We talk about Project Management a lot on this website. While that is our core focus, I’ve realized that we don’t discuss an extremely important aspect of running any business or organization – the administrators. This holds true across every field, including and especially the construction industry where I hail from. While we can all agree that administrators play a vital role in the larger picture, there are several different areas in which they’re particularly helpful. In this article, we’re talking about the importance of office administration and the 4 key aspects and responsibilities behind their role.
What Are Office Administrators?
Office administration is “…a set of day-to-day activities that are related to financial planning, record keeping & billing, personnel, physical distribution and logistics, within an organization.“. Thanks, Wikipedia!
Another way to look at it – administrative departments are like the heart in the body. Day in, day out, the heart just keeps on ticking. Other organs certainly have their place and unique importance, but the heart never gets a break.
It’s fair to say that an organization cannot function without its’ administrative staff. Even with somebody out sick for a few days, offices can experience a lag in important processes. There’s just too much to do on a routine basis; it’ll pile up sky high in no time without a staff there to handle it.
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The Importance Of Office Administration: 4 Key Aspects & Responsibilities
There are a few areas in which administrators play a particularly important role. Below are the four critical areas we see that represent the true importance of office administration, along with some additional information in the following sections! Click to jump to a specific section:
- Administrators Are The Gate-Keepers: Administrators are the first ones that an outside party speaks with.
- Accounts Payable & Receivable Filter Through Administrators: a tremendous amount of money flows through administrator’s hands.
- Administration Is Responsible For Company Compliance: many forms, filings and processes that are essential to a business’ operation fall on the laps of admins.
- There’s A Place For Everything – Administrators Find That Place: Organization and order are largely upheld by administration.
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1. Administrators Are The Gate-Keepers
Whether it be by phone or in person, office administrators are the first people that outsiders interact with when approaching the company.
When administrators answer the phone, they have the ability to stop the caller in their tracks by hanging up. This is particularly important when considering how often businesses get pitched by salespeople from other businesses.
While this won’t be the case the majority of the time, admins at least make sure the caller is directed towards the appropriate person or gets the information they need.
As for in person visitors, administrators, the same holds true. Office administrators are the first people anyone sees when they come through the door. They do what’s needed to make sure they see the correct person…or not!
In a few ways, office administrators are the face of the organization. If not, they’re at least on the ‘Mount Rushmore’ of the office.
While administrators are in charge of the communications as described, this is a mere fraction of what they actually do. Many administrators don’t handle the phones or the front desk at all, either…
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2. Accounts Payable & Receivable Filter Through Administrators
Payments come in, bills and expenses go out. This the circadian rhythm of any business from a financial perspective. Administrators handle this process from both an accounts-payable and accounts-receivable perspective.
Invoices from vendors, services and other expenses never stop coming in the mail so long as a business is up and running. Likewise, employee payroll is a process that’s constantly running in the background, too. People want (and need) to be paid routinely and on time, after all. Tracking these working hours and processing these expenses falls at the hands of the office administrators.
When considering the importance of office administration, one must also recognize the true lifeblood of the company – revenue.
Without revenue, there is no business. No employees. No work. Nothing. Administrators track the receipt of this revenue, process the payments for banking purposes (typically by check) and note any revenue that’s outstanding, past due, etc.
The flow of company money goes through the office administrators.
Read Next: How To Be More Efficient At Work: 8 Easy Practices
3. Administration Is Responsible For Company Compliance
Companies of every type need to ensure that they’re operating in compliance with varying governing bodies. Oh, and this usually comes with a crap-ton of paperwork and forms.
Here are just a few ways in which businesses need to comply with rules and regulations:
- Taxes – Local, State & Federal Level
- Payroll Reporting
- Social Security Administration
- Banking – Revenue & Payments
- Various Commissions & Committees
- Client-Specific Requirement Via Contract
Whether it be forms, reports, information or any other number of things, office administrators are probably handling it.
Failing to comply with a government organization can result in fines, penalties and the the possibility of the company closing its’ doors.
Office administrations play a critical role in keeping the company on track in regards to various regulations.
Read Next: How To Not Be Annoying At Work: A Few Things To Keep In Mind
4. There’s A Place For Everything – Administrators Find That Place
A well-run office is always going to be organized. Organization is essential to the success of an individual employee and an entire company alike. Who’s in charge of the overall organization of an office? The office administrators.
When it comes to organization of company information, the importance of office administration cannot be stressed enough. Not only do the steps above require finely tuned organization – accounting, payroll, compliance, etc. – but the sheer volume of papers in an office is astounding. It takes time and effort to keep all of that wild paper tame!
This counts double when it comes to the modern time, given that so many documents are exchanged digitally.
At any time, a company could be audited. The organization of these files and how accurate and simple the information can be found will ultimately determine how smoothly this goes – and how quickly its’ over.
When an emergency takes place, the last thing anyone wants to do is scramble through stacks of messy, disorganized files. In fact, doing so many make the emergency a whole lot worse.
Sloppy files create confusion and invite the opportunity for mistakes to waltz in the front door, too.
Read Next: How Do You Organize Project Documentation? A Few Must-Know Methods
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The Importance Of Office Administration: In Summary
When singing the praises of a company, it’s easy to speak about the sales department or the upper management. While they of course play important roles, they cannot have success or perform at a high-level without efficient, organized admins. So treat them well! We hope we’ve clearly detailed the importance of office administration in this article – thanks a lot for reading!
2 thoughts on “The Importance Of Office Administration: 4 Key Aspects & Responsibilities”
I really enjoyed your lesson
We appreciate it Derrick, and thanks for reading