Organizing Tips For Your Office

Being organized at the office involves managing a few key
activities effectively:

. Emails . Phone . Meetings

The increase in productivity from investing a small amount of
time in efficiently managing these activities upfront is more
than worth the result.

EMAIL MANAGEMENT

Keeping up with the daily onslaught of emails is a major
challenge for most of us, both personally & professionally. The
following tips will help you manage the daily flow of emails:

. Create an electronic filing cabinet, much like the physical
cabinets you have, with electronic folders for category names

. Once emails have been read and responded to (if an action is
required), move the email from your inbox to your storage
folders. This makes it easy to track which emails still need an
action. Many companies impose limits on “inbox” size. By moving
your mail out of your inbox to a personal folder, an added
benefit is that the restriction on size will not interrupt your
day at precisely the moment you need to send an email.

. If your email program includes previous email content for that
email string when replying, be sure to delete earlier versions
of the string to avoid redundant emails filed. This makes it
much easier to find the latest copy in the string when searching
later.

. If your email has an attachment file, detach and save it as a
file in your electronic filing system for future reference, so
you won’t have to go searching through your emails to find the
file later. Relying on email subject headings can create a time
consuming search for the file later.

. If you frequently send the same type of email, save a copy as
a draft or template that you can reuse over & over (changing the
specifics such as name, date and amount for each email)

. If a document is available electronically, but you refer to it
frequently, print it and keep it in a hanging file or on your
desktop.

. Every 6 months or so, go through your folders and delete
emails no longer needed. This will save disk space and make your
searches more streamlined.

PHONE MANAGEMENT

. When you leave a voice mail for someone, if the issue you are
calling about is a straightforward question, ask it on voice
mail to avoid playing telephone tag. Also, encourage the
responder to leave the answer on your voice mail if they miss
you. However, if the issue is complex, do not leave a lengthy
voice mail explaining the issue (out of consideration for the
recipient).

. If you know you will be in meetings or unavailable at certain
times, let the person know o avoid voice mail telephone tag.

. If you are in the middle of a complex task that requires an
uninterrupted thought process, let voice mail answer the phone.
Otherwise, take the call to avoid a pile up of messages to
return later.

. Phone messages should be responded to within 24 hours. If you
have been too tied up to answer a question or inquiry, at least
respond to the person who called to let them know that, and then
give them an expected date by which you will have the answer for
them. This way you still seem responsive, even if you cannot
address their request immediately.

MEETING MANAGEMENT

. When calling a meeting, always draft an agenda and attach it
to the meeting invitation. The agenda will serve multiple
purposes:

o Help attendees prepare for the meeting o Provide a sense of
time allocated to each subject, so attendees can be mindful of
intended time allotments o Focus attention on the key issues to
discuss (in case the meeting agenda gets sidetracked) o
Demonstrate to others that you value their time & intend to make
the meeting productive

This work equally well for small or large meetings, but becomes
even more essential to productivity with a large meeting

. After the meeting, it is helpful to prepare “meeting minutes”.
The minutes provide a summary of the key points discussed, and
the associated outcomes and action items. They serve as a
helpful recap for the attendees, as well as others who could not
attend, but who have an interest in the subject matter. A track
record of accurate meeting minutes also helps to keep meeting
size to a manageable volume, as all of the affected parties will
feel less of a need to attend the meeting in order to understand
its’ directional outcomes.

. The day before the meeting, make sure to arrange for copying
of any required handouts.

. If co-workers are always dropping by for impromptu meetings,
don’t hesitate to create a “Do Not Disturb” time to be used for
those complex thinking projects, where being interrupted has a
big impact on your train of thought.

Copyright 2004-All rights reserved

About the author:
As The Organizing Wiz, Ilene Drexler works with clients who want
to get organized in their home or offices. As a member of the
National Association of Professional Organizers and the National
Study Group on Chronic Disorganization, Ilene is a part of the
industry’s leading resources for professional organizing.

The Organizing Wiz Phone 917-301-1981 Email:
ilene@organizingwiz.com
url: www.organizingwiz.com