Friday 8 February 2013

NVQ Business Admin Optional Units

This has been created so if you are currently studying a NVQ in Business Admin or Receptionist work this will give you a rough idea as to how the questions should be laid out and their content. These are the optional units I chose, they include Handling Mail, Use of Telephone, Office Equiptment and Prepare Text from Notes. This Page contains Handle Mail and Prepare Text from Notes. Other Units will be uploaded when complete.
NB- Please do not exactly copy this work, make questions relevant to where you work and the procedures of your particular company. 

Unit 697- Handle Mail
This unit is about handling internal and external mail and packages within the service requirements of an organisation.

1-      Understand security procedures when handling mail or packages.

1.1  Explain the purpose of security procedures for handling mail or packages.
Mail may have confidential information. It may contain personal information about employees or contain business secrets such as names and other personal details of customers.
1.2  Give examples of security procedures for handling mail in organisation(s)
Referring to mail
·         Never open a suspicious item or package
·         If package sounds, smells or moves in a strange way keep away from all staff, note who came into contact with package, who delivered the package and if applicable where the package was found. Contact the emergency services if necessary.
Referring to e-mail
·         Create list of blocked addresses
·         Create filters for every suspicious sender address
·         Never click on a hyperlink within an e-mail, copy and paste into browser search.
·         Never download or forward suspicious attachments. Trust only mail from contact list but always be aware messages can become infected.

2-      Understand the range of available internal and external mail services

2.1 Explain the purpose of distributing and dispatching mail to correct recipient, within agreed timescales
Ensuring mail is sent to the correct recipient is important to both sender and receiver as important and sensitive information may be included. It is vital the document/information is sent within an agreed timescale as the receiver may require the content by a deadline. For example ‘payment terms of 30 days’ sending payment after this timescale may invoke legal action or a charge for late payment.
2.2 State the organisational structure and names, roles and locations of individuals and teams.

*Image was removed for privacy and confidentiality reasons*

2.3 Give examples of internal and external mail services available to organisations
·         Internal e-mail (between staff)
·         External e-mail (e-mails sent by staff to members outside the company)
·         Internal post deliveries (distributing mail within the organisation)
·         Royal Mail post
·         Royal Mail special deliveries, recorded, registered.
·         Private couriers (e.g. Parcel Force, TNT)
2.4 Give reasons for selecting internal and external mail services.
Both are a form of communication
Internal mail- contacting single or multiple staff within an organisation without charge.

*image of Internal mail collection procedure was removed for privacy and cofidentiality reasons*

External mail- mail coming or going to/from other organisations outside of company.

*image of External mail collection procedure was removed for privacy and confidentiality reasons*

2.5 Describe the methods of calculating postage charges for mail or packages.
Using a franking machine shows you on screen how much the package/mail item will cost to send, for a larger item or large parcel using a delivery service such as TNT or Parcel Force may be more appropriate. For example Royal Mail have an automated online service that allows you to find out how much a package would cost to send via there service TNT also provide a similar service. Post have to be sorted according to the urgency and importance as first class or second.  You need to know the postal charges for posts of different sizes but also charges for bulk mail. If we need to send am item and guarantee it will be delivered the next working day or same day or if a mail has to be sent on recorded delivery we have to look for postal charges and the time within which the mail has to be sent and send it accordingly.
2.6 Describe the types of problems that may occur with incoming and outgoing mail and how to deal with this.
Main problems that occur are delays, missing deliveries and suspicious mail. To avoid delays all mail is sent at correct time with correct postage on them. To avoid missing deliveries of important documents they can be delivered via recorded deliveries. Any suspicious mail get reported immediately   to a safety supervisor and kept in a safe area away from all staff.
Safety supervisors- Steve Wall, Matthew Wall, Jamie Barrett (whoever is available at time).

NB- Please do not exactly copy this work, make questions relevant to where you work and the procedures of your particular company. 
Unit 686- Prepare Text from Notes
This unit is about preparing different types of text from own notes and notes written by other people to meet agreed timescales.
1-      Understand preparing text from notes
1.1  Describe different types of documents that may be produced from notes and the formats to be followed.
Memo
The format will include “To... From... Ref... Date...” and then the relevant information being communicated.
Letter
Printed on company header paper, listing reference, date, name, address, subject, letter content, yours faithfully/yours sincerely, signature, name and job title, Enc (if applicable). Also if the letter is confidential this must be stated.
Report
Title, introduction, body of report, a conclusion, consistency of format is essential i.e. using the same paragraph spacing and font size/style throughout content of report.
Results
This may apply if you work in a medical environment. Accuracy is 100% essential for this type of document, a mis-spelt medical word or incorrect name can change the whole meaning of someone’s medical results and this could have major implications for the person and company. Therefore checking of this type of document requires extra care and normally is checked by another person before being distributed. 
Minutes
Will include the title of the meeting, the date it was held, the names of the people who attended and were absent i.e. apologise. The main issue discussed will be listed and what action needs to take place.
Agenda
Will include apologise for absence, minutes of previous meeting, matters arising, any other business, date and time of the next planned meeting.
Forms
Will be formatted in a way that is consistent with other in house documents. The purpose of the form will be taken into account, who the intended users will be. Creating forms may require several drafts before agreeing on a final copy.


1.2  Explain the difference between producing text from own notes and producing text from others notes.
Key differences:
a)      Handwriting styles vary between every person, reading notes in your own handwriting is always easiest and you may encounter problems reading and understanding someone else’s handwriting.
b)      Abbreviations- if notes have been passed down from a senior member of staff or from a member of staff who has worked at the company longer they may abbreviate words differently or be able to abbreviate more details than you may be aware of.
c)      Shorthand is using symbols to write text faster and more briefly than writing the term in full; problems can be very common if both users don’t understand shorthand and its meaning.
d)      Details and level of detail can vary considerably from person to person. Where one person may have a good memory for details and wouldn’t feel the need to make as many notes, another person with a poor memory for detail would make more notes to ensure they don’t miss any details that could end up being vital information. 
2-   Understand the purpose and benefits of following procedures when preparing text from notes.  
2.1 Explain the benefits of agreeing the purpose, format and deadline for preparing text from notes.
  The value & benefits of agreeing the purpose, format & deadline for texts is that everybody knows what they are doing & when it is due. It also avoids work having to be redone at the last minute if the format is agreed beforehand.
2.2 Explain the purpose of accuracy, including spelling, grammar and punctuation, when preparing text from notes. 
The main purpose in the correct use of grammar, punctuation and spelling is ensuring the receiver of the information reads it accurately. Additionally to this when given a task to do your employer expects you do it perfectly. When a document has inaccuracies, readers tend to distrust everything, including the statistics, opinions, and facts. This would be relayed back to your employer who would themselves lose confidence in your ability. For progression in your company you need to ensure you carry out all tasks are done to a certain standard.

2.3 Describe ways of checking finished documents for accuracy and correctness and the purpose of doing so.
You check for accuracy and correctness because it makes it easier for someone to understand you. When you use correct grammar, you make it easier for people to understand your ideas. Correct spelling helps people know what word you are using. You may know what word you meant with your misspelling, but a lot of other people will not. If people have no idea what you want, they will not be able to provide you with what you want. Fortunately, word processors have spell checkers. The first thing you do when you type anything into a computer is spell check it. Spell checkers are not totally accurate. You will need to add new words when you are sure you have spelled them correctly. When all of the words in a sentence are spelled correctly, use a grammar checker these are not always 100% accurate but if you have a poor skill with grammar this can help a lot. Then after you have written and checked each sentence, read the entire document aloud. See if it makes sense, you can also ask another colleague to proof read your work especially if it is an important document that you want to make sure is correct before showing to a senior member of staff. Having a proof reader can highlight problems as they are a fresh set of eyes that have not read the document prior.  
2.4 Explain the purpose of storing text and notes safely and securely and ways of doing so.
Any documentation of even minor importance should always be stored safely via, digital storage or physical storage E.g. filing cabinet as it may be required in the future for other projects, thus increasing its importance. Plus if it is of a confidential nature the record/s must be kept safe as not too breech the Data Protection act (DPA)
Files and records should be stored to comply with your companies/DPA regulations to ensure the safety of said documentation/data. The reason we storing text and notes is they may contain sensitive data i.e. personal details taken over the phone, or the text/notes may come in useful at a later date for examples Jane Doe took notes at her monthly work meeting these notes contained dates of training meetings, she stored these notes in her filling cabinet, due to technical difficulties the senior manager of her department lost the training dates Jane was able to help her manager out by providing him with the dates of the training meetings. 
2.5 Explain the purpose of confidentiality and data protection when preparing text from notes.
Any form of personal information held about a person within a company is protected under the Data Protection Act this means all data should be kept confidential and that ideally a maximum of 2 people will ever see it. When preparing text/a document from notes (in particular the notes from another member of staff) you may deal with these forms of sensitive data:
·         Full names
·         Contact details (including address and telephone numbers)
·         Account numbers and banking details
·         Credit card details
If any of these details became compromised the company and the person responsible for the leak of information will be held responsible and accountable for the security breech and can/will be prosecuted. Making sure as little people as possible see the notes you are given/using makes the chance of a security breech minimal, and proper storage or disposal of the notes is vital.
2.6 Explain the purpose and benefits of meeting deadlines.
Deadlines are put in place so everyone involved knows when they must have their section/piece of work completed by. By meeting a deadline it shows you can work effectively and within an agreed timescale and to a set standard. The benefits of meeting your deadline is that the project can run smoothly and you will be credited for your work being ready on time. If you fail to meet the deadline set and are part of a larger project your lateness can and will affect other members within the project and can cause problems within a team, also everyone will have a poor view on your work commitment and effectiveness within the team.

NB- Please do not exactly copy this work, make questions relevant to where you work and the procedures of your particular company. 


7 comments:

  1. Thank you very much for these guidelines. They have proved to be very useful.

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  2. They hanlde this nicely. It is a big duty also. In a company there must be a seperate section to handle this. http://qrl-it.com/

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  3. Very good tips. I can also recommend to use Ideals virtual data room for documents management within the company. This is very good for electronic documents.

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  4. just what I have been looking for..brilliant!

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