Assessing Level of Personal Organizational Skills in the Workplace
Working with a disorganized boss or colleague can be frustrating. However, often their lack of organizational skills can impact the productivity of others.
When one person can not keep organized at work, it can have a ripple effect on projects and processes. Therefore, it’s critical to notice indicators of disorganization and focus on developing skills to become more organized to increase productivity.
Signs of Disorganization at Work
Things are often misplaced.
Files, keys, cell phones, important documents, passwords, templates etc., fall into a black hole, also known as the multiple piles or one of many drawers. A simple solution to organize an office without much effort is to purchase a red file and red box only for essential papers (red file) and things (red box). Then, only put items needed within the next month into the box.
Appointments are forgotten.
When appointments are left to memory and not instantly written down in a datebook or electronic calendar, it can frequently happen. If the problem is often due to not having a computer or datebook nearby when appointments are made, ask the person who wants to meet to send a meeting request in Microsoft Outlook calendar or send an email with the meeting’s time, date, and purpose in the subject line. If an email is sent, use that to trigger an entry into an electronic calendar.
Low priority tasks are completed first.
If lower priority tasks are completed before high priority tasks, it is usually due to not maintaining a To-Do list and prioritizing tasks. In terms of time management, this is a critical step. Start by keeping a list electronically (MS Calendar (Task List), MS Word or MS Excel) and prioritize tasks with an A = urgent for today, B = important within three days, C= lower priority, due in more than three days.
Limit the number of A tasks on the list to three or less if the items will take more than 60% of a workday to accomplish. Try to leave 40% of the time for phone calls, coworker interruptions, urgent surprises etc.
Missed deadlines or tardy responses to requests.
Disorganized coworkers ignore requests and are constantly reminded to provide a document or information critical to progress on a project. It can be highly irritating and seen as a lack of teamwork and cooperation. Therefore, reviewing time management strategies is in order.
The first step to finding solutions to improve organizational and time management skills is recognizing the problem. For example, if coworkers complain that a person is preventing them from progressing on a project, it is time to assess the root cause of the disorganization so that it can be fixed.