Understand the organisation and administration if meetings
Describe the features of different types of meetings
Formal; Is internal within the organisation usually with an agenda for the meeting sent out. Minutes and an agreement of all present will also be taken.
Informal; Ad hoc meetings with little notice. No set agenda or minutes being taken. For example one to one meetings, briefings and training sessions.
Outline the different ways of providing administrative support meetings
- Making sure that the area is set up with enough space for everybody needed to fit in.
- Providing an agenda to everybody
- Ensuring somebody is taking the minutes and writing them up afterwards to make them available for everyone to read
Explain the steps involved in organising meetings
To organise a meeting, you need to select a date that is most suited to everybody and send out an invite to make everyone aware. A suitable room should be used that can fit everybody in. An agenda should be collected and created. The room should also be prepared prior to the meeting e.g. refreshments to be provided.
Understand the organisation of travel and accommodation
Describe the features of different types of business travel and accommodation
- Need to work out the cost, convenience, time and destination
- If flying; you need to decide whether to fly economy or business class (this enables you to have priority boarding, seat allocation and more leg room)
- If travelling via train; again, deciding whether to travel standard or first class
- If you are in an area where you need to be travelling round it may work out better and easier to hire a car
- The accommodation also needs to be decided depending on your needs this could range from a bed and breakfast to an apartment
Explain the purpose of confirming instructions and requirements for business travel and accommodation
Travel; departure and destination need to be confirmed so everybody is aware what time you need to check in so people know what time they need to be ready to leave. Also, depending on your mode of transport you may need to organise car parking facilities. Finally, if you are traveling to some places you may need to organise a visa/passport as the correct documentation will need to be taken.
Accommodation; location of accommodation needs to be confirmed so everybody is aware on how to get there. Accommodation will also need to be paid for by the company in advance or everybody will need to pay for their own and invoice the company.
Explain the purpose of keeping records of business travel and accommodation
It is important to keep record of all business travel and accommodation because you need to be able to work out how much business expenditure is being used on certain areas of the company. It is also important for things like tax and if you need to revisit somewhere you can re-book previous travel and accommodation if the company was satisfied with it.
Understand how to manage a diary system
Describe the features of hard copy and electronic diary systems
Hard copy; a single copy of normally hand written entries which are portable but not easy to change.
Electronic; a facility which can be shared with others (for example to send invites to meetings). Secured through limited access and easy to change (can change the view e.g. day, week or month). Can also be set to provide notifications and reminders on entries you’ve created.
Explain the purpose of using diary systems to plan and co-ordinate activities and resources
- Having a plan can help you prioritise work and can help you set yourself deadlines
- It also helps you co-ordinate with others to create suitable times to have meetings or phone calls
Describe the types of information needed to manage a diary system
In a diary you will need to know the time and date of events, the location, who is involved and the agenda so you can suitably prepare for it.
Explain the importance of obtaining correct information when making diary entries
It is important to obtain the correct information when making diary entries otherwise you could end up double booking yourself into two meetings at once if you mistakenly thought the times differed. You also need to know the length of time it is going to take you to complete the event (meeting) so you can plan the rest of your day around it. Also, if you need to inform anyone else about it you need to make sure you are passing on the correct information.
Understand how to use office equipment
Describe different types of office equipment and their uses:
- Computers (inc. laptops or tablets) – prepare and distribute documents, allows internal and external communication, can be used to calculate and prepare accounts, electronic diary system
- Printer – produces a hard copy of documents
- Photocopier – to duplicate documents or scanning them in to have an electronic copy (can also then be sent via email)
- Telephone system – internal and external communication, can transfer telephone calls to different people/departments and can also be used for conference calls
- Franking machine (inc. post weighing scales) – calculates and creates the correct postage stamp based on the weight and size of your letter
- Shredder – destroys important and confidential hard copy documents
- Laminator – protects hard copy documents from being damaged
Describe factors to be considered when selecting office equipment to complete tasks
When using office equipment, you need to consider;
- If they are safe for you to use
- If they are appropriate for the task you are carrying out
- How cost effective they are to use
- If they are fine to use for confidential work
- The volume of work you are using them for
- If they are available for you to use and not being used by somebody else
Describe how to keep waste to a minimum when using office equipment
- Checking what you are printing/photocopying before you do it (if printing an email, you may not need to print out every page and can just select the ones you need)
- Printing/photocopying back to back to use half the amount of paper
- Making use of scrap paper by using it to write on (just make sure it is nothing confidential)
- Checking correct postage when franking
Understand the use of mail services in a business context
Describes the types of mail services used in business organisations
- External- special delivery (next day delivery by 1pm), tracked delivery (signed for to confirm its received), 1st or 2nd class and courier services
- Internal- group emails, bulk documents, internal envelopes and pigeon holes
Explain the need for different types of mail services
We need several types of mail services as our requirements will differ depending on the item. For example, if it is a confidential document you may need more security so you would send it to be tracked and signed for. However, if its fragile you would send it in more robust material and possibly by courier rather than in the normal post. You may also be sending it outside the UK therefor a different postage would be required.
Explain the factors to be considered when selecting mail services
Factors that need to be considered when selecting a mail service are;
- Cost
- Speed
- Security
- Destination (international or local)
- The weight of what you are posting
- How robust the material is that you’re posting your item in
- If it is of value you may need to consider paying for replacement guarantee if it gets lost
Understand customer service in a business environment
Describe different types of customers
Internal- people within the company/organisation that you provide a service to (other departments, colleagues and some suppliers)
External- people outside the company/organisation that you provide a service to (other companies, customers/clients and suppliers)
Describe the impact of their own behaviour on a customer
- Positive- customer/client will use service again and feel value if you are welcoming, friendly, helpful and polite
- Negative- customer will go to another company/organisation who are more friendly
- Aggressive behaviour- customers may become aggressive or rude back
- Showing lack of interest- customer won’t feel valued and will go somewhere else
Explain the impact of poor customer service
Impact;
- Customer won’t return and will use another provider/service
- You will gain a poor reputation as a business
- You will lose business opportunities
- You will lose profits
- Customers won’t recommend you else where
Complaint;
- Customer service targets will be impacted negatively
- It will put strain on internal relationships between departments and colleagues
- Will make the workplace much more stressful
Business Admin 