1.  Don’t overuse “Reply All”
There are times when a reply is only necessary for the original sender, or maybe a few team members.  Remove contacts from your response if the reply is not relevant to them.  You can establish best practices for your specific business.

2.  Share folders & calendars
This is a great idea for executives and their assistants to reply to emails and schedule appointments more efficiently.  Rather than send emails back and forth asking when one another are available, you can view shared calendars and expedite the scheduling process.

3.  Include a time estimate when you delegate tasks
This not only keeps everyone on the same page, but it eliminates the need for emails checking-in on the status of pending tasks. 

4.  Use “EOM”
For those times that you just need to send a quick email to let a colleague know something is ready or finished, for example, use the “End of Message” acronym.  If your message is brief enough to fit in the subject line, just type the message followed by “EOM.”  The recipient can read your message in the subject line and delete the email.

5.  Don’t keep a conversation going unnecessarily
When the purpose of the email has been solved or completed, try not to continue responding.  For instance, if your response simply includes, “Thanks,” it may be unnecessary for both you and the recipient. 

Integrate these email policies into your small business in order to save everyone time and energy.  Have any other policies that your team uses?  Share them with us!

In order to help you feel better in your space, and thus increase your productivity, try personalizing your office.  Here are some tips to help you create a space you will enjoy:

• Add items that remind you of good times or people that make you happy.  Bring in framed photographs or significant items.  You can even create a personalized calendar with fun photos.
• Try keeping these items contained or together, rather than strewn about everywhere.  If they take up too much space, they will begin to feel like clutter.
• Consider lining photographs in a row, which looks and feels more organized.  Here’s an adorable chalkboard frame that can store your memos and remind you of messages.  
• Add some color!  Purchase some flowers or add a pretty painting.
• Remember to reassess your personal mementos quarterly to make sure they haven’t exceeded their boundary within your workspace.

Got some tips of your own for improving a drab cubicle?  Share them with us!  

Abilities:
•  Set up a schedule online with available appointment slots
•  Systems tailored to industry (sales, marketing, customer service, retail, and education)

Cost: starting at $49/year

Michele Corey is a coach with Advanced Approach that “helps people take responsibility for achieving their full potential.”  She works with professional women to build their courage, so that they can confidently learn to so “no” when necessary, and have more of what they want in their personal and professional lives.  

Contact Advanced Approach to see how they can help you or your team!  

1. Start your day by spending 15 minutes planning your to-do list.  A to-do list serves as a reference that allows you to stay on task, so you spend more time getting things done instead of trying to recall what you need to do.
2. Organize your business cards and make it easy to reach out and follow-up with your contacts.  Implement a CRM tool if you do not have one yet and it will be even easier to keep track of important details and reminders connected to your contacts.
3. Follow the “2 minute rule.”  If you have a task that can be accomplished in 2 minutes or less (like answering an email or paying a bill), do it right away, rather than put it off for later.
4. Create an efficient workspace to ensure you can find what you need, when you need it.  If items you use often are within easy reach, it will cut down on the time you spend walking back and forth to retrieve supplies.
5. Schedule blocks of time to return phone calls, read and respond to emails, and be available to your employees.  Investing the time to respond and interact allows you to be proactive with your time, rather than reactive and constantly interrupted.
6. Make the most of apps.  Think about a challenge or situation that leads to a loss of your productive time.  If you spend a great deal of your time on the road, consider a traffic app that will help you avoid back-ups and delays.  Does trying to remember passwords take up your time?  Use a password manager app.  With a little research you’ll find, “there’s an app for that.”
7. Manage your social media efficiently by using apps like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to provide an easy dashboard-like view of your social media conversations throughout the day.  Tools like these enable quick management of your various accounts from a single source.  You will be amazed by how much time you save now that you won’t have to log into six different sites each day to see your messages, news, etc.
8. When possible, delegate tasks or responsibilities that someone else can handle.  We can’t always do it all ourselves, so when you need to, ask for assistance.

Challenge:
Each member of the team works outside of the office, whether it is from their home office or at a coffee shop.  The challenge was making sure that each team member could have access to the necessary data, files, and information they need no matter where they work or are located. 

Solution:
The Innovatively Organized team of Productivity Consultants set up programs to ensure the client’s team members each had access to their information, regardless of where they are working, by utilizing cloud-based services.  We set up a web-based file sharing program, virtual phone management system, CRM tools, and web meeting capabilities.

Result:
Now each employee has access to the data, files, and programs they need in order to complete their job and stay even more productive.  Each team member can utilize their computers, laptops, tablets and phones wherever they are to continue to work and stay connected with clients.   

Think your team could benefit from having some cloud services to enable virtual working?  Learn more about our business organizing services.

Challenge:
A busy sales executive wanted to have access to his email and calendar on-the-go, but his cell phone didn’t sync perfectly with Outlook.  He scribbled appointments on scratch paper while he was out and added them to his Outlook calendar when he got back to the office – sometimes to find that he’d double-booked himself.  Sometimes he was late for meetings because he forgot about appointments when he hadn’t been near his computer for several hours.

Solution:
We set up a Microsoft Exchange Server so that all of his email and calendar items are always in sync, on every device!

Result:
Now his phone, iPad, work desktop, and personal laptop are all in sync at all times.  By having the ability to add calendar items while on-the-go, this executive feels more in control of his schedule and is able to take advantage of breaks by checking and responding to emails in between meetings.