An office is meant to serve the following objectives:
To provide support to management
The managers of any organisation carry on the process of management by taking decisions regarding planning, organising and controlling the organisation. For taking correct and prompt decisions, managers need various information at the right time. Office renders invaluable assistance to the management in this sphere.
To act as a channel of communication
An office is a channel through which communication moves from top to bottom and bottom to top, from the organisation to others and from the others to the organisation. An organisation would fail in spite of the best organisational talent if objectives, policies, orders and results are not communicated in either direction.
To facilitate coordination
The different departments of the organisation while pursuing their own goals may deviate from the common goal of the enterprise. The central office serves as a medium through which activities of different departments are coordinated towards achieving organisational goals and objectives.
To serve as an information Centre
Office stores information in the form of records. Records serve the purpose of the information centre or data bank of an organisation. All kinds of information, whether past or present, are available in the office, e.g., if the management wants to know the number of sales in a particular period in a particular district, it will ask the office which will be able to give this information from the past records.
To act as a control Centre
The activities of different departments and the organisation as a whole have to be controlled to ensure that the progress takes place as per the plans. Control is thus the necessary function of management. It involves:
(a) establishing the standards
(b) measuring the actual performance
(c) comparing the actual performance against these standards
(d) determining the reason for deviation, if any; and
(e) taking corrective action
The office provides the necessary support in all these steps of controlling.
To act as a service centre
It provides various services like clerical and secretarial assistance, the supply of stationery to different departments, and other necessary support for the smooth functioning of the organisation.