Experiential Tool

ExperientiAL toOl

Office Administration

Personal Orientation Project

(POP)

office administration

Activity Guide

This activity guide was created in collaboration with experts in the field and is intended to be used in the classroom under teacher supervision. The information it contains is not meant to be exhaustive. Theexternallinks mentioned in this guide may no longer be active or may direct you to contentthat is outdatedor inappropriate. Please check these links before using them with students, as we cannot guarantee they will work. Moreover, the Commission scolaire de la Beauce-Etchemin does not endorse nor shall be held responsible for the reliability or accuracy of these external links or for the consequences of their use. In addition, the Commission scolaire de la Beauce-Etchemin does not accept responsibility for the erroneous interpretation or improper use of this activity guide.

Note that the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Creative Commons licence applies only to the text and images noted as being under this licence. Any use of images or other materials that are copyright protected with all rights reserved for purposes other than for this activity guide, in whole or in part, is strictly forbidden.

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Document number: 1

Document version: 3.0

Year: 2012

Property of the Commission scolaire de la Beauce-Etchemin

OFFICE ADMINISTRAtion

Table of Contents

General information 1

Credits 3

INTRODUCTION 5

activity 1

Formatting 6

activity 2

Advertising 16

activity 3

Financial reports 21

activity 4

File management 35

activity 5

Order management 37

conclusioN 42

Answer key

Activity 3 43

Activity 4 43

Activity 5 48

AppendiCES

A – Logos 50

B – Price list 52

C – Chart instructions for
Microsoft Excel 2003 53

D – Chart instructions for
Microsoft Excel 2007 57

E – Chart instructions for
Microsoft Excel 2008 for Mac 61

OFFICE ADMINISTRAtion

General information

List of materials

The following is a list of all the materials and resources required to complete this tool kit on office administration:

· Office Administration Activity Guide

· Multimedia computer

· Printer

· OpenOffice Writer or Microsoft Word

· OpenOffice Calc or Microsoft Excel

· Letter size paper

· Canadian Oxford Dictionary

· The Canadian Style: A Guide to Writing and Editing

Websites for activities

Canada Post

www.canadapost.ca

Spreadsheet tutorials

http://liensppo.qc.ca

Other recommended websites

Free-to-Use Images

http://liensppo.qc.ca

Open Clip Art Library

www.openclipart.org

POP Index

www.repertoireppo.qc.ca/en

Wikimedia Commons

http://commons.wikimedia.org

Files and other resources

Office Administration files

http://liensppo.qc.ca

Note that all the links mentioned in this section are listed on the POP Links website at http://liensppo.qc.ca in the “Office Administration” section.

Credits

French conception and adaptation

Christine Vachon Receptionist, Commission scolaire de la Beauce-Etchemin

Pedagogical Validation Committee for POP Activity Guides

English translation and adaptation

Brigitte Pioro Translator and consultant

Avis Anderson Translator, researcher, editor and final reviser

Pedagogical Validation Committee for POP Activity Guides

Images

The Commission scolaire Beauce-Etchemin logo appearing throughout this guide is copyright protected with all rights reserved and is therefore excluded from the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada licence.

The cover page photo was taken by Mercedes-Benz of Encino (“_678742Service Receptionist Desk and Service Advisors Desks0911[2],” Flickr®, accessed May 31, 2013, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mercedesbenzencino/8345916979/). It is under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence.

The hockey logo used for the St-Benoît Bears team throughout this tool kit
was created by user Hucz for the Ice Hockey WikiProject (“WikiProject
Ice Hockey Logo,” Wikimedia Commons, last modified May 10, 2010, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WikiProject_Ice_Hockey_logo.svg). It is under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported licence.

The silhouette of an eagle used in the logo for the St-Jean Eagles team in Activity 2 was created by user Eagle 2000 (“Eagles logo,” Wikimedia Commons, last modified December 3, 2011, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eagles_logo.png). It is under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported licence.

The hockey stick used in the same logo for the St-Jean Eagles team in Activity 2
was created by user J_Alves (“Hockey Stick,” Open Clip Art Library, created March 30, 2010, http://openclipart.org/detail/35545/hockey-stick-by-j_alves). It has been released into the public domain.

Images (cont.)

The silhouette of a baseball player used in the poster on page 20 was created by
user laobc (“Baseball Player Silhouette,” Open Clip Art Library, created August 2,
2010, http://openclipart.org/detail/75997/baseball-player-silhouette-by-laobc). It has been released into the public domain.

The clip art image of a pile of money at the beginning of Activity 3 was created by Kamil Koszuta (“Money - banknotes and coin,” Open Clip Art Library, created January 13, 2007, http://openclipart.org/detail/2889/money---banknotes-and-coin-by-n_kamil). It has been released into the public domain.

The clip art image of a chart at the beginning of Activity 3 was created by user Kamil Stepinski (“Progress,” Open Clip Art Library, created May 17, 2013, http://openclipart.org/detail/178279/progress-by-kamil_stepinski-178279). It has been released into the public domain.

The clip art of a folder at the beginning of Activity 4 was created by user sarxos
(“Simple Folder Document,” Open Clip Art Library, created February 12, 2008, http://openclipart.org/detail/13740/simple-folder-documents-by-sarxos). It has been released into the public domain.

The photo at the beginning of Activity 5 was taken by user Bruce (“Day 167,” Flickr®, accessed May 31, 2013, http://www.flickr.com/photos/superfantastic/2491412318/). It is under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence.

All screenshots in this guide are of OpenOffice.org (http://www.openoffice.org), a free open-source office productivity suite governed by the GNU General Public License.

All other images in this tool kit are courtesy of the Commission scolaire de la Beauce-Etchemin and are under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Licence.

Introduction[1]

In the past, most businesses had secretaries who were responsible for managing the office, answering the phone, typing correspondence, scheduling appointments and meetings, filing documents, etc. As technology has evolved, the duties of the secretary have also changed. The term administrative assistant more accurately denotes the new role of these office professionals. While all offices may seem similar on the surface, they are each influenced by the industry they serve. Good administrative assistants are intimately familiar with how their particular office functions.

Office professionals must not only perform general office duties but also provide support to other staff members; organize meetings; create office budgets, track spending and order office supplies; train others; and interact with clients, suppliers and the general public. As a result, they must have strong organizational and time management skills and be able to multitask. Office professionals must also have strong computer skills. They must be familiar with various types of software such as word processors, spreadsheets and databases, and have good typing and Internet skills. In addition, they must have exceptional written and oral communication skills and strong customer service skills. Strong research skills are also important. In addition to working as administrative assistants, office professionals may have many other job titles such as office manager, receptionist, office assistant, office administrator, executive assistant, etc.

Throughout this activity guide, you will be working as an administrative assistant for a small hockey team, the St-Benoît Bears.[2] All the tasks you will be asked to accomplish are part of the normal duties of any office professional, regardless of what field he or she works in.

Individuals who work in office administration must have a good command of the English language. The Canadian Oxford Dictionary and The Canadian Style: A Guide to Writing and Editing are useful tools that will help you complete these activities.

Enjoy your exploration!

Activity

Formatting

Administrative assistants use word processing software on a daily basis. They must therefore be familiar with the formatting functions of such applications. During this activity, you will transcribe and format an agenda and meeting minutes. Most businesses use templates to save time and ensure that all their documents are formatted in the same way. For the purpose of this activity, you will be given specific instructions for each document so you can format them in a standard manner.

To do the exercises in this activity, use OpenOffice Writer or Microsoft Word, depending on what is available on your desktop. The software’s Help feature is a good place to start if you are unfamiliar with the formatting options of your word processor.

Since organization is a key element to working efficiently as an administrative assistant, create a folder named “Office Administration” on a memory stick (or somewhere else, in accordance with the usual practices in your POP classroom). You will use this folder to save all the files you create while working on this activity guide. Label your documents according to each of the tasks in this activity.

What you will need to complete this exercise:

Ø OpenOffice Writer or Microsoft Word

Ø Canadian Oxford Dictionary

Ø The Canadian Style: A Guide to Writing and Editing

Ø Letter size paper

Ø Printer

Exercise 1: Agenda

An agenda is a list of the points that will be discussed in a meeting in approximate order of presentation. You have been asked by the manager of your hockey team to type up the agenda he prepared for the next team meeting.

Step 1

Read over the scanned handwritten agenda on page 9.

Step 2

Using the word processor available on your computer, type out the handwritten agenda. Save this file as “Agenda_2011_08_25” in the “Office Administration” folder you created for this activity guide. Make sure you correct any errors you find in the handwritten document. Format the electronic document as follows:

1) Use the following font and font sizes:

Ø Times New Roman

Ø 18 pt for the title, 12 pt for the text body, 10 pt for the footer

2) Use bold on the title and for each of the main points on the agenda.

3) Format the margins as follows:

Ø Top and bottom margins: 2.5 cm

Ø Left and right margins: 3 cm

4) Single-space the entire document.

5) Skip a line after the title and between each of the main points on the agenda.

6) Use numbering with three list levels (as in the handwritten agenda).

7) Insert the team logo on the left-hand side at the top of the page and reduce its size to25%.[3] (To download the logo, visit the POP Links website at http://liensppo.qc.ca and click on “Office Administration.” Scroll down to the “Files and Other Resources” section and click on “St-Benoît Bears team logo.” Save this logo in the “Office Administration” folder you created for this activity guide. The logo is also available in AppendixA.)

8) Create a footer:

Ø Make sure the footer is 1.5 cm from the bottom of the page.

Ø Centre the name of the team in 10 pt in the footer.

Ø Insert a 1-pt horizontal line above the name of the team.

When you are finished, make sure you save your document again.

Step 3

Proofread your document to make sure it does not contain any spelling or grammatical errors. When administrative assistants work on documents produced by other people, it is part of their job to correct any errors they find.

Step 4

Download the answer key file for this exercise by visiting the POP Links website (http://liensppo.qc.ca). Click on “Office Administration,” scroll down to the “Files and Other Resources” section and then click on “Agenda answer key” in the “Answer Key” subsection. Save this file in the “Office Administration” folder you created for this activity guide. Compare the agenda you created to the agenda answer key file. You may want to print out both documents to compare them.

What you will need to complete this exercise:

Ø OpenOffice Writer or Microsoft Word

Ø Agenda answer key (available at http://liensppo.qc.ca in the “Office Administration” section)

Ø Canadian Oxford Dictionary

Ø The Canadian Style: A Guide to Writing and Editing

Ø Letter size paper

Ø Printer

Exercise 2: Minutes

During a meeting, a meeting secretary is usually designated to take down the important points discussed, in accordance with the items listed on the agenda. These notes are called the minutes. You have been asked by the manager of your hockey team to type up the minutes of a team meeting.

Generally, administrative assistants use templates when creating new documents. For the purpose of this exercise, use the agenda answer key file you downloaded in Step 4 of Exercise 1 as your template. This document contains the framework you need for the minutes. Just fill in the gaps and adjust the layout of the new document in accordance with the instructions below.

Step 1

Read over the scanned handwritten minutes on pages 12 to 15.

Step 2

Open the agenda answer key file (which you saved in the “Office Administration” folder at the end of Exercise 1) and use “Save As” to save it under a new name: “Minutes_2011_08_25.” Prepare the minutes, making sure to correct any errors you may find in the handwritten document.

Use the same formatting for the minutes as for the agenda. In addition to single-spacing the entire document, do the following:

Ø Skip two lines after the title and each main point in the minutes.

Ø Skip one line between each sub-point.

Ø Skip four lines before Mr. Toppins’ name.

Make sure you save your document in the “Office Administration” folder you created for this activity guide.

Step 3

Proofread your document for spelling or grammatical errors.

When you are finished, download the answer key file for this exercise by visiting the POP Links website (http://liensppo.qc.ca). Click on “Office Administration,” scroll down to the “Files and Other Resources” section and then click on “Minutes answer key” in the “Answer Key” subsection. Save this file in the “Office Administration” folder you created for this activity guide. Compare the minutes you created to those found in the answer key file. You may want to print out both documents to compare them.