Before studying the characteristics of office administration, the following are some characteristics of administration that need to be understood.
There is a group of people
Why does administration need a group of people? Can’t we do our own work, for example, make a letter. This can be done in a short time. However, is it true that it can be completed without the need for the presence of others? The letter that is made is included in office work. However, the letter is only a tool to achieve the expected goal. The most important thing is what the purpose of the letter is. Of course, the contents of the letter are not intended for oneself, but as a communication medium to convey information to other parties. That is, we do need other people to run the administration.
The existence of other people in administration is needed, we can understand by looking back at the history of administration. In the past, the existence of a measuring instrument in the form of money arises because there are two or more people who need each other, so they barter with each other (exchange goods) to get what they need. Over time, this behavior gave rise to the idea of money as a medium of exchange. Another example is the recording of sales transactions in a restaurant. This arises because there are two or more people who need each other.
There is cooperation
Cooperation is a series of actions that are carried out together regularly by more than one person which causes consequences that would not occur if done alone. So, administrative activities are only possible if two or more people work together. According to Gibson (1983), formal and informal cooperative groups are formed because of the satisfaction of needs, proximity and attraction, group goals, and economic reasons.
An example is a group of people who work together to play football. The main goal of playing football is to score goals. Without goals, a team cannot win. Therefore, a group of people in the football team cooperate with each other to score goals. Without cooperation, it is impossible to score goals.
Even in doing office work, there must be cooperation. If one of the parties does not cooperate, the expected goals will not be achieved. For example, if in the office there is no good cooperation between leaders and subordinates, what will happen? Surely nothing will be done. Leaders will be angry, subordinates will also be upset because they are scolded by the leader. So, what emerges is not cooperation, but conflict.
There is a continuous process/business
Administrative elements include organization, management, communication, finance, supplies, personnel, and others. These elements are interrelated with each other, even often all of them are carried out simultaneously. The order of execution and the importance of an element may vary, depending on the person and the nature of the collaboration. The emphasized role of an element can be different in a collaboration. If this circuit rotates, it means that an activity is in progress.
For example, the recording of salary payments, which is a financial sector, is of course based on the employee’s attendance record. In one month who is absent, who is sick, and so on. This will certainly affect the process of recording financial calculations.
There is a division of labor
Previously it has been exemplified that cooperation is needed in a football team. In football, many goals are created because of the division of roles in the team. There are those who act as goalkeepers, defenders, and attackers. They score goals hand in hand, no one plays alone. If the opponent is attacking, all will defend the territory so as not to be defeated by the opponent. Conversely, if there are friends who come forward, defenders also often come forward to encourage their friends to score goals. Imagine if everyone wanted to be the attacker, who would take care of the defense? Of course it will be very heavy. However, what happens when one of them scores a goal? They will surely rejoice and hug each other to celebrate the success of their collaboration.
This also applies to office administration. Between one employee and another have different roles and must support each other. Employees who master computers will work a lot in the computer field, such as the data section. Meanwhile, employees who master the financial sector will take care of the financial sector. The division of different roles will synergize with each other to support and complement each other so that the deficiencies in each individual will be covered by other individuals.