GAZ is based at the Acorn Centre and is rented from that Centre to set up a community youth unit for ages between 8-12 years old. GAZ is based on the funding’s and is registered as a charity and relies on the support funds for the activities. These activities include general sessions and day trips. Administrative systems Administration is particularly important in a company because it involves everything that goes on day to day. The key areas of administration are:

Information Handling – the creation, storage, retrieval and transmission of all the documents used by the organisation, the receipt, safe storage and monitoring of all the documents received by the organisation and all the records held by the organisation. Communication – Sending and receiving messages by telephone, fax, email, sending and receiving email, dealing with customers, staffs and other visitors face to face. Making arrangements – From booking activities to organising a foreign trip for a senior manager, from preparing for a small meeting to organising a large conference.

Obtaining resources – Providing stationery stock and other basic office items and equipments. All these areas of administration are important to the running of a company because an organisation needs constant flow of information to survive. They need information to help focus on the company more in depth. They also need to be kept informed from time to time so the company has accurate information. Administration mainly depends on how well the work is done so you know where everything is.

GAZ is quite a small community so therefore the administration system is a small function and also has a small central department where the administration work takes place. Most businesses use administrative systems. A system is a pre-planned procedure or a set of activities which has to be done when dealing with administration work around the office, such as what to do when you receive letters every day, stacks of paperwork that need to be done and dealing with phone calls and messages, Businesses need to know what to do with these things and how to do it.

So they set up a system of procedures so they know exactly what to do when handling with administration work. Administrative systems can also be applied to many other jobs, such as the system of dealing with visitors at reception, the system for controlling photocopying or for sending fax or emails. Administration system is there because the main purpose of it is to make sure that the organisation operates as effectively as possible by performing a wide range of activities promptly and efficiently to help support the business.

Having a system to follow means that jobs can be done successfully most of the time. The administrative system they use in the department is computerised, which is quite useful because it is fast, frequent and reasonably easy to use. Manual filing systems such as filing cabinet, box files, folders, steel storage cabinet and shelves are also used in the department. These manual filing systems are used for paper documents, often known as hard copies. Paper documents include letters, reports, payslip, information and personnel records.

A few of these manual systems are quite useful and some are not. The type of filing cabinet they have are vertical cabinets. They have two of these in the department. Both of them have four drawers fitted with a special suspension pockets, Labelled tabs are attached to these pockets to make it easy to identify the files. There are also labels outside each of the four drawers which also helps identify which drawer contains the information required. A sheet is also attached to the side of the cabinet explaining the general rules of filing and the order in which the files should be placed.

Box files and folders all have labels on them, which make it easier to find the right information. Both of these are stored on shelves and a few around the room. The main tasks that are performed in the administration function are report writing and monitoring. The job roles that are involved in the organisation are: Job Title Job Role Community Project Oversees everything, responsible for funding and all Manager financial documents Office Manager Deals with administration work, supervise activities and

co- Ordinate the day-to-day programme and monitoring. Session Manager Responsible for all sessions, has to plan and decide the sessions Premises Manager Responsible for the community premises and oversees them Communication The five main methods of communication that are used in the department are telephone, fax, meetings, letter/post and face-to-face. Below is a table of the methods used, when each one is used and the alternative methods for that particular communication. Type of what is it used for Alternative methods

Communication Telephone – Arranging appointments – By post and activities. – Confirming orders – By Email Fax – Confirm appointments – Letter – Respond to any issues – Telephone Meetings – Discuss any business or – Telephone problems. – Letter By post/Letter – Send off reports – E-mail – Confirming and replying – Fax Face to face – Discuss problems – Telephone The main communication method they use is the telephone. This is because it is handy and convenient to use, and it is also fast.

They use telephone for various reasons such as to arrange an appointment, to confirm orders, to book activities etc. The alternative method instead of using the telephone could be e-mail and letter, this way they can keep the letter for hard copy and evidence to confirm that they did arrange the appointment if there are any complications. The Fax machine is quite useful because it is fast and the letter can be kept for hard copy so there will be no need to type up any information. A meeting saves quite a lot of time and they get feedback from people immediately.

Some information may be confidential so a certain method may need to be used such as face to face or letter, this way no confidential information is being leaked. There are different types of communication used because they need to know which type of communication to use for each purpose for example if it’s confidential they can either use telephone or letter so that no confidential information is being released out. And also if letter or email is being used, this can be kept for future reference and hard evidence for any purpose.