Organise your Business

Le changement c'est quoi ?

2011-10-12T14:36:00.006+01:00

On parle de changement et de son accompagnement, ou encore de conduite du changement. Mais de quoi s'agit-il ? Qu'est ce que le changement dans une entreprise ?

Un changement c'est une modification de la routine et des habitudes de travail qui va générer un stress pour l'organisation ou les salariés. Cela peut aller du simple déplacement d'un bureau ou de la réorganisation de l'espace à la modification des outils comme l'installation d'un outils de facturation, gestion des stocks ou des clients type CRM, ou encore au rachat de l'entreprise et donc l'intégration à une toute autre culture d'entreprise.

On utilise donc un même mot pour décrire une multitude de situations. Faut-il pour autant minimiser l'impact du changement d'orientation d'un bureau ? Non ! Tout changement dans l'entreprise est à considérer, préparer et accompagner.

Il est en outre crucial de prendre en compte les critiques et les observations des personnes concernées. Loin d'être gratuites, elles sont souvent pleine de bon sens et peuvent aider à passer la période dans de meilleures conditions.

How to reduce office waste and save money!

2010-04-06T21:37:00.007+01:00

Recycling or reducing wastes as well as energy conservation are great ways to make substantial cost savings in the day to day running of an office .

1) Computer Equipment

Use modern equipment to your advantage. Send e-mails instead of paper copies by post. Not only will you save on printing, but also on envelops and postage.
Why not print 2 pages of your document on each paper sheet? How to do it? Go to File / Print and check on the zoom drop down menu if you are working on Windows, or layout if you are on a Mac, and select 2 pages per sheet.
Set your printer on black and white by default. Most of the documents printed for your own internal use don’t need to be printed in colour.

Of course, make sure the printing cartridges are recycled.

2) Paper / Cardboard

Set your printer to print on both sides by default.
Non-confidential printed paper can be reused for draft printing. Just have a box ready next to the printer to collect the sheets ready to be reused.
Cardboard boxes can be reused for your own sendings. It saves you not only the price of the packaging, but also the cost linked with the disposal and recycling of it.

3) Office beverages

When you supply beverages for your office, make sure you will reduce wastes and see how they can be recycled.
Tap water is the most cost effective, so make sure there is access to tap water in the break area of you office.
Aluminum cans can be recycled, so make sure to collect them.
Teas and coffees are often more cost effective than juices and produce less wastes.

4) Energy

Use energy efficient light bulbs. They are more expensive but last much longer. We noted that the over-cost of the bulbs is compensated by the saving done on energy bill after only 6 months use.
When you leave a room, simply turn the light off, as you would do at home. And don’t forget to turn off all non-essential equipment. A computer left on standby still uses 50% of the electricity they use when they are on.

Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!

HELP, I am too busy !

2010-03-19T10:31:00.006Z

Do you have work over the neck, don’t know where to start, and piles are becoming higher every hour? You have deadlines to meet, but too much is too much, and you don’t know where to start. Its time to get smarter.

So first of all, take a break and have a coffee. It seems a loss of time, but it actually isn’t, as you now have to check on you desk what is happening, and decide what you are going to do today and what you can do tomorrow, so that you don’t screw it all.

take a piece of paper, and make a list of what you have to do. not only the urgent things. Everything that is in your mind and stops you from getting focussed and efficient.
Is everything Important? Is everything Urgent? this is time to categorise.

I know you are going to say that everything is important and everything is urgent, but think about it, what really is important is what brings money to your business or company.

I personally use a tool that helped me prioritise and focus, its a daily planning. Print it out, here is how it works.

From your very long list of tasks of what you have to do, there are those you are willing to accomplish today. Those tasks should be input on the document and immediately sorted according to 2 criteria:

it is Important or non-important
it it Urgent or non-urgent

Some tasks are Urgent and Important, others are Urgent but not really important...

Now, you have a clearer view of what is really Urgent and Important in your day. I encourage you to write in front of them the 4 thinks you will do first and in which order (1,2,3,4).

The best is to fill the document every morning, before even starting your computer, and keep it in front of you on your desk.

At the end of the day, you should have processed most of your page. I hope it helps. And for the rest of your list, the very long list, please refer to my previous post "how to reduce your to-do list?" , it might be useful.

Now you know what you have to do, and if it is too much for one person, then may be its time to get helped.

www.officemutation.com

Don't look messy, send a Pdf !

2010-02-26T13:01:00.010Z

I receive quite often documents in .doc or .xls format, and people don’t realise that the whole layout has been moved and that the document I receive just looks messy. How can one send a brochure or a CV and leave the layout out of control?

Here are few reasons why you should always send a pdf and few ways of how to do it.

You want the document you send to appear on your recipient's computer the exact same way you created it. With a pdf, if it looks good for you, it will look good for them.
You don’t want to risk sending viruses to your recipients.
The file size will be very small: the smaller your file size, the more chance you have that your recipient receives it quickly.

But how can you create a pdf?

Some programs offer the functionality as a basic. So if you are an Open Office or a Mac user, you don’t see the point.
Fore those using Microsoft, there are many ways of creating a pdf.

You can download Open Office. Its an 100% free Office software, and I personally use it since many years. You can open your documents created on Microsoft Word, Excell or even Powerpoint, and just click the pdf icon on the menu bar. A copy of the file will be saved into pdf.

An other solution is to download softwares like cutepdf.com or primopdf.com .

Stop looking messy and start looking professional.
www.officemutation.com

Outsourcing your admin is Cheaper than doing it yourself

2010-02-10T10:47:00.007Z

While you are working on your administration on repetitive tasks such as:

creating or updating your database,
issuing invoices, and following up on statements,

you are actually running your business but are not bringing any value to it. You should be working on your business instead.
Lets make a small calculation. Let say you spend 4 hours a week on administrative tasks such as:

maintaining your database,
searching info on the web,
issuing invoices,
confirming appointments/ send reminders,
reply to standard first info requests.

4 hours / week = approx. 16 hours / month

Let assume your work is billed 80€/hour
It means YOUR administrative work cost you 1280€/month (80x16)

So basically what it means is whatever the price, as soon as it is under 80€/hour, it is a good decision for your business to outsource it.

Now let assume you outsource the same work with an average price of 30€/hour

16x30= 480€/month

You just saved 1280-480= 800€ in your business

So what are you waiting for?
www.officemutation.com

Time for 2010's planning

2010-01-09T19:32:00.001Z

Ireland is covered by snow, so instead of fighting it, use this opportunity to think and plan ahead. Analyze 2009’s figures, see what worked and didn’t and define your strategy for 2010.

Plan your Year ahead:

The worst that can happen in your business is to be behind schedule, and miss an opportunity. So this is the right time to open a yearly calendar, or an excell sheet divided in months, and indicate:

the seasonality of your business
the special events that you are supposed to take part to
the trade fairs you want to participate to

Once you have a clear picture of all events, add on your calendar when you should start to work on each of them.

For example, if you plan to exhibit at a trade fair in June, you probably have to book your stand in February, and finalize your marketing material in May, while the range of products you will present should be defined and ordered at the latest in April.

Of course, this planning called “retro-planning” should be linked with a budget, in order to validate and anticipate the costs and incomes related to each project.

Get help:

If you don’t have enough time to analyze your annual results, or would need help to make your budget, get help from someone like me http://www.officemutation.com . Controller’s can help you as well understand your results and plan ahead, as can specialized Virtual Assistants.

Enjoy your yearly planning and I wish you a successful business for 2010.

Save time, Organise your files

2009-12-04T13:09:00.008Z

Don’t you find yourself spending hours looking for that file you created on your computer, or this document that you must re-print and can’t find?

December is here, it is time to de-clutter your desk, your thoughts and your computer.

Your computer should be organised as your desk or office in files:

create as much files as subjects you are working on,
create as much sub-files as needed depending on your needs: for example, accountancy will contain the sub-files 2008, 2009 etc.
make sure your files are properly named. If I have many files with the same name, instead of adding 1, 2, 3 ... I end the name with the date of its creation, starting with the year (10th December 2009 will be: 20091210), then your files appear in the right order and you know at a glance which one is the last one

Adopt the clear desktop policy:

When you work on something, even if it is just a test,

save it immediately in the right place with a proper name,
don’t just abandon it on your desktop for later, as you won’t have time afterwards to put it in the right place, and worth of all, you might not find it when you need it.

Try it and let me know if it worked for you.

How to reduce your to do list

2009-11-19T13:45:00.006Z

You have your goals planned, but when it comes to the day to day operation, you don’t know where to start ! Or worse, you have a 4 pages to do list !

Here are few tips to see clearer on your day to day tasks and reduce proscratination (a nice word to say to postpone a task from a day to the next and never perform it).

Lets first check what is on your to do list:

thinks to do now of which few are very Urgent and Important.
thinks to remember to do later
thinks you will never do, and keep adding to your list.

What is for a later date should be clearly identified as such and added to your calendar at the right date.

The aim of this is to free your mind, so that you don’t feel insecure on the day to day operation, with the feeling you forgot this important task.

If you use a paper calendar, just divide each page vertically in 2 and add on the left side what is “to do” on this date. If you use a computer agenda, create a “Todo” agenda, and add the event for the right day.

When you come to this date, either you do it and strike it out, or you don’t do it and reschedule it to the next day (or a later date).

If you have reschedule a task 3 times already, no need to reschedule, you won’t ever do it (hard to admit, but so true).

Try it, and let me know how it worked for you.

Stay on a Chair is not healthy, so what ?

2009-08-23T16:29:00.015+01:00

You are just back from Holidays and feel fit and ready to go ? But after only the first day of work, you start to feel the pain in your back and your whole body.

Why ? Probably because you had a bad position, or because you spend much, too much time in front of your computer. But moreover, It is just not healthy to stay in a chair without moving during 2 or 3 hours.

The solution is quite simple:

take a short break every hour,
stretch your arms, stretch your legs, stretch your feet,
make few twisting movement with your back,
make few light head rotations,
grab a glass of water or a cup of coffee.

I know it is not always easy, particularly if you are working from home, as you may loose track of time, but 5 minutes can make the difference. It will not only improve your back, it might boost your concentration as well.

Try it and let me know if it made any difference for you.