Wednesday 31 July 2013

Is it time to re-think how you organize your desk? Start with PLACE

When you start work in the morning does your desk give you a clean fresh start, free from clutter, a workspace where you can be highly creative and productive, or does it bog you down and act as friction to getting things done?

If you're like most of us, your desk is probably not optimized for productivity and performance.

Let's start with the benefits.
  1. When you have your desk set up well you minimize distractions and resistance to actually doing your work. You want your space to give you energy, not drain it.
  2. You will work better when you desk is set up for workflow. Your desk surface is a place to do work, not store it. You'll have the space to spread out current work without overlap with clutter.
  3. When the right tools are organized and at your fingertips your productivity increases.
One way to re-think your desk, is to use the PLACE system.

P - purge unnecessary items from the desk surface (this means material you are not working on, archives, junk mail..)
L - like items with like - group all your office supplies together, reference books etc.
A - access - frequently used items and tools need to be at your fingertips, others stored
C - contain loose items using a desk organizer or storage system
E - evaluate how well your system is working, make changes and get it right

After you have your supplies and tools organized - think about workflow. Since we operate processes from left to right, you might want to implement this approach to your desk. Productivity experts recommend keeping your inbox, phone, and diary or agenda (if you use one), on your left side, with work being processed in the middle and work that is complete or needs to be stored on the right. When you stop for the day, always make sure the middle and right side are clear.

It's easier organizing the permanent stuff: equipment, supplies, decoration, and reference.

Transient stuff, input to be processed, action reminders, and project support materials is the challenge, because to improve your productivity you may have to change the way you work.

Input to be processed - goes in your in-box (an old fashioned tray or basket). This unsorted, un-prioritized material, mail, requests, lists, folders - things others leave on your desk..

Action reminders - notes about to-do's go in your task management software or, if you are paper-based, your planner.

Support material - goes in files or, if it is too big to fit in a file, on a project shelf or project area away from your desktop in a binder.

Go through all the papers, books, folders on your desk and file everything away according to these groups.

Now you should have just an inbox and agenda/notebook on your left hand side.

Don’t manage your work from stacks of folders, manage your work from lists. Put what you need to accomplish on your action list and put the supporting materials in the pending files or a project shelf. When you are actually working on something, only then is it time to bring in the files and support materials. Be carefully about working on multiple tasks that require lots of support materials. If you can break down the task and only keep the materials for the task at hand on your desk surface you'll be much more focused and energized.

If you keep the idea below as a guiding principle, you just may find your desk surface not only more appealing, but you may get more work done and feel good about starting fresh tomorrow.

The desktop is for the work you are doing, not for storing the work that you have to do.



Tuesday 23 July 2013

Boost Your Productivity With 20-Minute Intervals

You've got a lot to do, and feel the time pressure for the work ahead. You've cleared your desk, have your notes at hand, and now it's time to get the job done. Are you able to focus for several hours or do you find you need a break before the first hour has passed?

J.D. Meier, a project manager with distributed teams and productivity blogger, thinks workers would be better off to aim for 20-minute focus periods. He offers the following advice.
"The key is to know that sustained thinking takes energy, and it burns out. To address this, take breaks to recharge and renew. Five-minute breaks are a great way to stay focused."

Meier has other tips to increase productivity at your desk.
  1. Prioritize: Each week determine the three most important wins for the week, your daily activities will mostly support those wins.
  2. Visualize: See the end in mind - have a mental picture of what you want to accomplish
  3. Manage Distractions: To rid your mind of distracting and conflicting ideas dump them into an email addressed to yourself and send it once a day.
  4. Organization: Shelve projects you are not currently working according to your weeks priorities. Don't juggle 8-9 projects, focus on three. Meier creates project folders on his desktop and files projects not being worked on in a folder called Shelved.
  5. Think how time spent aligns with priorities and benefits. "You shouldn't spend an hour on a $1 problem."
Do you have a desk-time productivity tip to share? We'd would be interested in your feedback and ideas.

Source: The Globe & Mail, July 22, 2013, How to Focus in 20-Minute Bursts | Harvey Schachter

SuiteWorks is a world class business centre serving all of central Ontario. Call us today to set up a complimentary Tour and learn how your business can benefit from a flexible office solution including coworking space and virtual offices - Toll Free 1.866.967.5711 or visit our website to find out more about SuiteWorks solutions for your business.

Tuesday 16 July 2013

What Separates You From Your Competition?

Knowing your customer is one of the most important things you can do to better your relationship with them. The more you know about your customer the easier the conversations are as well as the more interested you become to assist your customer.  The value you provide with getting to know them is invaluable.  Your customer will see that they are not just a number etc and see that your business treats customers as family.

Keeping open communication with your staff, that will transfer to the customer and you will be efficient with solving and working with your customer’s questions and problems. Be ahead of your customer.  Your customer will feel that they have made a great impression along with you doing the same and they will feel like they are getting effecting and timely responses etc.

Every customer is different and each also responds and communicates differently.  Do not pigeon hole yourself into one form of communication? Get to know your customer and respond in the form they are best responsive e.g. Email, phone, walking to their desk, chatting with them on the run. Etc.  This will allow your customer to feel comfortable and you will learn so much more about them.

The customer is always right until you no longer want them as a customer.  Each customer has ways of expressing themselves whether subtle or intense. It is how you respond to them that separates you from your competition.  Be sure to listen effectively, and reassure your customer that you hear them and their concern and that everything will be taken care of. There is always a way, you can always find answers, sometimes you may need to dig deeper than before, but once you do, you will have learned from this and it will help you in being a better communicator.

Customer service and professionalism is what separates you from your competition.  Maybe its your receptionist who puts on smile on everyone’s face that comes into your facility or cleaning staff that has a remarkable way of getting to your know customers.  In any case, these qualities make a difference to whoever walks through your doors.

SuiteWorks is a world class business centre in serving all of central Ontario. Call us today to set up a complimentary Tour and learn how your business can benefit from a flexible office solution - Toll Free 1.866.967.5711 or visit our website to find out more about SuiteWorks solutions for your business.