“I know you sent me that email last week, but I can’t seem to find it. Can you send it to me again?”
Employees spend a great amount of time searching for files and emails on a computer. According to a survey conducted by Brother International, an “estimated 76 working hours per person each year are lost as a result of disorganization in the workplace,” such as looking for files and items around the office. Putting a price tag on those hours reveals that almost 2 billion dollars are “wasted annually looking for misplaced items in the office and on the computer.” As you can imagine, this can “drastically impact the bottom-line for large companies and small businesses alike.”
So how can companies decrease this wasted money and effort? By getting organized, of course!
Here are a few ways to get started:
Start an Organized Desk Challenge
Challenge your employees to try to keep their desks organized for a week. Encourage them to have a place for everything and keep everything in it’s place. Have managers look for one area that each employee improves in during that week, such as closing more work orders, ability to give status reports faster, etc. Each manager should report his or her findings to the group, stating how each employee was more productive. This will encourage employees to continue to stay organized.
Offer an Organizing and Time Management Brown Bag Class
It’s amazing how much people can learn in an hour. By training employees on how to get organized and stay organized, they will become more efficient. Improving their time management skills will help them to learn the importance of making a list and prioritizing tasks. This will in turn teach them how to manage their resources more efficiently within the company structure.
It Takes More Than Just Going Paperless
Many companies have already gone paperless. But what good is that if the information can’t be found? Help employees learn how to create and manage the file system on their computer. They should also know which documents should go on the company’s file system or intranet in order to be shared with other staff. With so many employees working from home or out in the field, information should be stored so everyone can find it regardless of where they are.
With so much competition among businesses today, employees need to be as productive as possible in order for the company to stay competitive and profitable. By examining and rectifying the amount of time wasted, your company can eliminate this financial drain.
Would your company benefit from having a professional organizer and productivity consultant help save money wasted through inefficiency?
We can work one on one or with entire departments. Transfer skills by active learning or through “brown bag “workshops.
Let’s make things happen, let’s get things done!
Contact Mission Organizing today to get started: 813-514-5696 or nancy@missionorganizing.com.
