ways to determine customer needs.
- Develop customer service standards and policies.
- Identify techniques to deal with customer conflict.
- Define client focused customer service.
Module 3 - Mail and Correspondence
- Develop procedures for sorting incoming mail.
- Develop procedures for processing outgoing mail.
- Compose a business letter to the general public.
- Compose an interoffice memorandum.
Module 4 - Classify and Manage Information
- Classify information.
- Determine the importance of and be able to choose between information management systems used by business organizations.
- Distinguish among administrative, operation and sequential records.
- Develop a basic filing system for paper-based and electronic files.
- Identify the type of material to be placed on the following record filing system:
- Administrative
- Operational policy
- Sequential records (Operational Reporting System)
- Outline what is required for general file maintenance.
- Describe the 'Bring Forward' (BF) system.
- List steps in securing files, the retention period for each file and how to conduct classified waste disposal.
Module 5 - Financial Transactions
- Define concepts of costing and profitability.
- Calculate a break-even analysis.
- Explain the importance of tracking revenue and expenses using an income statement and the balance sheet.
Effective as of Fall 2003
Programs and courses are subject to change without notice. Find out more about BCIT course cancellations.