Latest Articles
- Information – an Office’s Gold
As America moves to service based industries the raw materials needed to bring a service or product to market is information. This is the “gold” in an office. With today’s technology we are able to collect, measure and quantify our leads and customers. The question then becomes what do we do with that information?
- BPs Lack of Seeing the Big Picture
No matter what side of the political fence you fall, BP failed to take the proper quality control measures. As the weeks pass more information is coming to light how the organization cut corners with safety to keep costs down. Safety is not the place to take short cuts. In the long run this can cost you thousands of dollars and possibly your business. In BP’s case it is running in the billions not to mention what it is doing for their stock value. The ramification of poor quality control is costly. So how could a corporation
- Make Your Bottom Line Grow
No matter what size your organization doing things as efficiently as possible is not only ideal it is necessary in the new world economy. One area that can be significantly improved is the office. In fact, 60 to 80% of costs associated with providing a service or product to market is administrative. If you were able to reduce these by one third how much could you increase your cash flow?
- Proper Planning Can Ensure Success
Planning is the backbone of success. Not doing it can cost thousands of dollars, man hours and resources. Proper planning can save you money, increase your cash flow and help fulfill your mission. Here is a simple tool to aid in ensuring your success.
- Working Between Departments Means Faster Cash Flow
When you look at a traditional organizational chart it has silos which contain various departments and the people overseeing and working in those departments. In today’s business climate where information is your company’s gold this can be troublesome. Why, because the right hand may not know what the left hand is doing. We have all [...]
Staying Organized
With the New Year upon us we all make those New Year resolutions. Well as you can imagine, getting organized is one of the top 5. Most of the clients I work with, the challenge isn’t “getting” organized its “staying” organized. Just cleaning an area up does not solve the underlying issues. It is just a band aid on a wound that left untreated will fester.
How do you stay organized? Simple, changing habits. This can take up to 3 months so do not get discouraged if you backslide during those 3 months. Just start the next day with your new habits and move forward.
Two important factors in everyday life are routines and preparation. These used together are powerful habit busters. Your job is to replace an unproductive routine with a productive routine. Everyone should have a morning and evening routine. Why? The morning and evening routines will help you get yourself and your children out the door on time.
Your morning routine should be as simple as possible. Most people are not with it first thing in the morning. Recognize this and work with it not against it. Start with getting up 15 minutes earlier than you do right now. Get into the habit of doing the tasks you need to get ready in the same order every day. After a while you will not even have to think about what you are doing, you will just do it. Ahh, save that brain power for something important.
How do you make your morning routine simple, by having a good evening routine and a central location for the stuff you need the next day. Your evening routine needs to include preparing for the next day. Things like laying out your clothes, having your purse, keys, a charging cell phone and items you need to take with you in a central location near the doorway. A hutch or small table in your entrance way would be a good home for these types of items. Another good piece of furniture to have by your door is a coat tree. This allows you to have your coat right by the door on your way out. If you have kids, they should have their shoes, book bags, coat, etc. in the central location by the door. If you have multiple kids, you can use a basket tree for housing book bags, lunch bags, etc. The baskets can be labeled so there are no fights as to whose basket is who’s. This evening routine is a good habit to teach your children. They can take it into adulthood.
Bottom line, at night get everything together for the next day so when you get up in the morning all you have to do is get yourself and your family out the door. Just doing this will save a multitude of headaches and stress. Give it a try for 3 months and keep me updated on your progress.
Cynthia Marsh-Croll
Croll Organizing
Thanks for the great tips for home preparation. It's funny that I know what good routines are for my business, I backslide during busy periods, get back in the swing both during slow and during the REALLY busy periods when I need the organizational discipline the most, but my household routines are not terribly organized. Routines are the bane of my existence, though I've been working on them. Great tips for starting on the right foot. Thanks!