Reports this week from the legal judgment on the failure of South Canterbury Finance (SCF) show how a big company that arose out of a small family business failed in part because the systems and processes in place didn’t work for a large financial company.
Brian Gaynor writing in the New Zealand Herald calls it “Hard lesson in how not to run a company”
Over recent months I’ve been moving towards a digital office. I no longer print and file invoices that are sent electronically. I scan and store a digital record of invoices that come in the mail. This is going to reduce the space I need to store paper files.
However it raises some interesting challenges. Why? Because I no longer have papers of physical files on my desk that alert me to the need to take some actions. I’ve had to create new workflow processes so that I still do everything I have to do on time.
The workflow starts with email. Anything that needs action is moved to an email folder headed “Action” and highlighted for action on a particular day or time. I’ve created an action board (based on a Kanban Board) that I use to ‘log’ actions in columns headed “To do” “Next” “Doing” and the very satisfying “Done”. This board is on the wall next to my desk so I can move the sticky notes as I take action on the items on the board.
I do print items that I need as working documents, for example if I’m writing a report for a client I prefer to review and annotate on paper before making changes on screen. But at the end of the project the working papers are shredded (and added to the compost bin for my garden). I keep one paper copy of the final report(s) and everything else is stored in my computer system. This system is backed up to the cloud immediately and to a portable hard drive according to a regular backup schedule.
How a digital office works for your business will depend on how you currently work and how you want to work in the future. Other things to consider include:
You will need to be prepared to change the way you work so that actions are taken on time. The long term benefits are very likely to outweigh the short term pain as you make the move in your office. If you have cloud storage then you have access to your documents any time anywhere. So if you leave your office to go to a client and forget a document or critical spreadsheet, you can access your business information from your laptop or even your smart phone.
You can read about more hints and tips to improve your business in my free eBook; and even more if you download the eWorkbook that gives you a full set of instructions on how to set up a filing system that will work for your business.
Judy Owen has been working with businesses of all sizes and complexities for more than 20 years to improve and streamline the access to their business information. She and her team can show you how to reduce risk, improve productivity and increase profits with good business systems and processes in your business.
During a recent “weatherbomb” over the Wellington region, a number of properties were without power for several days due to the large number of trees that came down in the storm and other storm related issues with the electricity supply.
While this was disturbing enough for anyone in that situation given the inability to heat homes and cook meals, I was rather startled to read a news article about a woman who runs her business from home (has done for several years) and who couldn’t operate during the power outage.
Over recent months I’ve been relating some of my experiences with clients who want help to organise the information they use in their business. Sometimes it’s about getting their email under control; sometimes it’s their electronic documents causing them grief because they can’t remember where they saved an important document or spreadsheet. I’ve also given a networking colleague some ideas for sorting out the stuff on her desk.
Let’s talk about her for a moment because her experience is so relevant to today’s blog on habits. Jill had piles of paper, promotional folders and an array of spilt business cards on her desk when I first saw it. It had been like that for most of her time in that business. However in 3 weeks with some help from me she got it tidy and she loved being able to work so much more efficiently.
But – 2 months later she confided that she had been really busy and her desk had got messy again. And I realised that although the strategies I had given her for getting out of the mess she was in, it had not become a habit to keep using those strategies.
And we all need to keep using those strategies or we will get swamped again; with paper; Or with emails; Or by not having and using simple rules for organising electronic documents.
So now I have some tips for creating a new habit around managing your business information and making it stick.
Go for it!
Has paper gone feral in your office? You know what I mean, piles of papers on your desk, more on the floor, paper everywhere in fact.
It used to be organised and filed once, but then you got busy.
Now you’ve forgotten how you used to organise your paper files and you’ve started storing some of it electronically. But you don’t want to throw the paper away in case you can’t find the electronic version.
And so it goes on.
Help is at hand and you don’t need to be in a city to get that help.
First up let’s look at some hints and tips so you can start to tame those feral piles of papers.
Try not to get distracted by anything that looks particularly interesting. Your 15 minutes will disappear in no time. Put these interesting items in a separate pile and make a date with yourself to read them another time.
Next steps:
If you need more help contact me. The Terrace Consulting file tamers can visit you in person, can Skype with you to talk and have a look at your paper and advise you, or we can simply talk to you on the phone and give you some ideas to tame your paper filing.
It’s a good thing I didn’t make a New Year resolution to write a blog each week. Last year it was my intention to have a weekly blog but I didn’t actually make it a resolution on 1 January 2012. At the rate I’m going it’s going to be one a month. However think I can do better than that now I’ve got started again.
The biggest thing to hit me so far this year is the problems people have with their in-box. It was right up there with losing weight and getting fit as a NY resolution.
Before we had email it used to be the in-tray that caused people grief, especially on a Friday afternoon when the tray had got higher and higher during the week and there’d be no time to move into it.
It became a Friday afternoon job to sort the in-tray and move stuff on to other people, like the journals that were circulated around the office. You’d have a quick flick through to see if there was anything interesting. If there was, you’d send it on without crossing your name off the circulation list so it would come back to you another time when you hoped you’d have time to read it (that seldom happened!). If there was nothing that took your eye – you’d cross your name off the list and send it on its way to someone else’s in-tray, where it would sit for another week or two in someone else’s in-tray.
It’s worth using the same sort of technique with your email inbox. Spend a few minutes every Friday afternoon going through your emails. You’ll be amazed how many you can delete in 5 or 10 minutes even. Then the rest will look more manageable – until next week at least!