Office Practice

Author: Lu Yufang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-02-01
Features: The telephone is an indispensable communication tool in modern society. Secretaries often use the phone to contact and respond to relevant personnel within and outside the organization. In phone conversations, since the parties cannot meet (even with video calls, the image is not always satisfactory), there are many aspects that require special attention. Because, if phone handling is poor, not only will it provoke the blame of the other party, but it may also transfer the blame to the entire agency or enterprise, leaving a bad impression. Therefore, secretaries should master the correct and appropriate use methods. Using the phone should focus on three points: correctness, effectiveness, and politeness. Correctness refers to mastering the types of telephones and the types of telephone sets and using them correctly; effectiveness refers to not wasting time or phone charges, achieving the desired results in the minimum possible conversation time; politeness refers to respecting the person on the call, making the conversation pleasant, enhancing the effect, and promoting the development of interpersonal relationships.
1.1 Types of Telephones
According to the requirements of the call, there are confidential and ordinary telephones. Ordinary telephones cannot be used for secret matters. According to the distance of the call, there are internal, local, and long-distance telephones. Internal telephones refer to telephone systems installed within an organization or system, i.e., the "switchboard" and "extension lines" commonly referred to as "central office" and "extensions." The central office is connected to external lines, and extension lines can make calls through the central office. Local telephones refer to telephone networks that can make direct calls within a city area (including suburbs). Long-distance telephones refer to telephone communications across regions, which are further divided into domestic and international long-distance calls. According to the content of the call, there are general and dedicated telephones. General telephones refer to ordinary telephones without specialized functions. Dedicated telephones refer to a single user line that has only one specific and specialized purpose, such as 110 and 119, which can only be used for reporting criminal incidents and fire emergencies and cannot be used for other purposes. The personnel responsible for dedicated telephones cannot be reassigned. Secretaries may encounter the following types of dedicated telephones:
(1) Mayor (or Provincial, District, County Mayor) telephone. This is a dedicated telephone set up by government agencies to listen to public opinions and strengthen connections with the public, mostly handled and processed by secretaries.
(2) Complaint telephone. This is a dedicated telephone set up to strengthen integrity, combat corruption, and address evil behavior.
(3) Supervision telephone. This is a dedicated telephone set up to correct the working style of administrative agencies and various industries, based on the principles of fairness, impartiality, and openness.
(4) Complaint telephone. This is a dedicated telephone for receiving and handling urgent issues that the public needs to resolve. For example, it receives opinions on public utilities (water, electricity, gas, public transportation) and other product quality issues, playing a significant social role.
1.2 Types of Telephone Sets
(1) Hands-free. A telephone set that allows direct dialing and conversation without lifting the receiver. Secretaries can free their hands to take notes or find information, or it can be used for small conference calls.
(2) Cordless. Composed of a base unit and a mobile unit, the two are wirelessly connected within a certain distance. If the environment is not suitable for conversation, the mobile unit can be separated from the base unit to make or receive calls elsewhere. When the boss is not present, secretaries can take the mobile unit to the boss for a call.
(3) Recording. Can automatically record the owner's messages for the other party and record the caller's information and both parties' conversations.
(4) Multi-functional. Combines features such as hands-free, recording, storing phone numbers, speed dialing, redialing, continuous redialing, clock, call timer, and calculator.
(5) Coin-operated. An unmanned public telephone set up in public places that requires inserting coins to make calls. The call time is limited, and coins must be inserted promptly to prevent the call from being automatically disconnected.
(6) Card-operated. A telephone set that requires inserting a magnetic card to make calls, similar to a coin-operated public telephone. First, a telephone magnetic card must be purchased, which is marked with a price. The telephone automatically calculates and quotes the cost during the call.
(7) Video. Also known as video phone, consisting of a telephone set, a television camera, and a television receiver. It transmits both sound and images. The parties can hear the sound, see the faces, and even transmit documents, pictures, and other dynamic images.
(8) Mobile. Also known as a mobile phone, some are designed with hands-free capabilities, using advanced microcomputer and pure sound technology. It can store tens of thousands of passwords. It has caller ID and real-time display functions; the appearance is elegant and lightweight, weighing only a few dozen grams, with a good feel and easy to use. Some mobile phones also have the following functions: missed call records, last call and incoming call time records, call forwarding, call hold, and call waiting, number selection functions; can transfer data with computers equipped with infrared functions; can accommodate up to six phone sets in a conference call, providing convenience for mobile office work; voice dialing and short message chat functions, writing and receiving short messages with hundreds of Chinese characters, and sending pictures with the messages, allowing better communication with friends, colleagues, and family, staying connected anytime, anywhere; reminder function, using alarm sounds to remind of important matters, effectively utilizing SIM card storage space, with a maximum of hundreds of phone numbers; can query news, traffic, stock information through the phone, and provide banking services such as checking account balances, bank transfers, and electronic payments; after setting the alarm, it can still work normally even when the phone is turned off; vibration and game functions, built-in vibration function allows receiving reminders even in noisy places; infrared devices are built into the phone, allowing wireless connection with fax machines, computers, and other devices without wires.
In most enterprises and institutions, secretaries are direct employees of a specific boss, with work characteristics that are clearly different from other employees, serving only their direct boss. Secretaries have specific functions and need to handle various trivial matters around their direct boss with flexibility. People with authority and especially busy ones often have someone to handle their trivial matters. This type of work is not new and has existed since ancient times. Modern business leaders established the position of secretary to reduce their workload. In Europe and America, after the Industrial Revolution, many authoritative business leaders emerged, and the services they needed were not just someone who knew shorthand and typing but also someone who could handle various appointments, schedules, and all kinds of trivial matters around their boss. From then on, the nature of the secretary's work was established. In Japan, long ago, there were secretaries who took over some of the work of business leaders or provided various services for trivial matters around their bosses. Later, the modern secretaries commonly seen today gradually formed. From the process of establishing the role of secretaries or clerks, it is clear that the business of secretaries is clearly subordinate in nature, especially caring for trivial matters, which is a very ordinary job, and its work performance is not obvious. However, this work not only allows the boss to focus on their work and save time but also reduces the boss's mental burden, enabling the boss in a managerial position to complete their work efficiently. This chapter focuses on the auxiliary business of "caring for trivial matters" as the main topic of discussion.
2. Preparation for Caring for Trivial Matters
2.1 Psychological Preparation for Caring for Trivial Matters
As mentioned above, secretaries are directly responsible to a specific boss, and their business is more subordinate than other employees. Sometimes, this strong subordination makes some who have worked as secretaries for a short time deeply dissatisfied with their boss, even showing this emotion, all of which is due to a lack of understanding of subordination. Subordination includes subordination in work and complementarity in knowledge and ability. This relationship is the foundation of the boss's trust in secretaries. Secretaries, with their knowledge and ability, can effectively assist their boss. Only with such an understanding can secretaries develop a sense of initiative and responsibility for their work. Among various jobs, caring for trivial matters has more opportunities to experience subordination. Official seals are generally used by designated secretaries for unified use, and other seals should also be used by specific personnel, achieving systematization and standardization. The principle for using unit seals is that the level of the seal used must be approved by the corresponding level of the person in charge, with signature verification, and detailed records of the document name, number, date, signatory, recipient, and seal user. For example, to use a departmental seal, the seal clerk must rely on the signature of the department leader's approval to use the seal and the approved number of copies, affix the seal, and complete the seal use registration procedures. For general daily affairs, such as affixing a seal on an introduction letter, the unit leader can entrust the secretary in charge of the seal to handle it specifically. Sealing must be done with even pressure to ensure the seal is upright, complete, not slanted or upside down. Seals must be kept clean, with even ink, ensuring clear and prominent characters. All official documents, letters, and other documents issued in the name of the unit must be affixed with unit seals to be valid. Using different seals or affixing them in different positions has different meanings and functions. The common ones are as follows:
(1) Signature Seal. Affixed to the author's signature on the document to indicate the author's legal status and the validity of the document. All documents should be affixed with a signature seal. Without a seal, organizations such as working groups and investigation teams can borrow seals. For example, the Flood Control Command established within the Water Conservancy Bureau can borrow the seal of the Water Conservancy Bureau. The position for affixing the signature seal is according to regulations to "ride the year and cover the month" between the year and month in the signature. The page where the seal is affixed is preferably one with text. If the text is already completed on the previous page, the seal must be affixed alone on a new page, and "No Text on This Page" must be written between 1–4 lines on that page to prevent malicious individuals from adding harmful text to blank pages, causing losses to the unit.
(2) Correction Seal. For mistakes such as misspelled words, omissions, redundancies, or inverted words in documents, a correction seal can be affixed after correction to serve as legal proof of self-correction by the author.
(3) Witness Seal. Used to affix a seal to documents that appear to be from someone else's name for certification. For example, when two units sign a contract, both parties' superior authorities should affix a witness seal. Extracts of archives must be witnessed by the archive management department; witness materials must be witnessed by the witness's employer; personal postal transfers may also require the recipient's employer to affix a witness seal if needed.
(4) Through Seal. For official letters and introduction letters with a return slip, the seal must also be affixed to the connecting line between the main document and the return slip. Introduction letters must be affixed with a seal on the connecting line between the letter and the return slip for verification when necessary.
(5) Edge Seal. Important case investigations, witness materials, and discussion records are often written by the investigator. To complete the procedures, in addition to the author's signature seal and the witness seal from the employer, the multiple pages of the same document must be aligned along the edges and evenly spaced. From the first to the last page, a complete official seal must be affixed to each page edge to prove that the document's pages were formed simultaneously and to prevent tampering later.
(6) Seal of Seal. Affixed to the seal on the of official documents and other important file covers to ensure that the documents are not tampered with during transmission.
(7) Seal of Seal. Affixed to seals on seals to store accounts, property, and file cabinets, warehouses, etc., often used before holidays or in special circumstances.