Five Tips For Decluttering Your Business Day
Whether in your living room or in your office, clutter can be overwhelming. The Harvard Business Review recently reported that cluttered spaces can impact everything from our sleep and stress levels to our ability to perform during the workday. It’s a common recommendation when it comes to living spaces: Reduce clutter so you can more easily find the items you use on a daily basis and to create a more calming atmosphere overall.
Business operations can also benefit from decluttering, especially during times of uncertainty, when employees may be managing more stress and distractions than usual. There are simple steps leaders can take to help themselves and their employees work more efficiently—without being dragged down by disorganization and excess stuff. Here are five ways to declutter without a trash can.
Streamline Your Virtual Company Culture
Virtual happy hours can go a long way in team-building, but too many people on a video call can take away from the experience. Rarely do live happy hours result in one big conversation among a few dozen people all at once; rather, they’re usually a series of smaller chats. Instead of packing virtual gatherings with too many employees, try recreating the serendipity of mingling. One way to do this is via an app that can introduce employees across departments and locations, and foster one-on-one conversations. Some tools can also welcome new employees by pairing them with instant social connections and mentors, and boost morale by running a lottery program for special experiences—a virtual coffee meeting with the CEO, for instance. Another platform similarly pairs people up (randomly or through preferences) and enables one-on-one connections for networking, professional or social purposes.
Focus Your Networking, Outreach And Social Media Efforts
Many entrepreneurs join numerous networking groups across a variety of social media platforms, and maybe even paid professional groups do, too. Since virtual networking has largely replaced in-person mixers and cocktail parties for the foreseeable future, it could be easy to miss out on opportunities simply because your feeds and inbox are clogged. Carve out some time to reevaluate the groups you’re a part of. In the past, which have netted new clients, useful connections or exciting projects? Which ones are just noise? Which groups were helpful early in your career, but you’ve since outgrown them?
Simplify Your Workday
Small business owners without someone to handle their administrative work often face the clutter of small tasks that can be automated, whether for free or at a very low cost. Can you avoid the back-and-forth of arranging calls with meeting coordination and scheduling tools? Can you record meetings and rely on an artificial intelligence-based transcription service for inexpensive documentation, allowing you to easily digest and react to calls and conversations? Can you streamline and more effectively manage expenses, projects, files and tasks across teams with task management apps and other digital tools?
Shred All Documents, Not Just Hard Copies
Shredding sensitive papers takes on new meaning in the digital era, since many companies have moved most of their documents online. Consider outsourcing the destruction of electronic documents and data in a more secure way than just deleting emails or tossing old disks into the trash. Companies can destroy old hard drives, outdated CDs, DVDs and more, minimizing risk and preventing an identity thief from accessing sensitive information from older files.
Bring Order To Your Office Space Via Strategic Additions
Whether you’re back in your office or still working remotely, clearing unnecessary papers, files and books from your workspace can also help clear your head. But strategic adding and replacing can help this effort, too. Will a bigger or more prominently placed recycling bin make you more likely to clear papers off your desk? Will an ergonomic keyboard help you type for longer? Will a more comfortable desk chair allow you to work more productively? In this distracting era, a few simple upgrades can go a long way as employees aim to streamline their business days and boost their output.
Source: Forbes
Patty Block, President and Founder of The Block Group, established her company to advocate for women-owned businesses, helping them position their companies for strategic growth. From improving cash flow…. to increasing staff productivity…. to scaling for growth, these periods of transition — and so many more — provide both challenges and opportunities. Managed effectively, change can become a productive force for growth. The Block Group harnesses that potential, turning roadblocks into building blocks for women-owned businesses.
