PowerPoint to accompany Chapter 3 Perform office procedures.

PowerPoint to accompany

Chapter 3

Perform office procedures

Vivienne O’Shannessy: Front Office Skills © 2009 Pearson Education Australia

Learning Outcomes

– Process a range of office documents.

– Draft written communication.

– Maintain correct storage and filing systems.


What are clerical and administrative tasks?

– Those parts of the job that require us to process a range of office documents and maintain document filing systems.


Documents used in the back office

– Reservation slips/ amendment forms/cancellation forms.

– Group reservation forms.

– Guest profiles.

– Telephone message pads.


Documents used in the back office

– Operational reports.

– Policies and procedures.

– Guest correspondence.

– Memorandums.

– Agendas and minutes.

– Guest registration forms.


Documents used in the front office

– Guest accounts, guest profiles, guest request sheets.

– Source documents.

– Front office diary and daily running sheets.

– Wake up call sheets.




Documents used in the front office

– Agendas and minutes.– Guest correspondence.– Memorandums.– Vouchers.– Telephone message pads.


Documents used by concierge

– Guest request sheets.

– Wake up call sheets.

– Luggage storage sheets.

– Car key reports.



Documents used by concierge


– Agendas and minutes.

– Memorandums.

– Telephone message pads and guest mail.


Documents used by Housekeeping

– Room status reports.

– Lost and found records.

– Room allocation sheets.



Documents used by Housekeeping

– Agenda and minutes.

– Memorandums.


– Guest request sheets.


Internal use documents

– Internal use documents are those documents used only within the venue. E.g.– Memo’s – Operational reports– Reservation slips– Registration forms– Guest request slips– Minutes and agendas.


External Use documents

– External use documents are those documents that are coming into or being sent out of the venue. E.g.– Guest correspondence– Confirmation slips– Vouchers.


Office equipment used in accommodation venues– A range of office equipment is required to

help us do our job, including:– Switch board– Facsimile machine– Photocopier– Computers– Printers– Filing cabinets– Paging system– Sundry stationery items.


Use equipment safely

– Equipment can represent safety hazards. We are responsible for using equipment safely.

– If equipment represents a safety hazard beyond our control, report it to a supervisor.

– Don’t use equipment that may cause you or others harm.


Manage malfunctions

– Anything that can go wrong with equipment is likely to at some stage of the equipments useful life. If the equipment does malfunction:– Stop using it– Place an ‘out of order’ sign on it– Report the problem.


What is meant by ‘process documents’?– To process a document means we may

need to:– Create– Collate– Modify– Save– Store– Bind– Retrieve and/or– Distribute each document we handle.


What is correspondence?

– Correspondence refers to any written communication between the venue and external entities.

– It may also be written communication between the venue and employees (letters of appointment, newsletters, etc.).


Letterhead

– Business correspondence is usually written on business letterhead.

– Letterhead is pre-printed stationery with the company’s name, logo and address details.


Business letter layout

– There is general uniformity in the way in which business letters are formatted (on the page).


Business letter layout


What is a standard letter?

– A a pre-formatted letter that contains essentially the same information.

– To personalise a standard letter, we add the addressees personal details, the date and any information specific to the addressee.


What is a template?

– A blueprint for text, graphics or letter layout, or a combination of all three.

– Templates are frequently used for standard letter creation and letters that contain essentially the same elements.


What is mail merge and when is it used?

– Mail merge is a word processing function that allows us to merge several guests personal details (from a database) with a standard letter.

– The guests personal details are first stored in a database in a standardised manner.


Writing memorandums

– Memorandums, or memos, are written when we need to communicate the same information to several people, usually at once.


Writing memorandums

– Memo’s are usually written following a standard layout, from a template and include:– Name of the person or people the memo

is for– Who the memo is from– Date– The memo subject – Body of the memo.


Writing Reports

– Reports are written to explain an incident or event (that is unusual).

– Some reports have standardised proforma’s.

– Other reports need to be generated on a needs basis.


Writing faxes

– Facsimiles, or faxes, are usually written in a standardised way, on company letterhead and from a template. They usually contain:– Name of the person or company receiving the

fax (or both)– Fax number of the company receiving the fax– Date– Number of pages being faxed– Name of person sending the fax– Body of the fax.


Writing guest messages

– Apart from telephone messages, which are usually hand-written, guest messages are usually typed, following a standard format, on business letterhead and from a template.


Rules of good writing

– Because we need to regularly write documents, it is useful to be able to do so, quickly, efficiently and in a style appropriate to the venue.



– Therefore when writing:– Keep it simple and use simple words– Avoid jargon or slang– Keep the tone appropriate to the

expected outcome.



– Be accurate and clear (logical)– Check spelling and grammar– Check sentence structure– Proofread the document.


Proofreading documents

– Proofreading means reading a document – looking for errors and correcting them.

– It is considered unprofessional to send correspondence with spelling and grammatical errors.


What is filing?

– Filing is the process of arranging and storing documents according to a particular classification.


Active or inactive document

– Documents are filed according to their current status – active or inactive:

– An active document is one that is in current use.

– An inactive document is one that is not in current use.


Filing methods

– To facilitate filing (and retrieval) of documents, there are a number of methods filing used:– Alphabetically– Numerically– Geographically– By subject– Chronologically.


Alphabetical filing

– Documents are filed according to the first and subsequent letter of the receivers or senders name, or according to type of document. E.g.– Smith, Mr– Policies– Memo’s.


Numerical filing

– These documents are filed according to a number or other numerical identifier. E.g.– Room number– Invoice number– Employee number.


Geographical filing

– These documents are filed according to region or location or other geographical identifier. E.g.– By country– State– Town– Region.


Subject filing

– These documents are filed according to their subject matter. E.g.– Enquiries– Rates– Menus– Complaints– Capital purchases– Training.


Chronological Filing

– These documents are filed according to date or time order. E.g.– Arrival date– Time of event.


Why prepare files before filing?

– Before filing any (manual) documents it is useful to first prepare them so that:– All relevant documents are filed together– The quality of the paperwork is

maintained– Files are cross-referenced when needed– Files are coded when needed– Files are correctly sorted to assist the

filing process.


What is electronic filing?

– Electronic filing refers to the filing of documents electronically. That is, on a computer and/or computer disk. The advantages of electronic filing are:– Reduced filing space– Reduced filing time– Easy access and document modification– Document changes readily traced.


What is record maintenance?

– Record maintenance refers to upkeep and updating of files. This may be necessary when:– A guests personal details change– A guest departs the venue (update the

guest profile)– When a guest changes reservation

details.


What is record utilisation and transmission?

– Record utilisation is the removal of a document from a file to enable use of that document (e.g. may need to change details in a file).

– Record transmission refers to the movement of a document from one location to another (usually for use and then returned).


What is archiving?

– Archiving is the practice of removing an active file from every day use and storing it in another location.

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