OFFICE ENVIRONMENT

AN ASSIGNMENT REGARDING THE OFFICE ENVIRONMENT, IT S LAYOUT AND ITS INTERIORS. SUBMITTED BY RACHEL FEONNIE [10/UCMA/532]

OFFICE ENVIRONMENT: An office is generally a room or other area where people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it; the latter is in fact a earlier usage, office is a place originally referring to the location of ones duty. The main purpose of an office environment is to support its occupants in performing their job preferably to minimum cost and to maximum satisfaction. An office environment should be an architectural and design phenomenon. Office is the place where you spend most of your time in a day, so you should enjoy your office work. You will be eager to get up in the morning and reach office on time if you really enjoy your office environment. Office environment should be professional and interactive. Employees should be interactive and friendly with each other. If you have good colleagues making a cool office environment then you will feel like home. You can be comfortable working in office, if you really have a cool office environment and will be able to give your best. For the last several decades, more companies have been moving to an open office environment. An open office is an office that places the employees in a single room, sometimes by the use of cubicles. More and more companies are even eliminating the cubicles and employees are working with no separation at all. A long time ago, most

office employees had there own office. A few key employees couldnt have an office, such as the receptionist, but most employees had an office with a door they could close when they needed privacy. But as more companies have been moving to an open office structure, distractions are inevitable. Open office environments certainly have their benefits. Many companies simply cant afford to offer every employee their own office space. Cubicles are generally much less expensive than offices, and they can be expanded more readily as the company grows. Its much easier and simpler to rearrange and add a few cubicles as the company expands, than to add offices or move on to larger office buildings. An open office without cubicles is even more efficient for space purposes. In order to add more employees, you only need to rearrange furniture to make room for another desk. Many companies also appreciate the camaraderie and ease of communication that comes with the more open environment. Sound masking systems use white noise to help reduce the distraction caused by office noise. This is especially helpful in cubicle offices and in open offices, because they are very noisy by nature, Sound masking systems help mask the sound by using matching frequencies to turn distinguishable noises into noises that can simply be tuned out and ignored. If the company cant afford to give each employee their own

office, a sound masking system might help employees be less distracted in their open environment. Physical place matters, its easier to be productive, creative and happy at work in a colorful, organic, playful environment than in a grey linear boring one. Physical workplace is one of the most ignored yet most important factors in creating good workplace. Office environment can have a profound effect on how the employees work. Decoration is very important for your office to give it a nice and beautiful look. You can decorate your office with photos into beautiful canvas, aquarium, wall hangings, motivational quotes and many other things. Office pictures and office photos should go with your office work. Office images bring out the best office ambience. Pleasant ambience will help to increase employees efficiency and productivity. Simple office pictures can be decorative. You can decorate your office room by simply taking out printouts for office picture. Sketches are always good option for office photo. Sketches add an elegant look to your office. One should be careful while choosing office pictures. Person selecting office photos should have aesthetic sense. Office images should have calming effect and should not be distractive. You can have personalized handmade office image. You can get creative with office pictures giving a corporate artwork.

Many companies are starting to recognize this, and are looking to innovative workplace and planning solutions to drive productivity in the organization.

ACKNOWLEDEGEMENT: I hereby extend my kind gratitude to SHINE ASSOCIATES and its employees for helping me in finishing my project effectively. My sincere thanks to y Mr. Jai Shankar (Proprietor) y Mr. Chandru (General Manager)

HISTORY OF THE ORGANIZATION: Shine Associates first evolved in MARCH 2009, by Mr. Jai Shankar and Mr. Prabhakaran. In the beginning the organization had just 20 employees, which has now grown to 60 employees. Though started as a small organization, the company is fast growing in its business. The basic activity of the company is COLLECTION that is when a customer who takes loan from a bank default in making payment, the employees of their company help the bank in getting back the payment defaulted. It is a business that pursues payment of debts owed by individuals or businesses. Their current project is for AXIS BANK.

Their logo had an energetic horse on it, when enquired the reason behind such a logo they revealed that it meant that their company will

be as powerful and efficient as a horse in doing their job and they followed a motto of TIME IS THE NEW CURRENCY, which meant that by giving the customers some reasonable time duration to pay back the dues they can maintain a more friendly relationship, thereby resulting in getting the payments soon.

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATON AND ITS OFFICE ENVIRONMENT: THE FRONT OFFICE  THE VISITORS DIARY: A visitors diary is maintained to know the people who are visiting the company; Shine Association had a separate visitors lobby where the employees can meet the visitors. It is a notebook that contained the visitors details. The visitor after entering the reception is asked to fill the diary with particulars pertaining to a) Date b) Name c) The people to be met d) Purpose e) In-time f) Out-time and g) Signature This is an advantage that enables the organization to know who has visited and the purpose of their visit. It serves as an evidence for future references incase of any damage caused to the company by the visitors. It is properly maintained by the receptionist and is checked regularly by the manager for any defaults on the part of the receptionist.

 THE RECEPTION: The office reception area is at the heart of the business and reflects the companys values. The office reception is generally the first and last thing that the visitors will experience. At Shine Associates the reception area was very attractive with wall paintings and religious statues. The receptionist was given a semicircular desk and a modular chair. The table had few drawers and files and other particulars were neatly arranged. The reception was painted in bright orange color, the reason behind this was that orange is a bright and warm color, and as a citrus color it was associated with appetizing qualities to it. One of the main and an interesting reason given was that the orange color increases oxygen supply to the brain and stimulate mental activity and thereby being highly accepted among young people. The reception table had the following particulars, the visitors diary, a telephone, few nicely decorated fresh flowers and a religious statue. THE MAIN OFFICE  LIGHTING SYSTEM: As most of the work of the employees is in the computer, the lighting was chosen based on the type of business owned. The office lighting plays a crucial role in interior lighting design of the office. Along with the installation of light fixtures they made sure that they are energy

efficient and dont require high amount of energy. As the entire office was painted in orange the office lighting was bright enough to provide good illumination such that the employees are not putting too much strain on their eyes. Fluorescent bulbs were used wherever necessary and a few decorative lights were also present in certain areas, there were also desk lamps and fluorescent fixtures under cabinets. The good lighting system adopted by the company established a tone of professionalism amongst the employees.

 FURNISHINGS: Mostly people work for 9 hours in their offices. It is also the place where you have your meetings with your clients. So, office furniture also helps you in getting business, therefore your office should look elegant with comfortable furniture. Office furniture is important for office decorum. The basic office furniture is chairs, desks, bookshelves and filing cabinets. Time should be spent in choosing the appropriate furniture for your office. The furnishing details was not given an importance in Shine Associates, they had an ordinary sofa in the waiting lobby which was well coordinated with the wall paint and each employee was given a computer table and an ordinary chair. However the managing directors cabin was well furnished, with modular sofas, table and a rolling chair. In order to avoid mental fatigue and discomfort while working the

employees could have been provided with more comfortable chairs. Curtains were used for all windows which added more beauty to the office an enhanced its looks.

 INTERIOR DECORATION: The office interior holds a large portion of our day to day life and hence it is very important. The office interior designing is very vital whether it is in our homes or in a commercial building. Decent and subtle color schemes are of a great significance too as they help to avoid distractions while achieving work. Cleanliness and clutter free

environment is important because majority of people spend their quality time in the office, so it helps if it has a pleasant and a comfortable environment. In a good office interior design, an office is not only functional, safe and professional but it also brilliantly reflects an image and the purpose of the particular business taking place in the office. In Shine Associates interior decoration was given a good reasonable importance. The reception area and the managing directors room were painted in BRIGHT ORANGE, and it had many wall paintings, architectural pieces of work and decorative ribbons. The employees work areas was painted in BLUE, the reason given by them for the use of blue color was that it is a cool calming color that shows creativity and intelligence. They say it is a color of loyalty, strength, wisdom and trust. Also blue had a calming effect on the psyche. Their interiors had lots of pictures of horses.  TEMPERATURE AND VENTILATION: The employees must be provided with tolerable temperature if they are to work efficiently. Their efficiency is bound to suffer if the temperature is either too low or too high. In Shine Associates the entire office had a centralized air conditioning system, therefore the doors and windows were kept closed during the summers. In winter season the cooling effect is minimized based on

the conditions outside. The major advantage is because the condenser unit is placed outside the office, it offers a lower level of indoor noise. As a result of goods and comfortable temperature the employees are able to give their full concentration and efficiency towards the work.  NOISE CONTROL: In most of the work organizations, it is very rare for noise levels to increase up to a harmful and disturbing level. The company uses decoupled lead based tiles for the flooring and fiber glass for its windows in order to absorb the noise. As people keep coming and going in an organization, noise cannot be fully avoided, therefore the employees of the accounts department are provided with NOISE CONTROL HEADPHONES. These are headphones that control unwanted ambient sounds by means of active noise control.  SAFETY ARRANGEMENTS: Office security is very important. There are a wide range of security and alarm systems that are available for either external or internal security. It is the responsibility of the workplace to provide office safety for the employees. They should work in secure conditions. The quality and features of an office security system are of great concern while you wish to select a system to protect your office. Before we settle

down on a security system we should remember to check its effectiveness. In Shine Associates the management has made a list of emergencies that can occur at their workplace and has come up with solutions for all those emergencies. Smoking is not allowed within the office premises, particularly where a huge quantity of paper is lying. Their safety measures included the following: a. A fire extinguisher to be used incase of a fire b. A first-aid kit which can be used incase of minor accidents like cuts, scratches and for sickness like common cold, headache and flu. c. All the employees were covered under a security insurance to help incase of major accidents. d. Fire proof lockers to keep cash. e. The office has two possible exits, the front door and the back door f. Smoke detectors are installed and are routinely checked to ensure their working condition. g. Main electrical switches are put of during the non-working hours  SANITARY ARRANGEMENTS: As far as practicable, the office and its surroundings must be kept clean and free of all bad odour and infection. Insanitary conditions affect the health of the employees adversely. There is bound to be some dirt and dust in the ordinary course of operation of the office

because of incoming and outgoing of large number of persons. Attempts should be made to avoid insanitary conditions in the office. Insanitary conditions tell upon the health of the employees and reduce their efficiency. In shine associates sanitary arrangements was given reasonable importance. The toilets were cleanly maintained and dustbins were placed wherever necessary. There were separate workers employed to take care of the cleanliness of the office workplace. The office was cleaned regularly and maintained. Room freshener were kept and used from time to time. Vinyl flooring was used for the toilets as it requires low maintenance and is made up of a very durable material. They also revealed that this flooring is easy to clean and simple mopping can make the flooring remain fresh and it is completely inexpensive. Though there are wide ranges of color available the company has opted for blue color flooring. Incandescing light bulbs were used in the bathrooms.

 TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS: The travel arrangements the secretary must make vary considerably. In companies where the personnel travel extensively, a traffic or transportation department may make all the arrangements. When the company does not have a traffic department, the secretary is expected

to make the arrangements through a travel agency or directly with the airlines, motels and hotels, and car rental agencies. In Shine Associates, the employees who go for collection is given a bike, a petrol allowance of Rs150 to Rs200 is given to the employees. At times when certain customers are in a different city or state, the company arranges for flight tickets and accommodation for the employee. There is no travel agency as such; the company directly has contacts with the airlines and hotels.  OFFICE ETIQUETTE: Office etiquette is a mixture of some important social values like politeness, respect to others and friendly behavior with your colleague. We also need to be disciplined and punctual. The best thing will be if you adjust in your office environment and accept the rules made by the organization, you can have a better career with proper office etiquette. In Shine Association good office etiquette is followed. The employees are polite towards each other and also with outsiders. The employees are not allowed to use mobile phones during working hours, however they can use their mobiles incase of emergencies. The workers are required to keep their mobiles in silent or vibrate mode. Drinking and creating unwanted attention during office hours are strictly not allowed.

GENERAL POINTS ABOUT THE ORGANISATION:

OFFICE WORK: Shine Associates is a collecting agency that operates as agents of creditors and collect debts for a percentage of the total amount owed. It is a third-party agency, which is a separate company contracted by another company to collect debt on their behalf for a fee. They are called a third party agency because they are not a part of the original contract. The company charges a collection fee based on the age of the account and how many attempts have already been made by them to collect on it. The fee charged ranges from 25% to 40% of the total amount owed. The offer master servicing for which the fee ranges from 4% to 6% of the gross collection in addition to the collection agency fee. OFFICE HOURS: The office timings of the organization are from 9:30am to 6:30pm. However some employees work over-time to finish their job effectively, for which the organization provides additional leave permissions to them. There is no shift basis for the company. EMPLOYEES: At the beginning there were about 20 employees, but now there are about 65 employees in the payroll. The employees are well qualified and there are around 6 employees to take care about the cleanliness of the workplace.

OFFICE WEAR: The company expects its employees to be in formal wear during the week. The employees are allowed to come in casual wear on Saturdays. The male employees are exempted from wearing designer jeans, likewise the female employees are exempted from wearing skimpy and attention grabbing clothes to office. BASIC EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION: The receptionist was a graduate and the general manager had a degree in mechanical engineering and BE. The company expects its new applicants to be qualified under an under graduation course. OFFICE MANUAL: The office manual included projects and charts which helped them to identify the progress of their company. The office manual is inclusive of important reports of the external and internal relations. It included the rules and policies of the organization. They revealed that by preparing an office manual it is very beneficial for their company to grow. The key word of their office manual was professionalism. OFFICE LAYOUT: Shine associates has adopted an open office layout. The reason given by the company for the adoption of open office layout was providing more workspaces and place more employees in the office. They also said that open office layout is more economical and if the layout of the office needs to be changed, it can be done quickly with minimal efforts.

SUGGESTIONS AND REVIEWS ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION:  On the whole the employees of the company were very friends with the visitors. They followed good office etiquette.  I would suggest that the company could have given more importance towards deciding their office furniture.  The employees could have been provided with better and comfortable chairs to sit on and work.  A most important suggestion would be that the company can provide good drinking water services to the employees, because at present the management expects the employees to bring their own water bottles.

A FEW SNAPS OF SHINE ASSOCIATES: