Organization plays a strong role both in stress levels and time management. When many people see a messy office or scattered computer file system, they experience a low-grade stress that carries over to many different activities and experiences. When it comes to actually getting work done, a disorganized workspace slows down productivity and can add to frustration.

That's why we suggest you make 2004 your Year of Organization. While memories of New Year festivities are still fresh in your head, take a few minutes to make the following time-saving and stress-reducing steps in your workplace. Believe us, when the end of the year rolls around and you look back at what you've accomplished during the year, you'll be glad you made these simple changes.

Your Computer

We love technology when it works, and curse it when it fails us. Keep your computer healthy and organized for less stress and more productivity with these steps:

• Protect it. Make sure your Virus Protection Software is up to date (install it now if you don't have it already). Run a full system scan for viruses at the end of your work day today to check for contaminated files. If you don't know much about computers, spend 10 minutes familiarizing yourself with your software by going to the Help Section. Should you get infected by a virus or experience other complications, this will help you understand what you will need to do and how to do it. 

• Clean it up. Defragment your hard drive to make your computer run faster and run disk clean-up on your computer. If your computer allows it (check the help section) schedule these maintenance tasks to occur regularly.

• Organize it. Take a few minutes to reorganize your files and programs. Start with your desktop. Erase shortcuts that you don't need, and add shortcuts for some of your favorite programs. Open your documents files and give yourself a half an hour to thoroughly go through and put documents in their proper places. Set up an archive for old files that you don't access often. Look at your files and their organization. If you create a file system that is logical and easy to follow, you won't be stuck saving documents to the desktop or to other mystery locations where you have to do a search to recover them.

Your Organizer

The Organizer: It's supposed to keep us organized, but sometimes it serves as a kind reminder of how disorganized we really are. Kick your organizer into shape with these easy steps.

Spring Clean in January? Ever wonder why we do Spring Cleaning? Some might say we do it to head into the second half of the year fresh and organized. We say it's because, come Spring, things are so messy for most people, it's essential. If you start off with a clean office, you can keep your office clean throughout the year and prevent a mid-year hold up.

• Find a place. Visually, it's important that your office seems clean. Paper, clutter, and other visual mess can make you feel unorganized and stressed. Therefore, put things away and seek out desk space. File papers, put books in a shelf, and take advantage of drawer space.

• Kid in a Container Store. Invest a few dollars in some organizing accessories that will simplify your task of getting organized and will allow you to stay that way.

• Take advantage of Phone Time. Some people pace during conversations, some people clean. That's right. When you are on the phone in a routine call, straighten up your office as you listen and talk.

Make the initiative to start 2004 organized! Following these steps, you can set up a streamlined workspace that will save headaches, smooth out your work days, and add to your daily productivity.

Excerpt from Putting Diversity to Work:

Excercise: Outlining Diversity Competencies for Managers

How able do you feel in each area? Check (þ) the statements that you agree with.

Personal Qualities

¨  I can recognize my own biases and assumptions about others.

¨  I recognize there is more than one way to lead or be successful, and  I can include different styles and cultures in decision-making, brainstorming, and feedback meetings.

¨  I know how to use what others have to offer.

¨  I can get objective information about the cultures of employees and external customers. This includes history, values, holidays, and so on.

¨  I can relate diversity to the business case and overall business strategy.

¨  I can listen objectively to complaints about harassment, inappropriate remarks, and behavior.

¨  I can describe how various markets (ethnic, gender, sexual orientation) affect our business.

¨ I am comfortable with different cultures.

¨  I know the laws related to disability, race, gender, and religion.

¨  I can hold people accountable for the quality of their work, whatever their background or culture.

¨  I am familiar with the different kinds of diversity and can speak comfortably about them with others.
 

Leadership Skills

¨  I can speak and present clearly to a diverse audience.

¨  I can create solid relationships with people who think and act differently from me.

¨  I know how to listen to, influence, and motivate diverse individuals and groups.

¨  I am prepared to mentor, coach, and develop the people under me, whatever their background.

¨  I can use organizational "street sense" and know where and how to get things done in the organization.

¨  I can model and encourage open communication and effective teamwork.

¨  I know how to and am willing to manage conflicts, disagreements, and claims of harassment.

Personnel Management and Performance Evaluation
¨  I am clear about the basic qualifications and competencies that are needed to fill a position.

¨  I can conduct target interviews and not allow assumptions and biases to influence my decisions-for example, hiring someone just because he is from the same culture or gender or because she is from a particular ethnic or racial background.

¨  I can apply the laws about the questions that are appropriate to ask in an interview and those that are not.

¨  I can measure an employee's diversity competencies in an evaluation.

¨  I am comfortable in giving evaluations based on performance.

¨  I can document critical diversity incidents.

¨  I am able to find out what motivates different kinds of people to do their best work and what hinders them.

¨  I know how to study best practices of other organizations and transfer them to my own group.

¨  I know how to develop a large candidate pool for hiring and promotions.

¨  I can create effective measurements of diversity success in hiring, retention, and managing complaints.

¨  I know how to hire a good diversity consultant.

Putting Diversity to Work gives readers the tools to improve their diversity competence. If you left any boxes blank in the exercise above, you will benefit greatly from reading and completing the exercises in Putting Diversity to Work.  At less than $15 for over 100 pages of exercises and insight, this is a great gift to give yourself to start 2004 on the right foot!

Praise for Putting Diversity to Work:

"Putting Diversity to Work intelligently addresses many complex issues both managers and organizations must overcome in order to achieve the goal of the book's title. The combination of sound ideas and clear writing make for a useable and practical document. Most importantly, this book will help managers confront their self-development challenges around diversity. I highly recommend it for everyone interested in being part of the solution for this still unfinished business of our society."
 

Price M. Cobbs, M.D., author of Cracking the Corporate Code: From Survival to Mastery, consults with organizations on leadership and executive development and diversity as a business imperative.

Learn more. Read reviews of the book, see what people are saying, and view the table of content at www.simmalieberman.com... »

About this Newsletter...