Revitalizing Morale
Declutter the Office
The average person spends 4.3 hours per week searching for papers. The average exec loses one hour per day looking for misplaced information. Cut the clutter permanently by following these four steps to a more productive, efficient workplace.
1. Start Fresh
Make decluttering a whole office affair by shutting off the phones and email so employees can give their undivided attention to the task. Georgina Forrest, the owner of Calgary’s Smartworks office organizing services, says everyone should start with two boxes: one for paper and one for gadgets (CDs, staplers, etc.). Put everything on and in the desk into the boxes.
2. Clear the Slate
Now that the desktop is bare, keep it that way. Buy a photo box or similar container to store notes so your monitor doesn’t become covered with reminders. Create more file folders. Get rid of anything extraneous and tuck everything else in drawers.
3. Banish Ghosts
The stacks of paper on your desk can often represent how long you’ve procrastinated on a certain task, making you feel guilty every time you sit down. “You have to ask yourself, am I really ever going to do this?” says Forrest. “Sometimes we convince ourselves that it’s important, but as time goes on its importance drifts. If it doesn’t get done, who is going to miss it?” If no one will, chuck it.
4. Make Lasting Changes
There is little point in embarking on a full-scale decluttering if the papers will be piled high by Monday afternoon. Stop pressing the “print” button and learn to rely on your digital records. Make it an office-wide solution by investing in software that includes a digital calendar and an email program that is easily organized and archived. If you don’t have an automatic back-up system in place for your office network, now is the time to do it.
RELATED LINKS
Action Plan in Print, Part 5 of 10: Boost Employee Morale
In late 2008, the employees at Flextronics, a Calgary manufacturing plant, learned the plant would be closing. It probably seemed that the news couldn’t get any worse. But since the plant had to be dismembered, the 370 employees would be laid off in batches of 30 over the course of five months. Cheryl Bakke Martin, the career counsellor brought in to help, likened the atmosphere to that of a morgue. But with the concerted effort and support of the company’s management, the initial gloom lifted and employees put in their remaining time in a professional manner. If Flextronics could stop the mood sag, any workplace can. Here’s how. More >
July’s Action Plan Podcast: Revitalizing Morale
| 1 | Handle layoffs compassionately to mitigate stress for remaining employees |
| 2 | Start a newsletter to highlight positives in the company |
| 3 | Keep gossip at a minimum with frequent memos, meetings and one-on-one chats |
| 4 | Hold a staff social activity on a quiet afternoon |
| 5 | Make sure that managers are working as hard – or harder – than everyone else |
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