Office Productivity

Office Productivity: Reduce the chaos and workload from your office admin

Giles Johnston

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Giles Johnston

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Disclaimer:

The author of this book has tried to present the most accurate information to his knowledge at the time of writing. This eBook is intended for information purposes only. The author does not imply any results to those using this eBook, nor is he responsible for any results brought about by the usage of the information contained herein.

Introduction

Many of the business improvement methods that we incorporate into our working lives are aimed primarily at the delivery end of our businesses. They are not necessarily intended to be solely aimed there, but it is a very common observation that the area of the business that decides what is going to happen is not the same place as the where the improvements are focussed. I don’t know whether this is because people who work in these businesses perceive the problems to be elsewhere, or an honest misconception that the only place to gain an improvement in productivity is the where the production or service delivery actually takes place.

I personally have found businesses less than welcoming with open arms when I suggest that we review the entire business for the productivity gains they seek, especially when I have been told that the problem is in a specific area. I can wholeheartedly understand that it could be perceived that I am looking to increase the amount of work in my projects, but this is not the case.

When you improve the performance of the office within a business then the gains made at the delivery end can amplify.

When you improve how a business coordinates its resources more gets achieved overall.

When you improve how a business uses its data better decisions are made, which improve customer service and product quality.

When you improve how a business processes its paperwork it becomes a more flexible and reliable business to work with.

When the office raises its game there is no reason why the ‘operational’ part of the business cannot step up too. It’s a great example of lateral leadership.

Whether your office is in tip top shape, or is rather lacking, this book can help you to find a few new ideas that can improve how your business functions overall. The ideas do not have to be contained purely to the office environment, they can work anywhere. To keep focus however, the examples and focus points have been chosen to reflect a direct application to the office environment.

How to use this book

This book is divided into sections and, as with all things of this nature; some will be more relevant than others to you at this current moment in time.

Whilst the various sections can be read independently, I recommend that you at least have a quick skim through each section if you are considering not reading them all. Each section helps the other sections to become far more effective and so by reading each part of the book you will be better positioned to leverage the information.

At the end of each section are action points that you may consider implementing in your business, reviewing these alone will help you to decide if the specific section is going to make a significant difference to your business.

Finally, some of the material in this book may be familiar to you; after all good ideas don’t go away. If you find that you have already tried a similar idea out in the past, or have already implemented a similar solution then please reflect against your experience and ask yourself if your implementation could be even better.

If you’re ready to start then let’s get into the first main section of this book.

Table of Contents

How to use this book

Does email drive you mad?

Getting more done with less effort

The magic of running like clockwork

Huddles: get a little closer!

5S and organising the workplace

Solving problems once and for all

Using lists for maximum productivity

Making strategy happen every day

Conclusion

Links and resources

About Giles Johnston

Does email drive you mad?

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