LESSON 1

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND

FUNCTIONS OF THE
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE
STAFF AND MANAGER.
In this lesson you will be studying about the
Managerial Process which will tackle topics such
as, the responsibilities of the administrative
office manager, the challenges affecting
Administrative office manager, their
qualifications, and the skills needed. You will also
be studying about the evolution of management
theory, and a short discussion about total quality
management (TQM).

The first topic of this lesson is about the

responsibilities of an Administrative Office
Manager.
 1. WHAT ARE THE DUTIES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES OF AN
ADMINISTRATIVE AND OFFICE
MANAGER?

The Administrative Office Manager is An

Administrative Officer is responsible to provide
administrative support to an organization. Some
duties include inventory management, organizing
company records, roster scheduling, budget and
office reporting, and invoicing and customer
service. A good Administrative Officer often has
a strong understanding of business management
and industry knowledge to help the marketing
and business development of a company.
SOURCE: INDEED.COM
 1.1 Duties and Responsibilities

Supervising day-to-day operations of the

administrative department and staff members.
Hiring, training, and evaluating employees, taking
corrective action when necessary.
Developing, reviewing, and improving
administrative systems, policies, and procedures.
 Ensuring office is stocked with necessary
supplies and all equipment is working and properly
maintained.
Working with accounting and management team to
set budgets, monitor spending, and processing
payroll and other expenses.
Planning, scheduling, and promoting office events,
including meetings, conferences, interviews,
orientations, and training sessions.
Collecting, organizing, and storing information
using computers and filing systems.
Overseeing special projects and tracking progress
towards company goals.
Building new and expanding existing skills by
engaging in educational opportunities.
 1.2 Qualifications and Requirements

Administrative Manager Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in business administration,
management, or related field.
Experience in related field, such as management
or financial reporting, preferred.
Exceptional leadership and time, task, and
resource management skills.
Strong problem solving, critical thinking, coaching,
interpersonal, and verbal and written
communication skills.
Proficiency with computers, especially MS Office.
Ability to plan for and keep track of multiple
projects and deadlines.
Familiarity with budget planning and enforcement,
human resources, and customer service
procedures.  Willingness to continue building
skills through education opportunities.
 2. ROLES AND SKILLS ?

Role - Defined as a set of behavior and job tasks

employees are expected to perform, including:
Decision making roles, Information-management
roles and interpersonal roles.

Interpersonal roles cover the relationships that a

manager has to have with others. The three roles
within this category are figurehead, leader and
liaison. Managers have to act as figureheads
because of their formal authority and symbolic
position, representing their organizations. As
leader, managers have to bring together the
needs of an organization and those of the
individuals under their command. The third
interpersonal role that of liaison, deals with the
horizontal relationships which work-activity
studies have shown to be important for a
manager. A manager has to maintain a network of
relationships outside the organization.
Managers have to collect, disseminate and
transmit information and have three
corresponding informational roles, namely
monitor, disseminator and spokesperson. A
manager is an important figure in monitoring
what goes on in the organization, receiving
information about both internal and external
events and transmitting it to others. This process
of transmission is the dissemination role, passing
on information of both a factual and value kind. A
manager often has to give information
concerning the organization to outsiders, taking
on the role of spokesperson to both the general
public and those in positions of influence.
And the most crucial part of managerial activity
as that concerned with making decisions. The
four roles that he places in this category are
based on different classes of decision, namely,
entrepreneurs, disturbance handler, resource
allocator, and negotiator. As entrepreneurs,
managers make decisions about changing what is
happening in an organization. They may have to
both initiate change and take an active part in
deciding exactly what is to be done. In principle,
they are acting voluntarily. This is very different
from their role as a disturbance handler, where
managers have to make decisions which arise
from events beyond their control and
unpredicted. The ability to react to events as well
as to plan activities is an important managerial
skill.
Source: www.soas.ac.uk
Skills - Defined as abilities individuals possess
that enable them to carry out their specified
roles well. There are three main types of skills:
the technical skills, conceptual skills and human
skills.
Technical skills are qualities acquired by
using and gaining expertise in performing
physical or digital tasks. There are many
different kinds of technical skills.
Traditionally, people working in
mathematics, computer science,
mechanics and information technology
have used many technical skills. Today,
however, many more industries rely on
employees with technical knowledge.
Some specific examples of technical skills might
include:
 Programming languages
 Common operating systems
 Software proficiency
 Technical writing
 Project management
 Data analysis
Conceptual skills provide the ability to develop
solutions regarding high-level theories, ideas and
topics. This quality also involves addressing
challenging scenarios with a creative, innovative
approach. With conceptual skills, it becomes
easier to understand abstract or complicated
ideas. In this article, we’ll review what conceptual
skills are and why they’re important in the
workplace.
 Some specific examples of conceptual skills
might include:
 Analysis
 Communication
 Creative Thinking
 Leadership
 Problem Solving

The combination of technical skills, conceptual

skills, and human skills used by an administrative
office manager varies from situation to situation.
Source: www.thebalancecareers.com
 3. THE EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT
THEORY
Theories help us understand our experiences by
using research and observable facts.
Management is the act of supervising and
directing people, tasks, and things. So, simply
put, management theory is a collection of
understandings and findings that help managers
best support their teams and goals.

3.1. The Importance of Management Theories

Management theories help organizations to
focus, communicate, and evolve. Using
management theory in the workplace allows
leadership to focus on their main goals. When a
management style or theory is implemented, it
automatically streamlines the top priorities for
the organization. Management theory also allows
us to better communicate with people we work
with which in turn allows us to work more
efficiently.
By understanding management theory, basic
assumptions about management styles and goals
can be assumed and can save time during daily
interactions and meetings within an organization.

Theories can only reach so far, and management

theories are no exception. There is no such thing
as a one-size-fits-all management theory. What
may work for one organization may not be
relevant for another. Therefore, when one theory
does not fit a particular situation, it is important
to explore the option of developing a new theory
that would lead in a new, more applicable
direction. While some theories can stand the test
of time, other theories may grow to be irrelevant
and new theories will develop in their place.
3.2. The Evolution of Management Theory

While the next section will get into the nitty-

gritty behind the history of different types of
management theory, it is important to have a
basic understanding as to why management
theory was such an important and ground-
breaking idea. The Industrial Revolution is at the
center of management theory. From the late
1700s through the early 1900s, the Industrial
Revolution brought extraordinary change to the
workplace and forever transformed the way
companies operate.

The Industrial Revolution brought better and

faster technology allowing companies to perform
more efficiently than ever before and gave them
the ability to dramatically increase their output.
However, increased output meant lower prices
which increased demand which in turn required
more employees. Companies that once had a
couple dozen employees were now growing into
gigantic corporations. No longer was it possible
for a manager to know each and every one of
their employees on a friendly level. In order to
meet demand, company leadership had to
ensure their employees were productive. Sounds
simple, right? Not exactly.

While productivity goals can be set easily,

managing a team to meet productivity goals was
not so simple. For the first time, managers had to
find new and innovative ways to motivate a
sizable number of employees to perform. Since
this was a new concept, research, observations,
experiments, and trial and error were all used to
find new and better ways to manage employees.
The Industrial Revolution gave birth to a variety
of management theories and concepts, many of
which are still relevant and essential in today’s
workforce. In addition, many management
theories have developed since the end of the
Industrial Revolution as society continues to
evolve. Each management theory plays a role in
modern management theory and how it is
implemented.