OFFICE ADMINISTRATION SCHOOL

BASED ASSESSMENT
(S.B.A.)

Name: Megan Wright

Centre no.:100310
Candidate No.:1003101183
Subject: Office Administration
School: Merlene Ottey High School
Teacher: Ms.E.Haughton
Territory: Jamaica
 TITLE

TO INVESTIGATE THE METHODS OF

COMMUNICATION USED WITHIN THE OFFICE OF
THE MERLENE OTTEY HIGH SCHOOL
 THE AIMS OF THIS ASSIGNMENT

This project seeks to find out:

 Discuss the method of communication mostly used by individuals within their

organization.

 Explore how having good communication benefits a business.

 To observe how messages ]


 ]]]]are channeled within an office.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT

CUSTOMER SERVICE
The main functions of customer service includes:

 Communicating with both visitors and employees of the business.

 Taking care of the visitors complaints.

 Ensure that visitors are satisfied.

MARKETING DEPARTMENT
The main functions of the marketing department includes:

 Budgeting

 Organizing activities

 Publishing

SALES DEPARTMENT
The main functions of the sales department are:

 Maintaining sales record

 Monitoring stock control

 Liaising with other departments

 CORRESPONDENCE

Hilloughby District,
Cascade P.O.
Hanover
Jamaica W.I.

November 7, 2018

The Principal
Merlene Ottey High School
Great Valley District
Great Valley P.O.
Pondside, Hanover

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am writing this letter requesting permission to conduct a research at your
institution in order to complete my School Based Assessment (S.B.A.), so that I can receive
a satisfactory grade in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC)
examinations.
I will be sitting the Office Administration CSEC examination in May / June of 2019,
which requires me to complete a school based assessment on the topic “Communication in
the office”.
My wish is to issue questionnaires and interview a member of staff and observe how
they communicate with each other. All information that is collected at the Merlene Ottey
High School will be kept confidential. You may contact me at
meganwright776@gmail.com or at (876)499-8208.

Yours sincerely,

________________________
Megan Wright
 QUESTIONNAIRE
INSTRUSTIONS: Answer all questions with a simple tick in the box (es) provided.

1. Sex
Male Female

2. Occupation
Teacher Receptionist 
Secretary Other: ___________

3. Age
20 – 30 years old 30 – 40 years old
40 and over

4. How are messages channeled among your staff members?

Orally written
Body language electronically visually

5. What method of communication is being used by the members of staff the most?
Formal Informal Official Unofficial

6. Which do you use mostly?

Letters telephones 
Fax  other________________

7. Would you consider good communication to be essential in the institution?

Yes  No

8. Who do you communicate with mostly on a daily basis?

Student’s  parents  Visitors co- workers


9. Do your co-workers communicate well?

Yes  No 

10. What forms of oral communication are being used in your department?
Interviews Radio and television 
Meetings and conferences Telephone 
 METHODLOGY

As the source of primary data questionnaires were distributed.

Questionnaires

Twenty persons were selected at random each receiving a questionnaire to complete at

the end of a three weeks period, ensuring that they had enough time to complete it. I

chose this method because:

 It requires little time to be completed.

 It can be done at the convenience of the person answering the sample.

 It guarantees confidentiality as the respondents are not required to attach their

names.

 It is easily distributed.

Interview

The interview took less than five (5) minutes and the total amount of questions that

were asked was five (5).This method was used because it gives immediate feedback

and more in-depth information will be collected. It is also a convenient way of oral

communication which is useful for individual discussions.

 QUESTIONS ASKED TO INDIVIDUALS

Five questions that were asked to individuals are:

1. How are messages channeled among your staff members?

2. Who do you communicate with mostly on a daily basis?

3.Do your co-workers communicate well?

4. Would you consider that good communication be essential in an office?

5. What method of communication is used by the members of staff the most?

 SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES

DATE ACTIVITIES COMMENTS

November 6,2018 Selection of topic Topic was approved by the teacher.

November 7,2018 Correspondence was drafted Correspondence was returned for corrections to be

for teacher’s approval. made.

November 8,2018 Corrections were made to Teacher checked the correspondence to ensure that it

the correspondence and it was corrected and formatted properly.

was typed.

November 9,2018 Went to the business place to Secretary approved.

seek permission to conduct a

research there.

November 13,2018 Correspondence was I was told what hours I could come conduct my

dropped off at the front research.

office of the institution.

November 14,2018 Questionnaire was drafted Questionnaire was returned to be typed.

for teacher’s approval.

November 15,2018 Questionnaire was typed and 20 questionnaire was printed

printed

November 19,2018 Questionnaires were issued I was assured that all questionnaires will be answered

at the business. after working hours.

November 20,2018 Interviewed personnel and Important information was gathered.

observed activities.
November 21,2018 Observed personnel service Information gathered on November 26, 2018 was

confirmed.

November23,2018 Observed business activities Various activities were well observed.

November26,2018 Questioned the principal Important information was gathered.

about the rules, regulations

and policies of the

institution.

November 27,2018 Went to the business place to There was no delay.

collect questionnaires.

November 28,2018 I was called in by the The principal thanked me for doing my S.B.A. at

Principal. their front office and wished me luck in the

examinations.
 REGULATIONS AND POLICIES GOVERNING THE INSTITUTION

In every institution there are rules and regulations that governing the institution, employees,
visitors and students. The following are the rules and regulations governing this institution:

Legislation

 School days and hours of instruction.

Awareness of this Legislation

 The researcher became aware of this legislation after interviewing Mrs. Summerville.

Health and Safety

 Safety precautions signs and equipment in various departments.

Staff Rule

 One must knock before entering.

 REPORT

The business in which I did my research was Merlene Ottey High School. I chose this

institution to conduct my research because it has an office setting that was the ideal place for the

topic in which I chose to embark on. Communication is the imparting or exchanging of

information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium.

This investigation showed that communication is an important aspect in every

organization and that there are various ways in which one can communicate within an office

setting. It also shows that communication can come in different forms, types and channels. It was

also observed that if communications are channeled properly within and organization then there

is a chance of the business being more effective.

 FINDINGS

Question 6 from questionnaire: Which do you use most?

Which do you use mostly?

10%
25%

15%
50%

Letters Fax Telephones other

Figure 1

Question 8 from questionnaire: Who do you communicate with mostly on a daily basis?

Who do you communicate with mostly on a daily basis?

visitors

parents
RESPONSES

co-workers

Students

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
NUMBER OF RESPONSES

Figure 2
Question 10 from the questionnaire: What forms of oral communication are being used in your
department?

Responses Number of Responses Percentage of Responses

Interviews 3 15%
Radio and Television 0 0%
Meetings and conferences 5 25%
Telephone 12 60%
Total 20 100%

Figure 3

Question 4 from questionnaire: How are messages channeled among your staff members?

How are messages channeled amopng your staff members?

16%
22%

12%

40%

Orally Body language written eletronically visually

Figure 4
 LIMITATIONS

The major problem that was in the completion of this research is the compilation of information

collected. Due to the fact that I visited the organization on different days I had my information

all over the place.

 RECOMMENDATIONS

My recommendation to solve the problem is by using paper clips and index cards as I

observed that individuals in the office used to bind and store information.
 EQUIPMENT USED IN THE FIRM

Date Equipment used Purpose of Equipment Suitable for Task

November20 ,2018 Printer A machine used to copy, A wise economic decision

scan and print documents. since the equipment saves

office space, time and

money.

November20 ,2018 Telephone Used for conversing with

two or more persons.

November21 ,2018 Filing Cabinet Used for storing important Useful for data storage.

documents.

November 21,2018 Computer Used for keeping records of It reduces time spent on

operational business recording information

activities. manually.

November 22,2018 Fax Machine Used to facilitate the It reduces the problems

transmission of copying associated with postal

documents. services.

November 22,2018 Index cards They are used to create Very useful to store

index for a filing system. information.

November 22,2018 Paper Clips Used for holding sheets of Very useful for holding

paper together. loose paper together.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

NAME DATE PLACE JOB TITLE

Mrs. T. Summerville November 20,2018 Business Place Principal Secretary

The following book was used as a foundation for my research:

 Office Administration for CSEC®, by Ann Margaret Jacob