To organize..............
Organizing technique and insubordination!
Ways of organizing!
To become successful in every venture, one must organize his thoughts and then tasks. I have worked both in field and managed office works. Several times, i found that i take a lot of time to organize the works or priorities. When working in the office, i always find that i have to search for things everywhere, whether it is a document, books or records or files. The reason is lack of concentration or focus in my day to day works or even desk management.
After a long time, i found certain credible methods by which we can undertake the tasks easily. Whether it is a field work or paper work, we need to plan meticulously. First things first. This is where our skill in organizing things or tasks count.
Being a middle level executive, i have to watch over documents, files and even confidential works which should be handled only by me. All the executives have to go through different files and send it to the Senior executive for vetting or for approval. Hence my work involved 'decision making at my level and recommending the same to my Senior Executive. There are few subordinates who are preparing the basic files and putting up to their executives for further action. It is normal that the desks of each executive contains many files, drawings, estimates, tenders etc., Most of the time, the Senior executives will give priorities to certain aspects of the works like estimates and tender. Hence we should prioritize the tasks in the morning and follow it up till its fulfillment.
In the beginning, i was not able to properly organize the tasks as per priorities. I was just attending each file as it come to me. But there are certain routine files which can be kept for a day or two. Hence first classify the files as "urgent, top priority, routine and normal categories. First deal with the urgent and top priority cases. When those files are dealt, we can attend to the normal file works.
During the course of my studies in Collage, I had come across a beautiful book "How to stop worrying and start living" written by the famous Dale Carnegie. I would like to highlight certain salient points so that we can execute any task without any apprehension or tension.
1. Attend one work at a time.
2. Prioritize as per the need or urgency.
3. Finish the work completely before taking up another task.
4. Live in water tight compartment. The idea is that you should concentrate on one task and should never worry about the other pending works.
5. Live each moment and do not bother about future. Do not worry about the past or future. Focus only on the present.
6. Clear your desk of other papers or folders not connected to the present work.
Organize your thoughts: This is more vital than organizing your work desk. Most of the time, we find our thoughts are much disturbing and distracting. Most of the thoughts arise for pleasing the ego self. When we are working in an office atmosphere, it is inevitable that we come across many different personalities. There may be some revolting subordinates who question every instruction of yours. After few such interruptions, we tend to get a negative picture of the worker and we desist to deal with them. Here, we have to subdue our ego and go into the bottom of the problem. Have a friendly talk with that problematic worker and find our the psychology of the individual. Is he jealous of you due to your position or comparing himself with you? Is he having a real problem which you can help to solve? It is difficult to deal with many. But in most of the Offices, we may have to deal hardly with only one individual who is queer compared to others.
Do not take to heart, the criticism by your sub-ordinate workers. These are all very common in work places. Be sympathetic with erring individuals. Politely point out the errors and instill a confidence in him telling him that he can produce a nice work. Appreciate even a small improvement you find in such individuals. In course of time, he will understand and co-operate. In my work place, i had to deal with many corrupt officials who hate honest people. For them, money is the only consideration for undertaking even their duty. Sometimes, i had to face many awkward situations, when many such workers revolted against my reputation. They even threatened me that they will complain about me to the vigilance department. I was amused! Here, the corrupt workers threatening me for my transparent works.
One of my colleague knew me and my nature thoroughly. He was in the administration. He kept his foot down when people complained against me. He threatened them that he will expose all their lies and corrupt practices. This brought an end to the period of turmoil. Finally those who stood against me came to my table and appreciated my honest work! Though we can not avoid tension is work places, we need not bow down to unscrupulous people.
Finally, leave your problems at work there itself. Do not bring it to your home. Do not spoil the mood of your spouse and children. Spend the valuable time you can spare for the family.By proper organizing, you can perform works in a better manner. When the mind is agitating, ignore it or be indifferent to those thoughts which cause agitation. Most of our worries do not fructify at all. Hence give the problem, its worth. Not more than that. Try to solve it with the available inputs instead of brooding over it. Never postpone any work which you can deal it today itself. By the above methods, we can avoid unnecessary tensions in work.
If we are mindful of the correct places where we used to put our records, no time will be wasted in retrieving them. Keep separate colored folders to keep different record. You can easily search them by the colors. Never forget to keep confidential documents in vaults with the keys in your personal custody!
