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Health & Fitness

Is Your Office Feeling Chaotic? How to Find the Calm

When many individuals think of their office culture, they have two words to describe it: controlled chaos. This atmosphere doesn’t happen on purpose or suddenly; it’s an issue that occurs gradually, often without anyone realizing the slippery slope that’s under their feet. Multitasking, meetings, projects to finish, customers to satisfy. The push always seems to be toward getting more for less. Is your office falling into this?

The Problem With Office Chaos

Are important files frequently misplaced? Do employees have problems staying on the same page because of a lack of experience with the technology you use, or a lack of appropriate training for the job? Do projects end up half-completed, abandoned, or pushed of to management to complete? No matter what type of chaos you’re experiencing, you can change the way your employees act within the office. How? By discovering the real issues behind the problem and fixing it.

Finding the Calm in the Storm

  • Identify the Issue- What’s causing the chaos in your office? There’s always a trail that leads to the true problem. Let’s take misplaced files for instance. Maybe the problem isn’t that Jennifer or Susan often forget to return files after using them. Maybe the real problem lies in the fact that too many individuals actually need the same file and your office has a real need to go paperless. A paperless office means that all files and paperwork is scanned and stored electronically. There are plenty of paperless offices today that state a 60% or more increase in productivity since going paperless. Now, this is just one issue, but as you can see, it often takes a new way of thinking about a problem to find the solution.
  • Discover Why- Once you know what the problem is, you need to consider why it is happening. Maybe you have great systems in place, but your employees need more training with the technology available. Or, maybe you’re failing to schedule or hire enough full time and temporary staffing for the amount of work required. Answering these questions can help put an end to office chaos.
  • Create Countermeasures- Once you know what is causing so much chaos in the office, get on the offensive end instead of playing defense. You should no longer be dealing with problems as they come, but creating plans to prevent them from happening in the first place. Establish protocols, talk to employees, and inform managers of the signs they should be looking for and the proper reaction they should have.
  • Test and Evaluate- After you’ve established a few countermeasures to prevent chaos from affecting your workplace, take the time to test those plans and evaluate whether or not they work correctly. Remember, some things that look good on paper don’t always work in real life. By taking the time to measure and practice, you can determine whether your ideas will work and last.

Creating a productive, effective, and happy workplace means always being on the lookout for problems that can occur. Take the time to prevent chaos before it starts, and you’ll experience an calm, cool, and controlled office environment that will push you toward success.

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