One simple, actionable way to drive output and streamline processes
The good news is that it’s not your business that’s creating the drag or stagnation in productivity. It’s the office environment. See, we’re not making widgets and gadgets nearly as often as we used to. We’re in the services and technology game. Where once we were busy assembling, building, engineering, now we fill our days emailing, calling, and meeting.
Don’t worry, we’re not going to ask you to change what your company does or how you do it. What we are asking, is that you keep it clean. It’s one of those tips that smacks you in the face with an open hand of honesty. It leaves you asking: Why didn’t I think of that?
You and your staff must achieve your objectives despite a constantly changing set of “To Dos” and an ever expanding list of responsibilities. As the business grows and matures, employees fall into their roles, and habits begin to form. Those habits can be nearly unbreakable once they are set, so the best managers attempt to instill and reinforce the positive habits while squashing the negative ones.
Well, what happens to your home when you’re busy and you fall into a day to day routine built around your habits and must-do errands? Junk piles up. You begin to live in a what I like to call Organized Chaos. The same thing goes for the office. As employees prioritize the things that must be accomplished, and they begin to feel at home in their environment and roles, the clutter starts to pile up. Redundancies form. Filing sits unfiled.
Can a clean office really drive productivity, though? It’s a fair question with a simple answer: Yes. Here are six reasons why.
Knowing What You Have
The phone rings. Your sales person answers. It’s a question she can handle and spin into a sale if she can just find that four week old sheet that you dropped on her cluttered desk. It holds the answer she needs. With each second that ticks by, the caller is losing confidence in your company’s competence. When we work in Organized Chaos, we take too long to find the things we need.
Action: Dedicate three hours on a Monday morning to having your employees clean and organize the space they “own.” Give them a standard to meet by showing them your office.
Discovering Inefficiencies
You ask this same saleswoman what she might do next time to make sure she has the information. “I’ll make a copy and put it up on the cubicle wall,” she says. “What about having the file handy?” You ask. “It’s on my laptop, not the desktop.” You take a deep breath before proceeding. As you organize and clean, you will discover myriad inefficiencies and ineffective systems.
Action: Try the One Best Place philosophy around the office. Every single file, item, machine, or widget has One Best Place, a spot where it belongs and can be found by anyone who knows the system.
Reducing Stress and Increasing Happiness
After your Monday morning cleanup and your One Best Place speech, you’re feeling pretty good about things when the sales person’s phone rings the next time. She smiles as she quickly navigates to the info she needs. You smile as you hear her spin the call into a sale. And now you find yourself in a position of praising her work and reinforcing the behavior for next time. Isn’t this a better way to work?
Action: Download the Curb-It junk removal app. You snap a photo of the old desks, the piles of paperwork to be recycled, and the computers you want removed. Then you get an upfront price and on-demand removal of all the clutter causing those stress-inducing reduncies and inefficiencies.
Landing More Clients
A few weeks ago, your potential client was questioning your competence as your saleswoman fumbled around for a simple answer. Now, your sales team is landing deals and inviting clients in to see your clean, efficient, productive office space.
Action: Constantly utilize your management skills to reinforce the new, cleaner habits with plenty of positive recognition. Remember, each employee feels rewarded and appreciated in different ways, so get to know your people.
Curb-It is on-demand junk removal
You snap a pic of the stuff you want gone
You get upfront prices from background-checked Providers
You select your Hauler and your stuff is gone within hours
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