April 18-21, 2005
by Laura Stack, MBA, CSP
Summarized by Bill Turkington
May 2005
While
dictionaries and other resources describe organization
as “the act of arranging things in a systematic way
for use or action,” the definition presented by Ms.
Stack during this session was:
The
ability to find what you want, when you want it, in 30
seconds or less.
That
sounds like something that would be extremely helpful
in any office, but particularly in a busy law office
where there are tons of paper and hundreds of voice
and e-mail messages.
Can you
do that? Can you put your hands on anything you want
in 30 seconds? While I have always taken pride in my
ability to keep track of things, I fall short of this
standard so I was eager to get a few tips.
One
general guideline mentioned during the session was
something we have all heard before – but generally
have not put into practice:
Take 10
minutes at the end of each day to clean off your desk,
empty
your electronic inbox and your voice mail,
and plan
for the next day.
I have
often been guilty of leaving everything where it is
and just locking my office door and walking away
because I simply ran out of time and/or energy to deal
with all the demands that face us on a regular basis.
But, I hate to come back in the next day to face those
same stacks of paper, the inbox so full you have to
really scroll down to see all the messages, and the
red light blinking on the phone to let me know I have
messages.
The solution: If you can follow the “everything
has a place and everything in its place” rule, you can
begin to improve the chances of putting your hands on
any piece of information quickly and taking some
control of the data coming into your life.
Get started by putting every piece of information you
receive through some simple questions.
- Is
it important? If not, don't keep it. Less than 20%
of the information we store is retrieved later. That
means 80% is NEVER needed again. Throw away, recycle
or shred paper, delete your e-mails and voice mail
messages as you finish reading or listening to them.
- Is
it a task that can be assigned to someone else? If
it is in a paper format, put their name on it with a
note and place it in your outbox for distribution.
If it is a voice or e-mail message, forward it to a
team member with instructions. Do you just need
input from someone else before responding? Then get
that information (immediately if possible) and
continue through the process.
- If
it must be done by you, determine whether or not it
can be done immediately – within a few minutes. If
so, do it now rather than setting it aside. Go ahead
and draft the letter, respond to the e mail or
return the call from voice mail.
-
Don't have time to do it now? Schedule time to do it
later. Set up a 12-month, 1-31 tickler system and
place the paper documents in the folder for the date
you select. This keeps the stacks off your desk, but
readily available should you need them. The
materials can be pulled on the scheduled date when
you are ready to tackle the project. Testimonials
from people who are using this system in my office
and in other firms swear that this system really
works for them.
If a
telephone call must be returned later, create an entry
on your task list or calendar, entering the phone
number and any pertinent information that may assist
you when it is time to make that call. If you need to
respond to an e-mail message at a later date, drag the
message to your calendar or task folder and mark it
for the appropriate date, again adding any additional
information that may be needed later. Don't know how
to use your telephone and/or computer programs? LEARN!
These are some of the best timesaving features
available for organizing information.
- Is
it a piece of information that just needs to be
filed – a procedure, instructions on how to perform
some function, an invoice, correspondence that
relates to a contract, attachment to an e-mail,
etc.? If it falls within that 20% category, put it
away. If it is case or client-related material, it
should be filed with the case. Can you drag an
e-mail message into your document management system?
This is another great way to keep all related
information together in one place. However, make
sure that everyone on the distribution list is not
doing the same thing. One copy is enough.
Consider using colored file folders for different
types of paper documents in your office. You might use
red for “hot” project files, yellow for idea files,
green for financial files, blue for industry or
topical information – articles you have cut out of
magazines, etc. Color coding allows you to easily pull
data as it is needed.
- If
you don't need the information, then take steps to
have your name removed from the distribution list
and set up rules and filters for electronic messages
to eliminate the waste of your time sorting through
junk. If you would prefer to receive the data in a
different format, then notify the sender so that
future information is transmitted according to your
needs. Remember, if you want to see something later,
it will generally be available in some format
somewhere.
Do
you have an office full of paper, a voice mail system
with 50 saved messages, and an inbox with 300 mail
messages? If so, you won't clear that up immediately.
But you can start running each new piece of
information through the steps above so that you don't
add to the existing volume. You may need to set aside
15 to 30 minutes a day at the beginning to start going
through those old e mail messages. Once those are
cleaned up, go through the voice mails and then tackle
the stacks of paper. It won't happen overnight, but
within a few weeks you can gain control of your space
and your life.
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