Hunt And Peck

Have you ever watched a dog bury their treasure and find it later? I carefully choose the place I think is an ideal spot. I will dig as deep as I think is necessary and drop the item there. My nose always knows where to take me to find it again. Mama doesn't quite understand how that all works, after all , to her a bone is a bone, and she thinks they all should smell the same. However, there are some differences. In the same way, people have their own way of organizing things so they can find exactly what they need, when they need it. Mama talks about that in today's blog: Have you ever met the employee that knows exactly what is expected of her, but her method of putting it all together is to hunt and peck? Fortunately, she knows exactly what pile and corner "it" all lays, but, how does that help out the co-worker that has to fill in for her when she is absent? I was an administrative assistant for a director who had piles upon piles in her office. If you asked her where client so and so was, she knew just what pile and how many folders down it was. I was fortunate that I rarely got a phone call from a customer asking for something that was buried in the heap of file folders. One day my director asked me to help her keep organized. I have to admit, as willing as I was to help her, I did all I could to keep myself from laughing. It seemed an unrealistic task. We actually did find a system that worked for the both of us. We organized and filed all important papers--articles, forms, things she could always go to when it was necessary, but they were not part of her daily routine. We got a new rolodex and started from scratch, eliminating contacts she no longer needed and adding those that recently had come. (These methods helped me as well) As for her client folders--well, those piles I couldn't break her from. She had so many projects going on with so many people at one time that it was just easier for her to sit at her desk with little space to write, and know she could get to any specific folder the minute a client called. For me it was a chaotic mess. For her it was just a simple reach across the desk. If you didn't mind sitting in her office, chatting with her around all those piles, she was a happy camper! Tomorrow's blog: The Eager Beaver! Here's waggin at ya! Bring your agonizing organization battle to mama at sb@acovs.com and mama will share with you special tips on how to handle your problem!