Learn the principles of providing administrative services and creating business documents with this free online course.

What are business documents? These are documents that provide details related to a company's transactions. They can be business records and plans, reports, correspondence, documentation of agreements, financial and customer data or even official emails and memorandums. For a business to operate efficiently, it must have a well-structured documentation system, which is indispensable for its daily operations. With such systems, companies can store information and documents and retrieve them when needed to optimise their operations. This course will teach you how to create, store, and distribute various business documents, manage information and ensure data protection. In addition, you will learn about essential administrative skills that help an organisation run efficiently.

First, we'll introduce you to the principles of administrative services and their role in the smooth running of offices. You'll learn the characteristics of formal, informal and annual general meetings (AGM), who the attendees are, and who can call for such discussions. You'll explore how to plan and organise both formal and informal face–to–face or online meetings, including the tricks to maximise meeting attendees and write and review meeting minutes. In an organisation, different types of office equipment contribute to day-to-day tasks. We'll explain the uses of various office equipment and the factors to consider when selecting equipment to complete any particular job. After that, you'll learn how to prepare business documents following your company's format and the different software you can use. We'll show you how writing a report differs from writing letters, invoices, emails and meeting minutes.

Information security is a significant concern within businesses. You'll learn about different types of information, document-filling methods and the legal requirements stated in the Data Protection Act (2018, UK). We'll apprise you of the various techniques employed in distributing business documents, how to deal with incoming and outgoing mail and the impact poor customer service can have on any business. Lastly, we'll show you how to develop Standard operating procedures (SOPs) and SMART Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Whether you want to brush up on your skills or pick up some new ones, this course will help you work as a business administrator in any organisation. It will enable you to further your professional development and improve your career prospects in the business world. So why wait? Take the course today.