Being an office manager is the perfect role for anyone who excels in working with others, being a leader and who has next-level organisational skills. Office management is also a job that runs the risk of burnout, so it is crucial to manage your workload in the best possible way. Your team will look to you for guidance, and leading by example can be the best way to ensure that the entire office is as productive as possible.
A supportive, efficient and organised office space is critical for you and your team to get work done effectively. You’ll need to know what is happening in your office from the top down and evaluate every element to ensure that productivity is maximised. Helping your team grow and, crucially, trusting in their ability to support you is ultimately the difference between success and failure in any business.
Make Daily, Weekly And Monthly To-Do Lists
To-do lists are the bread and butter of organisation, and they’ve maintained their popularity over the years for good reason. A to-do list can help you keep all of the things you have to do in order, letting you visualise the day ahead and keeping you on track. Writing out your daily to-do lists the night before can be an excellent way to finish off your workday, ensuring you arrive back at work knowing exactly where you need to start. Daily, weekly and monthly to-do lists will help you keep on top of the long- and short-term goals of your team, breaking down the daily tasks to be completed into easy manageable chunks.
Utilise Task Management Software
There is software available that can be an incredible help to office managers. Task management software allows you to clearly visualise all of the work to be done in the office, using colour coding and other organisational methods to ensure that all work is done on time and prioritised correctly.
You can often use free trials or versions of this type of software, which can give you a great idea of whether they will be beneficial to your business moving forward. It is best to have the software tested by different members of the team, which can help you determine if it will be useful for the office as a whole.
Understand When To Delegate
Being able to delegate effectively is a key skill for any business leader. Many managers get caught out by the temptation to ensure things are done correctly by doing it themselves. However, it is crucial to remember that this can have a negative impact on employee confidence and feelings of mutual trust, as well as increase the risk of burnout. You can learn which employees you can delegate to by starting small, with one or two simple tasks, and gradually building them up until you know which employees can handle which delegated tasks best.
Simplify Your Utility Admin
Along with managing your team and ensuring all the crucial projects and tasks are delivered on time, you should also look at ways to simplify the practical running concerns of the office. This includes essential office administration like managing the utility bills. Dealing with business utilities can be challenging, and office managers often avoid shopping around for better deals, preferring to spend their precious time on higher-value work for the business.
Keeping on top of the office utilities, and getting the best possible rates, are crucial to help keep a business profitable, so finding someone that can help you find the best deals without any of the hassle can be invaluable. The Business Water Shop can help you do just that, connecting your company with some of the top business water providers and handling the entire changeover process to keep your schedule free and clear.
Invest In Automation
A lot of tasks that office managers face daily may be better completed using automation. Gone are the days when every little thing in the office had to be done by hand – now you can program software to complete simple and repetitive tasks for you. This can save significant time and free up valuable employee resources in other areas. Tasks that could be automated include proforma reply emails, proofreading and diary scheduling.
Remove Distractions
Distractions can be a major concern for anyone trying to get a good day’s work done. Whether it’s personal messages coming through on our smartphones, requests for help from employees or life admin on your mind, we can all find ourselves distracted at times. Managing these distractions may feel easier said than done, but there are steps that all workers can take that can be incredibly effective. Setting aside distraction-free times to work can be one great option, letting employees know you’re busy and putting your phone on silent. You could also allow yourself set times for distractions, such as occasional five-minute breaks where you can check your personal messages and phone notifications.
Organise Your Office And The Wider Office Space
How your office is organised and laid out will make a massive difference to you and your employees’ productivity levels. Clutter and disorganisation can have a considerable impact on the ability to work effectively and can even increase things like stress and anxiety in the workplace. As the office manager, it is your job to ensure that everything at work has its place and that clutter isn’t able to build up. It is also best to designate areas throughout the office for different jobs and tasks, along with clearly defined workstations for each team member.
Develop Your Team
The better skilled your employees are, the easier it will be to manage the overall workload in your office. The more skills your team have, the better they will be able to manage their work and potentially move on to help you and other team members with their work as well. Professional development can also be invaluable for helping to retain the most talented members of your team. Onboarding and training new members of staff takes a lot of time, money and energy, so any smart office manager will do what they can to retain their best people.
Give – And Take – Regular Feedback
Feedback is one of the best ways we can learn and grow as professionals. As a manager, part of your job involves providing feedback to your team, which can give them the guidance they need to progress and improve in their career. Receiving feedback can often be harder for managers and business leaders, but it is just as important as it is for the lowest-ranking employee.
By listening to and taking on the feedback of your employees, you can show that their thoughts, options and input really matter to the business. You can also gain valuable insights into your own working style and abilities, helping you become the very best manager possible.
Final Thoughts
For office managers, it can often feel like there simply isn’t enough time in the day to accomplish everything you need to do. Smart office managers will use all the tools at their disposal to ensure that this isn’t the case, utilising the team they manage, new technology and software, and their own organisational skills. Working smarter can help ensure your workload is not so heavy, preventing you from burning out and ensuring you continue to offer the best possible service to the wider business, clients and employees.
The post Office Managers: 9 tips to help you handle your workload easier appeared first on HR News.