It’s no secret that this time of year can be draining on peoples’ energy, motivation and focus. If the winter blues is getting you down, this may be the perfect time to consider reorganizing and taking stock of your business in order to set goals for the year ahead. But before you can look to the future, first you need to learn from the past.

In this case, we’re talking about your company’s organization and how it operates. Seemingly minute processes can affect how you and your staff operate and can impact your success. So dedicating time to overhaul your company’s filing and management processes in the new year can set you up to achieve even more throughout the year.

Step One: Don’t Underestimate the Task

This is not something you can bang out in an hour on your lunch break. Going through your files, evaluating what’s working and what isn’t can take time.

Our advice? Find joy in the work! It can be a tedious process but this is also your chance to perform a post-mortem on documents, campaigns, projects and anything else your company has accomplished. Maybe you’ll rediscover an old formatting or template you prefer, or you’ll see a pattern arise in successful campaigns that you didn’t notice at the time.

Step Two: It’s All About Simplicity

We’re more likely to develop a routine, or standard work process, when it is clear, simple and effective. If your current process of organization is leaving files in the wrong place, resulting in multiple naming formats, or leaving you and your staff confused, this is likely why the organization is going awry in the first place.

Consult with your team to see what platforms and programs they are most comfortable using when submitting, filing, sharing and editing documents. You’ll want a program with reasonable data encryption to protect your files – Dropbox, Google Drive and SharePoint are all well-known for their ease of use and protection.

Step Three: Take Notes!

As you review each document, each project and each facet of your organization, it is likely you’ll gain valuable insights, along with getting organized. We recommend keeping a notebook on hand to jot down ideas as you work, then you can refer back to them later and don’t need to stop from the task at hand.

Some things to watch for:

• What to save, what to recycle
• Reports and templates you love
• The evolution of your business and brand – celebrate your accomplishments!

If you’re ready to shake off the winter blues and take your business to the next level in 2021, we recommend starting with your efficiency and organization. Not only will your filing get an overhaul, there’s a good chance your brand will get a recharge too!