Howto Transform Your Unorganized Office Into An Efficient Productive Office

Writen by Grainne Foley

There are some necessary procedures that should be in place to ensure that your office is working like clockwork.

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!
• 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!

Gráinne Foley is the owner of A Job Well Done, a virtual assistant business specializing in providing human resources and administrative support to businesses and entrepreneurs. Complete information on services offered can be found on her web site. Don't forget to subscribe to her FREE newsletter, "A Virtual Revolution" and visit her blog at http://www.virtualstaffing.blogspot.com. For more information, please visit http://www.ajwd.com.