Casual Articles - How-To Transform your Unorganized Office into an Efficient, Productive Office

Did you know that you can gain a lot more hours in your day if you have an organized office. Organized and efficient = more productive = increased profit.

Let’s take it one at a time and look at all of the different systems in your office.

Let’s start by looking at your phone system:

• Do you have someone who answers the phone for you
• Do you need someone on a full-time basis to answer the phone or would a part-time person or a virtual assistant work better
• If you are the person answering the phone – Are you wasting valuable time answering calls all day
• How many hours a day are you spending on the phone
• Would this time be more effective if it was spent with clients?
• If you are spending a lot of time on the phone, maybe you should look at posting specific hours on your website as to when you are available to speak with clients and allow your voicemail to pick up when you are not

Next we will take a look at your email system. As business owners we receive hundreds of emails on a daily basis, some are from clients, potential clients, junk mail etc, we can spend hours per day going through our email which is unproductive time.

So how do we change that?

• You can set up filters in your email so that junk mail goes directly into a junk folder
• You can also do this for other emails that you receive – newsletters, billing, resumes, marketing, blogs, articles etc
• When you receive an email, take a moment and decide what you want to do with it – delete it, put it into a folder, reply to it.
• Check your email at certain times during the day otherwise you will find yourself stopping and starting tasks –again this is unproductive time

Now we will take a look at how much paper you have in your office. This is where a lot of the chaos occurs

• Switch your bills to e-bills where possible
• Send invoices electronically
• Keep detailed information on your pc in individual folders and always keep a back up somewhere safe, preferably away from your office
• File your paperwork on a weekly basis – look at each piece of paper and decide what to do with it – Throw it out or file it. Once you keep up with your filing, it becomes less of a horrendous task.
Set up files for yourself so that all of the paperwork that you do have is filed correctly – color coded files work very well and are very easy to use
• Set up templates for your office so that you don’t have to create a new invoice/fax page every time

It is imperative that all business owners have some kind of a calendar management system. It’s impossible to remember everything – yes, even Virtual Assistants forget things.

• If you have an assistant, have them set up a calendar for your appointments, important dates, bills to be paid etc and have them email reminders to you
• Or you can have them set up a shared calendar so that you are able to view it whenever you choose. Outlook is great for this or yahoo has a shared calendar system also.

Making a list helps us to focus on the task at hand

• At the beginning of every day, take the time to make a list of what you would like to accomplish that day.
• If you prefer you can make the list at the end of your day for the next day
• You can also incorporate this with your PDA or your outlook so that you follow-up on certain tasks

Finally we will take a look at the office layout which can sometimes hinder your productivity also:

• Make sure that everything is close by so that you don’t have to spend time finding things– filing cabinet, supplies, printer, client’s information, your phone etc
• If you are home based, you don’t necessarily have to have your supplies in the same area as your office, but it helps if you don’t have to wander through the entire house all the way up to the 3rd floor to get some ink! Exploring The Different Types Of Corporate Parties
  All work and no play can make employees a rather dull group, don’t you think? Depending on the type of company you are part of, there might be room to hold a couple of corporate parties, get-togethers or picnics throughout the year. If you should be in charge of organizing and planning this delicate task, there are plenty of ways to approach this responsibility. When it comes to the many types of corporate party themes you might come across, which ones sound like a good fit for your office? Below you will find a few popular corporate party occasions and ideas to consider:Christmas: Many corporaspent with clients?
• If you are spending a lot of time on the phone, maybe you should look at posting specific hours on your website as to when you are available to speak with clients and allow your voicemail to pick up when you are not

Next we will take a look at your email system. As business owners we receive hundreds of emails on a daily basis, some are from clients, potential clients, junk mail etc, we can spend hours per day going through our email which is unproductive time.

So how do we change that?

• You can set up filters in your email so that junk mail goes directly into a junk folder
• You can also do this for other emails that you receive – newsletters, billing, resumes, marketing, blogs, articles etc
• When you receive an email, take a moment and decide what you want to do with it – delete it, put it into a folder, reply to it.
• Check your email at certain times during the day otherwise you will find yourself stopping and starting tasks –again this is unproductive time

Now we will take a look at how much paper you have in your office. This is where a lot of the chaos occurs

• Switch your bills to e-bills where possible
• Send invoices electronically
• Keep detailed information on your pc in individual folders and always keep a back up somewhere safe, preferably away from your office
• File your paperwork on a weekly basis – look at each piece of paper and decide what to do with it – Throw it out or file it. Once you keep up with your filing, it becomes less of a horrendous task.
Set up files for yourself so that all of the paperwork that you do have is filed correctly – color coded files work very well and are very easy to use
• Set up templates for your office so that you don’t have to create a new invoice/fax page every time

It is imperative that all business owners have some kind of a calendar management system. It’s impossible to remember everything – yes, even Virtual Assistants forget things.

• If you have an assistant, have them set up a calendar for your appointments, important dates, bills to be paid etc and have them email reminders to you
• Or you can have them set up a shared calendar so that you are able to view it whenever you choose. Outlook is great for this or yahoo has a shared calendar system also.

Making a list helps us to focus on the task at hand

• At the beginning of every day, take the time to make a list of what you would like to accomplish that day.
• If you prefer you can make the list at the end of your day for the next day
• You can also incorporate this with your PDA or your outlook so that you follow-up on certain tasks

Finally we will take a look at the office layout which can sometimes hinder your productivity also:

• Make sure that everything is close by so that you don’t have to spend time finding things– filing cabinet, supplies, printer, client’s information, your phone etc
• If you are home based, you don’t necessarily have to have your supplies in the same area as your office, but it helps if you don’t have to wander through the entire house all the way up to the 3rd floor to get some ink! 5 Tips To Successful Joint Ventures
  When businesses think of team building, business owners usually associate it with building their company’s internal workforce into a lean-mean fighting machine. Team building, however, should be extended to include external relationships such as those with other businesses. Enter joint ventures or JVs for short.Joint ventures generally are business partnerships established between two or more parties (individuals, business groups, companies, corporations) for the purposes of expanding the business and achieving merits by joining forces and working as a team. The parties involved in joint ventyou want to do with it – delete it, put it into a folder, reply to it.
• Check your email at certain times during the day otherwise you will find yourself stopping and starting tasks –again this is unproductive time

Now we will take a look at how much paper you have in your office. This is where a lot of the chaos occurs

• Switch your bills to e-bills where possible
• Send invoices electronically
• Keep detailed information on your pc in individual folders and always keep a back up somewhere safe, preferably away from your office
• File your paperwork on a weekly basis – look at each piece of paper and decide what to do with it – Throw it out or file it. Once you keep up with your filing, it becomes less of a horrendous task.
Set up files for yourself so that all of the paperwork that you do have is filed correctly – color coded files work very well and are very easy to use
• Set up templates for your office so that you don’t have to create a new invoice/fax page every time

It is imperative that all business owners have some kind of a calendar management system. It’s impossible to remember everything – yes, even Virtual Assistants forget things.

• If you have an assistant, have them set up a calendar for your appointments, important dates, bills to be paid etc and have them email reminders to you
• Or you can have them set up a shared calendar so that you are able to view it whenever you choose. Outlook is great for this or yahoo has a shared calendar system also.

Making a list helps us to focus on the task at hand

• At the beginning of every day, take the time to make a list of what you would like to accomplish that day.
• If you prefer you can make the list at the end of your day for the next day
• You can also incorporate this with your PDA or your outlook so that you follow-up on certain tasks

Finally we will take a look at the office layout which can sometimes hinder your productivity also:

• Make sure that everything is close by so that you don’t have to spend time finding things– filing cabinet, supplies, printer, client’s information, your phone etc
• If you are home based, you don’t necessarily have to have your supplies in the same area as your office, but it helps if you don’t have to wander through the entire house all the way up to the 3rd floor to get some ink! Home Builders and Remodelers - Two Simple, Low-Cost Profit-Building Strategies
  In a previous article (How One Builder "Made the Most Money I've Ever Made") I wrote how a builder dealt with his resistance to raising prices and properly charging for all the work he performed to create his most financially successful year ever.The one of the greatest points to that article is those changes came at little-or-no cost to him, neither in time or money. Virtually all the increased revenue from implementing those strategies will translate directly into profits for that builder!Along the same lines, here are two other simple, low-cost profit builthat all of the paperwork that you do have is filed correctly – color coded files work very well and are very easy to use
• Set up templates for your office so that you don’t have to create a new invoice/fax page every time

It is imperative that all business owners have some kind of a calendar management system. It’s impossible to remember everything – yes, even Virtual Assistants forget things.

• If you have an assistant, have them set up a calendar for your appointments, important dates, bills to be paid etc and have them email reminders to you
• Or you can have them set up a shared calendar so that you are able to view it whenever you choose. Outlook is great for this or yahoo has a shared calendar system also.

Making a list helps us to focus on the task at hand

• At the beginning of every day, take the time to make a list of what you would like to accomplish that day.
• If you prefer you can make the list at the end of your day for the next day
• You can also incorporate this with your PDA or your outlook so that you follow-up on certain tasks

Finally we will take a look at the office layout which can sometimes hinder your productivity also:

• Make sure that everything is close by so that you don’t have to spend time finding things– filing cabinet, supplies, printer, client’s information, your phone etc
• If you are home based, you don’t necessarily have to have your supplies in the same area as your office, but it helps if you don’t have to wander through the entire house all the way up to the 3rd floor to get some ink! Pallet Covers
  Pallets are platforms that are used for transporting or storing things. They are used especially in industries like factories, warehouses, retail, food storage, grains, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, etc. Pallets are often placed in rough industrial conditions with high humidity, pollution, and dust levels. It is thus very important to use covers for protecting the pallets.Pallet covers not only protect the pallets from dust but also provide insulation against excessive humidity, thus lowering the chance of rusting, scratches, and corrosion. They also protect wooden pallets from insects and keep t
  • At the beginning of every day, take the time to make a list of what you would like to accomplish that day.
  • If you prefer you can make the list at the end of your day for the next day
  • You can also incorporate this with your PDA or your outlook so that you follow-up on certain tasks

  Finally we will take a look at the office layout which can sometimes hinder your productivity also:

  • Make sure that everything is close by so that you don’t have to spend time finding things– filing cabinet, supplies, printer, client’s information, your phone etc
  • If you are home based, you don’t necessarily have to have your supplies in the same area as your office, but it helps if you don’t have to wander through the entire house all the way up to the 3rd floor to get some ink!
  • Invest in a good light or lighting system so that you have plenty of light flowing in
  • Try and have a closed room so that when you leave at the end of the day, you close the door and your workday is over
  • A door also keep distractions and noises out – there is nothing worse than being on the phone with a client and your dog starts barking in the background, it doesn’t provide your potential client with a professional image of your business!

  If you put all of the above systems in place, your office will become a lot more productive and a lot less stressful!

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