Getting organised benefits your clients and so this is an important element of value.
What is It?
Organisation is one aspect of administration. Generally, the aim is to organise so that specific items are found with minimum fuss.
Human error always limits organisational systems. I once worked in an office responsible for properties across the UK. There were thousands of paper files, stored in a room in a particular order. Everyone knew how to find a specific file and how to return it to the shelves.
Files still went missing. They never left the building but sometimes a file would disappear for days. Experienced admin workers were usually able to track down missing files. The problem was users did not organise their desks to the same degree. Everyone had their own system and passed files informally around the office. Once a file left its shelf space, the rules no longer applied.
And of course, once you found a file, it would not necessarily contain everything it should.
All systems are subject to human error, including online systems. But any system is better than random piles on the floor. A well-managed system saves much time.
We can distinguish two approaches to organisation;
- Employ someone to organise your systems. This might be a private firm or an employed administrator.
- Do-it-yourself, using perhaps online tools such as Trello.
and two modes of delivery:
- A system, delivered by an administrator or to you with a service like Trello, or
- Products that help you organise, such as boxes, files and filing cabinets.
Value to the Client
Let’s dig deeper into the time savings. Lost items are the most time-consuming elements in an office with a complex filing system.
Lost items don’t just consume time searching for them. They consume mental energy. Can they be replaced? Has a member of staff removed it from the office, against regulations? What was in that file? How do I explain the lost file to the client? And on and on.
No system can guarantee against lost items. People make mistakes. However, with a good system:
- You know it is lost.
- If people follow the rules, you can track where it’s been.
- There is an errant file tracking system (sometimes informal, which means the potential is present even if it is not formalised.)
- Everyone agrees to follow the rules that minimise losses.
How to Get There
The basic principles of organisation are well-known. However, an experienced administrator knows the pitfalls and designs a system that works for their office. They save time by guaranteeing stuff does not go astray.
Another way things get lost is where vital papers disappear into a pile of paperwork. This could have serious consequences for an office if bills or cheques go astray. The well-organised system processes and files everything new to the office.
Your Offer
If your offer assists with any of these activities you can market this element of value. You don’t necessarily have to offer complete solutions, you could market filing systems to administrators, for example, to help them do their job.
This is the twenty-second of 31 posts about elements of value. Make sure you don’t miss any by signing up for the offer below. Access posts from this sequence here:
- Social impact: Self-transcendence
- Life Changing: Provide Hope, Self-Actualisation, Motivation, Heirloom, Affiliation and Belonging
- Emotional: Reduces Anxiety, Rewards Me, Nostalgia, Design / Aesthetics, Badge Value, Wellness, Therapeutic Value, Fun / Entertainment, Attractiveness, Provides Access
- Functional: Saves Time, Simplifies, Makes Money, Reduces Risk, Organises
Next: Integrates + 8 more
