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I've met and worked with many people in all sectors of the business world and found that the majority of managers and team leaders are spending too much of their time on basic administrative tasks. Tasks for which they have had no training in. In many instances people are stressed out with too many responsibilities due to ongoing restructuring and downsizing in their organisation.

Get Real

When you have people with the knowledge and expertise to handle specific roles and they spend their precious time on basic administration, organisations are wasting huge amounts of money paying people to do tasks which would best be handled by a fully trained administrative assistant.

These tasks can be delegated if there was someone there to delegate to. This would free them up to do what they do best. They may not require full-time support. Perhaps one assistant could assist two managers?

Make sure you don't have managers who will take it on themselves to help their assistant out as the assistant is overloaded! That doesn't make sense. I've seen this happen many times where the manager feels guilty delegating tasks to his assistant because they know that person is already stretched to the maximum.

"Everyone Knows ..."

To be effective in any role we need to be organised. Too often it is taken for granted that "everyone knows" how to organise themselves, their time, their paperwork. That's a myth! If they did then there wouldn't be so many stressed out people in the workplace working long hours and being unable to cope with their workloads*and I wouldn't be in business!

Cut Costs Without Cutting Your Own Throat

If your organisation is or has already cut resources to the bone, whatever you do make sure that those people remaining continually keep improving their skills so that they can perform to the best of their ability.

Be careful the cost cutting strategies don't burn your people out so they end up leaving.t can cost an organisation thousands of dollars to replace a valuable employee.

The Final Word

Learning how to be better organised will help you and your team be more productive. If you're more productive you feel better about yourself, you're less stressed, you get more done and therefore have more time. And in this fast-paced society isn't that what many people want? More time for themselves, and their families.

Can You Really Improve Your Organisation Skills?

I'm sure most of you have heard of Zig Ziglar International Sales Guru. Well in one of Zig's weekly newsletters, there were a number of comments about the habits of well-organised people which I couldn't resist sharing with you.

What are the habits of well-organised people?

Can a person be 'taught' skills that will make them organised, or is that a quality you either possess or lack?

We asked those questions of our readers and here are some of their responses:

"I think that natural abililty has to be coupled with good training to fully develop skills such as being organised."

"Thankfully, organisation skills are learned. The first requirement is DESIRE. The second is WORK! By consistently using such tools as a well thought out set of goals, a planner and a PRIORITISED daily "to do" list, I have made a positive difference in my personal and professional life."

"A well-organised person reviews their actions each day. They assess where mistakes were made, identifying ways to eliminate those mistakes in the future. They assess areas for improvement. They also plan out their day ahead of time. These habits can be learned by anyone."

"Improving your organisation skills is teachable and there are hundreds of tools to help you achieve that end. But first I have to "want" to learn that skill. I have to see the need and the resultant advantage to me and my business and then I will be willing to learn a new skill."

"Orderliness is a character trait. Organisation is an outcome of that trait. Character qualities are learned behaviours that develop throughout our whole lives - not just while we are children."

"Yes, everybody can be taught organising one's life. It's only a question of changing habits, however, everything is connected. You cannot be a complete mess in your personal life and expect to be perfectly organised in your business life."

So you see it doesn't matter who or what you are, anybody can learn the basic fundamental skills and experience the daily benefits of being organised.

It's just a case of recognising that you need to improve in that area and as mentioned in one of the comments, you have to have the desire to change. Of course the next thing you have to do is take action!

Then you too can experience the benefits of being organised such as having more time to do what you want to, improved confidence, having more control over your life, reducing your stress and feeling good!

It's all up to you.