Getting Organized

If You Can’t Find It Within Five Minutes, It’s Lost

Organizing

• Organization is not a by-product of the planning process• Without consciously and systematically organizing your

assets, records, etc. Your plans can not yield optimal results

Organizing

• Records & recordkeeping– Keep records of all projects

• How much time did it take?

• How much of which supplies did it consume?

• What equipment was used?

• What went right? Wrong? Should be changed?

• What else should I keep?• Where should I keep it?

Six Steps To Organize Your Office

1. Create three labeled stacking trays on your desk to help manage paper flow:

– Incoming : top tray; where mail goes when it first arrives. Stays there until you have time to sort through it. You have three choices as to what to do with incoming mail - file, act, or toss.

– Outgoing : middle tray; where you place outgoing mail -- either us mail or internal mail.

– To file : this is where you place• Items to be filed away for futurereference. Be sure you plan time to do your filing at least weekly so this tray does not overflow!

Incoming

Outgoing

To File

Six Steps To Organize Your Office

2. Set up A “tickler file” – Three sections

• Front – 31 slots, labeled 1 – 31, for the days of the month• Middle – 12 slots labeled with the months of the year• Back – as many slots as necessary, labeled, for repetitive actions

– Monthly staff meetings– Weekly battery checks– Quarterly fire sprinkler checks

– Can be an accordion file, or hanging files; in a desktop basket or in a desk drawer

The Tickler File

• Its purpose is to provide a place for you to keep and readily access things that will need your attention at some point in the future, – scheduled events

– Item with a specific deadline

– Item that needs to be referred to after a certain time span.

– Think of it as a storage calendar.

A Tickler File

On the first of the month, move items from the month file to the appropriate day file

Six Steps To Organize Your Office

3. Use the F.A.T system- File, Act, or Toss.– There are only three things you can do with paper - file it away for

future reference, act on it, or toss it.• File: if you choose to file it, the paper goes in the “To File”

(bottom) stacking tray.• Act: if it requires action, you can either act on it immediately or

place it in your Tickler File to act on at a future time. • Toss: use your wastebasket/recycling bin frequently.

– Research shows that 80% of what we file away we never reference again. So how do we determine what 20% to keep?

What To Keep• Ask yourself these questions:

– Does it require action from me? – If it is only an FYI, do I need to keep it now that I have seen it? – If I threw it away and discovered I needed it later, could I easily replace it? – By the time I might need it again, will it be obsolete?– Is it historically useful?

• Recurring project costs & product use• Records of occurrence • Records of conversation / counseling / verbal warnings

– Will a more current version arrive on my desk soon?– Is it necessary facility or equipment data?– Are there legal reasons for keeping this?

Six Steps To Organize Your Office

4. Create a filing system that works easily and consistently.

– Create hanging files labeled A – Z and file everything alphabetically, by first word (except “the”, “a”, etc.).

• Don’t get cute – today’s joke may not be very funny six months from now when you need that document quickly !

Practice Filing

• Where would you file…– An invoice from Cabinets By Fred?– A Hillyard delivery ticket?– An owner’s manual for a new autoscrubber?– The warranty card for same autoscrubber?– A memo reminding you of next Tuesday’s staff meeting?– The current issue of a trade publication?– That publication of two months ago that has an article on carpet cleaning you

want to keep?– A flyer from a vendor wanting to make an appointment to assess your needs?

Six Steps To Organize Your Office

5. Implement a system for keeping track of contact information – Software; address book; business card file

• Organize by

– Friends & family– Vendors – people you buy from or consult– Customers – people for whom you supply services– In-house contacts – people within your organization

you need to coordinate activities, or request services

Six Steps To Organize Your Office

6. Learn to manage your time and your “To-Do" list effectively through weekly planning.

– Emphasis used to be on efficiency - doing more in less time.

– Now emphasis is shifting to: being more effective - doing what matters most.

Managing Your “To Do” List

• Here are some questions to ask yourself to improve your effectiveness and manage your time:

– What's most important to me?• A, B, C; 1, 2, 3…

– Does this task fit within what is most important?– If so, am I the most appropriate person to do this or can I delegate it to someone

else?– Is there a way to simplify this task without sacrificing quality in areas of

importance?

Managing Your “To-Do” List

• Make sure it should be your task to manage before you start managing it

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.

– Peter Drucker

Managing Your “To Do” List• Once you are clear about your “To-Do" list, divide the activities

into two major categories– Those with a deadline– Those which do not have a deadline

• Create a timeline around the deadline-driven activities, and plug those benchmarks and deadlines into your calendar and Tickler File

• On a weekly basis, review the list of open-ended tasks and plan time to accomplish some of those each week.

– Don’t wait to do the C’s until all A’s & B’s are done– Plug them in along the way – they’re usually the ones you enjoy

doing most.

How Many Calendars Do You Need?• Personal – your appointments, schedules, etc.• Facility activities• Maintenance schedules

– Scheduled, routine, preventive

• Inspection schedules• Test schedules

K.I.S.S.

• Use your Tickler File to store appointment reminders, inspection reminders, test reminders, maintenance reminders, etc.

– Consult the Tickler File daily, and make a “Daily Schedule” (takes no more than 5 minutes) or weekly and make a “Weekly Schedule” (takes 10 – 15 minutes).

• Post a monthly Facility Activities calendar on the wall for all to see and refer to, and to plan around.

Organizers

• Franklin Planner– Sheets for Everything

• Day Timer– Calendars & To Do Lists

• Generic Planners– Calendars & To Do Lists

– Pocket, ½ Size, & Full Size

Final Thoughts On Organization• Organizing is like any other skill. It requires practice. • Whatever system you choose to use, it must work for

you – and you are the only one who can decide that.– If it doesn’t work, you’ll know why.

• Its your system, so fix it – make it work

– The best system will fail if it is not used

Final Thoughts On Organization• Filing should be just another task to do, not a dreaded

chore. If it becomes a dreaded chore, it won’t get done until you become buried in paper.

• Never create a “miscellaneous” file. When you’re in a hurry, everything becomes misc.

Getting Organized

Are there any

Questions?

Quiz1. (T / F) Keeping yourself and your office organized is a requirement for a

smooth-running facility.2. (T / F) Filing systems should be as complicated or as simple as you are

comfortable with. 3. If you can’t find something within 5 minutes, it is . 4. The F.A.T. system says there are only 3 things you can do with a piece of

paper it, on it, or it.5. The “Storage Calendar” discussed is called a

.

Quiz6. The three stacking trays on your desk are labeled

, , and .

7. Any system that is will not work.

8. (T/F) Everyone needs to carry a day planner.9. (T/F) There should be 3 calendars on the wall.10. (T/F) Organization is a by-product of planning.

Answers1. (T) Keeping yourself and your office organized is a requirement for a

smooth-running facility.2. (T) Filing systems should be as complicated or as simple as you are

comfortable with. 3. If you can’t find something within 5 minutes, it is lost. 4. The F.A.T. system says there are only 3 things you can do with a piece of

paper file it, act on it, or toss it.5. The “Storage Calendar” discussed is called a Tickler File.

Quiz

6. The three stacking trays on your desk are labeled Incoming, Outgoing, and To File.

7. Any system that is not used will not work.

8. (F) Everyone needs to carry a day planner.

9. (F) There should be 3 calendars on the wall.

10. (F) Organization is a by-product of planning.

Getting Organized

Thank you for your participation

References• Gerard M. Blair (www.ee.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/index.html)• Kathy Paauw (www.orgcoach.net)• George Fuller, The First-Time Supervisor’s Survival Guide. Paramus,

New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1995.• John and Shirley Payne, Management Basics. Holbrook

Massachusetts: Adams Media Corporation, 1998.• David Baron, Moses On Management. New York: Pocket Books

(Simon & Schuster), 1999.• Arthur R. Pell, Ph.D., The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Managing

People. New York: Alpha Books, 1999.• Roger E. Allen, Winnie-The-Pooh On Management. New York:

Penguin Books Ltd., 1994.