Office Management: Organizing Your Files

Managing a corporate office for over ten years has taught me many things. One of the first rules of creating an effective and productive office is organization. Even if you're just faced with your piles of papers and to-do lists at home, file organization can be a life-saver.

Despite the ever-increasing chorus of companies to go paperless or reduce paper (including the Internal Revenue Service), we continue to be inundated with paper on a daily basis. Creating organized files for that paper can clear up your desk space, and make items easier for you and others to find. It's no secret that organized files equal greater productivity and happier workers.

These tips will help organize your work or personal office by organizing those paper piles into a logical and effective file management system. (For a stretch, try thinking of your home office as a corporate entity, with all the needs and wants of a "real" business.)

Take Stock. Every organization works differently - personalities are different, working styles are radically different, and work products are different. A medical office is going to have a different file system than a construction company. Research filing methods that will work effectively in your company.

The organization I work for provides third party administration and consulting services. We organize our files into sub-categories, relating to our specific industry. For example, a landscaping company might organize their clients by name, then have sub-files containing billing information, quotes, and service contracts.

If you're organizing at home, Barbara Hemphill's "Taming the Paper Tiger" is an excellent resource for taming those paper piles. While organizing, be creative - use different file colors, inks, and paperclips. I've found that making things a little brighter makes filing less of a drudgery.

No matter what your office filing system looks like, it's essential to remain consistent. Don't have one system for one client or patient, and another for another. Keeping the same system across the board generates simplicity, which translates into greater productivity.

Get everyone on board. This may be the most challenging aspect of organizing your files. At home, family members may have wildly different ideas of how to store the warranty manuals. Take a deep breath, and remember that sometimes compromise is sometimes the best policy. At the office, you're going to have to have an organizational leader to maintain quality. If you've got twelve people filing twelve different ways, you're inevitably going to run into trouble. Even if you have a committee to determine the filing system, appoint a lead "organizer", and defer all filing questions to him or her. Work with employees and co-workers and emphasize that stick to the system is important for both their jobs as well as the entire organization.

Go electronic. Technology has made great leaps and bounds over the past ten years. Our office is partially paperless, due to increases in scanning and storage capabilities. After scanning paper, the electronic versions are organized in a computer "file cabinet". As with any paper files, it is absolutely essential that you have software that fits your need. Information is only as good as your ability to locate it. Follow the same rules applied to your paper system, and your computer files can be as organized as your paper files.