Last month we spoke about controlling chaos especially with your front desk. This month I want to talk about ways to streamline your studio office. Whether you have a small or large office area the key is to keep it as mess free a possible and as functional for everyone that needs to use it as possible. In your office it is helpful to have a computer, a fax machine, a printer and a copy machine. You will need sufficient desk space to be able to keep incoming mail in a tray or inbox and still have space to work and a file cabinet that you can lock for all your client and student information.
It is useful also to have a large year calendar up on the wall and a message board to place small items on. The more you can get rid of paper the more organized you will be. With the scanners that we have today there is really no need to have everything in hard copy and in fact it is wonderful not to have piles and piles of papers that have to be filed. That in itself is so time consuming. At our studio we use a product called Neat Desk which is a desktop scanner and digital filing system. There is also a smaller and less expensive one called Neat Receipts. We have found that it makes a terrific difference to keeping our studio streamlined. You can purchase these desktop scanners at pretty much all the stores including Staples, Office Max, Costco, Best Buy and Target. With a dance studio, one of the hardest things to do is stay abreast and even ahead of what is happening and what is coming up on a day to day basis.
Avoiding office surprises is important because when you have this kind of surprise everything and everyone ends up going into panic mode which is not only aggravating but also exhausting for all leaving everyone feeling drained. Very often these crisis moments are completely avoidable it just takes some planning and organization. Take the whole year at your studio and plug into your calendar every event and show or recital, every holiday, in fact anything that happens on a yearly basis. Make sure that your staff is absolutely on the same page as you and that there is no confusion about future dates. I have found that having a quick weekly meeting with staff helps to keep things on an even keel and also not only helps them know what is coming up on any given week but also gives them the opportunity to remind you of anything that you may have forgotten. Obviously good communication is key here. There is an old saying 'If you fail to plan, you plan to fail' and it really is true because if you are proactive you will have the ability to get things done in a calm and easy way but if you are reactive you will end up being in crisis mode. Scheduling each week ahead of time is time well used to keep your studio office streamlined. The time you and your staff invest in organization will pay off ten times over. Thinking ahead not only helps you to be more productive, but it also enables you to get more help from others which means you will have more time to accomplish what you want to achieve.
Make a plan to tidy your office space once a month. We all accumulate 'stuff' and it is easy for it to build up if we do not have a regular cleanup time. The other problem that occurs when too much 'stuff' builds up is that things that are important ie: A letter, a bill, a notice or some other document can suddenly become lost when you need to find it most. Again, this kind of scenario causes stress and anxiety to all and would be totally avoidable with clearer surfaces and less mess. Believe me I have gone through this and have found it stressful and enormously annoying because I would have to spend a good amount of time searching for one item instead of knowing where to find it. Finally one day I said, 'that’s it!' and I decided right there and then to never have to go through all that unnecessary aggravation again. Streamlining the office has been a wonderful thing.
By streamlining your day to day running of the studio it will help you to be better prepared for whatever scenario comes along. Other problems that may arise are easier to deal with when you know that the daily running of the studio is smooth and seamless. So make your motto for the new year we are going in to be KEEP IT STREAMLINED! And then just vow to stick to it.
