Tag: office

Setting Up a New Office

In setting up a new office, your first decision is where to put your desk. Computer equipment must be close enough to an electrical outlet that you don’t need extension cords to plug in that equipment. Ideally, your computer should have its own electrical circuit to shield it from fluctuations caused by other electrical equipment going off and on. At the minimum, don’t put the computer on the same electrical circuit as the air conditioner or heater. Also, your computer, monitor, printer, and even the phone line that goes into your modem must be plugged into a top-quality surge protector.

Time Tactics for the Office

Post-mortems– Much of our work is repetitive. Post-mortems will spare you having to re-invent the wheel each time. Upon completing a project, think over what you learned and how you could make it easier the next time. If you run training sessions and the materials often arrive at the last minute, analyze why — are they compiled at the last minute? Is your printer unreliable? Decide how you can prevent a recurrence, make a note of your decision and file it conspicuously in the front of your training file.

Controlling Office Interruptions

One of the biggest complaints I hear from people is that they can’t work for more than a few minutes without being interrupted. The result? A small project ends up taking all day, or you have to work into the evening because that’s the only time you’re not interrupted. An open-door policy sounds good in theory, but it can produce so many interruptions that it’s hard to get anything done. The other extreme is equally unwise — if you block off interruptions for several hours, a small problem you could have handled might turn into a crisis because you couldn’t be reached. You need a balance between controlling interruptions and staying informed.

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