Have you scheduled your semi-annual clear out day yet? When was the last one?
Book a day or half day, order the pizza and insist that your staff commit to be present for the clear out. This is a very effective tool to ensure your offices do not become a cluttered, unprofessional place that causes you to cringe when clients come knocking!
How are those files? Full of material from 10 years ago. If you haven’t already, now is a great ime to revisit the contents and get rid of anything that is a) not relevant, b) not legally required, c) not accurate.
Remember, not all legally required material has to be kept in your current, day to day files. In fact, material that is several years old and retained purely for legal reasons may be better suited in a long term storage area that is access seldom if ever.
When your done the paper files, start on the e-files.
The end of the year is an excellent time to purge out your files and make room for the next year’s activities. Before starting, make sure you are familiar with your company’s Document Retention policies and procedures. If you head up a company, make sure that you have document retention policies and that your employees know what they are so that they can also clear out some files. If you run a small business or home based business you may want to check with your accountant for the retention requirements of business and tax documentation.
With all the rules taken care up, try starting small. Purging files is not the most exciting thing to do no matter which way you look at them. Try committing just 30 minutes a day for each of the next ten work days before the holidays. You’ll be surprised what you can accomplish in the total of 5 hours.
Do you have current policies and procedures for your company?
Do you know where they are?
Do your employees know where they are?
Do they know what they say?
Do you have document retention policies?
Do you know what the means?
Do you know what the law in your jurisdiction says about retaining documents?
Do your employees know what the law in your jurisdiction says about retaining documents?
Do your employees know what your company mission is?
Do they share the vision?
Are your mission, vision and values reflected in your policies and procedures?
Are all your company policies in one room?
Are they all on one server?
Are they in one file cabinet/binder or e-folder?
Are they in one file?
Are they dated?
Are they current?
Do they share a similar format?
Do the employees know they exist?
Are thy accessible to all employees for reference?
Would anyone find them in a reasonable period of time?
Do they use them?
Could your employees direct a new employee to them for reference?
Does your company have an annual review date established for each policy?
Did you review them on/near that date?
I have been humbled. Left without internet access, I missed posting Friday as I had promised and apologize for the lack of continuity. Thanks to a(nother) broken water main in our community, we were left without water for 5 hours over the supper hour this evening. Those broken mains, and our short drought, serve to remind us just how indulgent we can be with water, how much we take it for granted and how hard it is to find drinking water in some parts of our world. To follow up from last week, here are five things to do to get your business more organized on your strategic objectives.
1. Make your Mission and Goals as clear as water itself. Once they are established, make sure every employee knows what they are and how their role contributes to accomplishing those goals. Consider taking a page from Brian Scudamore’s journal at 1 800 Got Junk where the company goals are written right on a wall in letters large enough to read across the room. Everyone in the office can see where the company focus is, and whether or not the goals have been reached. Everyday a team meeting is held to report on the indices related to those goals so that everyone is clear where they fit in and how their work contributes to the results.
2. Commit to focus and organization at an executive level. Whether it’s clearing your own clutter, improving your time management, setting up a central filing system or establishing a corporate declutter session, commit to the process and demonstrate the behaviour. In ten out of ten businesses I’m ask to assist to streamline and declutter, the only businesses that are successful are those with a senior management team that commits to the process.
3. Establish storage and retention policies and ensure that staff uses them. This is particularly important for staff who have been in a position for a lengthy time (years) and those that have recently taken over a role from another employee. Are their files up to date both electronic and paper? Have they reviewed their predecessor’s files and do they know what’s there? Do they regularly purge paper and e-files? Is their office littered with material unrelated to their role or the company’s business?
4. Review carefully any space requirement and insist on a clear out session before the request is approved and, more importantly, acted upon. If you have recently approved a space or storage request, do you know for sure that you are approving additional cost, as more space and storage will incur cost, for material that is consistent with your company’s goals and objectives? Or, have your employees given up on trying to pear down and instead spend their time managing the paper and unnecessary tasks rather than on behaviour to advance your strategic directions.
5. Manage the disorganized employee. If organization is an expectation of employees in order that they contribute to the strategic directions of the company than ensure they get that message. Set goals, set limits and follow up. A disorganized employee drains dollars from your business. Tardiness, unfinished work, redo’s, reprints all cost money. When that disorganization goes unchecked, you are sending a loud message out to the rest of your employees that clarity, focus and resource accountability are values that are not supported by you or your company. If you don’t care, why should they?
Why does the disorganization occur? Remember, good leadership always includes accountability.
1. Disorganization by Senior Executives
These individuals are easy to spot. They frequently ask for documents a second time. “Send me another copy, it’s probably in my email backlog.” The last thing they need is another copy of anything. Their offices are often an array of piles and may not leave you a spot to sit down. They are often late for meetings. If these individuals chair a meeting, you may be late for your next one as they likely won’t finish on time. Meanwhile direction is unclear and accomplishment is minimal. On the other hand, action – without accomplishment – is plentiful, often at the expense of others because other people work harder to keep these folks organized.
2. Insufficient Action Regarding Strategic Objectives
Once the mission, vision, strategic goals and target are set, who does the follow up? Where is the accountability and how often is progress tracked. You may have used balance scorecards, dashboards, quality management strategies or a host of other tools and still found your company falling short of its goals. Look and see what structure, systems and processes were put into place to support the accomplishment of those goals. Are they visible? Does everyone know what they are and how the company will attain them?
3. Lack of Documentation Retention Policies
I am constantly surprised the number of times I enter an individual’s office and find they have paper they have never looked at, boxes they have never opened and don’t know what to do with material that they don’t want or need any longer. Do your employees know how often your expect them to purge their files, paper or digital, and what to do with the result?
4. Failure to Understand Space Requirements of Employees/Programs
Too often when programs or employees ask for more space, they are merely moving clutter they don’t need in the first place. Unfortunately, their bosses don’t understand enough about their position, role or program to understand that before anything is moved, an new filing cabinet is purchased or a new lease is signed, a good clear out is required.
5. Unwillingness/Inability to Manage/Address Individual Disorganization
Unfortunately for employee and manager alike, too many managers are ill prepared to assess and address disorganization in an employee. Their tardiness on projects, lateness for meetings, failure to respond to email and excessive piles of paper and overtime hours are disappointing at best and very expensive for a company to support. Tackling it requires diligent performance management and all too often, managers just don’t have the skill.
Tomorrow the Top 5 continues with Actions to Make a Difference.
