Organization and methods refers to the systematic attempt on the part of an enterprise to improve and maintain office at a high level of efficiency.
It is through organization and methods that office operations and procedures are continuously improved. Work simplification is possible and better communication and economy are achieved
Objectives of Organization and Methods
- Eliminate waste of time, human energy, space, equipment, stores and stationery
- Improvement in output and quality of work
- Improvement in office services
- Making the staff efficiency conscious
Functions of organization and methods
- Defining precisely objectives of different functions and operations
- Drawing up a plan of work indicating the general and specific purposes of the tasks involved, nature of the information to be procured and the sources of information to be tapped
- Making a thorough examination of the existing procedures
- Making detailed study of the sources of information
- Examination of all relevant facts gathered in the course of investigation and study and suggesting new or modified procedures if found necessary
- Once the suggestions of the Organization and Methods department are accepted helping the administration and staff in implementing the suggestions
Outline the principles which guide Organization and Methods
- All unnecessary operations should be eliminated
- all operations which can, with advantages, be combined should be so combined
- all operations should be in their correct sequence to avoid back tracking
- all necessary operations should be as simple as possible
- the shorter the office work cycle the higher will be the overall productivity
- the work flow should not only be fast but also have an even tempo
What are steps in conducting Organization and Methods Assignment?
Organization and Methods functions should be a continuous process, but sometimes the Organization and Methods officer may be asked by higher management or a particular department manager to conduct a survey and make recommendations for improvement
In a particular area of operation
In conducting the assignment the Organization and Methods officer and the team will have to take the following steps
- Determine the objective
- Planning the assignment
- Preparatory meeting
- Collecting the facts
- Analyzing the facts
- Submitting proposals for change
- Helping in the implementation
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Organization and Methods?
Advantages
- Improves general efficiency of the office
- Reduces the clerical and paper work and ultimately reduces wastage
- Out down since unnecessary steps requiring clerical labor and documents are eliminated
Disadvantages
- It tends to have an adverse effect on staff morale
- Work simplification is carried out theoretically which could not be workable when put in practice
- It requires constant training on staff, so as to enable staff to cope with the introduced systems
