Keep track of the paper trail. Even in our electronic age, we still have to contend with paperwork. You may receive letters from customers, invoices, or contracts. Being an assistant, you will need to manage and keep track of all the paperwork that is circulating around your desk. Oftentimes, you will need to act on the paperwork and send it to other departments like accounting or HR. Other times, you may need to produce a report and have it ready on a certain day for your manager. Having an organized method of tracking your paperwork at your desk helps to reduce missed deadlines and lost paperwork. A good practice is to create a filing system using either a traditional filing cabinet at your desk or a Pendaflex folder. The strategy here is to stage out the paperwork over the course of the week. You will need an inbox, five folders for each day of the week, a folder for next week’s work, outbox, and a red rush folder. Place the inbox in a clear area on your desk. Review the paperwork in the inbox and determine what day you intend to work on the item. Place the item in the corresponding day of the week. If you determine it does not need to be done this week, place it in the next week’s folder. As you process the work each day, either file the documents you do not need to send out or place the document in the outbox for sending in the mail or interoffice system. Note: The outbox concept will be elaborated more in the lesson for organizing your workspace in the next module. Use the red rush folder as a communication piece for between you and your manager when an urgent document needs to be addressed. This takes precedence over other jobs. Finally, at the beginning of the new workweek, review your next week’s folder in your inbox and plan out your work for this week. Applying this strategy consistently is essential to its effectiveness.
