ABCs for Managers who Lead – O is for Organize

Managers organize. They ensure that the right resources are in the right place at the right time. This helps them and their teams work efficiently and obtain the results they desire in a timely and cost-effective manner.

That sounds simple, but not everyone is a good organizer. Some people just seem to have a knack for organizing and their homes and offices reflect that. They have a place for everything and everything is in its place. Their environments are orderly and neat – and they know where to find things.

Other people may not appear to be organized because their environments are messy, but they may have information well-organized in their heads or miraculously they can pull what they need out of a messy pile of papers. They have a different organizational style.

Whatever your natural organization style is, to be a good leader and manager we need to develop some of the habits of the most organized people around us. This is important because:

1. Being organized allows you to be productive. If you know what it is you are to do, what you need to do it and how you need to do it, you are beginning to be organized. To be fully organized you need to have the resources available to follow through. For example, if in order to purchase a desk for your office you are required to complete a specific form. You may know the requisition process, but if you don’t have the form you will lose time. It is much more productive to have a supply of the forms available when needed.
2. Organization supports the implementation of a plan. It is important to have a strategic plan as well as an operating plan, but plans are useless unless they are implemented and they can’t be implemented unless the resources – human, financial and infrastructure – are available as required in the plan.
3. Organization reduces stress. If you know where to find your pen, you will not become stressed looking for it. That’s a simple example, but the stress can be magnified when the item you are looking for is larger or you did not anticipate the need for it and as a result, you are delayed for several weeks waiting for it. Not only might you experience personal stress, but waiting could also stress your budget as you may have to pay people while you wait for the item to arrive.
4. Organization creates assurance and reduces risks. If the files are well-ordered and the standard operating procedures are being followed, the team or unit/department/organization will run smoothly. If they are not, there is the risk that activities will not be completed, or not completed well, or that the activities will be performed in a manner that is haphazard or non compliant.

Organizing well

If you are not “naturally” organized, you will need to decide what small changes you want to make first to become more organized. Do you lose your glasses? Find a spot to put them every time you take them off or keep them on a lanyard around your neck. Do you lose your keys? Find a place to put them – in your pocket, in your purse, in your desk drawer – and always put them in the same place.

What is the next larger way in which you can become more organized? What about your work area? Is your desk clear of clutter? Do you need to file some of the papers on your desk?

Looking at organization from a more macro perspective, How well-organized is your staff? Do they know what they are supposed to do? Do they know how to do it well and what your expectations of them are ? Do they have the resources they need in order to do their jobs well?

Going even higher, how well-organized is the organization you work for? Is there a clear distinction between what one department does versus another? Is the workflow from one department to another clear and does it work? How well-organized is the organization in relation to the external environment?

See for yourself

Seven Habits of Organized People. If you search the internet for habits of organized people, you will find that various authors identify as many as 21 different habits. For simplicity’s sake, here is one with only seven habits that you might find interesting.

Organization Function of Management.