office

An office is a space—physical or virtual—where work is organized and administrative tasks are performed. Traditionally a building or room housing desks, computers, and filing systems, an office may be a department within a company, a government agency, or a home office. The term also refers to the organizational function of managing information, communications, and coordination.

The word office derives from the Latin officium meaning duty or service, via Old French and Middle English. In historical contexts, offices emerged as centralized places for recordkeeping, accounting, and clerical work. The modern office developed with bureaucratic administration, the rise of commercial enterprises, and later office technologies such as typewriters, filing systems, and mail handling, shaping distinct roles and workflows.

Office types include corporate or commercial offices, government offices, legal or professional service offices, as well as home offices and co-working spaces. Core functions cover administration, data processing, scheduling, correspondence, and management support. Technological advances—word processing, spreadsheets, email, and enterprise software—have transformed efficiency, collaboration, and information sharing, while security and privacy concerns have grown in parallel.

Office design and culture influence productivity and wellbeing. Layouts range from private offices to open-plan spaces, with considerations for acoustics, lighting, ergonomics, and sustainability. Management styles, meeting rituals, and organizational policies shape work culture, while trends such as flexible hours and remote work have altered traditional office use.

Beyond physical space, the term Office is also a widely used software suite by Microsoft, introduced in 1989. Microsoft Office includes applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, and in recent years is offered as a cloud-based service under Microsoft 365, forming a core toolkit for business communications and document management.