Many procedures are designed for large organizations. We, in small business, often follow them unchallenged and without thinking of alternatives for a smaller operation.
Bulletin boards and newsletters can become regular email on a daily, monthly, or as needed basis. These can reduce the need for meetings and reports, they also simplify feedback.
What small business can afford to have a mail room staffed with office persons? For a small business As U's can replace the aforementioned. As you go by a stairway, doorway or designated area have a container, wall pocket, shelf, etc. for anyone going that way.
Surprisingly, some "large organization procedures" can apply to the small organization. For instance, inter-office email. The recipient may be a few feet away but, for data that must be processed it's more efficient to send it by email for "Copy/Paste" purposes or to have an electronic record of communication. Consider the accumulative costs of paper (printer ink, storage, extra-copies-just-in-case and desk clutter.)
Paper is the enemy.
The elderly lady director of the Elderhostel office in Mexico City was the epitome of efficiency. She must have noticed my wonderment at how quickly various members of her office staff responded to her one-word summons.
One Spanish word meaning, "Anyone", was for any person available for a universal task. Whenever it was a unique task she would call out the name of a person or the specialized topic such as, "accounting". If any of the latter were pre-occupied "Anyone" would appear with an estimate of the time delay.
The process was done quickly and efficiently, while also giving us a clear message that we should respect her time.
Our home has 22 stairs from bottom level to the front door at the top. Daily living was the necessity for inventing As U's. When the Empty Nest on the top floor was converted to a Home Office, the system was extended for multiple purposes.
The final seven steps to the front door don't even require signs. Everyone knows the first two bottom right are for one's individual items, the next three steps are for anyone going to the bank, post office or courier. The top left next to the garage door is for garbage.
I was assigned to clean up a department mess.
One habit that needed fixing was people inclined to waste hours chatting with colleagues when minutes could get things discussed or done.
I had a secretary who I had assigned other more important tasks rather than being my gatekeeper. Anyone could walk into my office.
For the greater abusers of executive time I would negotiate the estimated time for dealing with the subject. With that established, I set a wind-up timer clock that counted down with loud clicks. It was one used in a noisy production area and the visitor knew how loud the bell would sound in my office. This was seldom used after the first month.
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