Office Management, e-Governance, and Public Service Delivery Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture notes covering office management, layout, filing, digital governance, management theories, decision-making, supervision, leadership, public service delivery, ethics, and civil service procedures.

Office

A designated place where administrative and service-oriented work is performed to achieve specified objectives.

Primary Functions of an Office

Core operational functions consisting of collecting, recording, processing, and disseminating information.

Administrative Functions of an Office

Supportive management functions including employee management, public relations, and asset protection.

Office Layout

The scientific arrangement of office space, furniture, machinery, and equipment.

Open Office Layout

An open seating arrangement that reduces setup costs and simplifies supervision, but lacks privacy and increases noise levels.

Private Office Layout

Enclosed office spaces suited for top executives and officers handling confidential or sensitive duties.

Landscaped Office Layout

An office layout design concept originated in Germany.

Principle of Work Flow

The main layout principle ensuring continuous, logical, and unhindered movement of documents and work.

GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out)

A concept in information processing stating that the quality of output is directly determined by the quality of input.

Ergonomic Furniture

Modern office furniture designed according to human body structure to maximize comfort and work efficiency.

Process Layout

An office layout designed specifically to simplify and accelerate sequential procedural workflows.

Flat System Layout

A layout structure where a large number of employees sit together in a single large hall.

Internal Service Function

Office activities focused on providing administrative support and resources to internal branches and sub-branches.

External Service Function

Office activities focused on directly delivering services to service seekers, citizens, and external entities.

Modular Furniture

Adaptable furniture used to save office space and allow easy rearrangement based on operational needs.

Micro-environment

Internal environmental parameters of an office, such as temperature, lighting, ventilation, and cleanliness.

Acoustics

The management of sound control and prevention of echoes within an office environment.

Square feet per employee

The standard unit used to measure efficient spatial allocation per worker, typically recommended at $60\text{ to }80\text{ square feet}$ per employee.

Record Center

A storage facility designated for maintaining semi-active office records.

Archives

A permanent storage facility for high-value historical, policy, and legal records.

Compact Filing Cabinet

Mobile shelving designed to safely store a high volume of files within a small physical footprint.

Visitor Management System

A system used to digitally capture, monitor, and record details and entry purposes of external visitors.

Straight Line Flow

A layout workflow where papers or tasks move sequentially and directly from one desk to the next.

U-Shape Office Layout

An arrangement of desks in a U-pattern that enhances employee interaction and teamwork.

Illumination Measurement

The unit of measurement for artificial or natural lighting intensity in an office, quantified in Lux or Foot-candle.

Lumbar Support

An ergonomic feature in office seating designed to support the lower back and spinal curve.

Desk Sharing / Hot Desking

A system where employees do not have permanent assigned seating and work at any unassigned available desk.

Hoteling System

A workplace management method requiring employees to reserve office desks or rooms in advance.

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)

A strategic protocol designed to prevent interruptions to primary data systems and critical services during disaster events.

Green Office

An eco-friendly office model operating on low energy consumption, digital processes, and minimal paper usage.

3-R Principle of Waste Management

The waste management framework consisting of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

Office Procedure

A pre-determined, standardized step-by-step process for executing office tasks.

Circular (Peripatram)

A common information directive sent from a higher authority to subordinate offices to maintain policy uniformity.

Administrative Order

A binding instruction issued by a competent authorized official requiring a mandatory action to be executed or halted.

Correspondence

Written communication exchanged between separated entities or individuals, structured into Heading, Body, and Closing.

Registration (Darta)

The formal recording process of incoming documents into official office record ledgers.

Dispatch (Chalani)

The formal record-keeping process of outgoing documents sent from an office.

Filing

The process of systematically arranging and safely storing documents for easy future retrieval.

Alphabetical Filing

Storing and organizing documents based on character order ($A-Z$ or Devanagari equivalents).

Numerical Filing

Organizing documents using numeric codes, indexed via a separate guide card or registry.

Geographical Filing

Filing documents according to physical location, district, or country names.

Subject-wise Filing

Organizing files based on specific subject matters, projects, or transaction topics.

Record Management

The complete lifecycle management of records, encompassing creation, active maintenance, protection, and ultimate disposition.

Life Cycle of Records

The three sequential stages of record management: Creation, Maintenance, and Disposition/Protection.

Weeding (Disposition)

The official process of identifying and destroying old, expired, or non-essential documents.

Report

A factual, structured written document detailing the outcomes of an event, task, or investigation.

Registration-Dispatch Branch (Gateway)

The section referred to as the gateway or mirror of an office through which all incoming and outgoing mail passes.

Copy To (Bodhartha)

A carbon copy notification included in official letters to inform non-primary recipient entities for awareness or execution.

Minuting (Tok Aadesh)

Written directives or orders endorsed on incoming letters by higher officials to instruct subordinate action.

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

Documented operational rules aimed at maintaining performance consistency and eliminating individual operational variances.

Unclassified Document

Public documents carrying no restrictions or confidentiality bounds.

Restricted Document

Controlled documents accessible only by designated officials or specific handling sections.

Top Secret Document

Highly sensitive correspondence delivered directly sealed to the designated authority without opening at the registration counter.

Centralized Filing

The consolidation of all department and branch files into a single centralized record section.

Decentralized Filing

A system where individual branches or sections manage and store their own operational files independently.

Alpha-Numerical Filing

A file coding scheme combining alphabetic letters and numerical values (e.g., ADM-101).

Active Records

Documents that are required continuously for daily office operations.

Semi-Active Records

Documents not required daily but retained for periodic reference or verification.

Inactive Records

Files associated with completed work, retained solely for mandatory legal or historical preservation.

Microfilming

An older preservation technology of taking miniature photographic images of documents on film rolls.

Digitization of Records

The conversion of physical paper documents into digital file formats (such as PDF or image formats) via scanner technology.

Executive Summary

A brief overview section at the beginning of a report summarizing major findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

Feasibility Study Report

An analytical document assessing the operational, financial, and technical viability of a proposed project.

Minute Book

An official bound record containing chronologically logged decisions of formal meetings signed by attendees.

Agenda

The pre-circulated list of items to be discussed during a formal meeting.

Quorum

The minimum mandatory number of members required to be present for a meeting to legally transact business.

Communication

The exchange of information, ideas, and messages between two or more parties.

Downward Communication

The flow of information moving from upper-level authority down to subordinate employees.

Upward Communication

Information moving from lower-level staff to management, such as progress reports, feedback, or grievances.

Horizontal (Lateral) Communication

Communication occurring between peers or departments operating at the same organizational level.

Grapevine Communication

Informal and unstructured communication networks operating outside official organizational channels.

e-Governance

The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to deliver public services and administrative operations.

G2C (Government to Citizen)

Digital services extended directly by government entities to individual citizens.

G2B (Government to Business)

Electronic interaction channels between government agencies and commercial enterprises.

G2G (Government to Government)

Inter-departmental digital communication networks connecting different government organizations.

G2E (Government to Employee)

Digital communication systems connecting government agencies with their internal civil servants.

Digital Signature

A cryptographic security mechanism ensuring the authenticity, integrity, and non-repudiation of electronic documents.

Nagarik App

Nepal's integrated digital service delivery mobile application officially launched on B.S. 2077 Magh 2.

Government Enterprise Architecture (GEA)

A framework establishing standardization across governmental information technology infrastructures.

Encryption

The process of encoding data into secure formats to prevent unauthorized access in digital systems.

Interpersonal Communication

Direct face-to-face or direct interactive communication occurring between two or more individuals.

Intrapersonal Communication

Internal thought processes, self-talk, or reflection occurring within an individual's own mind.

Non-verbal Communication

Transmission of messages using body language, facial expressions, eye contact, and physical gestures without words.

Kinesics

The scientific study of body movement, posture, and non-verbal gestures in human communication.

Proxemics

The study of how humans use physical distance and personal space during communication.

Paralanguage

Non-word vocal components of speech including tone, speed, pitch variations, and volume.

SaaS (Software as a Service)

A software delivery model hosted centrally on cloud infrastructure.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

A encrypted network connection facilitating secure remote access to internal private office networks.

Phishing Attack

A cyber threat using fraudulent emails or hyperlinks to trick users into revealing sensitive data.

Malware

Malicious software (including viruses and worms) created to harm or gain unauthorized access to computer systems.

Government Integrated Data Center (GIDC)

Nepal's centralized government data center located at Singha Durbar, Kathmandu.

Hetauda Data Center

The geographically separated Disaster Recovery Site for Nepal's national data center located in Hetauda.

Single Sign-On (SSO)

An authentication feature allowing users to access multiple systems with a single set of login credentials.

npCERT

Computer Emergency Response Team designated to monitor and handle cybersecurity breaches in Nepal.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Integrated software managing core enterprise processes including finance, human resources, procurement, and logistics.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

A technological process that extracts editable text from scanned images or digital documents.

Father of Scientific Management

Frederick Winslow Taylor (F.W. Taylor), known for introducing scientific methods to workplace management.

Father of Modern Management

Henri Fayol, known for formulating the 14 principles of general management.

POSDCORB

Management acronym formulated by Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick representing Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting, and Budgeting.

Unity of Command

The principle that each employee should receive instructions from and report to only one direct superior.