How to: Organise Your Work

What does this look like?

Managers who do this effectively:

• organise people, funding, material and support in order to get things done
• use resources effectively and efficiently
• can manage multiple activities at once
• keep information and documents well organised.

How do I do this?

1.    Set goals and measures

• Before starting new projects, set clear goals and break them down into tasks.
• Set measures so you and others can track progress against the goals.
• Share your goals with others.
• Think about how your goals align with broader goals of the organisation or goals in other areas.
• Ask others for input.

2.    Develop plans

• Create plans for achieving your goals that set out:
• what needs to be accomplished
• who needs to do what
• by when
• the resources and support required.
• Create timelines that show the sequence of work and activities against time.
• If you’re managing multiple tasks and projects, develop a master plan with sub-plans.
• Learn from past projects and efforts to understand how long things take, to anticipate potential delays and to identify the best way of achieving your goals.
• Involve others in developing plans.

3.    Find helpful resources

Look for support and resources outside your unit. Think about:

• who could help?
• who has resources I could borrow?
• has someone already done something like this?

4.    Delegate

• Break large and complex tasks or projects into a series of smaller tasks.
• Delegate as much as possible.

5.    Monitor the use of resources

• Carefully monitor your budgets and expenditure.
• Keep some resources in reserve for unexpected circumstances.
• Set up a resource timeline to track ongoing expenditures.

6.    Celebrate success

It’s easy to focus on what’s going wrong but remember to notice when things are going well and you’re achieving your goals.

• Get in the habit of celebrating achievements and success. This is motivating for your staff.
• Acknowledge the contributions of others outside your unit.
• Share gains with others. For example, be willing to share resources you develop.

7.    Learn from others

If you know of others who are good at organising work, observe what they do. Look for things you can try for yourself.

You may find this challenging if you…

• leave things to the last minute and work furiously to meet deadlines
• don’t plan your own work or the work of your team
• don’t like to delegate
• don’t know how to organise time, people and resources
• struggle to manage competing priorities and lots of things at once.

You’re not organising work effectively if you…

• over-organise others and want things done your way
• don’t listen to others’ suggestions and input
• don’t cope well when things don’t go as planned.