Debunking Myths about Organising At Work

In business, we are all guilty of overcomplicating things once in a while. It is the natural tendency for entrepreneurs to ignore what is on the surface staring them in the face and fish instead for some deep, hidden, and enlightening discovery. For example, businesses often try to figure out their competition or sales and marketing efforts to improve their profit margins, when all they needed to do was avoid wastage.

However, nothing really explains entrepreneurs’ tendency to overcomplicate things than all the myths that the business world has created about organising at work. These myths are so strong and so believable that they actually end up preventing businesses from getting organised and professionals from organising at work.

In order to simplify the task of organising at work for you, we are here to debunk all these myths. Consider the following.

Organising at Work Myth #1: It Can All Be Done Independently

Entrepreneurs are go – getters at heart. They are problem solvers and puzzle breakers. They love to come up with different solutions to things independently and without any external help. So, it’s not surprising that one of the myths about organising at work is that it can be done independently.

You can, of course, do it once you’ve done it before or if you’ve read the basis of office filing systems but that doesn’t really qualify as doing it independently.

In order to come up with a system for organising at work, a mind that is free from all other concerns is required which either means a new employee or an organisation culture professional. Alternatively, if neither is available to you, then we simply recommend spending a couple of hour reading about organising at work so you can pick up tips and techniques.

Organising at Work Myth #2: It Will Make a Business Rigid

One of the biggest concerns that entrepreneurs have with organising of any kind is that they think it will make their business inflexible and rigid. So, a common excuse against organising at work is ‘we won’t be able to make quick decisions and take quick action’.

However, this kind of an excuse is pure misconception. Organising at work will actually make a business more streamlined, more agile, and more able to change directions quickly. After all, when all the information is easily accessible, would it not make it easier for a business to ‘make quick decisions’ and ‘take quick action’?

Organising at Work Myth #3: It Isn’t Easy For Diverse Businesses

This is almost a corollary of the organising at work myth #2. This myth is spouted by those entrepreneurs and managers who work at companies where work is slightly more diverse than normal. For instance, a business selling 500 units of a single product wouldn’t have this excuse but a business that is dealing with 5 units of 100 different products will.

Even so, doesn’t it seem logical that a business that has to deal with 100 different types of products will need organising at work more than a business that has just a single type of product? The former business will not only have to deal with inventory of those different products but also invoices for different products, purchase orders to different vendors, and possibly even varying packing requirements.

The variety that such a business will have to deal with makes organising at work even more important. So, it can be said that even if it isn’t easy for diverse businesses to start organising, those are the types of businesses that will benefit the most from it.

Organising at Work Myth #4: It’s Better to wait for a Less Busy Time

People who conform to this mindset are ditherers. They like to put things off while showing that they’re incredibly busy and, hence, important. Their logic is that any organising effort will only interrupt the operations of their business at a peak time which would, in turn, affect their profits.

However, this kind of thinking isn’t only flawed but also myopic in nature. Like the previous organising at work myth, the reason cited as an excuse is precisely why organising is important.

Busy times at businesses usually mean compromises on organisational ethics which is why it is doubly important for organising drives to be put in place. Moreover, busy times are usually also high value periods for businesses where they make most of their profits. This also makes organising at work important during these times because minor organisational tweaks may end up improving overall output of the business.

Organising at Work Myth #5: Installing Equipment Will Solve Everything

When business owners do agree to organising at work, they end up thinking that all they need to do is get the right equipment. The logic is that the use of the right equipment will mean that the office has become organised. These types of business owners usually have a background in technology and rely on it overtly.

However, the thing with organising at work is that it cannot be automated. While the digital aspect of organising at work can probably be automated with the help of automatic syncing with cloud storage, the same cannot be said for physical organisation.

Maintaining inventories, ensuring the accessibility of office supplies and even storing important files are things that cannot be automated. All these tasks need to be done at regular intervals by someone who can make educated decisions as opposed to conditional ones. This is why organising at work drives must involve employees and must not rely on equipment alone.

Organising at Work Myth #6: Organising At Work Myth #6: Following OHIO Is a Must

OHIO stands for Only Handle It Once. This phrase is supposed to be old wisdom pertaining to organising at work. The phrase is right but only in the case of junk items and not everything at work.

However, during organising at work drives many people make the mistake of applying the OHIO principle to everything in the office. You can imagine the kind of confusion and difficulties this can cause.

The OHIO principle only applies to things that you need to throw and not things that need to be rearranged. Keep this in mind and your organisational skills won’t suffer too much.

Organising at Work Myth #7: Once It’s Done, It Never Needs to Be Done Again

This is possibly the most pervasive myth related to organising at work. Business owners think that once they go through an organising drive at work, they’ll never have to do it again when the opposite is true. In order to reap the benefits of organising at work, you need to make organisation culture a part of your overall work culture.

Every employee has to follow organisational principles as a part of an overall work culture. If every employee can do this, then it is the system and its benefits that will be set for life. While the act of organising will be repeated again at regular intervals, the benefits will remains steady too.

Another thing to keep in mind is that there is no right or wrong way to organise. Every business has to start from an established organising system before modifying it to suit its specific needs. Any business that tries to follow an organising system by rote is bound to fall flat because its unique requirements will never get catered to.