Business filing should be easier than it is, right? What makes it so hard?
You’re not the only person who’s struggling with your online filing. It’s a common occurrence throughout businesses, especially when it’s not prioritised. It’s often easier to put aside that bit of extra work needed for proper filing, especially when so many other “more urgent“ things are grabbing your attention.
If you and your team are having trouble finding what you need, chances are you are like the vast majority of business owners who also have that problem. The average worker spends at least 50 minutes each day looking for lost items and files … a telling statistic.
“With organisation comes empowerment” Lynda Petersen
If your files are in a mess it’s time to sort that out. The time you waste looking for things can be solved by setting things up for flow. It’s not as easy as it sounds. There are some tricky obstacles in the way. Let’s look at a some of them now:
Simplicity is complex:
One reason you might find filing so hard is because simplicity is complex to create. The simplifying task is a real talent that not everybody can do easily. Especially when you have so many parts to your day and so many things to keep track of. It can be truly challenging to think of how to best organise all of those different files and resources into categories that make sense. This is true for everybody throughout your business. Not only you but also your team leaders and other members of the team as well. So, you’re off the hook there! It’s not an easy task at all.
Distinct roles are hard to see:
Sometimes it is difficult to see that your job is made up of a variety of different roles. There are often multiple layers to your job, whether you are the boss, the boss’s assistant, or anyone working in the business. So when you’re organising your files, focus on organising those files by each role, as in “This is the work of a social media department.” “This is the work of administration.” “This is the work of Finance.” Step back from being busy and overwhelmed. This will allow you to see the different functions at work in your business. Then organise things that way.
Messy foundations produce more mess:
Filing is hard also because when things are already in a mess, it becomes more difficult to clean things out. Once that mess has truly set in, it feeds itself and continues to produce more mess. You need a solid structure for your filing. Otherwise, the next time you create more documents and try to file them, you won’t know where to put them. Then you just keep on adding layers and layers of confusion. You’re not alone in this. It’s a real problem that I’ve seen a lot in various levels of business.
Chaos develops over time:
The final reason that online filing can be so difficult, is because it takes time for chaos to develop. When you first started your business it was probably simple: you managed everything yourself. Over time, things gradually got messy. You tucked things away in their little spot. You created more resources that didn’t have a home and never made a final decision about it. It takes time for this mess to evolve. Often, you don’t even realise it’s happening. It’s another reason why organising your business for long term growth can be just so hard.
I hope that’s been helpful, and I’m sure you can relate to some of those challenges. As with any part of your business establishing a good structure and some effective processes will pay off in the long term.
