Comprehensive Notes on Office Equipment, Organizational Effectiveness, Workspace Organization, and Job Search Strategies

Definition of Office Equipment

• Office equipment includes tools and resources for employees to communicate effectively, work efficiently, stay organized, and maintain a safe and productive work environment.
• Investing in and maintaining the right equipment is crucial for organizational success and growth.

Common Office Equipment

A. Computer Technology

• Computer: The heart of every modern office, essential for running businesses; even million-dollar businesses can be run with just a laptop.
• Desktop Computer:
  • Still the most common in businesses due to lower cost for computing power.
• Multiple Monitors:
  • Significantly increases time-saving and productivity.
  • Businesses should equip employees with at least two monitors.
• Laptop:
  • Ideal for employees who travel frequently, enabling them to stay connected with clients, vendors, and suppliers.
• Tablet:
  • Good for web browsing, streaming, reading ebooks, and sending emails on the go, but not suitable for substantial work.

B. Computer Accessories

• Monitor Stand:
  • Elevates the monitor to an optimal viewing height and angle.
• Laptop Stand:
  • Elevates and supports a laptop for improved ergonomics, comfort, and productivity.
• Mouse:
  • A hand-held input device for interacting with graphical user interfaces (GUIs).
• Keyboard:
  • An input device for entering text, numbers, and commands.
• Webcam:
  • Captures real-time video and audio for video calls, conferences, and live streaming over the internet.
• Mic:
  • Captures audio input and converts sound waves into electrical signals for computer processing.
• Router:
  • A networking device that forwards data packets between computer networks, operating at Layer 3 of the OSI model.

C. Office Machines

• Printer:
  • Produces hard copies of documents or images stored electronically.
• Scanner:
  • Converts physical documents, images, or objects into digital data.
• Photocopier:
  • Produces multiple copies of a document or image quickly.
• Paper Shredder:
  • Cuts paper into small strips or particles to ensure confidentiality and security of sensitive documents.
• Laminator:
  • Applies a protective plastic film onto paper or other materials.

D. Office Equipment

• Paper Cutter:
  • Cuts large sheets of paper or other materials to specific sizes.
• Binding Machine:
  • Secures multiple sheets of paper into a single document.
• Filing Cabinet:
  • Stores and organizes documents and files systematically.
• Paper Tray:
  • A component of printers or copiers that stores and loads paper for printing or copying.
• Whiteboard:
  • A smooth white surface for writing with dry-erase markers, easily erasable.

Importance & Purpose of Office Equipment

• Office equipment is essential for creating a conducive work environment that fosters productivity, collaboration, and growth.
• The purpose of office equipment is to provide the tools and resources necessary for employees to:
  • Communicate effectively
  • Work efficiently
  • Stay organized
  • Maintain a safe and productive work environment

Organizing for Growth and Productivity

• A well-organized workstation is critical for efficient time management, productivity, and personal comfort.
• Working from home can be comfortable and productive if the home office is well-organized.
• Utilize project management tools, clearly define roles and responsibilities, establish communication channels, and track progress regularly.

Define Effective Organization and its Benefits and Models

• Organizing Workstations
• Organizing Office Supplies
• Manage Projects and Share Tasks without Losing Control

Organizational Effectiveness

Organizational Effectiveness Models

• Seven common perspectives on effectiveness (also known as effectiveness models):
  • Goal Model: Accomplishing its goals.
  • Internal Process Model: High-quality internal processes.
  • Resource-Based Model: Obtaining resources needed for high performance.
  • Strategic Constituency Model: Satisfying strategic constituencies that hold sway over the organization.
  • Stakeholder Model: Satisfying stakeholders of the organization.
  • Competing Values Model: The presence of simultaneous opposites.
  • Abundance Model: Flourishing and virtuousness.

Goal Model

• Traditional way of measuring organizational effectiveness.

Internal Process Model

• Looks at what happens inside the organization, not just the outcome.

Resource-Based Model (RBV)

• Firms achieve a competitive advantage by exploiting resources that are valuable, rare, and hard to imitate or copy.

Strategic Constituency Model

• Each constituency has a degree of power and pursues different goals.

Stakeholder Model

• Includes strategic constituencies but also those indirectly affected by the organization who may not have power over it.

Competing Values Model

• Measures effectiveness by the ability of an organization to simultaneously promote competing values.

• Cameron and Quinn proposed that when organizations can sustain multiple competing values, they will be more effective.

  • Human relations model: Participation, conflict resolution, and consensus-building, cooperative teamwork, flexibility.
  • Open systems model: Adaptation and innovation.
  • Internal process model: Defining responsibility, measurement, and documentation; stable hierarchy.
  • Rational goal model: Productivity and profit.

Abundance Model

• Focuses on bringing forward positive values and virtuousness.

Measuring Organizational Effectiveness

• Not a matter of either/or, but rather taking multiple perspectives to see if the organization is reaching its goals and full potential.

  • Accomplishing organizational goals.
  • Obtaining critical resources.
  • High-quality internal processes.
  • Satisfying stakeholders.
  • Managing simultaneous opposites.

The OE Scorecard

• The organizational effectiveness models provide a perspective on assessing OE.

• To measure it, create a more detailed scorecard for systematic re-evaluation and tracking of progress and improvements.

  • Activity domain
  • Perspective
  • Level of analysis
  • Time frame
  • Frame of reference

How HR Can Contribute to Organizational Effectiveness?

• People practices
• Workforce capabilities
• Key performance drivers
• Organizational objectives
• Unique resources & capabilities
• Efficient processes & organization
• Product and service outputs

Whether in a leadership role or operational capacity, understanding the drivers of organizational effectiveness helps in your job and advances the organization.

Organizing Your Workspace

Why It's Important to Organize Your Workspace

1. Improved time management
2. Quickly locate important items
3. Remember important tasks
4. Maintain a professional appearance
5. Focus on workplace goals

How to Organize Your Workspace

• Examine how your workspace is used.
• Group similar objects together.
• Group and separate items associated with each job duty.
• Throw unnecessary items in the trash.
• Job duties and professional goals should dictate how your workspace is organized.

Putting Items Away

• Avoid unnecessary movement by storing often-used items at close range or at eye level.
• Establish separate stations where you work on one specific job duty, if appropriate.
• Post important reminders at eye level.
• Limit your desktop to items you use daily.
• Put books and manuals on a bookshelf, keeping those used daily within reach.
• Keep decorative items to a minimum; check your employer's policy before bringing personal items.
• Put items used only a few times a year in a deep storage area, properly labeled.

6S Lean: 5S + Safety

• A system to promote and sustain a high level of productivity and safety throughout a workspace.

  • Sort (Seiri)
  • Set in order (Seiton)
  • Shine (Seiso)
  • Standardize (Seiketsu)
  • Sustain (Shitsuke)
  • Safety

Why Include Safety?

Organizing Office Supplies

Ways to Organize Office Supplies

• Take an inventory of the supplies you use in your office and break them down into zones:

  • Office supply zone
  • Printing Zone
  • Desk/work zone
  • Mail/bill zone
  • Paper/filing zone
  • Craft zone
  • Storage zone
  • Wrapping zone

Brilliant Ways to Organize Office Supplies

• Use drawer dividers
• Get creative with storage solutions
• Use stackable trays
• Prioritize organizing the desktop
• Invest in a desktop organizer
• Organize unsightly cords
• Set up a print station
• Address incoming and outgoing mail

How to Deal with Paper in the Office

• Invest in pretty stackable trays
• Color code your filing system
• Use binders to manage daily life

Use the 6/P Strategy to Organize Office Supplies

• Prepare: Set up your office with a trash bag, a box, and 2 laundry hampers for the following categories:
  • Trash, Donate, Relocate, and Replace
• Purge: Remove everything except furniture from the office and place it in one of the following four categories:
  • Trash-Place all trash in bag
  • Donate-Place any items you want to donate in the box
  • Relocate-Place any items that need to go into a different room in laundry hamper #1
  • Replace-Place any items that need to stay in the room in laundry hamper #2
• Polish: Now that the room is empty, it's time to clean using a top-down approach:
  • Remove cobwebs from ceiling
  • Clean light fixture
  • Clean door and the trim around it
  • Dust shelves and furniture
  • Clean blinds and windows
  • Clean doorknobs and switch plates
  • Clean trim and baseboards
  • Vacuum/ mop floors
  • Remove curtains and wash
• Personalize: Now that the area is clean, it's time to put your personal stamp on it:
  • Use the personalize printable to help you decide what zones will make the office function better for you!
• Place: Now that the area is ready, it's time to find a place for the items in your bins:
  • Trash-Place the trash in your garbage can
  • Donate-Take the donation box to take to donation center
  • Relocate-Place items in laundry hamper #1 in the room they belong in
  • Replace-Place items in laundry hamper # 2 back in the office in its designated zone
• Put Back: If you want your office to stay organized and free of clutter, you must remember to things back in their designated to ie. Doing so, will make your time in this area so much more productive!

Job Search and Advancement

Walking the Path of Purity

• Even though nobody's perfect and everyone falls into sin, we can still live a life of holiness with God's grace.
  • Know His Words: Read and study the Scripture.
  • Live according to His Words: Let the Scripture guide our choices, decisions, attitudes, and actions, committing our hearts to obedience to God.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze your skills, abilities, and interests.
• Determine your job search plan.
• Prepare employment documents.
• Interview successfully.
• Develop skills for job advancement and job changes.

Evaluate Your Skills

• Communication
• Interpersonal relations
• Time Management
• Critical Thinking
• Decision Making
• Creative Thinking
• Teamwork
• Technology
• Leadership
• Stress Management
• Problem Solving
• Customer Focus

Identify Your Abilities

• Openness to Change
• Initiative and Motivation
• Integrity and Honesty
• Dependability
• Confidentiality
• Commitment to Observing and Learning

Determine Your Interests

• CGI describes:

  • The nature of the industry
  • Working conditions
  • Current employment and job outlook
  • Occupations in the industry
  • Education, training, and other requirements
  • Advancement opportunities
  • Typical earnings

Set Goals and Look For Mentors

Adopt a Job Search Plan

• Traditional Job Search

• Targeted Job Search

• Develop Networks

• Search Online

• Read Newspaper

• Visit Employment Agencies

• Work with your College or University

• Research Organizations

Prepare Employment Documents

• Prepare a Resume
  • Chronological
  • Functional
  • Electronic

CV vs Resume

Prepare a Letter of Application

• State your interest in the position
• Provide general information about your skills
• Sell your skills
• Transmit your resume
• Request an interview, providing your contact information

Interview Successfully

• Online Prescreening
• Telephone Prescreening
• In-Person Interview

Frequently Asked Questions

• How did you learn about this position?
• Why do you want this job?
• Tell me about yourself
• What is your greatest strength/weakness?
• Why should I hire you?
• How do you handle pressure?

Illegal Questions?

• How old are you?
• Are you married?
• How many children do you have?
• What child-care arrangements do you have for them?
• Have you had any operations or illness recently?
• How is your health?
• Do you have a disability?

Interview Preparation

• What to take with you
• Map the route
• Dress appropriately
• Arrive early