Photo: PixabayThis is part one in a two-part series. The sequel article will publish on TLC tomorrow.
Organization is a skill that comes in handy in every facet of life, but it’s especially important in the business world.
If you are a business owner, your landscaping company will not function without organizational knowledge and practice, and employees will not be able to complete everyday tasks and projects if organization is non-existent in their work environment.
While organization can look different to every individual, as a whole, the concept looks similar across the board. Tailoring certain green industry-specific practices to your landscaping business is a must, but those can be determined after a solid organizational foundation is established.
Take a look at a few beginning organizational tips that can help your landscaping business establish its roots and make organization an everyday occurrence in your workplace.
Physical and digital tidiness
If your landscaping business isn’t already organized, it can seem like a daunting task to take on. If you’ve inherited a situation where organization wasn’t valued or practiced, for whatever reason, be sure to stress to your workplace the importance of creating and maintaining organization.
According to smallbusiness.com, 83 percent of small business owners believe having an organized office is a vital part of their business, and 63 percent believe office organization correlates to their business’ profitability.
But where do you need to start? For each business, this could vary a bit, but a good idea overall is to have each employee declutter their personal workspace. It may seem like small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, but it can actually jumpstart the organizational process and cause a domino effect that inspires organization in other areas.
Studies have proven that when an employee has a decluttered workspace, that person is able to focus on more tasks, get more accomplished and stave off stress more easily than those with cluttered offices.
Smallbusiness.com suggests beginning the process not only by clearing your physical desktop but also your computer’s desktop. Looking at a streamlined, clean desktop can encourage productivity and creativity, so encourage employees to clean off both desktops on a weekly or monthly basis.
Other tips smallbusiness.com suggest are to take control of the plethora of cords and cables that accompany technology, set up a catch-all space for incoming items and consider moving paper files to digital.
Managing cords and cables by simply using zip ties, other binding materials or under-desk cable trays can cut down on visual clutter and keep you from potentially getting physically caught up in them.
Establishing an area in the office that allows all incoming information to funnel to one location can keep employees from being unable to locate certain information, and it makes the cleanup and organizational process easier by limiting the work to one space.
With the push of technology becoming more prevalent, some landscaping businesses may even consider going completely digital with their files and information. This can also cut back on unnecessary clutter on physical desktops, as well as allow the use of digital search engines when locating files.
Businesses interested in moving in this direction can take advantage of the plethora of scanning apps available on smartphones or use traditional office scanners linked to office computers.
To do: Making lists
It may be one of the most cliched suggestions around but creating and following a to-do list can help increase productivity and organization.
Photo: PixabayThe problem most people find when creating to-do lists is that the lists tend to be more of a suggestion than a necessity. To-do lists can also get cluttered with too many objectives, which makes the day’s work look even more difficult.
A good rule of thumb when creating an efficient and attainable to-do list is to start at the beginning of the week and take stock of what has to be done today, what needs to be done this week, what could wait until next week and what could be done if everything else is finished.
Start at the beginning of the week by writing down everything you need to get done that week. Keep in mind that these need to be objectives that absolutely need to be done, not just secondhand things you would like to finish.
Once that’s finished, group any related tasks together in the same block of time to kill two birds with one stone. Next, number or color code tasks according to their level of importance or due date. When determining the order of importance, smallbusiness.com recommends placing priority on a combined system of time-sensitivity, correspondence and productivity.
Adding in bullet point tasks under the main objectives can also help you view that day in more of a “one bite at a time” kind of way instead of trying to eat the whole elephant at once. It can also act as a motivator to try and check off more bullet points as the day progresses. Visually seeing your list dwindle can prove a powerful motivator and can give a sense of accomplishment when the list is completely crossed off at the end of the day/week.
Check back tomorrow for part 2 of this article, where we’ll explore calendars, social media, time management and more.
