DEVELOPING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS: PROBLEM SOLVING

ON THE JOB

Directions

Enter your response after each situation.

1. Handling publications and advertising materials. James told you that his manager was furious when he admitted he had been throwing away over half of the advertising material at the time it arrived, never giving his manager an opportunity to see it. His manager discovered this through conversations with different callers who asked about the mailed advertisements. James seems confused about what to do with booklets, advertising material, and other standard mail, and has asked for your advice.

a. A.AKnowing that his manager wants to see all the mail, what guidelines can you suggest?

2. Increased mailing costs. You and three other office assistants in a management consulting firm have the responsibility for reviewing certain cost areas, one of which is the mail operation. For the past three months, your team has noticed an increase in mail costs. After your team reviewed the mail-related expenses, the following were discovered: an increase in Express and Priority Mail to meet deadlines; letters returned with incorrect and insufficient addresses; and several items sent using incorrect mail classifications. aAmong team members, discuss possible solutions, advantages and disadvantages of each solution, and recommend at least three changes to reduce mailing costs.

3. Handling traditional incoming mail. As an office professional to your new office manager who receives a heavy correspondence load, you would like to suggest that she let you review and preview her mail each day before you distribute it to her. Knowing that your previous manager never delegated this task, how can you propose this suggestion, giving sound reasons for it and indicating how it would assist her by saving time?

>4. Handling traditional incoming mail for multiple managers. You support six managers. Every day each manager receives at least twenty pieces of mail in addition to the following: The Wall Street Journal, two or three newsletters, two or three trade journals, and advertisements. Three of the managers want you to log in their important mail (important mail has not been defined), and the other three managers need all the help you can give them in handling their incoming mail. They are not well organized in handling their paperwork, much less handling the incoming mail in an efficient way. What actions can you take to handle your managers mail efficiently and avoid mixing up their mail?