Comments on: Ask Unclutterer: I’m organized but my workplace isn’t

By: Lee Kirkby

Lee Kirkby — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:37:57 +0000

A document management system puts the structure into filing and records that adhoc systems never do. As more and more people are being left to do their own filing, putting a tool in place to make it possible for them to structure their information so it can be found is not only a good idea it should be a necessity.

Using simple index fields it is possible to do very sophisticated searches which can satisfy anyones need to access. That said we have been building these kinds of systems for over 15 years and we still find that the people ready to adopt the process are fewer than those who cling to the old way.

By: Zaheer Master

Zaheer Master — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 17:35:40 +0000

@ Morten I agree with your point about the shared drive. It is impossible to enforce a consistent naming convention using just the standard windows tools. We’ve implemented the Laserfiche document management software for dozens of companies and they have all seen great efficiency gains. This is due to the ability to full-text search documents, so even if you forget what you named something, you can search by the contents. Also we have metadata so if you want to enter additional information about a document, such as a project or client ID, you can search on that as well. Learn more on our blog at http://blog.aisww.com

By: Morten Juhl-Johansen Zölde-Fejér

Morten Juhl-Johansen Zölde-Fejér — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:49:23 +0000

I have to protest against some of the points here, and that is actually where the shared-drive article is essentially wrong while actually having the possibility of solving the problem.
When you talk about people being unorganized, it is almost always a case of being unable to understand how the others organize, different angles. The simplest example: One person had a workflow where looking up the client folder with a breadcrumb paper trail client order-correspondance-order-invoice-payment-receipt, the other needs the time frame so needs to time stamp, and the third needs orders in one folder, invoices in the next. If it gets really horrible, people will put a paper copy in every relevant file, which is terrible.
This is part mindset, part taskset.
This is actually a case where modern software can help. Document Management Systems like KnowledgeTree can tag after case, client and purpose context. File names are needlessly inflexible, and the sorting is just as linear as in a physical folder. What one needs is a structural database where the one who knows the time frame and the relevant client kan input those two, and people who work differently can use those parameters. It should be possible to throw all files into the same folder; as long as the metadata are correct, the system will sort them out.
People know this from media libraries – like having your mp3 library read the ID of the song as saying that it is by THIS artist from THIS album. In a DMS you can associate freely, so there is no problem if a file concerns several cases and several clients.

By: ac

ac — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 22:00:55 +0000

Every few years, the cube farm where I work does a re-org of some type that usually results in a cube shuffle as well. Two weeks before move day, the dumpsters come out and we are encouraged to toss everything that isn’t worth moving.

By: leansimulations

leansimulations — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:25:13 +0000

5S is the solution here. Many companies employ 5S methodology across there manufacturing processes, but neglect the office. Lots of information about 5S and Lean is available on the Internet, including my own blog.

By: mr

mr — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 03:04:11 +0000

Usually lurk, but am jumping in because Reader Anonymous (RA) is getting really bad advice here.

I’ve worked in many corporations and small businesses and managed to make changes in policy even when I was a temp collating binders on a project. I don’t have any information about how large your company is, but this advice should be good anywhere. One point, if you are in a department within a larger organization, is your department messier than the others, or is it a company-wide problem. If so, you will be much more constrained in effecting change.

The key is to realize that your company (YourCo) is producing a product X, of which you are being paid to produce .0000x%. This counts even if there is no physical product. YourCo has provided you, RA with resources it believes are adequate for you to complete this task. This includes salary, a desk, office supplies, a phone and computer, as well as a certain amount of time. This time allotment includes not only the time to do your job, but for overhead like filing and keeping things tidy.

So… if you go to HR and say “Things are too messy,” what you are saying is that you can’t do your job with the resources YourCo believes should be sufficient. Not a good idea.

So, what is the solution? First, be the change you want to see in the world. Keep your work area organized, be able to quickly find things when they are requested. Manage your time well, be a person of your word. Even if there is no overall naming convention for shared files, develop one of your own and consistently use it. Evangelize for it. Gain a reputation for being a hard worker and a team player, so that when you start make suggestions they are listened to.

Also, be observant. All of your complaints are about things, when they are really about people. Before making suggestions, find out who these people are that you want to make do extra work for no other reason than you can’t do your job. (From YourCo’s point of view, this is literally what is happening. These other people are getting their jobs done at the current level of mess, why can’t you?) Don’t worry, this does become the solution.

YOU HAVE NO PROBLEMS. However, as a good employee you notice YourCo’s problems and try your best to solve them. (And remember, corporate problems are always people, not things.) Things are done the way they are for a reason. No naming convention? Could be that there was one, but some underling insulted a VP for not using it correctly. Or renamed something to the correct convention, and the VP went to an important presentation with the wrong slides. Or you have stubborn users and no one is willing step in to be the filename police.

On the messy office supplies – who orders them? What budget do they come from? What I would do is find this out and then quietly ask how the office supply budget is doing, because you noticed that they aren’t well organized and things are being ordered in duplicate. Either they care or they don’t. Either way it’s above your paygrade. One suggestion on organizing – needing the space where things are, and decluttering when moving them is a good way to clean stuff up without becoming the “cleaner-upper.”

Sorry to run so long with this, but… where you work sounds like a pretty normal company and you sound young. Advice – develop a set of good practices that you can take with you to every job. Deal with the paperwork from the person you are replacing right away. Don’t be afraid to ask for an appointment with your boss to ask how to handle it. Show up with an organized list of materials and ask how long they should be retained. If you don’t deal with this quickly, it will never happen. Actually, if you are young and this is an early job, or a significant shift in company size, ask for a meeting with HR to make sure you’re doing things right. It’s always better to go into a meeting asking for help with a situation you are facing rather than having a complaint as the meeting topic.

One example to leave with. Allegedly there was some really dead end project at Microsoft that would not die. Why do we still have this running, can’t we dump it? The answer was always no. Turns out that it was the bit of software Bill Gates’ wife was working on when they started dating. Problems are people, not things.

By: Marc

Marc — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 01:38:40 +0000

As somebody who has been a boss and worked for bosses I think it would be horrible idea to bring the issue to an HR representative. Best case: they take your issue seriously and address the issue; worst case: your boss gets called to the carpet for wasting company resources and you are the whistle-blower. I would much rather hear my employees suggestions than have a peer meddling in my departmental affairs–even if I like them. If you see an issue in your own department try to address it there first.

“Think global, act local” really makes sense if you want to make an impact.

If you really see problems that are resulting in corporate waste try to quantify them and argue the value of a much less cluttered environment or take on a personal special project to pitch a process improvement to the boss. Make a win for your self and your boss and learn how to communicate the value of your work so it will hopefully be replicated.

By: Kylene

Kylene — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 00:17:31 +0000

@Sonya Yes! 5S! I’m the leader of a 5S empowerment team in a department at my company (a fortune 500) and over the last 4 years, it’s gone from absolute chaos to organization that most people can live with. And we have audits to check on it monthly, so it doesn’t get bad again.

Anonymous, if your company hasn’t started looking at Lean Six Sigma, and 5S (a foundation for Lean), then you might just push them to start looking at that. It’ll save the company SO MUCH MONEY in the end. There are people who are specifically trained in how to get businesses organized, both in their processes and how they organize their offices. It can completely change how a company works. For the better, of course!!

Good luck!

By: Joy from Just Plain Joy

Joy from Just Plain Joy — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 23:49:31 +0000

@Kate. I love the idea of a “historical committee.” I think that’s also a great management strategy for making people feel valued.

By: Rue

Rue — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 17:11:36 +0000

I second HATING unorganized coworkers. (Okay, not hating the person himself, but hating his lack of organization.) I had a coworker who never filed anything and kept EVERYTHING. He was laid off recently and it fell on me to clean out his office so another of my coworkers could move into it. Fortunately, he was still here for another week or two after he received the news that he was being laid off, and I was able to ask for his advice on what to keep and what didn’t need to be kept.

In that meeting with your buddy from HR, I would also suggest implementing a rule that when someone leaves their job, before they go they must sort and purge and leave everything in order for his/her replacement. That way you don’t have this problem again in the future.

By: terriok

terriok — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 07:04:13 +0000

I commented to a boss once that paperwork was never eliminated, they just kept adding on more.

My boss was under the impression i could not handle the paperwork, hardly the case.

By: Kate

Kate — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:31:07 +0000

When I started a the marketing director for a company, I “inherited” boxes of historical files – photos, memos, slides, newspaper clippings, etc. As a newbie to a company very proud (and rightfully so) of their history, I did not feel qualified to make decisions on what to keep and what to throw away/recycle. So, I organized a group of long-timer employees and formed a historical committee. This groups meets once a month for an hour and sorts the stuff. I’m happy to report they are excellent purgers. I’m happy to file/store what they keep.

By: Vanesa

Vanesa — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 02:34:12 +0000

Lisa – Pay for it. I totally understand the frustration of trying to scan massive amounts of stuff in one go using a small scanner, but in your situation I think having completely electronic files would be very valuable. So, pay someone to scan what you have right now, then just regularly scan your future files in at a more reasonable pace. Yes, it will be cost a chunk of change to do this initial scanning BUT 1.) you’ll never have to pay for it again if you keep up with future files and 2.) you won’t have to keep 10 years of files in your office.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:56:37 +0000

Here’s the funny thing – I am self-employed!! I have client files galore. You may say scan them, but I am NOT feeding 200 pages of some document through my baby scanner.

My problem is that clients have to sever my contracts for a myriad of reasons but usually try to hire me back at some point. Cool, right. Except I keep all their paperwork and if they do call back, I spend 2 days going through it all to refresh my memory. Which TOTALLY impresses them, so I need to keep this stuff.

My solution is that I scan what my patience and my scanner will allow, archive my email folders, and write every to a CD/DVD. Then I box up the paper, put a binder clip on the corner of the CD envelope so I can find it, and store it all together.

I’ve kept this stuff for over 10 years now, and I have actually gone back to the boxes in order to get samples for new clients. So I guess I can’t really get rid of it, but I try to keep the space constraints to a minimum. And I am more aggressive about asking for electronic copies than I used to be.

By: KateNonymous

KateNonymous — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:43:20 +0000

@WilliamB, that’s a good point–it’s also a good next step to my “starting point.”

And neither calculation has to take away a lot of time from anyone’s regular duties. For example, in about 10 seconds I concluded that reducing my file-and-supply searching time by 4.5 hours would equal the cost of one of our fairly common printing orders each week. The cost of having our administrative assistant spend two hours organizing and 10 minutes a week maintaining our supplies would be much less than that, and would take less time by the end of week 2.