Administrative Theory and Practice

The positive and negative impact of ICT

This unit covers

The impact of ICT on:•Office layout and ergonomics•Employee morale and wellbeing•Working practices

– Homeworking– Teleworking– Collaborative projects

•Communication methods•Data handling

– Software applications– Networks– File management

What is office Ergonomics?

This is where account has to be taken of the office environment and how it suits and impacts on the individual

• Furniture – adjustable chairs/desks to suit requirements – importance of design for use with IT equipment

• Wall colours – relaxing• Lighting – non-glare – sufficient for use IT equipment• Ventilation – good circulation, not noisy – important in

areas with lots of IT equipment• Noise – glazing, wall and floor coverings• Workstations – privacy, appropriate size• Protective equipment – anti-glare screens, wrist rests

IMPACT OF ERGONOMICS

• Improves morale and motivation therefore helps productivity

• Ensures effective flow of work• Promotes health and safety at work• Gives a positive image for the organisation• Can be cost effective as a result of the above

Impact of ergonomic environment on organisation and individual

Google Headquarters

Food for all – free!

Time to relax

Get around quickly

The Library

Informal Meetings

Double screens – whiteboards

everywhere to note ideas

Privacy area

Coffee while your computer is

repaired

Relax again

Massage boothsClick for video

OFFICE LAYOUT

Office Layout

Many organisations now design their workplaces to suit both

• Workflow (collection, processing and transmission of information; movement of people and paper around the office)

• Needs of employees– Place associated workers together– Don’t have unnecessary physical barriers– Site equipment centrally

Types of Layout

Cellular Office Open Plan Office

Cellular Office - Advantages

• Allows privacy - the door can be closed to allow private meetings and telephone calls

• Gives status – often the manager is allocated a cellular office whereas other staff will work in a shared area

• Quiet to concentrate – the door can be closed to remove distractions from conversations, noisy machinery etc

• Heating and lighting can be regulated to suit the person using the room

• Can personalise surroundings – the occupier can decide colour scheme and can display personal certificates, photographs etc

Cellular layout - Disadvantages

• Wastes space – requires walls and corridors• Resources cannot be shared – eg printers,

copiers may be required for every office• Feeling of isolation – no one close to hand to

consult if help is required

Open Plan - Advantages

• Less wasted space as no walls/doors required therefore saving in cost particularly in city centre

• Easy to supervise staff

• Can suit workflow/team working

• Shared resources – networks allow equipment such as printers/copiers/scanners to be shared therefore saving money and allowing the organisation to invest in more advanced items

• Organisation can introduce hot-desking where staff can book access to a desk when they are on the premises – this saves space as there is no need to provide a desk for each employee

• Social layout – can improve staff morale

Open Plan - Disadvantages

• Can be noisy with many distractions, eg conversations, machinery etc

• Lacks privacy (carrels may be necessary)• No status of own office• Difficult to regulate heat to suit everyone and to

decide on layout/colours which everyone agrees on

Impact of IT on Office Layout

• In open-plan, sharing equipment is possible, eg networked printers or copiers.

• Hot-desking – employees don’t “own” a desk. Files can be accessed from any computer.

• Office must designed with power sources in the correct position so that there are no trailing cables which would be a health and safety issue

• Certain employees with status can be allocated individual pieces of equipment in their own office – allowing necessary privacy. This can be expensive for the organisation.

• In this situation, desks must be provided which are a sufficient size to hold all equipment and also allow space to work.

• Technology can also allow workers the advantage of better conditions eg regulation of heating to suit individuals.

IMPACT OF IT ON

EMPLOYEE MORALE/MOTIVATION

AND

WORKFLOW

Positive Impact of IT on Morale and

Wellbeing• Improves productivity giving the employee a more

positive attitude to their work• Ensures effective flow of work ensuring that there are

fewer delays and less frustration with colleagues• Promotes health and safety at work – employers must

be proactive in ensuring Health and Safety legislation is adhered to.

• More flexible working practices will enable employees to enjoy a better work/life balance

• Employees more likely to remain with an organisation which offers working practices to suit lifestyle

Negative Impact of IT on Morale and

Wellbeing

• Stress – staff may become stressed if required to use new technology which they lack confidence in using.

• Workplace stress can lead to long term absence among staff which has a negative impact on both the employee and the organisation

Workflow

Workflow is the collecting, processing and transmitting of information.

Developments in ICT have greatly improved workflow due to

• accessing and gathering shared information

• transmitting information electronically• communication around a network

Postitive Impact of ICT on WORKFLOW

…• Reduces the need for staff to move

around – video-conferencing/online conversations

• Faster communication – e-mail, fax, mobile technology, wifi

• No need for staff to work in close proximity – contact can be made using electronic methods

• Less likelihood of documents going missing as they are saved in shared area and backed up

• Reduced costs for the organisation (paper, phone calls, travel/accommodation costs

• Output can be distributed at any time of the day and recipients can access information sent to them when it suits them – this can be particularly useful when working across time zones.

• Files can be accessed by several members of staff at the same time – less time is wasted as staff do not have to wait for another member of staff to finish with a file before they can use it

• Data can be held centrally so that staff can access and process to suit their requirements. Ensures staff are all working on the same data.

Negative Impact of ICT on WORKFLOW

…

• Installing a network, maintaining it and employing staff to deal with technical issues can be very expensive

• Use of the system can require a high degree of training eg in the use of the network and the software which is used

• Problems with the network can lead to delays in handling work eg technical faults such as the internet not working means that online conferencing may not be possible.

IMPACAT OF IT ON WORKING PRACTICES

Working practices

ICT has allowed the development of the following working practices

audio and visual communicationvideo/audio conferencing

on-line conferencingwebcams/

internet meetings

no-one “owns” a desk – home or teleworkers can book a desk if required at certain times

hot-desking

Employees carry out their job from home

Where employees carry out their job away from the office and use ICT to keep in touch

homeworking

teleworking

Homeworking & Teleworking

Advantages Disadvantages

Allows for better work/life balance – increases morale

Staff may feel isolated from colleagues

Reduction in travel therefore stress and possible costs

Difficult to maintain self-discipline – distractions

Organisations can save money – less office space required

Difficult to ensure staff comply with Health and Safety requirements

Allows employees to retain valued employees who may otherwise have to leave

Difficult to supervise staff who are working away from the organisation

Collaborative Projects

Advantages Disadvantages

Meetings can take place around the world without having to travel – saves time and money

Some people feel awkward in front of a camera and prefer face to face

Using video conferencing or internet cameras is personal and body language can be interpreted

Faults in the system can cause delays in connection and possible postponement of the meeting

Allows for demonstrations to be given or files to be shown or shared with colleagues in distant locations

Impact of ICT on WORKING PRACTICES

…

• No need to physically move people and paper so reduced requirement to layout offices with layout in mind

• Related staff and departments no longer need to work in close proximity

• Hot-desking – no one owns desk• Increase in number of staff tele- or home-

working• Remote meetings much more cost effective

way of conducting business than traditional meetings

Working Practices -Video conferencing

Can be recorded and played back

Time saved

Technical problems may occur

Travel and accommodation costs reduced

May perform badly in front of cameras

Gauge reactions

Difficult to chairFace to face communication

DisadvantagesAdvantages

• Prepare a powerpoint which will be shown to a group of employers informing them of different types of working practices

• Include in your powerpointDifferent slide layouts Graphics Bullets/numbers

Table Consistent transitions Background

Name, date and slide number in the footer except page 1

Action buttons Slide master

THE IMPACT OF IT ON

COMMUNICATION METHODS AND DATA HANDLING

CommunicationMethods

Video conferencing

employees no longer need to travel in order to attend meetings or collaborate with customers and colleagues. Meetings can be held on line thus saving the time and cost involved in travelling to the meeting venue

Mobile phones

The use of mobile phones allows administrators to keen in contact with members of staff working out of the office, even working abroad. There are other business uses such as taking and sending photographs, text messaging to multiple contacts, internet access etc

E-mail E-mail allows almost instant, written communication, worldwide. Other benefits include being able to create contacts lists and send the same message to multiple contacts; also the ability to attach files to the message

Intranet Developments in IT have meant that employees can create documents and save them on the intranet. This saves space on the network as duplicate files are not saved by different members of staff.

Internet Information about the organisation can upload to allow information to be easily shared

Wikis Collection of articles on the internet that can be added to and edited

Blogs Online diary where thoughts and opinions can be shared

LANs and WANs

• LAN – Local Area Network• WAN – Wide Area Network

Benefits:– Share software– Share equipment– Share files– Communicate– Backups easily made– Access to files from any computer

Hardware/peripherals

Projectors, cameras, scannersPeripherals

Monitor, printer, speakersOutput devices

Keyboard, mouse microphone, scanner, touch screen, MICR, optical mark recognition, hand held devices, webcam,

Input devices

Floppy discs, magnetic tape, CD rom, zip, memory sticks

Storage devices

Rolling update programmeComputer

Software

Special effects

Timings

PowerpointPresentation software

High quality documents

Formatting, columns, pages

PageMaker

Publisher

Desktop publishing

Budgets, financial reports

Formulae, graphs

Excel

Lotus 1-2-3

Spreadsheet

Records of staff, suppliers

Records, search, query

AccessDatabase

Letters, memos, reports

Editing

Headers/footers

Word

Word Perfect

Word Processing

Types of tasks

FeaturesExamplesApplication

File Management

• File Management is the organisationof computer files. Organisations will put their own procedures in place to ensure that files are stored properly.

• Procedures should cover:

File Management

File Location Information should be given on where files should be stored, eg on the server

File Names Should be stored in named folders with appropriate file names that will make it easy to find again

Routine Maintenance

Information should be provided to staff about deleting unnecessary files as storage space may be needed

Back-up Procedures

Copies should be made on a regular basis and staff should know the procedure for this. Some servers back-up on an automatic basis

Consequences of Poor File

Management

• Time wasted looking for files or recreating files– leading to stress

• Customer relations could deteriorate – may complain if info cannot be found

• System slows down if the server holds too many files• Wrong decisions could be made if out-of-date info is

used• Legal implications under the Data Protection Act - if data

has not been handled properly (eg out of date or incorrect personal data being held)

Now you have to:

• List as many different uses of the LAN as you can think of within Oban High School

• Think of as many examples as you can of ICT being used to improve communication within Oban High School

• Describe in detail an example of information being collected, processed and transmitted electronically in Oban High School