Bang Head Here Pillow 2011
I’ve had a series of days recently where I’ve really felt like I was banging my head against the wall trying to come up with solutions to problems or just get something done! Here is a nice soft pillow and my soft answer to wanting to”Bang Head Here” when issues arise!
Sue Darby
BS Business Management & Information Technology
Chocolate Manager
Projects abound in the workplace. Long and short term projects along with high priority and many other criteria. So how do we keep track of all of it to make sure each one is getting done?
I work on a 15 person team including as a support and as a lead for my own staff. We have adopted task cards. These were a communications brainstorm since sticky notes can often be lost or worse illegible these cards are recyclable and used for common tasks others ask my team to do since we’re their support! The other thing that Task Cards tracking is where a project is within a defined process. This ensures that if a boss walks into your office while you are out on vacation and needs something they can tell where you are on the process. It can even tell you where you left off at a later date!
We have task cards for nearly everything now. One deals with copies, fax, mailing and filing tasks. Another deals specifically with scanning and is used as a guide for file naming structures. Yet another task card deals in a screening process and the last in a file folder conversion process. Each one is 1/4 page on color paper and we only mark on them in pencil allowing us to recycle until the ink rubs off or the paper gives out! An added bonus is just about anyone incoming can check the card on an item and know what to do with it next!
Below you will find examples I hope will inspire your own task cards. If you do use the concept please come back and tell me about it!
Pre-Screening Processing Cards Processing Cards for Dark Color Paper
Sue Darby
BS Business Management & Information Technology
Chocolate Manager
I have approximately 1000 files to get things into or add to the collection of files. Several of them take up a whole drawer by themselves and are several years old but because they are active files I can’t just send them to storage or archiving and so we have 10+ years of “stuff” from each agency. One such provider file is a whole drawer by itself. Recently there have been discussions on how to cram more into the cabinets we have since there’s no more space for more cabinets! The brilliant brainstorm I came up with is to take that old historic data and put it into 3 ring binders on top of the cabinets and only keep the most current in the drawer. For several of the largest files that will free 2/3 to 3/4 of a drawer leaving space for more providers and future expansion. I can think of at least 3 files that are that large!
It will be a lot of work but in the long run we will have the space so desperately needed for more files!
Sue Darby
BS Business Management & Information Technology
Chocolate Manager
Once in a while I get too many things to do and feel a little bit buried by it all. Recently one of my volunteers got a regular job (yay him!) but what he was doing fell to my remaining volunteer and I to try to divide up again…..we adapt well.
Sue Darby
BS Business Management & Information Technology
Chocolate Manager
Sue Darby
BS Business Management & Information Technology
Chocolate Manager
Sue Darby
BS Business Management & Information Technology
Chocolate Manager
Keep in mind that this sign caused my boss to nearly have a heart attack! I am dangerous when bored…. I come up with brainstorms to make things better! She found something for me to do tho but not before I came up with ideas!
Sue Darby
BS Business Management & Information Technology
Chocolate Manager
I write down everything I want to remember. That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember what it is I wrote down, I spend the time looking for the paper I wrote it down on.
- Beryl Pfizer
Sue Darby
BS Business Management & Information Technology
Chocolate Manager
This starts a series of office signs I’ve made for my work area….
SWOT Analysis:
Strengths=I work here.
Weaknesses=All these other people work here too.
Opportunities=Figure out how to clone me.
Threats=Eventually I’ll be offered more money.
~Laura White-Richie
Sue Darby
BS Business Management & Information Technology
Chocolate Manager
Changes can be small and subtle or massive in scope and impact. Having a plan for some of the larger changes in life can help make change not as overwhelming. A project plan can help by giving you a place to write up a task list and give yourself due dates and the option to delegate to someone else. It can also track costs and time requirements.
Project plans can be large and cumbersome as in large projects for work or they can be simple as in a simple task list with names and due dates next to each item.The tools for larger projects such as building something, moving or large group projects can be managed by a large list of programs from Project 2007 (Microsoft) to Planner (Open Source) along with a wide variety of online tools in between. It depends on how many people you have involved in the project as to what kind of system you might need.
Most of the projects I do are along the lines of task lists with due dates and potential delegation names. For this I use a form I created in Excel in various sizes. It depends on the project as to what size I use. I have a half page planner that I use in my purse for short term projects that I just hand write what is needed. I also have a full size planner I type up formal plans into for work projects so I can hang them on the wall and see what I have going on visually. For me the benefit of a simple project planner is that I can see what is going on at a glance and I know what is next on that project’s list even if the list is not in date order. Build a project plan for anything and everything that is more complex than a good dinner! It’s worth the time and effort to know the details of cost, time and resources needed!
Do you create a plan for projects?
Sue Darby
BS Business Management & Information Technology
Chocolate Manager
