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1 Office Procedures

Commonly office is understood as a place where all sorts of clerical works are performed
and where all kinds of papers are dealt with. But office should be understood as an
important function of business like other functions such as production, marketing,
accounting and financing. The term 'office' should be defined to represent office work
rather than the place where the office work is done. In other words, the term 'office'
should be interpreted widely to represent functions which it performs rather than the
place where they are performed.

Office procedures are clearly defined practices that everyone who works in an office
follows. It sets the standard for how staff work together in the office. It is often a set of
rules or polices guiding the operations of an office. To put office system in practice, it
is essential to break them into small parts or procedures. These parts can be called the
steps in a system. Thus office procedures are a series of steps to be taken for doing a
particular work in the office as per the office system. For example, purchasing of new
plant in office is to be done on the basis of planned system.
In other words, office procedure refers to a manner of performing certain type of
official activities. It is a planned sequence of operations for handling recurring business
transactions uniformly and consistently. Office procedures are the specific techniques
and ways for making right decision by authoritative level collecting opinions and
suggestions from the staff. They are the internal means of communication, which
simplify the office operation and bring co-ordination in various units or departments
for the achievement of set goals. A set of procedures helps to organize daily activities
smoothly in the office.

According to Carl Heyel, ‘A procedure is a series of logical steps by which all
repetitive business action is initiated, performed, controlled and finished.’

Office managers or heads usually write office procedures to ensure that all the
employees clearly understand the guidelines. Some office procedures are written
for entire office while some are written for groups of employees working within the
same office. Nepali civil servants are managed by the 'CIVIL SERVICE CODES AnD
RULES' which is the guideline for office procedure in government office of Nepal.

Written procedures have the advantages of being definite and always being a hand
for reference. A written procedure is a guide to a newcomer when introduced to a
position. Following points should be considered while preparing office procedures:

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