Module 3:

Henri Fayols 14 Principles of Management

A principle refers to a fundamental truth. It establishes cause and effect relationship between
two or more variables under given situation. They serve as a guide to thought & actions.
Therefore, management principles are the statements of fundamental truth based on logic
which provides guidelines for managerial decision making and actions. These principles are
derived: -

a. On the basis of observation and analysis i.e. practical experience of managers.

b. By conducting experimental studies.

There are 14 Principles of Management described by Henri Fayol.

1. Division of Labor
a. Henri Fayol has stressed on the specialization of jobs.
b. He recommended that work of all kinds must be divided & subdivided and
allotted to various persons according to their expertise in a particular area.
c. Subdivision of work makes it simpler and results in efficiency.
d. It also helps the individual in acquiring speed, accuracy in his performance.
e. Specialization leads to efficiency & economy in spheres of business.
2. Party of Authority & Responsibility
a. Authority & responsibility are co-existing.
b. If authority is given to a person, he should also be made responsible.
c. In a same way, if anyone is made responsible for any job, he should also have
concerned authority.
d. Authority refers to the right of superiors to get exactness from their sub-
ordinates whereas responsibility means obligation for the performance of the
job assigned.
e. There should be a balance between the two i.e. they must go hand in hand.
f. Authority without responsibility leads to irresponsible behavior whereas
responsibility without authority makes the person ineffective.
3. Principle of One Boss
a. A sub-ordinate should receive orders and be accountable to one and only one
boss at a time.
b. In other words, a sub-ordinate should not receive instructions from more than
one person because -

- It undermines authority
- Weakens discipline
- Divides loyalty
- Creates confusion
- Delays and chaos
- Escaping responsibilities
 - Duplication of work
- Overlapping of efforts

c. Therefore, dual sub-ordination should be avoided unless and until it is

absolutely essential.
d. Unity of command provides the enterprise a disciplined, stable & orderly
existence.
e. It creates harmonious relationship between superiors and sub-ordinates.
4. Unity of Direction
a. Fayol advocates one head one plan which means that there should be one plan
for a group of activities having similar objectives.
b. Related activities should be grouped together. There should be one plan of
action for them and they should be under the charge of a particular manager.
c. According to this principle, efforts of all the members of the organization
should be directed towards common goal.
d. Without unity of direction, unity of action cannot be achieved.
e. In fact, unity of command is not possible without unity of direction.

Basis Unity of command Unity of direction

Meaning It implies that a sub-ordinate should It means one head, one plan for a
receive orders & instructions from only group of activities having similar
one boss. objectives.

Nature It is related to the functioning of It is related to the functioning of

personnel’s. departments, or organization as a
whole.

Necessity It is necessary for fixing responsibility It is necessary for sound

of each subordinates. organization.

Advantage It avoids conflicts, confusion & chaos. It avoids duplication of efforts and
wastage of resources.

Result It leads to better superior sub-ordinate It leads to smooth running of the

relationship. enterprise.

Therefore it is obvious that they are different from each other but they are dependent on each
other i.e. unity of direction is a pre-requisite for unity of command. But it does not
automatically comes from the unity of direction.

5. Equity
a. Equity means combination of fairness, kindness & justice.
 b. The employees should be treated with kindness & equity if devotion is
expected of them.
c. It implies that managers should be fair and impartial while dealing with the
subordinates.
d. They should give similar treatment to people of similar position.
e. They should not discriminate with respect to age, caste, sex, religion, relation
etc.
f. Equity is essential to create and maintain cordial relations between the
managers and sub-ordinate.
g. But equity does not mean total absence of harshness.
h. Fayol was of opinion that, “at times force and harshness might become
necessary for the sake of equity”.
6. Order
a. This principle is concerned with proper & systematic arrangement of things
and people.
b. Arrangement of things is called material order and placement of people is
called social order.
c. Material order- There should be safe, appropriate and specific place for every
article and every place to be effectively used for specific activity and
commodity.
d. Social order- Selection and appointment of most suitable person on the
suitable job. There should be a specific place for every one and everyone
should have a specific place so that they can easily be contacted whenever
need arises.
7. Discipline
a. According to Fayol, “Discipline means sincerity, obedience, respect of
authority & observance of rules and regulations of the enterprise”.
b. This principle applies that subordinate should respect their superiors and obey
their order.
c. It is an important requisite for smooth running of the enterprise.
d. Discipline is not only required on path of subordinates but also on the part of
management.
e. Discipline can be enforced if -

- There are good superiors at all levels.

- There are clear & fair agreements with workers.
- Sanctions (punishments) are judiciously applied.

8. Initiative
a. Workers should be encouraged to take initiative in the work assigned to them.
b. It means eagerness to initiate actions without being asked to do so.
c. Fayol advised that management should provide opportunity to its employees to
suggest ideas, experiences& new method of work.
d. It helps in developing an atmosphere of trust and understanding.
e. People then enjoy working in the organization because it adds to their zeal and
energy.
 f. To suggest improvement in formulation & implementation of place.
g. They can be encouraged with the help of monetary & non-monetary
incentives.
9. Fair Remuneration
a. The quantum and method of remuneration to be paid to the workers should be
fair, reasonable, satisfactory & rewarding of the efforts.
b. As far as possible it should accord satisfaction to both employer and the
employees.
c. Wages should be determined on the basis of cost of living, work assigned,
financial position of the business, wage rate prevailing etc.
d. Logical & appropriate wage rates and methods of their payment reduce
tension & differences between workers & management creates harmonious
relationship and pleasing atmosphere of work.
e. Fayol also recommended provision of other benefits such as free education,
medical & residential facilities to workers.
10. Stability of Tenure
a. Fayol emphasized that employees should not be moved frequently from one
job position to another i.e. the period of service in a job should be fixed.
b. Therefore employees should be appointed after keeping in view principles of
recruitment & selection but once they are appointed their services should be
served.
c. According to Fayol. “Time is required for an employee to get used to a new
work & succeed to doing it well but if he is removed before that he will not be
able to render worthwhile services”.
d. As a result, the time, effort and money spent on training the worker will go
waste.
e. Stability of job creates team spirit and a sense of belongingness among
workers which ultimately increase the quality as well as quantity of work.
11. Scalar Chain
a. Fayol defines scalar chain as ’The chain of superiors ranging from the ultimate
authority to the lowest”.
b. Every orders, instructions, messages, requests, explanation etc. has to pass
through Scalar chain.
c. But, for the sake of convenience & urgency, this path can be cut shirt and this
short cut is known as Gang Plank.
 d. A Gang Plank is a temporary arrangement between two different points to
facilitate quick & easy communication as explained below:

In the figure given, if D has to communicate with G he will first send the
communication upwards with the help of C, B to A and then downwards with
the help of E and F to G which will take quite some time and by that time, it
may not be worth therefore a gang plank has been developed between the two.

e. Gang Plank clarifies that management principles are not rigid rather they are
very flexible. They can be moulded and modified as per the requirements of
situations
12. Sub-Ordination of Individual Interest to General Interest
a. An organization is much bigger than the individual it constitutes therefore
interest of the undertaking should prevail in all circumstances.
b. As far as possible, reconciliation should be achieved between individual and
group interests.
c. But in case of conflict, individual must sacrifice for bigger interests.
d. In order to achieve this attitude, it is essential that -

- Employees should be honest & sincere.

- Proper & regular supervision of work.
- Reconciliation of mutual differences and clashes by mutual
agreement. For example, for change of location of plant, for change of
profit sharing ratio, etc.

13. Espirit De’ Corps (can be achieved through unity of command)

a. It refers to team spirit i.e. harmony in the work groups and mutual
understanding among the members.
b. Spirit De’ Corps inspires workers to work harder.
c. Fayol cautioned the managers against dividing the employees into competing
groups because it might damage the moral of the workers and interest of the
undertaking in the long run.
d. To inculcate Espirit De’ Corps following steps should be undertaken -
▪ There should be proper co-ordination of work at all levels
 ▪ Subordinates should be encouraged to develop informal relations
among themselves.
▪ Efforts should be made to create enthusiasm and keenness among
subordinates so that they can work to the maximum ability.
▪ Efficient employees should be rewarded and those who are not up to
the mark should be given a chance to improve their performance.
▪ Subordinates should be made conscious of that whatever they are
doing is of great importance to the business & society.
e. He also cautioned against the more use of Britain communication to the
subordinates i.e. face to face communication should be developed. The
managers should infuse team spirit & belongingness. There should be no place
for misunderstanding. People then enjoy working in the organization & offer
their best towards the organization.
14. Centralization & De-Centralization
a. Centralization means concentration of authority at the top level. In other
words, centralization is a situation in which top management retains most of
the decision making authority.
b. Decentralization means disposal of decision making authority to all the levels
of the organization. In other words, sharing authority downwards is
decentralization.
c. According to Fayol, “Degree of centralization or decentralization depends on
no. of factors like size of business, experience of superiors, dependability &
ability of subordinates etc.
d. Anything which increases the role of subordinate is decentralization &
anything which decreases it is centralization.
e. Fayol suggested that absolute centralization or decentralization is not feasible.
An organization should strike to achieve a lot between the two.

Elements of office management:

Elements of office management are termed as pillars of a building. If pillar is strong,
certainly, the building is also strong. Hence, efficient functioning of office management is
based on the elements of office management. Following are the essential elements of office
management.

1. Personnel/ Employee
Office personnel are actually performing the office work. Generally, the selection and
placement of office personnel is carried on by the office manager in small organization. In
large organization, staffing is carried on by the human resource management department. In
both the case, the office work is to be performed by allocating the work to each individual
according to their efficiency, guide the personnel to do the work with the help of means
available in an office within a specified time and control the activities of office personnel.
The office manager has to do all these activities.

2. Means/ Medium
Means refers to tools used to perform the office work. Means include pen, pencil, eraser,
paper, ink, office forms, typewriter, computer, printer, calculator and the like. Adequate tools
have been supplied in an office and put them to the most efficient and economical use for
achieving objectives.

3. Environment
The nature of business determines the environment of an office. The various office works
have to be carried on under a particular condition or environment. A working environment is
created and maintained for the smooth performance of office work. It is the duty and
responsibility of an office manager to bring suitable environment by adopting various
procedures and practice.

4. Purpose/ Objective
The office personnel must be aware of the purpose for which a particular work is carried on
and the impact of such work on others’ performance. The office manager teaches the purpose
to office personal. If not so, the performance of office work does not bring the most efficient
and economical use of office resources and achieve the objectives.

Important Functions or Role of an Office Manager

Since the office work is basically a service function, office manager performs a significant
role in the performance of office work. The main functions of an office manager are
explained below.

1. Staffing
An office manager is requested to recruit and select the office staff by the top management.
For this purpose, he determines the number of staff required, their qualification and
experience if any, decide the sources of recruitment, receiving applications, conduct the
interviews and tests and finally select the right personnel.

2. Leadership
He has complete control over the work done in an office. An office manager is necessary for
smooth, efficient and performance of office work economically in an organization. Being a
leader of office, he is in charge of public relations and helps other departments to achieve
their goals set forth.

3. Training
The need of training has been decided by office manager. Besides, the training programmes
are also devised and imparted to the new recruits as well as existing staff. Orientation training
programme has been provided to new staff and refresher course programme is provided to
existing staff.

4. Coordination
The various activities of office staff are coordinate by the office manager. He has to
bring coordination between the top management and the workers. He must please both the
parties.

5. Work Measurement
An office manager devices methods of work measurement in terms of the output of the staff.
It is a difficult task. The reason is that the office work cannot be measured in physical terms.
Hence, it is the duty of office manager to decide the accepted norms of work measurement.
6. Motivation
The efficiency of staff is increased by providing proper motivation. The type of motivation
can be decided by the office manager. The right type of motivation ensures effective and
economical performance of work and lead to the promotion of the staff.

7. Discipline
The implementation of rules and regulation of office is in the hands of office manager. There
should not be personal bias while implementing rules and regulations. He also attends to the
grievances of office staff. In this way discipline is maintained.

8. Accounting
He has thorough knowledge on accounting. Every figure should be kept in finger tips.

9. Stationery Control
Office manager has to exercise proper control on stationery purchase and issue. For this
purpose, he has to frame clear cut procedure for the purchase, for the issue and storage of
office stationery.

10. Secretarial Services

All the accounts books are kept under the custody of office manager. An officer manager is
responsible to conduct meetings, drafts reports and minutes etc. on behalf of secretary. In this
way, he does the functions of secretary.

11. Costing
In small organization, an office manager is responsible to maintain costing records and do the
costing work.

12. Organizer
The office work has been assessed and assigned to office staff according to their knowledge,
ability, experience, qualification and the like by the office manager.

13. Supervisor
An office manager is head of office. Hence, it is the duty of office manager to supervise
the office correspondences, procedures, policy implementation, record maintenance, filing,
indexing and the like.There is no hard and fast rule for determining the functions of office
manager. Generally, the type and size of an organization are the deciding factors of functions
of office manager. The functions of office manager vary from time to time and from office to
office. The office manager is expected to perform his functions within the limit of authority
and responsibility entrusted to him by the employer.

Major Functions of Office Management

This article throws light upon the seven major functions of office management. They are: 1.
Planning 2. Staffing 3. Directing 4. Communication 5. Controlling 6. Co-ordination 7.
Motivation.
Office Management Function # 1. Planning:
Planning is the first and foremost function of office management. It is best described as the
first step towards other functions of the office. It is a well-defined course of future action.

Fayol had pointed out:

“The plan of action at one and the same time, the result envisaged the line of action to be
followed, the stages to go through, and the method to use. It is a kind of future picture
wherein proximate events are outlined with some distinctiveness while remote events appear
progressively less distinct. Planning is a mental process based on available means of facts and
future possibilities”.

Objectives of Planning:
Planning is done to:
1. Offset the changes and uncertainty

2. To gain on economical operations, and

3. To facilitate control.

4. Planning facilitates control in the office.

5. Planning also takes care of the growth of business operations. Thus the office is not found
wanting when it grows.

6. Planning helps in economical operations in an office as the office personnel know about
the target and goals, and about how to move in that direction.

7. Planning facilitates a complete control in the office. The second element of the office is
organising.

It refers to the creation of a structure of duties and responsibilities to achieve the objectives of
an enterprise. Urvick describes organisation as “determining what activities are necessary for
any purpose or plan and arranging them in groups which may be assigned to the individuals.
It is concerned with activity-authority relationship. The office is to be organised and the
duties and functions are to be defined to determine authority relationship so that the office
functions smoothly.”

Office Management Function # 2. Staffing:

It is a function of management, more so it is an executive function of selection, recruitment,
compensation, promotion, training and retirement of subordinate managers. Office
management also has this process of staffing because the office has to be manned and
managed in similar fashion.

Office Management Function # 3. Directing:

Direction is defined and described as the functioning of command. “The successful direction
of sub-ordinates results in knowledgeable well-trained people who work efficiently toward
the objectives of the enterprises. Direction can be described as the process of guiding and
supervising the subordinates. The idea of guiding and supervising is to give a specific
direction to the various activities in the office with a view to its proper functioning.”
Office Management Function # 4. Communication:
It is explained as the interchanges of thoughts or information to bring about a mutual
understanding and confidence or a good human relation. Effective communication is in line
where a thing is understood in the same sense in which it has been communicated.

To establish a good communication it is essential to follow these three principles:

(a) The principles of clarity

(b) The principles of integrity

(c) The principles of strategic use of informal organisation.

Office Management Function # 5. Controlling:

Controlling is a function of checking current performance against pre-determined standards
contained in the plans, with a view to ensuring adequate progress and satisfactory
performance—physical or financial. Controlling is basis to the office management.

Performance of the office staff has to be measured and corrective steps are to be taken to
make sure that the aims of the office via-a-vis that of the enterprises are attained.

Controlling should have these principles:

1. The principle of economy

2. The principle of flexibility.

3. The principle of objectivity.

4. The principle of vision.

5. The principle of need and nature of the office.

Office Management Function # 6. Co-Ordination:

Co-ordination is a process of balancing and keeping the team together by ensuring a suitable
allocation of working activities to the various members, and seeing to it that these are
performed with due harmony amongst the members themselves.

In order to have an effective co-ordination in the office, it is necessary that co-

ordination must have the following prerequisites:
(a) The goal of the sub-ordinate department must be designed to contribute to the enterprise.

(b) The objectives of the enterprise must be known to each and every member of the group.

(c) Individuals should understand properly how their job contributes to the goal of the
enterprise.

Principles of co-ordination:

The principles of co-ordination are enumerated:

(a) Principles of Direct Contact:
Co-ordination must be achieved through direct contact amongst the parties concerned. This
would avoid red-tapeism and ensure promptness.

(b) Principles of Continuity:

Co-ordination has to be a continuous process because various conditions keep on
interchanging and ever-changing.

(c) Principles of Early Beginning:

It is necessary to achieve coordination with early stages of planning and policymaking.

(d) Principles of Reciprocal Relationship:

All the factors like sales, production, management, Finance in a situation must be reciprocally
related.

Office Management Function # 7. Motivation:

One of the most complex and a difficult process of a form of management is the process of
motivation.

Motivation is of two types:

(i) Self-motivation and

(ii) External motivation.

Motivation means including a subordinate to work with zeal and zest with gusto and
cooperate for achieving the objectives of the organisation. The motivation system should
satisfy the edge needs of the group besides being flexible, competitive, productive and
comprehensive.

If a motivational system has these characteristics it shall achieve the following in the
office:
(a) Helps for setting examples for sub-ordinates

(b) Keep the moral high

(c) Helps in disciplines

(d) Provides growth in stature and responsibilities

(e) Provides financial opportunities to the executives.

Office Layout or Space Planning | Importance, Objectives, Principles

Office layout or space planning refers to the arrangement and placing of men and equipment
within each department or section of the office with a view to making the best possible
utilization of the available space or accommodation. In other words, office layout can be
described as the arrangement of different departments, equipment and men within a given
available floor space with a view to make optimum utilization of space and ensure maximum
efficiency of the office.

Office Layout or Space Planning involves three steps such as

1. Determining the correct amount of space for each employee along with machinery,
furniture and equipment they use.
2. Correct arrangement of furniture, equipment and machines.
3. Providing of best possible environmental conditions.
Space planning has become a high priority factor now-a-days due to the huge cost involved in
procuring the most desirable office space.

Types of layout
There are two types of layout based on the activities performed in an office. They are:

1. Group layout: It is a layout which persons performing similar activities or office

machines doing similar work are grouped together.

e.g., All typists are put in the typing room

2. Process layout: it is a layout in which men and machines are arranged on the basis of the
sequence of operation.

e.g., the filing section may be placed next to the despatch section.

3. Mixed layout: in practice, neither of above two types of layout can be used exclusively.
Both these types of layout are to be combined to attain the desired flow of work and
efficiency.

Importance of Office layout

A well-planned layout brings a number of benefits to the office, to the firm and to the
employees. These benefits highlight it’s importance and layout process has become an
important task of the office manager. The benefits derived from a proper layout are given
below:

1. Office layout assists in the efficiency of getting the work done.

2. Economies arise from the proper utilization of floor space.

3. Supervision can-be facilitated with a well planned office layout.

4. Inter-communication can be speeded up with a good office layout.

5. Office machines and equipment can be used to their optimum capacity.

6. Office layout ensures better comfort and morale of the workers..

Objectives of Office Layout

We have studied the benefits that may be derived from an Ideal layout. To derive the benefits,
the office manager while planning the layout should keep the following objectives in mind.

1. Effective Flow of Work

An office layout should ensure a steady and uninterrupted flow of work. If the work flow is
effective, unnecessary movements of paper and personnel will be avoided and work will flow
only in one direction i.e. forward direction. On the other hand, if the work flow is ineffective,
the work will flow in all directions i.e. forward, backward and crisscrossing. Consequently,
work will be delayed unnecessarily.

2. Optimum Utilization of Space

The available space should be utilized to its greatest advantage. It must be remembered that
non-utilization of rented space is a loss to the firm.

3. Employee Comfort and Satisfaction

Each clerk should be allotted adequate space so that they can move freely in the course of
work. Moreover, the work desks should be located within the easy reach of equipment and
machines, which the working staff may need to use in course of performing the work.

4. Ease for Supervision

Office layout should provide maximum scope for supervision at minimum effort on the part
of the supervisor. A large open office shall facilitate easy supervision than that of an office
divided into small apartments.
5. Separate Accommodation
Some work should be performed secretly. Therefore, separate accommodation should also be
provided for the staff doing such confidential work. Similarly, people doing work, which
requires utmost silence should also be located in a suitable place where noise is altogether
absent.

6. Favorable impression on the Customers

A favorable impression on the customers and the visitors is of great importance where
outsiders see part or all of the office area. A well-designed layout shall impress the outsiders
who visit the office. The layout designer should keep this factor always in mind.
7. Functional Departmentalization
It is also necessary to follow the principle of functional departmentalization. For instance,
typists may be located together at one particular place, where the noise of typing does not
affect other office work.

8. Flexibility
The layout should permit ready alteration whenever circumstances demand so. In other
words, office layout must be flexible. Fluctuations in the volume of work, addition of new
services etc. shall require alteration in the design of the layout. Thus, layout designing is a
continuous process.
9. Proper Balance
The office manager should ensure that the capacity of the equipment and personnel assigned
to each operation department is, as far as possible, the same or balanced.

Principles of Office layout

In practice, it is very difficult to obtain an ideal layout for an office. Moreover, layout
designing is a continuous process. Therefore, a layout, which is considered to be ideal at a
time, may not be ideal at another time. As such, no hard and fast rules are available for
designing the layout.However, authorities have evolved certain guiding principles for
designing the office layout. They are as follows:

1. Straight Line Flow of Work

Work should flow continuously forward, as nearly as possible in a straight line. Back tracking
and crisscrossing should be avoided.

2. Location of Departments
Each department should be provided with a convenient area. Departments that have similar
functions or frequent contact with each other should be located nearer to the each other so as
to reduce the travel time.

3. Provision of Services
Central service groups such as typing section etc. should be conveniently located nearer to
the employees and departments who use them.

4. Space Requirements
Each employee should be allotted sufficient space to handle his work efficiently and
comfortably. The machines and equipment, which he has to use, must be in the immediate
vicinity.

5. Furniture and Equipment

The furniture and equipment used should be of uniform size and shape. Moreover, they
should be arranged in a straight line. Employees should face in the same direction. A regular
placement of desks and chairs should be reserved for supervisory personnel.

6. Number of Private Offices

These are separate rooms, cabins or cubicles, which are partitioned off from other parts of the
office. These are generally provided to the important managerial personnel. But the number
of such private offices should not be more in any case.

However, for confidential work provision of private office is necessary and inevitable. If the
number of such offices is more, natural light and ventilation shall be affected. Even in
unavoidable cases, it is preferable to use movable partitions because they provide secrecy and
privacy without interrupting the flow of work or complicating ventilation and natural
lighting.

7. Service Facilities
While designing the layout the provision of service facilities for the employees should also be
made. These include communication systems like telephone, telex etc., and lifts, drinking
water, wash rooms, clock rooms, canteens etc. These facilities are essential for the efficient
performance of the office work as well as for the physical comfort of the office staff.

8. Safety
An ideal layout should avoid all sorts of office hazards. It should provide for an adequate
number of exists. Open drawers, unguarded or unfenced machines may cause accidents.
However, they can be avoided by properly locating them in places where frequent entry is
prohibited.

9. Flexibility and Expansion

Office layout is a continuous process. Hence, the layout should be flexible to permit
immediate alteration. Moreover, enough provision should be made for future expansion so
that the additional staff and equipment can be accommodated in the existing space without
much dislocation.

Principles & factors for designing office Layout:

Definition: “The arrangement of all physical components within the available floor space to
provide maximum effectiveness and the coordination of these components into an efficient
and attractive unity.” In other words, “Arrangement of different departments, equipments and
men within a given available floor space with a view to make optimum utilisation of space
and ensure maximum efficiency of the office.”

Factors: Modern Office layout

1. Space:
This is the most important element of a modern office these days. If you are planning to have
an office which makes the others wish they could work here, you need to have enough spaces
for each employee in the office. Also it’s not a good idea to only think about the workers but
you have to consider the outside visitors and guests that will come in the office all the time
and will need extra space to sit and operate. A modern office needs to have more than enough
spaces for the employees and visitors and not only the sitting spaces but there should be some
empty spaces too. Remember, if there are no empty spaces in the office, it will look messy
and people will have difficulties to move from one corner to another.

2. Structure:
The structure of modern office should be effective and efficient not only for the employees
and management but for the customers and visitors of the employees. Structure of an office
includes the section making. For example a company has a marketing department, accounting
department, publicity department and HR department. This office needs to combine the
employees of one kind of department at one place i.e. the HR employees should be seated
together and the accounting workers should work close to each other.
3. Decoration:
Yes it’s true that office is a place where people are supposed to work all the time but you
can’t suppose that employees will work continuously for 7-8 hours without relaxing for a
while or walking inside the office to lower the stress. This is why it’s very important that
your office should be decorative enough so that workers won’t see it like a jail but they
should have some elements to relax and enjoy every now and then. You can put some
paintings on the walls or arrange for indoor plants for the corners.

4. Lighting:
There are number of researches that shows lighting has a very deep effect on the working of
employees in an office. If you want to experiment, you can increase or decrease the lighting
in the office and that will show you that workers work more effectively with good lighting
either natural or artificial. It will be best if you can arrange for natural day light to enter in the
office but when it’s not possible, you can arrange for artificial lighting that will serve as an
alternative to the natural sunlight.

5. Connectivity:
The cubicles or office desks should be connected to each other in some way. This is very
important because offices work mutually and it’s not possible for any employee to complete
his work without involving another employee in the same or different department. This is
why a modern office needs to have an arrangement in the office and its sitting plans so that
it’s easy for the employees to move around and reach to all the corners in the office.

Selecting Office Furniture

Selecting the appropriate office furniture would add beauty in the office and would allow the
employees to work more effectively.

Planning:

Go for planning about the selection of the office furniture, analyze your business nature.
What are the basic requirements of your business for that you would need, what type? and
how much? some specific furniture number. If you are a computer based company then
analyze that what kind of tables and chairs you would need for the computers and other
computer accessories to be placed. Make a list of the required items in detail; include
everything which might be useful for the office regarding furniture. Plan according to your
budget, the more you would pay money for your office furniture the classier look would be
given to your office. Well your budget is very important entity so while planning you must go
for market research and get the latest information about the price of the office furniture. Try
to ask some other people that how they managed their office furniture. Consulting an expert
would be very handy. Collect all the possible information about the office furniture and then
go for buying the furniture.

Available Space:
The space calculation is essential while going to set the office furniture. You must ensure that
how much space you have for your office furniture. Try to put the furniture according to your
available space.

Individual Characteristics:

You must ensure the individual characteristics of the employees, because they are the person
who would use the furniture. The characteristics can be as follows:

▪ Body size of the employee

▪ Height of the employee
▪ Gender of employee
▪ Right or left handedness

Nature of Business:

Choosing the office furniture depends upon the nature of the business. Different office
requires different furniture. You must know what type of business you would run for that you
would need what type of furniture.

Choose the furniture according to your business style. The way you would run the business,
your office furniture would reflect your class and style. If you are operating a document
editing office then your furniture would be different and if you are a computer based office in
which you would be having computer placed on the desks or tables so your furniture style
would be different here. A desk with some drawers and cabinets would be a perfect choice in
case of computer based office; it would work for the simple manual office working as well.
Adjustable desks and adjustable chairs are good to use. The adjustable moving chairs are
commonly found in offices these days; it provides the facility to move here and there in your
office while sitting. These chairs are more comfortable as well.

Technical Consideration:

Well this is very crucial thing to ponder that either your selected furniture would provide
desired facility to your employees? And it would provide the comfort to the employee or not.
If it is providing the comfort and becoming a productive part of the office then well and good
otherwise you have to think what changes you have to make for that.

Selecting the Furnitures for your Office

1. Suitability

The selected furniture must be suitable for the job. The working area of the table should be
sufficient. It must also have space to keep files (incoming and outgoing), stationery, etc.

2. Comfort
The seat of the workers, shape of the chairs and tables must be so designed that the workers
would not feel any fatigue while doing their jobs. This will result in efficiency, in turn, more
output. The equipment, forms, stationery, etc., must be within easy reach. Those items
frequently used, should be placed at hand.

3. Design

Prior to purchase, one must have an idea of the size, height and design of the furniture. For
example, the size, height, design, number of drawers of the table should be decided on the
basis of work done on it.

There are many designs of tables available in the market. One must decide whether the top of
the table should be of polished wood or glass plate or laminate surface. The decision
regarding the choice of the furniture, say table, desk, chairs, etc. as to its size and design
depends on the officer who uses it.

4. Durability

Metal furniture is more costly than wooden furniture. But the maintenance charges of wooden
furniture are more than those of the metal furniture. Nowadays, metal i.e., steel furniture is
more popular, because it is more durable than wooden furniture. Moreover, steel furniture is
safe against fire, burglary etc.

5. Weight

As the business expands, the size of the office also increases. The existing layout of the
furniture has to be rearranged according to the required comfort. It may become often
necessary to move the furniture from one place to another. Therefore, it is better to have light
weight furniture. If the furniture is light, there will be less breakage and wear and tear when
the furniture is shifted.

6. Space saving

Furniture which would occupy minimum space should be selected. The decision regarding
the design of the furniture should depend upon the space available in the office and the
number of persons who work there.

7. Cost

The cost of the furniture should not be neglected when selecting it. It should be kept within
the financial limit.

8. Hygiene
The outlay of the furniture should be so made that it will be easy to clean the furniture as well
as the floor underneath it.

9. Usefulness

The furniture should be selected according to the nature of the particular job. When it is not
needed for the department, it can be easily transferred to another department, where it may be
useful.

10. Appearance

Furniture should have a good appearance and be pleasing to the eyes. This will impress the
workers and visitors. Wooden furniture looks attractive. Furniture of high quality wood is
durable. It has a warm look and gives comfort to the users. Many varieties and designs of
furniture can easily be made.

11. Multi-purpose uses

Furniture should be adaptable to multi-purpose uses, wherever possible. This permits

standardization in the purchase of multi-purpose desks and enables office workers to perform
more than one type of work with the help of the same kind of furniture.

If the clerk is to be provided with a telephone, it must be placed on the left-hand side of the
table. The writing pad will be placed on the right-hand side, so that while he is working with
his right-hand, he can easily take the receiver with his left-hand. In the same way the
stationery articles, should be kept on the top of the table, within easy reach.

Completed files should be placed on the right-hand side and incomplete files should be
placed on the left-hand side. This will enable the supervisor to check the work done by the
clerk, by a look from his seat.

The work table, machines, stationery, etc., on it should be kept free from dust. Certain files of
a confidential nature should be safely placed in steel cabinets, after the work.

The clerks who come to the office may bring personal belongings, such as money purse, rain
coat, lunch packets, hand-bags, etc. The clerk's table should have provision to keep the
personal belongings under lock.

Factors & principles for selecting office location

Once a decision has been made as to urban or sub-urban location, it would be desirable to
consider the following factors while choosing the office building:
Availability of means of transport: the office should be so located that efficient means of
transport are available to the staff as well as the customers. This would ensure smooth
functioning of the office. E.g., Location near a railway station

Availability of various service facilities: service facilities as banks, insurance companies,

post offices, road transport company’s offices, retail stores and restaurants ensure greater
efficiency of the business since they are to be used by the staff as well as the business.

Relation of office with other units ot the enterprise: proximate location of different units
of the same business results in saving of time of communication between different units of
the organization, better parking facilities, better public relations and better personnel
servicing. For example, it would be worthwhile to locate the office in the same building as
the factory if the firm is a manufacturing firm.

Relation of office with surroundings: It would be ideal to locate office building in a manner
that the surroundings are healthy. Far from noise, fumes and congestion in an area have a bad
effect on the health and efficiency of the office workers.

Effect of Localisation: If the office is located at a place where the offices of units carrying
similar business are located, it would ensure reputation and better customer service. In fact
over the last one decade or so, there has been a tendency this type of concentration in our
country due to better means of communications and improved transport facilities.

Central, state and local taxes: Such taxes too influence the location of the office. Lower
taxes on property, manufacturing and sales, etc. In a given may be helpful in locating the
office in that area. But the tax advantage will have to be considered in the light of other
factors of location.

Getting the required space: Before finally deciding the location it would be essential to find
out whether the minimum required space is available in a given location. It is an important
factor that puts a constraint on choosing a preferred location.