1. Administrative Theory and Practice
The positive and negative impact of ICT

2. 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

3. 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

4. Improves morale and motivation therefore helps productivity
IMPACT OF ERGONOMICS
Impact of ergonomic environment on organisation and individual
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

5. Many organisations now design their workplaces to suit both
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

6. Types of Layout
Cellular Office
Open Plan Office

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. Impact of ICT on WORKFLOW …
Reduces the need for staff to move around – video-conferencing/online conversations
Faster communication – , fax, mobile technology, wifi
No need for staff to work in close proximity
Less likelihood of documents going missing as they are saved in shared area and backed up
Reduced costs (paper, phone calls, travel/accommodation costs

14. Working practices
ICT has allowed the development of the following working practices
audio and visual communication
video/audio conferencing
on-line conferencing
webcams/
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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. Working Practices -Video conferencing
Advantages
Disadvantages
Face to face communication
Difficult to chair
Gauge reactions
May perform badly in front of cameras
Travel and accommodation costs reduced
Technical problems may occur
Time saved
Can be recorded and played back

19. Communication Methods
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
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

20. 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

24. Hardware/ peripherals
Computer
Rolling update programme
Storage devices
Floppy discs, magnetic tape, CD rom, zip, memory sticks
Input devices
Keyboard, mouse microphone, scanner, touch screen, MICR, optical mark recognition, hand held devices, webcam,
Output devices
Monitor, printer, speakers
Peripherals
Projectors, cameras, scanners

25. Software Application Examples Features Types of tasks Word Processing
Word Perfect
Editing
Headers/footers
Letters, memos, reports
Database
Access
Records, search, query
Records of staff, suppliers
Spreadsheet
Excel
Lotus 1-2-3
Formulae, graphs
Budgets, financial reports
Desktop publishing
PageMaker
Publisher
Formatting, columns, pages
High quality documents
Presentation software
Powerpoint
Special effects
Timings

26. 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:

27. File Management File Location File Names Routine Maintenance
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

28. 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)

29. 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