Organize for your future

On April 3, 2008, Vicorp Restaurants Inc., the owner of the Village Inn and Bakers Square family-style restaurant chains, filed for bankruptcy protection in Wilmington, Delaware,. They cited rising food and labor costs and lower consumer spending, filing for Chapter 11 reorganization, according to the Denver Post.

The unfortunate outcome was that 56 Village Inn restaurants were closed throughout the country, and 1,750 full-and part-time employees were fired. The employees at our local Village Inn are now fearing for their jobs, which adds a lot of stress to their lives.

There are some important life-lessons to be learned here.

1. Don't leave all your eggs in one basket. Village Inn did not seem to be the kind of restaurant that would have financial trouble. If they can, then a lot of other businesses could end up in the same situation. I'm not trying to add stress to your life. I'm simply saying, if there are things you could be doing to be ready in the event your employer ran into difficult times, you should be doing those things now. That should include having some savings to get by for a while. Don't wait until you get to work one day and hear, "By the way, we're closing. You're fired." That has happened at several businesses in our community in the last year or so.
   
2. Think ahead. One local employee is wondering if she should go back to school. She said it would be hard, especially with four children. Besides, she would have to get her GED first. My question is, what is she waiting for? Why hasn't she worked on getting her GED a long time ago if she thinks that is something she might need in the future? There is no reason to wait until you don't have a job before starting to work toward your future.
3. Don't count on your employer to be nice. Those days are long gone. Be the best employee you can be, but don't think your employer will be nice if push comes to shove. When finances are involved, business don't care. You could be out without any notice. That's what they mean by an "At will employer." They can fire you "at will."
4. Follow your dreams. It would be really sad to work for 35 - 40 years doing something you don't really like, then retire and say, "I wish I had done something else with my life." If there is time, chase your dream. Do what you can to work toward doing what you want to do.
   

I'm not trying to scare anyone. I just think this situation with Village Inn shows that it is wise to not count on things staying the same. Plan ahead, be ready for anything, and follow your dreams. Hopefully you will not have to fall back on this advice, but it could save a lot of headaches down the road if you are ready.

Five Tips for Following

I am not a "natural" leader. I am much better at the behind-the-scenes stuff. I am great at getting things organized once someone else has come up with the idea and has brought me on board. But I'm not the "idea person." I need a leader for that.

Many times we just sit back and criticize our leaders/bosses because we don't think they are doing the job right. We wouldn't necessarily want to be in their position, but still we talk behind their backs. Or perhaps we are envious of their position, and secretly think we should have their job.

Well, there are better things to do with our strengths while we follow or work our way up to the leadership position. For those of you who find yourselves in any of the above situations, here are some helpful tips for "following-the-leader," excerpts from The Enlightened Manager Blog.

1. Balance out the leader's strengths. If you work for a highly directive leader, one way to balance their strengths would be to ask good questions and strive to create a balance of advocacy and inquiry in the group. Or if your leader is a big picture thinker, you might contribute some of the detail-oriented bits that the team needs, to create a well rounded approach to issues.
2. Observe and learn. Learning from your own mistakes and triumphs is powerful. Learning from the mistakes and triumphs of others can be even better. Rather than sitting and making judgments of the leader, use your follower time to make observations about the whole team.
3. Boost your Leader Up. Leading teams can be tough, so when you see your leader making a good point or trying to lead a necessary but difficult conversation, offer your support both verbally and with your body language.
4. Practice your Challenging Skills. Challenging the group might include sentences that start "I'd like us to look at this from another angle..." or "I think there is something we are overlooking...." or even "I'm worried that we're making a mistake."
5. Relax a little. For those of you in leadership roles, it can be draining at times. When you are in situations when you are a regular-ole-participant, kick your feet up a bit (at least mentally) and enjoy a brief respite from the demands of leadership. Strive to be the employee that you would like to have on your team.

I hope these tips are helpful for you. Perhaps they can make your following a little less stressful. We can all use that. And hopefully you can have a little better opinion of your leader/boss because leaders need a lot of good followers to get their jobs done. Be a good follower. That way, if you someday do become the leader, you will have built a good reputation and will have some loyal followers of your own!

Organize by reusing old things

Sometimes when we are ready to get organized, get rid of clutter, or clean things up, we think we need to buy something new to get the job done - a new storage container, for example. However, as Deniece Schofield points out, "One way people can cut down on clutter and organize themselves better is to find new uses for things they already have sitting around the home."

That makes sense. If we're trying to get rid of clutter, then using some of that clutter to help us out will already help the cause. She says, "I always recommend that before you shop for anything to get organized, you should look around to see if there’s anything else you can use. When you’re really pressed for space, you have to think creatively."

In other words, find new uses for things you already have. That saves time and money. So when you are looking around at things that seem to be clutter, think about how else they might be used. Be creative. It could even be fun thinking of new ways to use old things! Just make sure you don't fall into the trap of thinking now you have to save everything in case you might be able to find some new use for it some day. That is the definition of clutter for most of us!

Organizing your Office

Your office can be the place where you spend the majority of your time away from home. If your office is cluttered and disorganized, it can therefore easily be a major source of the frustration and stress you take home from the office (and dare I say it, take it out on the family!) Therefore any time spent getting your office organized is time well spent to reduce some stress, not to mention improved efficiency. I don't think anyone could be efficient in an office that looks like the one in the picture. If that is how your office looks, you really need to read the rest of this post.

Craig J. Vom Lehn shares some good tips in his "How to become successful!" blog in an article entitled Ten Ways to Get Rid of Office Clutter. Here is his list, then I will highlight one I think is especially important.

1. Assess your space. Is there a place to store non-priority files, extra office supplies, etc?
2. Take immediate action. Decide daily which item you no longer need and get rid of it.
3. On Friday, go through your desk ten minutes before work ends and throw away things that you know are just idle clutter.
4. Organize and systemize. Organize paperwork, reports, etc. into files that are filed by a system of priorities.
5. Remove personal clutter.
6. De-clutter your computer. (See my previous post Organize your computer's desktop)
7. Clear floor space. This will create a perception of more space (and people won't trip over things!)
8. Don't become a dumping ground. (I'll highlight this one in a bit later.)
9. Learn from others. Visit other de-cluttered offices to pick up tips for yourself. Notice how they use desk and floor space efficiently.
10. Keep it clean! Keep office furniture dusted, trash bins empty, throw food stuffs some place outside of your office (do you really like those lingering nasty smells?)

By utilizing these organizational tips, you will boost your job productivity. And that is a good thing!

Now to # 8. Don't become a dumping ground. Here is Craig's explanation. "When you're working on a project with others, let one of them become that place where all project-related documents are kept. If a co-worker wants to leave a stack of papers for you to review, offer instead to visit your co-worker's office to review them there. This also presents an opportunity to take a break away from your office."

The break away from your own office is good. It gives you a chance to stretch, to get your mind off of your current tasks for a bit, to let your mind flow freely while you walk to the other office (that's when solutions to problems often present themselves), gives your legs a little exercise, and gives you a change of scenery.

Keeping the "stack of papers" in your co-worker's office also keeps that clutter out of your office. Plus you don't have that stack of papers staring you in the face reminding you that you have to look at them sometime (stress building from the ground up). That way you can schedule yourself a time when you want to look them over and do them at your own pace, rather than because those papers were staring you down until you finally gave in. Don't underestimate the power of a stack of papers!

You can check out the full article for a little more explanation to all these points. Also, see my previous post Organize by dealing with it once!

So there you have it - a way to help keep your office decluttered, your stress level a little lower, and your efficiency a little higher. Wow. Aren't you glad you read this?

Organize your Motivating

An article on motivational tips says research shows that "motivated employees work harder, smarter and more productively; apply more of themselves to a particular job, persevere stronger through tough odds, exhibit more passion towards their job and are more adamant about meeting goals and pursuing targets."

Since that is the case, getting organized about motivating employees is a good thing on which to spend a little time. The most important thing, I would say, is "plan to motivate." Some people are natural motivators. The rest of us have to work at it, think about it, keep it in mind, be aware it is something we need to do, plan to do it, and then figure out how to do it.

It will pay huge benefits if we can motivate people to do what they are supposed to do. Think about those employees who are just there to get the paycheck. If they can be motivated to do what they are getting paid for, everyone will benefit!

Here are the key inspiration pointers from a team at Bayt.com.

1. Start early: Motivating an employee starts as early as the interview period. (I guess that means we shouldn't hire someone thinking "someday I am going to have to motivate this person." Start the motivating right away!)
   
2. Communicate openly: Keep "open-doors" of communication going, being sure everyone knows the goals, strategies, and directions of the company. (That means you have to know where you are going. If you don't, then you better begin with motivating yourself!)
3. Diversify the work: vary the workload, give some peripheral tasks or projects to keep the work more interesting and challenging.
4. Delegate responsibility: give encouragement by giving more responsibility to others. Show them you trust them. (If you don't, I guess you'll have to do it yourself!)
5. Challenge: set the bar high, give people leeway to take calculated risks.
6. Listen and learn: ask for feedback from employees on their expectations and plans. (Don't forget to respond and act on good suggestions.)
7. Train: provide development programs that nurture your staff and build their skills.
   
8. Give feedback: regular constructive feedback is very important. Have face-to-face meetings, not to criticize, but to guide, assist, mentor, and coach.
9. Recognize and reward: be creative about devising ways to recognize and reward creative thinking, superlative performance, innovation, and loyalty to the company.
10. Be fair: being unfair can really hurt your motivational efforts. Make sure employees are competing on a level playing field with equal opportunities for progress and advancement.
    

There you have it. Now you are motivated to motivate, encouraged to encourage, and inspired to inspire! So what are you waiting for? Get out there and motivate!

Organizing your Spring Cleaning

I hear a lot of people talking about Spring cleaning. I'm not sure why there is no Fall cleaning, or Winter cleaning, or Summer cleaning. Spring seems to get a bad wrap when it comes to cleaning.

Lisa Lelas gives some good tips for organizing Spring cleaning. Some of those tips can work well for other projects as well.

Her first tip is to get a jump-start on the cleaning. That way, when the weather gets nice, you can be outside if you want, rather than think you need to be inside cleaning.

Next she suggests beginning with an organizational plan, like a one room a week system to work on over the next six weeks or so. I like that tip. That breaks the project down into smaller parts. If you start out thinking about the entire job, it can seem quite overwhelming. By breaking it down into smaller parts, you can celebrate the success of each small step. You can get done with room one, and then celebrate the success instead of thinking, "I only have one done. How will I ever get finished?" I'm all for celebrating any chance you get. My wife and I like to use "celebrating" as an excuse to go out to eat. We can think of a lot of things to celebrate if we really try!

Lisa goes on to share tips on washing windows, getting a jump-start on the inside while the weather is still cooler, and then moving to the outside when the weather warms up. She also shares her "best recipe" for sparkling clean windows, using vinegar, ammonia, starch and warm water.

She goes on with a another good tip about using different colored wash clothes/sponges for different jobs to prevent cross contamination. And did you ever consider using Alka Seltzer tablets for easy toilet bowl cleaing? I wish I had known that when I worked in the restaurant industry. Those toilet bowls could get pretty nasty, and we were only allowed to use corporately-approved chemicals. I think Alka Seltzer tablets might have worked well.

If you are ready to tackle Spring cleaning, you might want to read her full post to get all her tips. It is worth the read.

Organize your garden

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