Like all the other departments in an organization, the Administration Department is crucial for the smooth functioning of a company. However, the importance of the Administration Department is often overlooked as rather than performing a set of specialized activities like all other departments, the focus of the Administrative Department is to provide an operational, safe and secure environment so that all other departments can function properly.
The Administration Department of an organization is primarily responsible for looking after the day to day functioning of an organization. It is the responsibility of the Administration Department to ensure that the workplace is in perfect condition and does not hinder the performance of any individual in the company.
As a professional working in the Administration Department of a company, your daily job would involve a lot of multi – tasking. You could be asked to perform a variety of duties on a single day that might include tasks like answering calls, sending out E – mails, organizing documents, planning for a meeting, making sure that the office is clean and secure, ensuring that the equipment is working and so on.
Generally, people working in the Administration Department of an organization are given specific roles so as to avoid confusion and increase productivity. Mentioned below are some of the roles that are commonly seen in the Administration Departments of organizations. Keep in mind that these roles might differ and even overlap depending upon the nature of the organization and business.
General Office
General Office roles are quite dynamic in nature and can include any activity that is related to the smooth functioning of the organization and the workplace. Professionals working in such roles are usually responsible for giving directions to the housekeeping department to ensure that the workplace is clean, directing the security department to ensure that there is no breach of security, checking on equipment and ensuring that it is maintained properly, getting the faulty equipment and machines repaired as soon as possible, looking after the cooling/heating systems of the workplace and ensuring that the canteen always serves clean food and water etc. As a professional working in such a role, you would be responsible for the overall condition of the workplace and coordinating between different departments to ensure that there are no operational problems in the organization. Even though this seems easy and trivial, in reality this can be a very difficult role to perform especially if you work in a large organization.
Planning and Scheduling
Planning and Scheduling roles are extremely important for the smooth functioning of an organization. Professionals working in such roles are involved in scheduling appointments and meetings, planning events and presentations, estimating budgets and expenditures for these meetings and ensuring that all people are available for and informed about the meeting. As an individual in such a role, you would be responsible for informing people about the meeting/appointment and its details, which would include the time, the objective and the venue. Additionally, professionals who have been assigned such roles have to be involved in organizing events and functions for the organization, which can be for the employees of the organization or for the public, such as promotional events.
Basic Book Keeping
Basic Book Keeping roles are similar to the ones found in the Finance Department of an organization. However, people in such roles under the Administration Department generally perform very basic book keeping procedures as compared to the Finance Department and their purpose is only to assist the Finance Department in its book keeping tasks. As a professional who’s been assigned such a role, you will be responsible for keeping a track of employee attendance details and forwarding them to the Finance Department, ensuring that the employees are paid as per their due dates, keeping a record of the money owed to and by the organization, paying bills and coordinating with the Finance Department to ensure that all the accounting details are correct. These roles generally do not require extensive Accounting knowledge or qualifications, but do require a basic aptitude of dealing with numerical values and an understanding of fundamental accounting principles.
Documentation and Organizing Records
Documentation and Organizing Records roles are one of the most important ones in the Administration Department of any organization. Individuals who have been assigned such roles are responsible for documenting all important details such as previous bills, employee records, agreements, payment receipts, meeting records etc. Additionally, people in such roles are also responsible for organizing these records in proper categories and files, so that they can be easily recovered as and when required. These documents and records are very important for an organization’s internal use (inspections, accounts, disputes, records) as well as external use (legal disputes, audits, inspections). If you’re assigned such a role, you would primarily spend your day sorting out paperwork and creating files as well as maintaining them.
Communication
Communication roles performed by people in the Administrative Department are crucial for the smooth functioning of any organization in the world. Individuals in such roles are responsible for looking after internal as well as external communication. Their job includes activities like answering phones, replying to E – mails, forwarding documents and notices to the concerned departments, creating presentations for meetings and appointments etc. People performing such roles form the face of the organization and are often asked to speak on the behalf of their superiors with different entities as and when required. As a person who’s been assigned such a role, you will not only be required to communicate with people from different departments of the organization but also with people from outside the organization.