The importance of organising the work area effectively OCR Diploma

Benefits  You will work more efficiently  You will waste less time  You will be able to find things quickly and, even better, not lose anything  The items you use regularly will stay in better condition

 You will be less stressed and less likely to lose your temper  You will be able to complete jobs more quickly and more easily

Keeping your work area neat and tidy  Your work area isn’t just your desk – it could also be the photocopying room or the stock cupboard.  Your desk should always have ample clear space for you to put current documents or files on which you are working.

A few rules …  Work on only one job at a time. Once you have finished the job, put away all the related papers and other items where they belong before you start the next task.  If a new task arrives before you have finished the last one, put it in your ‘in’ tray.  If more post arrives during the day, put that in your ‘in’ tray, too, until you can deal with it.

 Make sure all your files and folders are clearly labelled.  If new papers arrive which relate to a specific file or folder, then put them into it asap.  File regularly! Pre-sort documents alphabetically and put them into a concertina file.

 Keep stationery in folders in your drawers, to avoid it getting crumpled and creased.  Tidy out your desk drawers every couple of months. Assess what is in there. Throw away any rubbish or things that are not required. See how many items could be stored elsewhere. Keep clutter to a minimum.

In communal working areas  Try to control the space you use and keep it to your allocated area. Do not spread your work and belongings about all over the place.  Complete each part of a job before you start the next.  Stack completed work neatly to one side.

 If you are interrupted, or have to leave the area and are in the middle of a task, put your work together in one place with a note on it identifying yourself as the ‘owner’ and saying when you will return to move them.  When you have finished, clear up after yourself and put everything back in its proper place.

Organising materials and equipment  You will find it easier to be neat and tidy if you have a system for organising the materials and equipment you regularly use eg top drawer or first shelf.

Your desk area  Filing or paper trays - will stack to hold separate groups of papers. Label each tray eg  In  Pending  Filing  Out

 Other people prefer to just have  In  Out  Desk tidies - are ideal for all the items which otherwise clutter up a drawer eg paperclips, eraser, staples

 Pen tidies - can hold pens, pencils, highlighters, scissors and sticks of glue.  Group items on top of your desk logically. If you are right-handed put your telephone to the left and your pen holder to the right.  Place everything you use regularly within easy reach to save having to get up and down to get what you need.

 Keep you pencils sharpened, your stapler filled (and a supply of staples).  Keep everything you don’t use frequently in a drawer. In your lockable drawer, keep you calculator, stamps, notebook and any confidential papers.

 Put rubber bands in an envelope in a drawer if you use a lot of them, so that they don’t end up all over your desk or get tangled with other items.  If you store drawing pins in your desk drawer, keep them in a box or tin with the lid on firmly.

In communal working areas  The equipment provided will be shared by everyone – and some of the materials eg in a photocopying room there is likely to be a supply of paper, a stapler, hole punch and guillotine or paper cutter.

Golden rules  Think about what you need to use b efore you start – so that you minimise journeys to and from your desk.  If you move small items of equipment around to help you to do the job better, or more quickly, remember to PUT IT BACK.  Never be tempted to take possession of something that is a shared resource.

 If you are doing a ‘messy’ job eg collating work by hand, choose a quiet time or do it in a separate area where you won’t be in the way.  Never move heavy items of equipment on your own.  Be aware of H&S issues.

Minimising waste  Every year businesses throw away over one million tonnes of paper.  Each tonne of paper needs 17 trees to produce.  Offices use over 12.5 million tonnes of paper every year – and this figure is increasing by 20% a year.

 60% of the average office worker’s bin is waste paper.  The vast majority of paper can be recycled, but the UK recycles only about 25% of its paper.  Britain throws away 2 million printer and toner cartridges every year – enough to stretch from London to Milan.

 If you had your own business and had to pay for every sheet of paper used then excess waste would no doubt annoy you.  At work it is amazing how many resources are wasted each year, through lack of thought, lack of planning or carelessness. There are 2 ways to try and control this:

 By identifying the activities which are most likely to lead to wasted resources  By identifying the ways in which waste can be minimised.

Critical work activities  Photocopying - if the copies are useless because  the original is of poor quality  crooked  the size of paper or the ratio is incorrectly selected  too many copies are made

Manual collating  If pages are grouped or stapled incorrectly  Completed work isn’t stacked properly so that some sets become crumpled or unusable.

Printing  If repeated drafts are taken  Unnecessary printouts made  Documents are not proof-read properly  Wrong setting is used in relation to the quality of the printout

Tidying out files  You can reuse good folders  Remove plastic wallets to use again

Ways to minimise waste  You can save your own time, the environment and reduce the amount of money your company spends on stationery if you routinely remember to do the following:

 Check documents carefully before you print or photocopy them.  Learn to proof-read properly – on screen first and then from a hard copy if necessary. Do not just rely on spellcheck.  Take a test print or a test photocopy before starting a long print run and double- check that it is perfect.

 Check the photocopier counter is on 1.  Make sure the photocopier glass is kept clean.  Photocopy both sides where possible.  Take only the exact number of copies or printouts you need.  Fan paper properly before putting it into a paper tray.

 Use the correct paper for the job you are doing.  Print out pages from the Internet only in black and white (grey scale on you ‘properties’ setting).  Don’t print out unnecessary s.  Send an attachment rather than sending out multiple printouts.

 Convert wasted paper or out of date paper into scrap pads or message pads.  Recycle paper where possible.  Reuse envelopes for internal mail.  Reuse brown file folders by reversing them.  Reuse plastic wallets.  Relabel and reuse ring binders, lever arch files and box files.

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