CHALLENGES FACING OFFICE MANAGERS IN THE AUTOMATED OFFICES

CHAPTER ONE

1.0    INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

For decades now, fast changes have been taking place in all facets of human life including the office environment. This is as a result of technological advancement. Every office in today’s business world, be it government, industry or other human endeavours, require facts and accurate information for quick decision-making.

The office worker, including the secretary, expects certain support from the organization into which he/she is employed. This support can be technological (machines and equipment) and human. In offices of past, manager’s dictated memos and letters and secretaries typed them. Most recently, business have developed word processing centers and relied on personal computers and even electronic mail in an effort to lessen the need for secretarial support and make the employee-secretary very productive (Ezoem, 1995; Osuala, 2004).

As a result of changes in technology, the role of secretaries in business has changed tremendously from that of typewriting and shorthand dictation, answering of telephone calls and processing of mails. Today’s secretaries are exposed to office technology including the internet that make work much easier and knowledge more accessible (Edwin, 2008). It is now easier to send messages by telex, electronic mails (e-mails), fax and telephones. Other office gadgets available to the secretary are photo-copy machines, duplicating machines, dictating machines, printers, among others. This is the era of computers and information technology which has become an enabler of greater convenience. 3 of the most popular types of computer software programme are word processing, which help the user to write and edit memos, letters and reports, data management programmes or databases, which help the user-secretary to use long lists of data and spreadsheet programmes, which handle tables and numbers (Dulek and Fielden, 1999).

The secretaries also known as office managers are seen in the secretarial world and business organizations today, are faced with many problems and also have some prospects.

A secretary according to Hornby (2001), “is an employee in an office who deals with correspondence, keeps records, makes arrangements and appointments for a particular member of the staff”

The American Secretarial Association defined a secretary in the most acceptable way as – “an assistant to an executive, possessing a mastery of office skills and ability to assume responsibility without direct supervision, who displays initiative, exercises judgment and makes decisions within the scope of assigned authority.”

A secretary    can also be defined as a person who maintains a high standard of confidentiality and a repository of information. Infact, there are numerous definitions of the word secretary as far as there are many authors. With the above definition in mind, one can easily see that the need for a secretary in any corporation cannot be overemphasized.

A secretary is a major communicating link between the executive ad his associates, the office staff and the public. As a result of this important linking position, a secretary can play a vital role in helping to create and maintain a smooth running business office. Thus a secretary seen as the bedrock and image-image of any business organization.

For a secretary to perform her functions efficiently and effectively, she must have undergone some educational training and obtained the basic office knowledge and skills to be efficient and effective on the job. A secretary is quite different from a clerk, a typist and other office workers.

However, for one to qualify as a secretary, she must have taken courses in shorthand, typewriting, office practice, secretarial duties and must be fairly computer literate for easy adaptation in modern offices.

Shorthand and typewriting are the key working tools of a secretary and it is expected that any person who aspires to take up any secretarial post must have passed typewriting ad shorthand within the following speed range – 25-100 words per minute, 80-120 words per minute in typewriting and shorthand respectively.

It is not uncommon to see people who have only passed typewriting at any of the recognized speeds without shorthand or those that have typewriting and shorthand skills are referred to as secretaries. These categories of secretaries are not qualified secretaries

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