Organized Assistant

Exciting New Products from Mabel’s Labels

Janet — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:51:40 +0000

I’ve been in love with Mabel’s Labels since I met one of the owners at a local networking event, back when I was still an active organizer and they were a fairly new company. They started out with a really good product line and, like any successful business, they’ve continued to grow by making those products even better as well as developing new ones to meet the needs of their customers. The last time I ordered a set of Mabel’s Sticky Labels, they were packaged in a small zip-lock bag, which I found to be a nice way to keep them protected until one was needed. I was really surprised when my latest order came, not in a bag, but in a neat little stapled booklet. Now you can simply peel off a label as needed, with no bag to fuss with, and it’s super easy to see how many are left so you know when it’s time to get some more. They come in lots of different colors and designs, so they’re fun for the kids too. Another product that’s been redesigned are Mabel’s Custom Allergy Alerts, shown above. These are durable, waterproof labels that specify allergies on lunch boxes, water bottles, travel gear and other items. Because they’re bright red and white, they stand out well to help ensure that young children with allergies are eating safely. One of the things that makes Mabel’s Labels so great is their durability – they’re designed to last, even after repeated washing – so it’s really interesting that their new Wash Away Labels are actually meant to dissolve in water! How many times have you struggled to remove a label off a container once you’d used up the contents, only to leave behind a sticky residue? Seriously, this is just brilliant. These are great products for your clients and your own family as well. You should definitely give them a try, if you haven’t already. Which Mabel’s Labels product is your favorite?

Organizing For Our Environment

Janet — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:42:16 +0000

For the third post highlighting this year’s NAPO Conference, I’m pleased to introduce Diana Duran Wettling of Practical Arrangements in Austin, Texas. As someone who is committed to an eco-friendly lifestyle, Diana attended a session on Environmentally Conscious Organizing, and is here to share some of the valuable tips she picked up.

Image courtesy of artur84 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net After attending the NAPO 2013 conference in New Orleans, I wanted to share learnings from a session that really struck a chord with me - the Environmentally Conscious Organizing session. It was facilitated by Debra Baida, Eileen Koff, CPO and Megan Spears, CPO. These ladies did an excellent job of educating and encouraging their participants. The organizers I spoke to while walking out of the session were ready to update business plans! Yes - I recycle, I compost, I buy from local farmers and I make environmentally friendly decisions as much as I can. Environmentally Conscious Organizing was a session I was super excited to attend and I was not disappointed. Not only was attending a workshop with like-minded organizers very motivating, but I also learned how to incorporate “being green” in my business. I was enlightened when I understood that as organizers we can make a direct impact on client’s choices AND our environment.

Why be environmentally conscious?

There are tons of reasons! For blogging sake, I’ll just stick to landfills today. We are all super busy and make purchases that make things convenient, such as disposable toothbrushes, water bottles and small packaged snacks. We buy things and use them for a couple seconds then trash them and never think about it again. That package that took us a couple seconds to use can take weeks or sometimes years to decompose in a landfill. Oh! And you know those packages that say compostable? I seriously thought that they would be okay in landfills since they decompose. WRONG, there’s no oxygen. Waste is compacted so much that compostable containers and even grass trimmings are buried in the landfill along with the other trash – not decomposing.

So, how do you become more environmentally conscious?

Think about what you are buying, using and doing. Minimize your purchases, purchase things with less packaging and purchase things that last longer.
Educate yourself on the variety of eco labels. Read the eco labels on the products you are purchasing to become more familiar with them. Do a little research online to get even more details.
Include recycling resources on your website. When you hear about an event from someone, on the news or on the radio post it on your website to let more people know.
Find out what can and cannot be recycled in your area. Visit your local utilities website for the information specific to your area.
Let them know (and feel!) that you are not judging them. Commend your client for any recycling they are already doing.
Help your client set up a recycling system. Find an easy to access spot in the kitchen that fits two bins – one for trash and one for recycling.
Present an environmentally friendly option when a client’s need arises. When new purchases are necessary, let your client know about eco-friendly products.
Introduce a new concept when it comes up during an organizing session. If working in the kitchen, talk about reducing their trash consumption by composting.
Include environmentally friendly tips that will save your clients money on your next blog post or newsletter.
Be specific when taking donations. Let your client know who will benefit from their donations.
Share local recycling programs or events on social media.

How do you get your clients on the environmentally friendly track?

Together, professional organizers can really make a difference – even if it’s a little step at a time. The next time you are working with a client, share at least one new concept with them!

Some of My Favorite Green Products Shared in the Session:

Ditto hangers – they are 100% recyclable! New Leaf Paper – eco paper in cute notebooks! Necklace made out of recycled magazines – Love it!

Resources:

http://www.benefits-of-recycling.com/interestingrecyclingfacts/ http://justlivegreener.com/environment/253-scary-facts-about-landfills.html http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/much-energy-efficient-bulbs-save-3254.html

Diana Duran Wettling is a professional organizer and owner of Practical Arrangements. Diana helps busy people get organized and be happy! She helps homeowners and business owners purge, sort and organize their belongings so that they can have more time to do things they love. When she is not organizing, Diana makes time to garden, craft and read. To find out more about Diana and her services, check out her website.

Downsizing for Seniors – May 2013 Professional Organizers Blog Carnival

Janet — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:17:45 +0000

The National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) has declared this to be National Senior Move Managers Week. Since many professional organizers provide assistance of this nature, I’ve asked my readers to share their expertise in this issue of the 2013 Professional Organizers Blog Carnival.

We have two new participants this month, and I’m really excited to welcome them to the Blog Carnival. As long-time members of the Halton-Peel Chapter of Professional Organizers in Canada (POC), I’ve known them both for many years and not only have I had the privilege of working alongside them on various organizing projects, I’m now honoured to be their virtual assistant! So without further ado, let me introduce them: Wendy Hollick - 5 Downsizing Tips for Seniors Julie Stobbe - 5 W’s of Downsizing And joining us once again: Tracy K. Pierce - 5 Tips for Downsizing With Seniors Amber Kostelny-Cussen - Inheriting Clutter Linda Vanderkolk - Helping Older Adults & Seniors Downsize Rashelle Isip - Time Management Tip: How to Prevent Overbooking Your Schedule When You're Retired Jonda Beattie - Rightsizing Your Home Moreen Torpy - Downsizing a Senior Marlene Devine - 3 Tips for Downsizing Your Space Sue West - Separate the Emotion from the Object Margarita Ibbott - Have you asked the right questions of your Elderly parents? A big thanks to everyone for sharing your posts on this very important topic! If this is a subject you’d like to learn more about, there are a number of training opportunities for you to explore:

NASMM University - archived audio seminars
POC teleclass on Working with Seniors – offered approximately once per month
NAPO course on Downsizing with Senior Clients

You do not need to join the organization to take advantage of the courses listed here, but members are eligible for discounts, among many other benefits. We’re now accepting submissions for the next edition of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, which will be all about Garage and Yard Sales. Please be sure to submit your post before 10 AM EDT on Monday, June 10, as the Carnival will be published on Tuesday, June 11. Photo ©iofoto / iStockPhoto

Helping Your Clients to Move Forward

Janet — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:18:14 +0000

As my guest blogger this week, I’m happy to welcome Samantha Pointer, a regular contributor to the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival and a member of Organized Bloggers. Samantha attended the recent NAPO Conference, and is here today to share the highlights of the opening keynote address by Dr. David Tolin.

This year I had the opportunity to attend the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) 2013 Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA. I had a great time and loved seeing my fellow organizers from around the world. I wanted to share with you some of my takeaways from the opening keynote by David Tolin, Ph.D. about Unmask the Potential in Your Clients: Helping Mainstream Clients Get Unstuck. Dr. Tolin wasn't just addressing how to get unstuck for our clients as professionals, but what he shared also was a help for getting anyone unstuck. Here are a few of the things that stuck out to me during the talk that I wrote down in my notes. Dr. Tolin explained that there is a range of "stuckness" and depending on where you are you can implement some of the tools that he suggests. His main focuses were motivation and having a plan. Dr. Tolin explained that most clients come to us in different stages of motivation. These stages are:

precontemplation
contemplation
action
maintenance

Different clients are at different stages at different times. By knowing what stage the person is in on the motivation scale we can adjust our approach to meet them where they are at. Matching what we do to that stage of change will help get the client unstuck. Dr. Tolin shared how we can provide support at each stage of change for the client. A big nugget I took away about the precontemplation stage is even if a client calls you and tells you they are ready, they still may not be ready. Motivational Interviewing: ACE Dr. Tolin talked about the spirit of motivational interviewing: ACE, which stands for Autonomy, Collaboration, and Evocation.

Autonomy: we shift the responsibility of change to the client. This is a big shift for professionals because we are used to thinking what we say goes. When we shift the responsibility to the client they are free to take our advice or not.
Collaboration: As the professional we are not to be a domineering authoritarian. We are there to create a positive atmosphere that is conducive to change. Clients don't like when you force change.
Evocation: In evocation as the professional our role is to pull out of our client wisdom, insight and advice and help them get a plan.

The big takeaway is that you just can't be a motivator. You need to have a plan. And Dr. Tolin had really great insights on coming up with a plan that can help you or your client to get unstuck, no matter what stage they are in. The funniest part of the keynote was when Dr. Tolin was describing the different categories of time wasters. They are:

The Crisis Manager
The Undisciplined Procrastinator - mismatching tasks to energy.
The Easily Distracted
The Perfectionist Micromanager
The Systematically Inefficient - only as efficient as the system they are working in.
The Non-Communicator
The Impulsive Wanderer - needs to slow down and process.

I am sure that everyone can find themselves in one of these categories. Various nuggets from the Keynote:

To get unstuck we have to make meaningful goals.
Saying no. We have been taught that saying no is disrespectful but in truth when we don't say no to certain things we are valuing other people's time more than ours. We really need to help our clients and ourselves with this.
Helping our clients brainstorm solutions - we need to not only make them use specific words for their solution, but we need to help them implement the solution and then follow up to see what happened and ask them if it worked.
Decision making - we need to pose challenging questions to our clients, but have them internalize it. As professionals we get it started outwardly and provide structure externally, but help the client internalize the questions so that the client eventually can do it themselves and it will be a normal part of their thought process.
Exposure therapy - You can face your emotion head on and build up your stamina to handle those emotions.
Sometimes people get stuck because they are not doing what they really want. To combat this you need to brainstorm what would make things fun. You need to follow your passion. Revisit what interested you between the ages of 7 and 14.
These strategies can help with any client - even those that don't get stuck.

It was a great presentation and I took away a lot that even I can't express fully in just one article. I hope that some of the insights shared by Dr. Tolin can help you to get your clients unstuck.

Samantha Pointer is the owner of Get It Together! a professional organizing company specializing in residential and business organizing. Samantha specializes in working with people with ADD, ADHD, hoarding issues and chronically disorganized. Samantha has been organizing the TN area since 1997. Samantha is the Director of Technology and Webmaster for NAPO Nashville Chapter. She loves writing and sharing about all things organizing on her websites help-organize-life.com and organizingguru.com. She is the mother to two beautiful girls and enjoys spending time with family and friends. Samantha is a tech geek, foodie and sports fanatic, just to name a few of the hobbies she enjoys.

The Top 3 Ways a Virtual Assistant Can Support Your Blog

Janet — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:05:25 +0000

Do you regularly blog as a way of marketing your organizing business? Good for you! If not, what’s holding you back? Is it lack of time? Lack of ideas? Lack of confidence in your writing abilities? Maybe you’re just a little intimidated by the technology of blogging. But none of these issues needs to prevent you from having a great organizing blog!

Have you ever considered partnering with a virtual assistant to help you get your blog off the ground, or to keep it going? Maybe you should! A VA can support your blog in any or all of the following ways, depending on the particular obstacle you’re struggling with.

1. Technical Support

If you’re not comfortable handling the inner workings of your blog, your virtual assistant can format your posts properly and publish or schedule them on your behalf, so you never even need to log in yourself. Your VA can check for security issues, broken links, or performance problems and ensure that your WordPress installation and plug-ins are up-to-date. She (or he) can also set up a regular backup schedule so you’re protected in the event something does go wrong.

2. Creative Support

If you’ve got lots of great ideas but writing just isn’t your forte, you can simply send your VA an outline or rough draft by email, and she can turn your concepts into engaging blog posts. You can also forward your VA copies of any articles, e-books, workshop handouts or other materials you’ve previously written, and ask that they be re-purposed into blog posts. Visual appeal is more important than ever these days, and your VA can create or source images to attract and hold people’s attention and encourage social sharing.

3. Marketing Support

Publishing blog posts is a good strategy, but it won’t get you results if no one is reading them except your mom and your best friend! A VA will help you get in front of your target market by connecting your blog to your social media accounts, setting up RSS to email campaigns in Mailchimp or iContact, and researching opportunities to expand your audience through guest blogging. There are many other ways that a virtual assistant can support your blog! Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. I’m proud to be celebrating the 5^th anniversary of the Golden Horseshoe Virtual Assistants Group this month, along with my local colleagues. This post is one stop in a blog tour through which we’re sharing information about becoming a virtual assistant, working with a virtual assistant, and our individual areas of expertise. Check out the other posts at http://ghva.ca, and if you happen to be in the area, why not join us for brunch on Saturday?

Get Out There and Speak!

Janet — Thu, 02 May 2013 12:56:34 +0000

A few weeks ago, I posted an invitation for people who were attending the NAPO Conference in New Orleans to share some details about their experience in a guest post, and I’m really excited about the responses I received. My first guest in this series is Lisa Montanaro, with some highlights from her pre-conference workshop. I recently had the pleasure of co-presenting “Speak Up: Crafting and Delivering Killer Presentations” at the 2013 National Association of Professional Organizers Conference in New Orleans. My co-presenter was Monica Ricci, and we presented this as a half-day pre-conference workshop. Why present a workshop on speaking? Glad you asked! Many business owners want to be good presenters these days as they want to speak to add an income stream. Yes, you can get paid to conduct presentations. Organizations need great speakers who have superb content to share and teach. But speaking can also be an effective marketing tactic. Every time you speak, you are setting yourself up as an expert, someone that has information to share. People take notice. Your credibility increases. Your sales may too. Learning how to be a good speaker is not only useful for official presentations. It will help you be a better communicator in many other ways. When you are at a networking event and engage in a conversation with someone, you are speaking. When you are outlining the benefits of working with you to a prospect, you are speaking. When you are delivering a teleclass or webinar, you are speaking. That welcome video on your site? Yup. Speaking. You get the picture. To me, being a good speaker is part of an overall plan to be an effective communicator. Most people think of speaking as only what comes out of your mouth. However, your oral communication is just one part of your speaking. Speaking also encompasses your non-verbal communication, which includes posture, hand gestures, eye contact, and much much more. In fact, research shows that what comes out of your mouth is a very small percentage of what the audience pays attention to. Most speakers focus a great deal on content. And that is appropriate You should have solid content. That is a foundation of a stellar presentation. But the full package requires that you also pay attention to delivery. A lot goes into a great presentation: What you say, how you say it, what you are doing with your hands, body and eyes as you say it, and more. Speaking should be a vital part of any business person’s bag of tricks. It should be something you focus on, practice often, and improve upon. I have coached speakers that are professional organizers, nurses, politicians, rabbis… even a farmer! Effective communication is a fantastic skill for anyone that wants to get his or her point across clearly, concisely, enthusiastically, and persuasively. So, get out there and speak! The world needs to hear you.

Lisa Montanaro is a Productivity Consultant, Success Coach, Business Strategist, Speaker & Author. Lisa has a lifelong love affair and proficiency with the spoken word. She grew up on stage as a performer, served as an instructor and interpreter of the deaf (yes, she can "speak" sign language), and practiced law for 9 years in and out of courtrooms. She originally started speaking to get more business as a professional organizer, and then quickly turned it into one of her 3 main income streams. She qualified to become a member of the National Speakers Association in 2008, which requires 25 paid gigs a year. Since then, she has had the pleasure of delivering hundreds of presentations across the nation and online. She has served as a speaking coach to many people over the years, including police officers, politicians, lawyers, entrepreneurs, organizers, rabbis -- even a farmer! Find out more about Lisa and the services and products she offers at www.LisaMontanaro.com.

Give ‘em Something to Remember You By!

Janet — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:49:28 +0000

Social media is a great tool, because it allows you to place your name in front of your target market on an ongoing basis. But for those who don’t use social media (and they’re definitely out there), you need a different approach.

Traditional advertising on TV, radio, newspapers, or magazines is very expensive and unlikely to be effective for a small service-based business like yours. Flyers are more affordable, but most people will toss them in the blue box, often without even looking at them – something I’m sure you’d encourage them to do! They’re more likely to hang onto your business card, but it’s not really something they’re going to see on a regular basis. Even if they stick it on the fridge or bulletin board, it will likely disappear along with all the other clutter. But you know what just might do the trick? An organizing product that’s custom branded with your business information! If you like this idea, but you don’t have the time or resources to create something yourself, you’ll be pleased to learn that you don’t have to start from scratch. Here are two organizing products that you can have customized with your own branding:

Personal Medical Organizer

Several years ago, I was asked to give a presentation at the public library about organizing personal medical information. Because most people are visual, rather than just tell people about the type of information they should keep, I created a sample Personal Medical Organizer they could look at. I used it again when I spoke about Organizing Personal Documents at the POC National Conference in 2006, and several of the organizers who attended my session expressed an interest in purchasing their own copy. Since then, I’ve created branded versions for many professional organizers and healthcare providers. Visit my Store for more information about this product, and to order your own copy.

Clutter Flow Charts

Your organizing colleague Hazel Thornton created a series of Clutter Flow Charts to help her own clients continue the decluttering process when she was not there with them. She now offers them for sale on her website, and offers Custom Branded Clutter Flow Charts to her colleagues. A number of different Clutter Flow Charts are available for everything from kitchen clutter to holiday decor clutter to mental clutter, and everything in between. Visit Hazel’s website to learn more about her Clutter Flow Charts. When you place your order, please enter OA-JANET as your Referral Code. In both cases, you receive a PDF file which you can either print or send by email. To make it even more useful, you can laminate the Clutter Flow Charts or assemble the Personal Medical Organizer in a binder (full instructions are included with your purchase). Either of these items would make a wonderful door prize or thank you gift that will not only help the recipient to get organized, but will place your name in front of them every time they use it! Do you know of any other products that can be customized and used this way? Please tell us about them in the Comments! Image courtesy of kendoll007 / www.sxc.hu

How to Choose the Best WordPress Hosting for Your Website

Janet — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:15:35 +0000

Are you thinking about launching a new website, or moving your existing site to a new hosting service? With so many choices out there, it can get pretty overwhelming, can’t it? This article from Kelsey at WP Engine outlines your options, and will help you make an informed decision.

How do you choose the right WordPress hosting solution for your websites? Google “WordPress Hosting” and you’ll see results that span all sorts of price ranges and technical specs. You need a document to cut through the noise and help you choose the right hosting for your sites. I’m going to go through and detail out the choices that you have when you choose WordPress hosting. At the end, we’ll get you set up with hosting that is well-suited to the site you’re building, the blog you write at, or the app you’ve created. Let’s start with the 4 basic types of hosting accounts to choose from:

Shared Hosting
VPS (Virtual Private Server)
Dedicated Hosting
Managed Hosting

And that there are 6 major factors to consider when you’re choosing a host:

Speed
Security
Scalability
Support
Tools
Price

Knowing those various features, we can quickly cut through the noise to prioritize which type of hosting suits your needs best.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is a common hosting solution. It’s most compelling feature is price. Shared hosting is cheap. For less than $10/ month you share a single server’s resources with a few hundred other small sites. If price is the most important factor, shared hosting is the way to go. The downsides are that pages will take several seconds to load, and you’ll be responsible for keeping your site secure and updated from hackers and malware. And if you get a spike in traffic because your blog goes viral, there is a high risk that the site may crash.

Virtual Private Server

A VPS gives you more control over your site for development, along with more server resources, since you’re only sharing the server with a few other sites and not hundreds. A VPS account can handle higher loads of traffic than a shared hosting account. You’ll pay a bit more money for a VPS, $20-$100+ (depending on the storage) for the extra control and resources. And the server will be pretty beefy, so it can handle some significant traffic. However, scalability is limited to that server. Once the server runs out of processing power, either because of your traffic load, or maybe your neighbor suddenly got an influx of traffic, your site’s performance will drop as a result. If you’re running a VPS, because you’ve got more control over the server, please make sure you are performing your own security measures to prevent hacking. You’ll receive pretty good support, but the folks you call or email won’t be able to offer much help if you get hacked, or if your site goes down.

Dedicated Server

This is the solution you’ll want if you need absolute control over all the technical aspects of hosting your sites. But you, or your SysAdmin better know the difference between Apache and Nginx, and being familiar with object caching. And someone on your team needs to know their way around a MySQL database, as well as how to maintain your own security protocol and firewall. Dedicated servers give you a whole server, or several, for you to work with. Depending on how you set things up, your site will be extremely scalable under high traffic loads, and you’ll be able to hand-tune the performance and scalability. Dedicated servers are more expensive than a VPS: right at $250-$300 to start. It’s a bit more expensive, but it’s a good solution for websites that you want complete control over.

Managed WordPress Hosting

This elite breed of hosting is the top of the line for speed and scalability, and it also assumes that your site is running on WordPress. That’s a safe assumption, since about 20% of the Internet is built on WordPress. Managed WordPress Hosting means that a company like WP Engine takes care of all the technical details of the hosting and makes sure that your WordPress site is served quickly, usually under a second, and that speed scales with high traffic loads. So if (and when!) you get featured on the New York Times, you’ll be able to handle all the traffic. WP Engine will also manage the security for you, and automatically update WordPress when the latest version is released. Knowing that your site is being cared for by WordPress hosting specialist means that you don’t have to worry about hackers or security. WP Engine even guarantees their security. No other Managed Host has the guarantee. One of the biggest benefits is having expert support when it matters most. Managed hosts have support staff who know not only hosting, but they know WordPress as well, and can offer help in troubleshooting issues with plugins or themes. WP Engine also provides tools like a staging area and automatic nightly backups of your site in case you ever need to restore your site. We also have git for version control. WP Engine starts at just $29 a month. Visit wpengine.com to learn more and sign up today! Choose the right hosting for YOUR WordPress! Image courtesy of Pixabay

Are you a LinkedIn Loser?

Janet — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:21:11 +0000

Although I read a lot of blogs and attend training sessions from time to time, I’ve picked up most of my social media strategies by observing what others are doing on various sites and emulating those I admire. At the same time, I see many approaches I’m careful not to imitate, and in the coming weeks, I’m going to share a few of them with you, beginning today with LinkedIn.

Do you send out invitations to connect, without personalizing the message? Isn’t it a little presumptuous to assume that someone will want to add you to their network if they don’t know who you are or why you’d like to connect? To me, this is like shoving your business card in someone’s hand at a local networking event and saying “call me” as you hurry by on your way to speak to someone else. You might get away with it if you already have a relationship with that person, but even then a personalized message shows that you cared enough to make the effort, and may help them remember how they know you if you’re not closely connected. In my books, being members of the same LinkedIn group is NOT a valid reason to send an invitation to connect. Let’s get to know each other through the group discussions first, and if there appear to be areas of mutual interest, then we can connect directly. Do you spam your connections? I went through a phase where I would connect with just about anyone who invited me, but not any more, not since a few people sent me self-promotional messages almost immediately after I accepted their request. At no point did they take a moment to thank me for connecting or to introduce themselves. Do you ask people for recommendations who have never worked with you? How on earth can they recommend you if they don’t have first-hand experience of your work? They don’t have to be former employers or clients; even colleagues may be able to speak to your expertise and work ethic, but if someone only knows you through a networking group, what can they really say about you that will add any value to your profile? Does everything you post on Twitter automatically feed to LinkedIn? LinkedIn eliminated that feature a while back for a reason – it just didn’t make sense. There are other tools available that allow you to do this, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. If I’m on LinkedIn right now, it’s because I’ve made a choice to be on LinkedIn, not Twitter. I don’t want to see retweets. I especially don’t want to see Twitter IDs, which aren’t even live links on my iPhone. Is your profile incomplete? A profile with only a few sketchy details is about as valuable as a business card with nothing but your name and telephone number on it. If I don’t remember why I have that card, it’s going in the garbage. Likewise, if your profile doesn’t tell me anything about you, it’s not going to hold my interest for very long, regardless of how I ended up there. Is your profile picture anything other than a headshot? If you use a full body portrait, how do you expect people to recognize your face once it’s reduced to less than an inch on the screen? And if it’s a picture of your child or your pet, you’re on the wrong website! LinkedIn is strictly for business networking. For more on this subject, read LinkedIn Profile Picture – Do me a favour, let me see your face. by Margarita Ibbott. I realize that everyone has their own reasons for being on LinkedIn, and that those reasons may influence how they use the site, so you may discount my comments as being no more than the rants of a grumpy middle-aged woman. However, I know I’m not alone in this. A few weeks ago, I posted this question on LinkedIn:

Working on a blog post about annoying things people do on LinkedIn. Got any stories to share?

The resulting discussion was very interesting, with some folks confirming ideas I’d already had, and others raising new issues. What are your thoughts? Do you think there are times when the above actions are acceptable, or even effective? Are there things people do on LinkedIn that bug you? Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filing Policy Planning and Tools for Paperless Office Practices

Janet — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:00:57 +0000

When I attended the POC Conference in Montreal in 2010, I had an interesting conversation with Vince Santaguida, the developer of a unique document management system for the paperless office. Since more and more people are working to reduce the use of paper in their offices, I asked him to share some best practices with us.

I learnt some time ago that to smoothly migrate towards paperless office practices it is best to hold off on buying a scanner until a strategy and tools are put in place to properly manage the scanned documents. Case in point: several years ago we received a panic call from a senior IT consultant from a major financial/insurance firm. He expressed serious concerns that many of their independent advisers were buying scanners in an effort to go paperless without proper planning. The consequences were unequivocally disastrous. Their offices could barely operate because they were having a terrible time locating their scanned documents. The consultant explained that some were relying heavily on the thumbnails to identify the targeted documents; some made an effort to at least rename the PDF’s cryptic file name with a quasi meaningful file name. Although the advisers that started renaming their files were having more success in locating their documents, they were totally discouraged because it was arduous work and it was almost impossible to maintain consistency when naming and storing their files. Our first recommendation was that we should start by establishing filing policies by laying out folder structures but most importantly file naming structures for each of their various business activities. We would also have to find a solution to automate the naming and storage process as much as possible and thus eliminate both their inefficiency and overall frustration. Fortunately at the time, we were nearing the completion of our eXadox software tool that was specifically designed to semi-automatically store and name electronic files by enforcing file naming and storage policies. Admittedly, the initial product was not as elegant as we would have liked, but it reliably and efficiently ensured that the all the files were stored in the proper folder and the files were consistently named based on predefined policy. The interface was such that the amount of typing was minimal because the destination and the file names were semi-automatically populated using pre-defined drop-down smart lists. Almost miraculously, our first eXadox deployment (i.e. installation, personalization, and training) was done in one morning and by early afternoon the client was in full production. Deployment in one morning has been typical; however the filing policy planning effort has always been an interesting challenge. To streamline this effort we later went as far as creating a filing policy planning wizard, eXadox WIZ. The wizard has been great in helping with the documentation portion of the filing policy planning task. We had to also devise a simple but proven strategy consisting of 5 steps to help develop filing policies for each client. They have worked for us and they should work for you. These are as follows:

1. Compartmentalize the company’s business activities into discrete components.

This may be by departments or by business-units. Examples: Accounting: accounts payable, accounts receivable, purchasing; Sales: marketing, customer service, order processing; Manufacturing: production, shipping, receiving; Human Resources: recruitment, benefits; Health and Safety: prevention, incident reporting, case-tracking.

2. Categorize the electronic files (documents) for each business activity.

Are they invoices, orders, quotations, receipts, contracts, drawings, specifications, correspondence...?

3. Analyze what are the origins of these files and their format.

Are these scanned documents, electronic faxes, emails and attachments, PDFs, Microsoft Office documents...?

4. Devise a structured storage plan for each business activity based on the above realities.

This should include a minimum of one folder for each business activity, a sub-folder for each department or business unit; a sub-sub folder for each discrete entity. A discrete key entity is always different depending on the business unit, e.g. client, supplier, employee, product, project...

5. Establish a structured file naming convention for each business activity.

That enables everyone in the business unit to easily and descriptively name each electronic file for subsequent fast, efficient and precise search, identification and retrieval. File names should be intuitive and complete such as in the example below:

Accounts Payable: SupplierName_InvoiceNo_DocType_CostCenter_Date.FileExt GlobalProducts_05475_INVOICE_OfficeSupplies_2010-08-15.PDF

The filing policy planning phase is extremely important and it should be executed diligently because it is fundamental to the execution of a paperless office deployment that takes advantage of a structured file naming and storage strategy. The idea of using structured file naming and storage is not a new concept however it is extremely difficult to guarantee success without proper training and especially without the benefit of file naming software tool.

References:

Folder and File Naming Convention – 10 Rules for Best Practice 7 Tips to Successfully Setup a Computer Filing System Video: Quick Intro to eXadox File Organizer/Retrieval Software

Vincent Santaguida is CEO of MultiCIM Technologies Inc and is the chief architect of the eXadox semi-automated structured file naming and storage software. He is an avid proponent and keynote speaker on paperless office practices and information asset management.