Legal Administration Toolbox€¦ · Web viewThese include tasks such as word processing correspondence, completing documents and administrative tasks such as filling out a Timesheet,

Business Course

Certificate II in Business

Student Guide

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................................2

WHAT IS THE COURSE?.........................................................................................................3

WHAT IS THE VIRTUAL OFFICE LIKE?.................................................................................6

The Office..........................................................................................................................6

Office Personnel................................................................................................................6

The Main Office..................................................................................................................6

Directors' Offices................................................................................................................7

Office Manager's Office......................................................................................................7

The Library.........................................................................................................................7

Copier/Filing Room............................................................................................................8

Email..................................................................................................................................8

Discussion Board...............................................................................................................8

WHERE SHOULD YOU BEGIN?...................................................................................................9

TASK ONE - OUR BUSINESS...................................................................................................10

Suggested learning process............................................................................................10

TASK TWO - YOUR ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES.....................................................................11


TASK THREE - CREATE A LETTER FROM NOTES.......................................................................13

TASK FOUR – SEARCH FOR AND USE INFORMATION IN A BUSINESS..........................................15


TASK FIVE - PREPARE AND WORK WITH DOCUMENTS.............................................................17


TASK SIX – ASSEMBLE AND PRESENT BUSINESS DOCUMENTS..................................................19


TASK SEVEN - ASSEMBLE A NEW FILE....................................................................................20


TASK EIGHT - PROCESS INCOMING MAIL.................................................................................21


TASK NINE - PROCESS OUTGOING MAIL..................................................................................23


TASK TEN - PROCESS INACTIVE FILES.....................................................................................25


What is the course?

This course for Certificate II in Business is an interactive learning program designed to give

you tools to work in an administrative role in a general office. This course has been designed

to support the following competencies:

BSBWHS201 Contribute to the health and safety of self and

others

Core

BSBIND201 Work effectively in a business environment Elective

BSBINM201 Process and maintain workplace information Elective

BSBINM202 Handle mail Elective

BSBCMM201 Communicate in the workplace Elective

BSBITU201 Produce simple word processed documents Elective

BSBITU202 Create and use spreadsheets Elective

BSBITU203 Communicate electronically Elective

BSBWOR202 Organise and complete daily work activities Elective

BSBWOR203 Work effectively with others Elective

BSBWOR204 Use business technology Elective

BSBCUS201 Deliver a service to customers Elective

BSBFLM303 Contribute to effective work relationships Elective

BSBITU303 Design and produce text documents Elective

Ver 2-1 Page 3 of 25

In this course you take on the role of an Administration Assistant for the virtual wholesaler

firm Temperate Wholesaler. There are ten tasks, each of which is typical of those an

Administration Assistant would undertake in a real life office. You will find all the resources

you need in the virtual office environment.

You should start with “Take a Tour” which will introduce you to all the areas of the office.

Move your mouse over the items on your desk to see what each does, and click on the labels

on the doors to visit all rooms within the office.

Task 1 will introduce you to the virtual office and the office personnel as well as the

administration system and some of the terminology commonly used in an office.

Task 2 will introduce you to the role and responsibilities of an administration assistant.

Other tasks mirror real life office tasks and processes that you would need to do if working in

an office. These include tasks such as word processing correspondence, completing Ver 2-1 Page 4 of 25

documents and administrative tasks such as filling out a Timesheet, maintaining a filing

system and using email.

Because the Virtual Office is meant to represent and reproduce the interactions, personal

organisation and turmoil of a real workplace, you will need to think, solve problems and work

through complex situations. This ‘office’ is for people going into the workforce and you will

need to face the challenges its poses. Remember: The ‘office’ will pose complex challenges

just like a real workplace; this is not a textbook that simply presents you with work to do!


What is the virtual office like?

The Office

The Office contains instructions for completing tasks and access to the rooms with the

resources you will need to complete each task.

Office Personnel

The Office has a number of Virtual Office Personnel with whom that you will interact. Each of

these will give you information or resources you will need for selected tasks. At times, when

they do not have information for you, they will be out of the office or busy. The personnel are:

Maree Taylor, Director, Promotions.

Henri Gleitman, Director, Human Resources.

Ivan Kruber, Director, Retail Sales.

Kim Richards, an Office Manager who supervises the learner's work.

The Main Office

This is the room in which you will complete your tasks. There are several resources for you to

use:

An Intray, which provides the Task Description, hints and the resources, you will need

for the task.

Three books which are on the desk permanently:

o Business Terminology Manual

o Correspondence and Business Writing Style Guide

o Glossary of Advertising and Promotion Terms

Taxi vouchers which will take you to the IT Skills Centre and a training centre where

you may obtain training materials

A computer where you will find:

o a Task Planning Sheet for each task to help you organise your work.

o a recording sheet on which the Administration Assistant's time working with in

each task is recorded.

o Word and Excel (spreadsheet) templates for use when required.


o the company Intranet (an internal website available only to the firm's staff). It

contains documents, policies, checklists, vision statement, an organisational

chart, position descriptions etc. Get to know these resources as you will use

them often.

o a telephone that provides topics for your Discussion Board.

From the Main Office you can visit the other rooms that are needed for the selected task.

Directors' Offices

There are three directors' offices. Each office contains the following resources:

the director who provides information relevant to the task. You can listen to the audio and print the text version for reference.

the Customer File with background documents for the business. documents or books that contain information relevant to the task, e.g. a diary.

Office Manager's Office

The Office Manager's office contains the following resources:

the Office Manager, Kim Richards, who provides information relevant to the task. You can listen to the audio and print the text version for reference.

documents or books that provide information relevant to the task.

The Library

The library or resource area is common in large businesses. This area generally holds information vital for the business’ operations. Our virtual office’s library contains a complete list of books and manuals available and a computer with a list of relevant internet sites. You can also access the internet or the company intranet on this computer.


Copier/Filing Room

The Copier/Filing room contains the following resources:

a photocopier books that provide information about filing and photocopying.

From these rooms you can return to the Main Office via the Back to Desk sign.

Email

Each task will require you to submit work by email to your supervisor, Kim Richards. In reality, you will be emailing your work to your teacher. If you are asked to email work to one of the directors, you should also email this work to your teacher.

Discussion Board

Your teacher may ask you to discuss topics online with other students using a Discussion Board where the topic is linked to the telephone on the desk. Your teacher will tell you which topics to discuss, and whether this will be done online, in groups within the classroom or even individually, in writing.


Where should you begin?

When you enter the office, always start by selecting the Your Tasks at the top left of the screen.

Next, click on the Task you want, and then Start Task.

You will find new email on your computer in the Main Office. This will give you an overview of your task and will tell you what to do next. You may be asked to visit Kim Richards or open the task description and hints in your intray.

Make sure you open the Task Planning Sheet which you will find in your intray or on your computer. This is a checklist of the activities you need to complete for all tasks and will make these tasks much easier to follow.

You can now follow the steps in the Task Planning Sheet to collect and read the information you need and to complete the activities.


Task One - Our business

Print out and read the Task Planning Sheet. You will need to complete this and return it with

your completed jobs at the end of this task.

Suggested learning process

In Task 1 the learners should:

Get to know your role: Read incoming email (Computer).

Go to Kim Richard’s office for an overview of the Induction program.

return to the Main Office to read the Induction Timetable.(Intray).

read the following:

Mission Statement of the company on the computer intranet

Overview of the Administrative System on the computer intranet/intray

Business Terminology Manual on their desk

Visit the IT Skills Centre using a taxi voucher.

At the IT Skills Centre, undertake the IT Assessment, and save a copy of your results.

Check out the virtual Registered Training Organisation, AIET.

Learn about the company: Visit each Director and carry out their instructions (Directors’ offices).

Review the organizational charts of our company (Henri’s office).

Review concept of wholesaling (Maree’s office).

Read Temperate Wholesalers’ current promotional brochure (Maree’s office).

Investigate customer’s file on Ivan’s desk (Ivan’s office).

Investigate the Library catalogue and the Intranet (Library computer).

Read the Library Orientation Guide, Internet Guide and Email Guide (Library).

Complete the digital activities, located in your Induction Timetable.

Complete the written activities (Intray).

Attempt the World of Business crossword. (Don’t worry if you don’t get them all right at

the moment. You’ll get another go in Task 10).


Task Two - Your role and responsibilities




In Induction the learners should:

Understanding your role: Read incoming email (Computer).

Read and print the message about ‘Your Role’ in the Intray.

Read the company’s Mission Statement (Intranet)

Read and print the Message about your Role in the Intray (Main Office)

Ensure you are familiar with the requirements of the Correspondence and Business

Writing Style Guide (Reference Books).

Open Activity 1 (Intray) and save a copy. You will come back to it soon.

Read the Employee Handbook (Intranet on your computer)

Visit the WageNet internet site.

Complete Activity 1, ‘Starting work’, and save it to disk for submission at the end of the

task.

Identifying your personal career plan: Open Activity 2 (Intray) and save a copy.

Find your position description on the Intranet (Library)

Complete your personal career plan and save it to disk.

Preparing your resume: Open Activity 3 (Intray) and save a copy.

Access the internet links on Finding a New Career ( Library)

Prepare your resume. Ensure you save this as a digital file.

Preparing an OHS checklist: Read and print Activity 4 (Intray)

Read the Occupational Health and Safety Manual (Library)


Look up OHS websites on the computer. (Library) Explore other sites to learn more

about your role.

Complete Activity 4.

Preparing a timesheet: Visit Mr Kruber’s office and collect his timesheet information (Mr Kruber’s office).

Prepare a time sheet for Mr Kruber.

OHS Office Hazards: Complete the OHS Office Hazards activity


Task Three - Create a letter from notes




To successfully complete this task, learners are required to read and perform a number of

activities.

The importance of OHS and completing a Memo Read incoming email (Computer).

Read and print Your Task (Intray)

Go to Kim Richard’s Office. Follow any instructions.

Read the Some Hints for You (Intray).

Read and print the hand written Memo from Maree Taylor (Intray).

Read Edit Marks (Intray)

Open a Memo template and word process the hand written note from Maree Taylor.

Refer to the Business Terminology Manual (Desk) to check the terms used in Maree

Taylor’s notes.

Visit Maree Taylor to discuss confidentiality and security issues (Maree Taylor’s

Office).

Review the Customer’s File for this matter (Maree Taylor’s Office).

Read all the documents in the Correspondence and Business Writing Style Guide

(Desk).

Read the information sheet Occupational Health and Safety: Your Work Station and

also visit the website and try out the exercises for hands, neck and shoulders (Intray).

Complete the activity identifying hazards in an office desk (Intray)

Fill in the OHS workstation checklist (Intray)

Research the importance of Ethics in an office: Read the Confidentiality and Security Manual (Library) and complete the activities in it.

Review the Internet Sites on Ethics and Confidentiality located in the Internet

Computer (Library).

Complete Workplace Ethics Activity and present as a table in memo format.

Find three new Internet Sites on these topics. Post new sites to your discussion board.


Read the Working with Templates and Styles section of the Correspondence and

Business Writing Style Guide (Desk).

Read the Editing Marks book (Intray).

Open the letter template in the computer and create the letter from Maree Taylor’s

notes (Intray). Save the completed letter.


Task Four – Search for and use information in a business




Prepare a new customer file: Read the incoming email (Computer).

Read and print your Task Description (Intray).

Undertake the Internet course (Intray or through the virtual RTO)

Research Internet search engines.

Read and understand the following resources:

Achieving Team Goals booklet (Intranet).

Employee Handbook (Intranet).

Search Engine Activity: Undertake consultation with other Administration Assistants

using the discussion board or other ways organised by Kim Richards (i.e. your

teacher) to develop a list of recommended Internet search engine, the strengths and

weaknesses of each and other details as listed in the activity instructions (Intray).

Visit Ivan Kruber and collect required files and instructions (Ivan Kruber’s office).

Using the above notes identify what information must be found on the Internet (blue

text in Mr Kruber’s notes). Hint: Check the Internet Computer in the Library for some

websites to start your search.

Search the Internet and retrieve the required information and copies of any forms

required (blue text in Mr Kruber’s notes).

Prepare letter on Temperate Wholesalers’ letterhead including all required information

as per Mr Kruber’s instructions.

Prepare a briefing note using the provided template. The briefing notes is to provide

Mr Kruber with all of the information he has requested so that he may be familiar with

all topics prior to his meeting with Mrs Nuygen Thao.

Create a spreadsheet with the possible import costs that could be incurred when

bringing in products from Vietnam. Your spreadsheet will need to detail costs and also

provide a simple total of expected fees. Use the Using Microsoft Excel Help (Intranet)

or training materials (virtual RTO) if needed.

Complete the following three activities (Activities in Intray):

Handling difficult situations –


Teams

Benefits of teams

Compile all your required responses into one word processed document titling each

section in the following format: Task 4 Activity # - Title of activity

Complete the Task Priority Activity (Intray).

Review your own performance on this entire task. Use the telephone (i.e. the

discussion board of your learning management system) to join in a ‘conversation’ with

the other administration assistants about the difficulties you encountered and share

ideas on how you could develop the necessary skills. Alternatively, you can submit

your ideas by email directly to Kim Richards (i.e. your teacher).


Task Five - Prepare and Work with Documents




Covering letter - Project agreement: Read incoming Email (Computer).

Go to Kim Richard’s Office. Follow her instructions.

Read ‘Office Policies and Procedures’ and ‘Receive and Dispatch outgoing mail’

Read Mr O’Malley’s instructions Activity 1 (Intray)

Complete Form 32A (Intray).

Research addresses needed (Internet)

Prepare covering letters and attachments.

Ensure letters are signed.

Select appropriate outgoing mail type.

Complete outgoing mail register.

Covering letter - Industrial agreement: Read Mr O’Malley’s instructions Activity 2 (Intray).

Complete Form 19.

Research addresses needed (Internet).

Prepare covering letters and attachments.

Ensure letters are signed.

Select appropriate outgoing mail type.

Complete outgoing mail register.

PowerPoint and Poster: Rights and responsibilities Read Employee Handbook regarding rights and responsibilities

Prepare 3 slide PowerPoint presentation

Prepare poster

Building trust in teamsVer 2-1 Page 17 of 25

Complete activity about building trust in teams

Take a screen shot of completed activity


Task Six – Assemble and present business documents




Collect a range of financial data to construct a spreadsheet:

Read the incoming email (Computer).

Read and print out Your Task sheet (Intray).

Visit each director’s office and collect their financial data (Directors’ offices).

Visit the office manager, Kim Richards, for further advice and collect the figures for

administration section.

To familiarise yourself with using spreadsheets use a taxi voucher to visit the Training

Centre and review your spreadsheet skills.

Read and print the Budget Briefing (Intray).

Compile the collected budget information into correct categories and create it into a

spreadsheet.

Researching specifications and prices on computer hardware: Read the computer pricing document (Intray)

Research internet sites relating to computer hardware (Library computer).

Identify which units you will recommend and provide reasons.

Compile hardware recommendations, supporting detail and reasons for your selection.

Complete the IT Purchasing Recommendation using the provided template from the

company’s template area on your computer.


Task Seven - Assemble a New File




Prepare a new customer file:

Read the incoming email (Computer).

Read and print your Task Description (Intray).

Become familiar with the following office documents:

o Introduction to Filing (Intray)

o Filing Handbook (Copier/Filing Room)

o Filing System Index (Copier/Filing Room)

o File Register (Copier/Filing Room)

o Office Policies and Procedures Manual (Library)

o Securing Information (Library)

Visit Ivan Kruber for further instructions (Ivan Kruber’s office).

Prepare new file folder as per the expectation detailed in the Office Policies and Procedures Manual. You will need to check the Temperate Wholesaler’s Filing System Index for available numbers.

Visit Kim Richards (Kim Richard’s office).

Search for missing file – peruse the File Register for hints (Copier/Filing Room).

Identify and check missing file’s location.

Write a memo about information security:

Visit Maree Taylor to discuss information security (Maree Taylor’s Office).

Read the File Movement Manual (Intray) and conduct any other research necessary to address Kim Richard’s directive.

Open the memo template and write the memo, save it and send it to the Office Manager by email. The memo is to include:

o Key issues related to office information security (e.g. purpose, challenges, etc.)

o Ways in which a file’s movements can be tracked in an office situation

o Ways in which electronic data may be secured

o An overview of the current method used by this office

Mail, using Australia Post or other standard mail delivery service, the completed customer file.


Task Eight - Process incoming mail




Get to know Temperate Wholesalers’ policies and procedures relating to incoming mail:

Read incoming email from Kim (Intray).

Read and print Your Task description in the Intray (Main Office).

Read the ‘Receiving and Distributing Incoming Mail’ book (Intray).

Read the appropriate chapters of the ‘Collecting and Providing Information’ book

(Library).

Receive and process Letter 1: Read and print Letter 1 and the associated Task Description.

Visit Ivan Kruber to discuss prioritising and planning activities for Letter 1 (Ivan

Kruber’s Office).

Read the summary of prioritising and planning activities for Letter 1 (Ivan Kruber’s

Office).

Read the book Prioritising and Planning Activities (Library) for information on diary

management

Complete the activities related to Letter 1.


Visit Ivan Kruber to discuss prioritising and planning activities for Letter 2 (Ivan

Kruber’s Office).

Read the summary of prioritising and planning activities for Letter 2 (Ivan Kruber’s

Office).

Read or listen to Kim Richards discuss responding to requests for information (Kim

Richards’ Office).



Read the Equipment Maintenance book (Intray).

Visit the Library and look at useful Internet sites.




Research replacement office equipment: Research the replacement of selected office equipment as per Kim Richard’s

instructions.

Prepare a table of three alternative replacements recommended for each required

piece of equipment: photocopier, computer, printer and fax machine. Ensure you

comply to the level of expenditure set by Kim Richards. The table must show:

Name

Model

Features

Functions

Cost

Learn more about processing incoming mail: Complete the Process Incoming Mail and Mailing Operations Activities (Intray)

Access the Discussion Board to join a discussion on issues relating to the processing

of incoming mail.


Task Nine - Process outgoing mail




Plan your time and prepare for work: Read incoming e-mail (Computer).

Read and print Your Task (Intray).

Visit Kim Richards to discuss planning your time and using resources efficiently.

Open Task list and complete.

Read the book Receive and Dispatch Outgoing Mail (Library).

Complete the exercises in Receive and Dispatch Outgoing Mail (Library).

Process outgoing mail Item 1:

Read Item 1 – review linked spreadsheet (Intray).

Find correct postage costs – Internet (Library).

Complete spreadsheet – include formula.

Complete Outgoing Mail Register.


Read and complete Item 2 (Intray).

Address and save envelope.

Update Outgoing Mail Register.


Read the Using Mail Merge document (Intray).

Read Item 3 (Intray).

If you need assistance in your mail merge skills use a taxi voucher to visit the training centre.

Complete the mail merge.

Finalise Outgoing Mail Register.

Complete photocopying activity:

Read Using Office Equipment book (Library)


Read About Photocopying in an Office (Copy/Filing room)

Complete the template as instructed

Complete the Photocopying Exercises


Task Ten - Process inactive files




Get to know Temperate Wholesalers’ filing policies and procedures:

Read incoming e-mail (Computer).

Read and print Your Task (Intray).

Review the Filing Handbook (Filing/Photocopy Room).

Read File Movement Manual (Filing/Photocopy Room).

Process inactive files:

Create table for recording the intended movement for the files (Intray)..

Open each file and review the contents. Identify the file documents that may be destroyed and those that must be retained.

Respond to other related questions posed by the Office Manager.

Prepare a briefing paper using tables within a word processing application.

Explore the World of Business crossword puzzle test: Complete the crossword puzzle test (Intray)
