The Office Gal

Just a quick tip: Large companies do it, small businesses do it, one-person teams should too. What is it? Have a weekly meeting with yourself. Why? Because even though you are a one-person team, taking time out to review and update will keep you on top of things and in check.

Yes, I do have a weekly meeting. On Friday, I pull together my calendar, notes, projects, and sit down with the phone to voice mail to concentrate on my review and follow-up.

Current Week:

• File completed projects
• Update timelines on open projects
• Layout timelines for new projects
• Update dates on my calendar
• Review any notes
• Rewrite sticky notes into my notebook

New Week:

• Begin To-Do list for new week
• Prioritize projects
• Highlight priority follow-ups
• Highlight priority e-mails
• Highlight priority calls

Yes, there will be things that might need to be updated throughout the week, but you should never miss a week without a complete sit down and review. Regardless if it is 30 minutes to two hours, it will be the best time spent of the whole week. You never know what you might have missed during the week. This is definitely the catch time!

Do you have any tips on a weekly meeting? How do you review your week? We would love to hear your tips - let us know!

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Every size office will have interruptions. You can be a one-man team working out of your home and have just as many interruptions as a counterpart in a large manned corporation. From the telephone, walk-ins, to unexpected meetings that pop up, interruptions are a part of the office scene.

At one point, you will reach the level of no return. You will need to control the urge to accept the interruptions and put a stop to them. Rephrase that. It might not stop them, but it will limit them to allow you the time to carry on with your business.

The following tips may work alone or in a combination of several together to help you control your office. Not every tip will fit every office and some might not work at all for you. Give them a try and let us know which ones work!

Slash the e-mail. Funny thing is the largest interruption is actually your own e-mail. Some people are e-mail junkies and will check it every five to ten minutes. Slow down! Many e-mails have pop-ups that will show you a snippet of the e-mail. If it’s not important right now, leave it. Optimally, set up three times per day to check your inbox.

Set up office times. If you work out of your home, set up specific office hours for meetings and phone calls. Having this allotted time makes sure your remaining work hours are spent being productive on projects. Don’t allow calls and pop-ins to happen. Once it is accepted, people will begin to take advantage.

Close the door. If you work in an office with many others, walk-ins can be disastrous to your projects, especially if you have Miss Gossip that loves to visit, and visit often. Create a sign stating you are working on a project and hang it up - on your door, cubicle, or wall. Give yourself a a specific time window, like two hours, before you will begin seeing people again. Use your voice mail and e-mail to your advantage!

Set meet-up times. Of course you will have a handful of people that are “must” meets. An assistant, or fellow team leader, or your own team leader if you work in a home office. Set specific times to meet with these people daily or weekly. This will allow everyone to be prepared to meet and breeze through instead of dropping in and forgetting what you had to ask or say.

Do you have a tip or suggestion when it comes to avoiding office interruptions? Share it with the readers of The Office Gal. Leave a comment or contact me and I will add it to our list!

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Another week is here and another installment of The Office Gal Link Love is up and waiting for our busy readers to click away! There are some great reads this week with one simple theme among them all - how to improve all around! It might be on how to improve an interview, how to improve useful documents, to how to improve on brainstorming.

Time to go read. Improve and enjoy!

• Keep it Real, Even When it Sucks @ Slacker Manager.
• How Do You Answer Your Weakest Interview Question? @ Daily Career Connection.
• Top 5 Unexpected Places to Network @ Daily Biz Solutions.
• Get Things Started: Simpler Than GTD? @ Freelance Switch.
• 9 Ideas For A More Creative And Effective Brainstorming Process @ Freelance Folder.
• Cut Waste! Stop Spreadsheet Sloppiness @ Project Management 411.

There you go readers, six links to help you get up and go for a great week!

And as always, if you have a link that you feel would be great to feature in our weekly link love, please let us know!

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Yes it is that time again! The beginning of a new week and a new listing of articles and interesting posts to help you plan and support your upcoming week at work! Definitely a positive week ahead of us.

This week I am sharing with you how you can plan to be more productive, building an online business, and how to have a great week at the office! Some great posts and articles to read with tips to take to the bank!

Monday morning reads are right below. Go read and be successful. Enjoy!

• Planning Your Way for a More Productive-Inducing Office @ Productivity Goal.
• So What Are the Rules For Dismissing Incompetent Employees? @ Daily Biz Solutions.
• Pay Attention! Attention to Details Will Set Your Business Apart @ Freelance Folder.
• 10 Quick Tips for Building a Business Online @ Copyblogger.
• Happiness and the End of the Working Week @ Put Things Off.
• What Are You Saying Between the Lines? @ Chris Garrett on New Media.

There you go readers, six links to help you get up and go for a great week!

And as always, if you have a link that you feel would be great to feature in our weekly link love, please let us know!

This is an original The Office Gal post.

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