CHAPTER IX 

 OFFICE ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 



BY CHARLES E. DOELL 

 Secretary Board of Park Commissioners, Minneapolis, Minnesota 



Scope. The information in this chapter does not attempt to cover 

 completely the field of general office management or general bookkeeping 

 and accounting practice. It rather supplements standard works on such 

 subjects as office management, accounting, bookkeeping, statistics, office 

 personnel, etc. An attempt will be made in this chapter to apply the general 

 principles obtained in such standard works to the specialized field of park 

 office management. The assumption therefore is that the reader already is 

 familiar generally with detailed office planning and layouts, office equip- 

 ment and appliances, the qualifications and personal requirements of office 

 employees, ordinary methods of compensation, etc. Such subjects will be 

 touched upon later in this chapter but only incidentally. 



Point of view. In directing a work of this kind, selection of the proper 

 point of view is essential. The great variation in the size of communities 

 who are apt to refer to this chapter makes it very difficult to choose the 

 angle from which to attack the problem. For example, according to the 

 1924 census, there were approximately fifteen thousand incorporated vil- 

 lages, towns and cities under ten thousand population; some five hundred 

 cities from ten to twenty-five thousand population, and a materially lesser 

 number above twenty-five thousand population. The need for park records 

 necessarily varies materially between the smaller cities and the larger ones. 

 Nevertheless the need is present in all classes of cities, and since practically 

 the same records are fundamental in all cities, the larger being only more 

 complicated and involved than the smaller, it is only natural that the point 

 of view of this chapter shall be directed at a sort of evolution of the need 

 of the smaller community to that of the more complex systems. In this 

 way, even the small communities can see the future growth of their own 

 departments and can design their needs in the light of future requirements. 



Need for better office facilities. There is an apparent lack of appreciation 

 by the majority of the park and recreation governing authorities through- 

 out the whole of the United States of the importance of keeping accurate 

 and thorough records with a consequent lack of proper provision for either 

 clerical staff or office equipment. This is not confined to only the small 

 communities but is found also in many of the larger cities. Records are of 

 vital importance. It is just as important to keep complete and accurate 



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