 Audrey ThomasAuthor, Speaker and
Productivity Expert
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| Recent Tweets by @LeanOffice... |
| Got a sticky note frame around computer? 5S Straighten: Transfer items to Task List in Outlook
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Great tips for Sweep/Sustain
step of 5S
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Avoid sugar before important meetings; eat high energy snacks like almonds, walnuts and dried fruits.
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Wasted motion. RU getting up from your chair for a supply that needs to be on your desk every day?
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Waste of Inventory. Are your pens and sticky notes having babies at night? Time to sort and purge!
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Signature Block etiquette: Avoid the "billboard" effect. No more than 7 lines of information.
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Subject Lines: Tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em. Be complete and descriptive.
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Etiquette for meetings: Keep your shoes on underneath conference room table!
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Eyes getting older? Increase font size in Outlook. View>Current View>Customize Current View>Other Settings
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5S Fridays Avoid surprises & stress. On Fridays review next week's appts and To-do items. Know what's coming. ----------------- Waste of Waiting. Using out-of-office responder helps others from waiting on you. |
Keep in touch ...
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Lean Office Transformations
Welcome to Lean Office Transformations - a newsletter designed to save you time and become more efficient. References to Lean Manufacturing and Lean Office refer to a productivity philosophy created by Toyota which is now adapted by companies worldwide.
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Lean Office Review
Waste of Over Processing
You don't have to be a manufacturing company in order to enjoy Lean office benefits. The Lean method is being adopted in every industry, and with good reason: It works. And it's easier and faster to implement than Six Sigma!
According to Lean Office principles, there are 7 wastes in and around our workspaces.
- Waiting
- Defects
- Transportation
- Inventory
- Motion
- Over Production
- Over Processing
Sometimes we're over processing because we've done things a certain way over and over. The common excuse is "But this is how we've always done things." Here are a few examples of over-processing:
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Keeping a paper calendar in addition to using Outlook or Lotus Notes calendar.
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Unnecessary signatures required for a process or approval.
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Doing more than necessary to get the job done.
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Printing a 30-page budget report when only the Summary sheet will be used.
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Providing a 3-ring binder to project team members when contents will be accessed online.
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Writing down phone information instead of keying directly into computer.
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Manually typing a new contact's information in Outlook or Lotus Notes when using the "drag and drop" feature will do it automatically.
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Relying on inspections, rather than designing the process to eliminate errors.
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Re-entering data into multiple information systems.
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Making extra copies.
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Generating unused reports.
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Expediting snail mail when it isn't necessary.
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 As you strive to become more productive, take some time to think about what might be causing disorganization in your office as well as at home. If you ask 10 people what their #1 cause is for disorganization or not getting work done, you'll probably get 10 different answers. Here are some of the most popular ones:
- Lack of focus (too many distractions)
- Too much to do (can't say "no")
- Procrastination
- Multi-tasking (trying to do too many things at the same time)
- ADD, AD/HD
- Sharing work or living space with others (everyone has different expectations on how a space should be used and maintained)
- Major life changes (Divorce, death of loved one, new promotion, increased work load due to layoffs)
- Inability to make decisions (Read more about this here.)
- Never learned organizing skills as a child or young adult
- Perfectionism
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Office Essentials
Sometimes we get caught up in over-processing things on our desk because of a lack of focus. We find ourselves repeating steps or forgetting where we were prior to an interruption.
Here are 5 tools I use to keep my focus and to avoid the Waste of Over Processing.
- Checklists - Using checklists have a big impact in my office. Think about the things in your job that you do over and over.For example, every time I sell a speaking engagement, I have a checklist of 12 things that need to happen before I show up to present. I keep this checklist in my MS Outlook® Task feature and it guides me so things don't get overlooked or slip through the cracks. I also have a checklist of things I take with me on every business trip. I keep this handy to review before walking out of my office.
- A timer - Timers are simple yet effective gadgets. Setting a timer for 15 minutes to clean out your E-mail Inbox, do some filing or to jot down ideas for an article will help you make good use of your time. Watching the minutes tick away helps me stay focused and motivated to get as much done as possible. You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish in a small block of time.
- Block E-mail, voicemail and project time - When you have a task that requires 1 ˝ hours or more, block time on your calendar to work on it. By doing so, it states the importance of the project and guarantees time to work on it. You can block out time for e-mail processing or checking your voicemails too.
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Power Hour - If you want a way to experience better time management, be more organized and accomplish things in a fraction of the time they currently take, then you'll want to begin using the Power Hour strategy. It involves creating new habits in the way you start your day and you will quickly see the value of it. Read 7 Steps to a Productive Day to get more details on implementing the Power Hour.
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Perfectionism Check - Perfectionists struggle with the Waste of Over Processing in a big way because in their opinion, a project can always be improved just a little bit more. Some perfectionists struggle with sending a brief e-mail in plain text because they want a "perfect e-mail" and would rather spend time changing fonts, highlighting, italicizing, etc. before pressing "send". Sometimes you just have to have the mantra of "Done is good enough" and move on to another project.
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You Need to Know...
We've just added several new articles in the Lean Office Article Bank. If you would like to reprint an article in your organization's newsletter, website or other communication piece, feel free to do so. We just ask that you credit Audrey Thomas by using the bio information provided at the end of each article.
Waiting is Such a Waste of My Time
If you need more information on our training seminars or know someone looking for a speaker, check out the newly renovated www.OrganizedAudrey.com website.
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