The Office Story

W.J.Pais Food for Thought - Economics
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The Office

The office is a place from where you write to those needed to be contacted.  If this is not organized one is likely to face problems in managing its commitments and obligations

I began as a beginner in 1960 without  any one to guide me, but I felt that Mr. Abu Issa and I needed to work to make his business a success, that was my idea of duty.   It was 6 years after he had started, my friend who was working part time for him requested him, to send me an N.O.C. to come to work for him in Qatar.  I have always felt that this was a call, planned by God for me.  So it was my duty to do my best for him

When I entered the office space, it had a dual purpose, storage of goods and working area for clerical work.  I did not  have any hassels about it and I did not pass any judgement, but my goal was to give him all the information he needed in the shortest time, so I had to plan how to keep it within reach  and to be able to find it  in the shortest possible time.  All this came from my creative mind..

In the office was an Olivetti typewriter, and 3 flat files, but when I left for Dubai at the end of 1971 it was a full fledged office, and in 1984 they told us, that they have a nice office system, and showed me, what they are using.  I was surprised, they had not felt any need to improve upon it  and showed me what they use, and it was the same thing I had made  from 1960  -  1971  -  the pity is no one had noticed it as to how this Office System came about it.

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Clerical Office Work

It consists of

1.    Correpondence
2.    Orders Maintenance
3.    Consignments Maintnance
4.    Insurance Claims.

Filing System:

Box Files,  

According to Geographic Zones of  Suppliers

File Cabinet for Flat Files, for important Suppliers.
                                          for insurance Claims.

Equipment

Electric Type Writer / Computer.

Now correspondence can be sent by email

Copyig machine

Communication Equipment:

Telex
Fax

Registers

Mail Register, columnar, with columns showing date, referece, sender, reply date, any folow up.

There were two:  Incoming Mail;  Outgoing Mail
Consignment Register, monitory the execution and status of Orders.

Insurance  Claims Register  tracking the progress  of the Claim.

All this after 25 years, of growth.  

So, do not think, all this is necessary at the start.  As your worth and cash balance grows, that you should spend for this provided you have someone dedicated and loyal.

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We added a whole sale department, and used a warehouse, and then made the inventory control, and I designed a coding
system, which was dropped when the EDP departmet was separated, and the Manager used the module supplied by the Computer software people.

On the clerical side, I had designed a format for controlling incoming goods.  This becomes a supporting document for computer entry.  

In the same way a Delivery note was the support document for the movement out of the warehouse.

Whole Sale department

Staff was employed and things worked smoothly, and I was transferred to Dubai where I used the knowledge I had gained from a B. I. E. T. course, which I had paid for in 1962  but I did not realize it will be of any value to the people I was working for.  But my wife told me, that  I had paid for it and to complete it, and I remembered  the  Parable of the Talents Jesus had told, and felt this was a message from him, and I bought  a Hermes typewriter and completed the whole course in one year and got my diploma.  In 1971 end, I realized why by doing it I had created better days for my family.  

At this time my boss was thinking of selling off  his Dubai shop as it used to earn only 300 dhirams a  day but his brothers knew what I knew and told him to send me.  In the plane I asked him, if he could trust me.  He said yes.   I worked in Dubai for 13 years, and since the economic situation there was going down, high paid staff had to leave, but they decided to give me gratuity, in consideration of what  I had done for their father who had died of heart attack, in Tokyo Japan.   

I left with my family to Bombay in 1985 May and began to devote my time for  my  church, playing the organ for the youth choir, composing music for the Church,  and  other activities all of which I had to stop when I got  a stroke in 2000.  After that in 2005 had a heart attack but I worked incessantly on my computer building this website, and this work I am doing because I firmly believe that all good things we have received should be shared with the hope some other person  willing to give it try, may succeed.,

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My boss employed an accountant and so our Accounting Office was started with an assistant, and a bill collection department to collect  dues from  creditors.
 

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