About the publication

The operating manual for a department of one

One Person Department concerns the work of keeping a whole function running with limited help. Its subjects are priorities, competing requests, repeatable routines, documentation, delegation and backup.

The reader might run office administration, finance, HR, purchasing, communications, marketing, facilities or IT. They may work inside a larger organisation, part-time or as a volunteer. Carrying a function alone does not mean every problem is theirs to solve through personal efficiency.

Working within limited capacity

Practical operating guides for people carrying a whole function with limited support.

Example weeks, routines and conversations are illustrative, ready to adapt to your own time and authority.

Guides distinguish essential work, simpler acceptable routines, work that can wait and decisions or help needed from someone else. An update date marks a substantive revision to a guide.

The One

One person, a whole department. We call the operator of this publication “The One”, a small nod to the name.

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Open the handbook or get your bearings.