What is this - administrative activity? What is it for? What does this type of activity look like? Is it possible to meet here "pitfalls"? These and a number of other questions will be answered in the framework of today's article.
general information
About any company, we can say that there are several functions that are impossible to do without. This is independent of what the structure does. These include administrative work. This is an axiom without which successful activity is now impossible. Therefore, considering it, it is necessary to talk about the most significant functions performed, about positions, about the place and role in the structure of the company. In general, administrative activity is a very typical business. Although the specific content differs depending on the goals that are currently facing the company, on its size and available resources. But you should start with the definition. Administrative business is the work associated with the organization of the work of employees, departments and services of an enterprise in order to achieve high organizational performance. Covers all levels.
Classification
Administrative and economic support activities can be divided into:
- Ongoing provision of activities. This is the purchase of stationery, supplies, office equipment, appliances and furniture in working condition, repair and preventive maintenance if necessary, providing communications, and making large one-time purchases.
- Document flow. By this is meant the development of a paper exchange system, the maintenance of archives, libraries, and databases.
- Operation of the building, premises and territory. By this we mean cleaning, power supply, plumbing, minor household repairs, appearance design, arrangement of the surrounding area, landscaping.
- Organizational work. It includes events, arrangement of workplaces, meeting rooms, catering for employees, transport services, employee and company insurance, relocation.
- Providing relationships with third parties. An example is interaction with government agencies, landlords, and suppliers.
- Internal staff awareness. This includes organizing notifications of new documents, monitoring the execution of instructions, organizing and maintaining up-to-date bulletin boards, issuing internal corporate publications (leaflets, newsletters, newspapers), sending out messages, organizing in-house exhibitions and museums.
As you can see, administrative and economic activity is not sitting still and beating in the back door.
The nuances of completing tasks
The reader should pay attention to the fact that some of the functions are permanent, while others are presented as one-time tasks. But despite this, all this should be remembered and, if necessary, discussed with employees. After all, it may be such that there will be a need to carry out, albeit a one-time, but global task, such as organizing a move. And in this case there should be no questions with the question “who will carry out all this”. The specialist in administrative and economic activities should understand well that his main purpose is to ensure comfortable and uninterrupted operation of all company services.The main task is to help the rest of the units fulfill the production plan, no matter what. Therefore, the above list of functions can both be reduced and expanded. It all depends on the specific situation.
On the influence of various factors
The following factors influence the specific list of functions performed:
- Company size.
- The specifics of the activity.
- Company goals.
- Use of own / borrowed funds and resources.
What is good for a small business can be extremely inefficient for a medium-sized structure. It is good if management can recognize that there are problems and a certain reorganization of the company is necessary.
How to define functions and tasks?
So, we gradually came to the conclusion that the administrative support of the organization should be carried out in accordance with the needs. But how to determine those specific functions and tasks that will need to be performed? Here is a short guide to action:
- The analysis of the current position of the company is carried out and the missing functions are determined.
- The direction of movement is formed based on the accepted goals of the company.
- The specifics of the enterprise and how it affects the implementation of the tasks are indicated.
- The feasibility of performing certain work on their own or by attracting third-party contractors is calculated.
- Subordination issues are being addressed.
- The best format for implementing the necessary function is determined (allocation of one employee, department or the whole service).
The format of the article, alas, will not allow to fully consider everything and everything. Therefore, the organization of jobs for employees will be taken as one object of study. Indeed, they often have to perform cross-functional tasks, and because of the inconsistency of the actions of various units, various problems arise.
Job Organization
This event does not occur every day. Therefore, usually there are no regulations in this case. Tasks are solved according to the situation, very often in emergency mode. In this case, special orders are required for administrative activities. For example, the introduction of the rules for organizing a new workplace will allow us to plan the whole process on paper, to understand how it can be optimized, what and in what sequence should be undertaken. This is especially true for those companies that have set themselves the goal of achieving active development. This is very often associated with the expansion of staff and it is necessary to have a well-developed procurement for this case.
The first steps
Initially, a description of the workplace should be made. It should include a list of necessary equipment and furniture. But not just something random and first turned up by the arm, but something that is used in a typical workplace. It is possible to carry out gradation depending on the level of the position and allocate the highest management link, middle-level managers and performers. Or you can build on the specifics of the activity. This is the presence of visitors, the use of additional equipment, inventory, special requirements for room temperature, current lighting and the like. Ideally, a description should be written for each post. But this is also a very laborious job. Therefore, at the first stage, we can limit ourselves to the preparation of a standard description. For example, for laboratory workers it is necessary to provide sufficient lighting and a certain temperature regime. Customer service employees must have waiting areas. For accountants, a safe must be provided.
What considerations do you need to keep in mind?
The administrative plan should work on a number of issues.For example, what is better to have constantly in stock or should be acquired after receiving information about a new person going to work. For example, in the case of inventory, it is desirable to have a small reserve. After all, even working employees may need it. You can also attend to tables with chairs. Whereas a spare computer is already overkill. It is expensive and quickly obsolete, and it is not effective to store it without work. In general, a very good solution would be to compile a matrix of the entire business process, indicating in it all the departments that are involved in the process. In this case, you can simply and clearly note where and in what time frame you need to do something. This is important, not in the least, due to the fact that omissions often occur due to data transmission failures. After all, if there is no adequate initial information, then even the best orders on administrative and economic activities will not be able to fully satisfy existing requests.
Other approaches
But you should not be limited only to this. For example, when interacting with employees, you can create a request journal. Then, incoming explanations are registered in it and then transferred to a specific performer for execution. In this case, it is necessary to periodically review and monitor the status of the implementation. It may also be relevant to stimulate employees to the quality and speed of processing applications. If there is a justified complaint that one of the employees is poorly performing his duties, this should end with the punishment of the performer. To ensure fairness, it is highly advisable to set norms. In this case, it is necessary to compile a complete list of possible applications with replenishment in case of precedents. And then for each item its own norm is developed. Although very often model standards are not provided. Therefore, companies set their own values based on the specifics of their activities and current tasks. For example, if a message is received that a light bulb has burned out, then one working day is allocated to resolve this problem.
Summarizing the above
As you can see, the organization of administrative and economic activities has its “pitfalls,” which at first glance are not visible. When developing regulations and posts, a rather large body of information must be taken into account. This relates to the goals of the company, its specifics and size. Detailed planning and clear prescribing of business processes will allow us to successfully solve problems thanks to the establishment of an adequate procedure for performing work. Management of administrative and business activities provides that all those involved in the execution and control of the process should be familiar with the theoretical justification for its implementation. It should always be remembered that competent leadership can dramatically improve the efficiency of the process. It doesn’t matter what it is - about the administrative and economic activities of state institutions, a non-profit structure or a private enterprise - good governance has a huge development reserve. And it needs to be used.
Conclusion
So it was considered what constitutes administrative activities. Of course, the information provided only in this article is not enough to immediately become a good manager. Even a simple introduction to smart books will not be enough. Indeed, in this matter, one must also understand the practical aspect of the implementation of activities. Books will not tell about the existence of absolutely all “pitfalls”; it is necessary to fill in bumps and gain experience on your own.