Organizing Your Folder Structure, the benefits of proper organization add up fast! Every minute you waste searching for a file is productive time lost, and it’s true that time is money. Implement a folder structure that will make your life easier and your work processes quicker. It’s obvious that businesses pay employees to work, but how much collective time might your team be wasting while hunting through every corner of a desktop in search of a specific document? How much money have you spent on wasted time? Aside from the productivity benefits, having a well-organized computer also means looking more professional. Don’t get caught in a presentation with a cluttered desktop and vague, silly folder names. Send the message that you are in control of each and every detail of your business.
To best organize your files, get specific. Each of your documents should be saved under labels such as: Clients, Prospectives, Forms, Vendors, Downloaded Software, and so on. This way, when you’re on that important phone call and need to pull a file on short notice, you can do so quickly. Likewise, as you fly through reports on a tight deadline, you won’t lose a second aimlessly skimming through file names. You’ll know precisely where each document is.
Within each main folder, nest more specific folders. For example, under Vendors, you might have a folder for Amazon, a folder for your office supplier, a folder for your technology vendor and so on. Within each of these, you can easily store specific documents such as receipts and correspondence, and come back to them later with no fuss! If you’ve got dozens or even hundreds of folders in one category (a few hundred clients, for example) try organizing them by date or alphabetically in order to further cut down skimming time. Name them consistently so that all information is streamlined. Name Client folders by “Last Name, First Name” for example. The best practice is to decide on a naming structure and stick to it. Switching around will only create confusion!
These tips work best when you modify them to specifically suit your own business, of course! Change up label names (Clients might be Patients for you) and implement strategies that make sense for you and your team. The goal is to know exactly where to click for any document you might need!
Drilling down the small details of office organization may feel like a large time investment up-front, but the hours of frustrated searching and the huge boost in productivity are easily worth it!
Wilson Alvarez
is a Technology Evangelist residing in Miami, Florida. With extensive knowledge in the field, he has aligned himself with the ultimate resources, blogs and aggregates them via this medium & shares them within his tribe. Gallup says: “He is an Activator, Futuristic, Relator, Ideation and WOO!” If you are interested in taking your business to the next level via his Platform Builder Technology, info@wilsonalvarez.com may be the key to that path. You can just dial 305-Computers as well.