114 Proved Plans to Save a Busy Man Time 31 - 50
PLAN 31
HOW SIMPLY CHANGING NUMBERS
“TURNED THE TRICK”
It’s sometimes easy, when seeking the “one best way,” to
overlook the simple, and frequently most effective, method.
This plan is interesting if it but shows how much can
often be accomplished by an almost insignificant change
in a system.
A southern business man, who buys many supplies of different kinds, found his manufacturers’ catalog file so complex as to be responsible for losing half an hour or more of his time daily.
Each catalog was given a number and filed numerically. A cross-index was kept, classifying the catalogs according to the different articles each of them covered.
At first, while the catalogs were few in number, the file worked well. It was easy to refer to any of them by either the manufacturers’ names or the kind of article to be purchased. As the quantity of books to be filed increased, however, the inconvenience of the arrangement appeared. The catalogs were received at different times, of course; and because they were filed in numerical
order, those listing any one article were widely separated in the file. Therefore, unless the buyer foresaw his need, or had plenty of time, or asked for the information desired an hour or more beforehand, it was often impossible to obtain specific information quickly.
The loss of time was so great that the owner cast about for a new filing system, but soon discovered that a simple change of numbering would do away with the whole difficulty. He gave a separate number of a consecutive series to each group of articles. For example, number one was given to explosives.
Catalogs of the various groups were also given an additional number of a consecutive series for each individual book. Thus the first catalog in his file covering explosives would bear the number 1-1, the second catalog, 1-2, and so on.
This arrangement brought together in his files all the catalogs of each of the different groups of articles he was buying. At the same time this numbering system distinguished each particular manufacturer’s catalog so that the buyer was not only able to pick out from his files the ones issued by each concern, but could also select all of the catalogs on any one particular subject.
PLAN 32
THIS TURNED OUT TO BE A VERY
HANDY PLAN
Although like Plan 31 in its purpose, this one takes a
different twist to sate you time. Probably you’ll be able to
apply this idea in more than one way.
” I find it profitable to index the magazines and trade
journals I read for the purpose of gaining new ideas
and a wider outlook on my business,” says a western business man. “My plan is simple and effective, especially for referring to any specific item quickly, and at any time.
” I have learned by careful tests just what magazines contain subjects of practical value to me. I go over these journals thoroughly and read any articles that appeal to me. I have on my desk, or carry with me when needed, a small note book with sheets made up as indicated in Figure 6. The arrangement of this index is such that the subjects I am interested in are all included in the column headings. At the top is the name of the publication.
“One page is given to each magazine. At the left I enter the date of issue, and the date I have read and filed the articles that interested me. In the squares I note the page number. As the magazines are filed by months and years it is easy to refer to any issue. For a personal record of my reading this has turned out to be a very handy plan.”
PLAN 33
THIS PLAN TOOK A KINK OUT OF THE
DAY’S WORK
It’s an unpretentious plan, but it accomplished a lot for
the man who originated it. You may find in it just the
time saver you are looking for.
A ‘Washington business man, who uses the telephone a great deal for giving and receiving price quotations, noticed that he often wasted time trying to remember figures given to him over the wire, because he either had lost the “piece of paper” he had hurriedly jotted them on or had found it inconvenient at the time to make a record of them. He had depended on his memory for the most part, because it meant an awkward interruption in the conversation when he stopped to enter details on a blank sheet. Consequently valuable data was often overlooked and seriously missed later.
He eliminated the trouble by keeping constantly on his desk a small looseleaf pad of quotation blanks printed in such form that a quotation made over the telephone or by a sales representative calling on him may be entered with the least effort. The book is always handy as a reminder to enter other data or memoranda for safe- keeping. At the end of the day his assistant files these slips in his personal file where they can be referred to at any time. The idea has been of great value from the start in quickly taking care of important details.
PLAN 34
THIS PLAN “SAVED HOURS OF TIME”
It’s the minutes lost here and the minutes lost there that
count up so heavily on our time schedules. Here’s how
one man tags and utilizes a lot of the “loose minutes.”
” I have saved hours of time,” writes a Michigan man, “by receiving every caller, whenever possible, the minute his name is announced. I have made a rigid rule that no one shall be kept waiting, whether customer or solicitor. You may ask: ‘ How does that save your time?’
” I have proved by careful observation that the longer a person is kept waiting, the more impatient he becomes and the more attention I have to give him when I do see him. The customary, ‘ Sorry to keep you waiting,’ with a line of explanations, is necessary and the minutes quickly pass.
“With my plan, the interviews are short and snappy because the visitor is in a better frame of mind. Most of my interviews now are satisfactorily handled in the lobby and do not average more than two minutes each. It is seldom necessary to receive visitors in my private office.
” As an additional time saver I always have a schedule of fill-in tasks which I take up whenever a moment’s leisure in the day occurs.”
PLAN 35
THE “SPECIAL EXIT” PLAN
A busy man with whom every minute counts, gets more
work into the day with this plan for cutting down lost
time. He says the plan works particularly well under
pressure and that it has no drawbacks.
“I find I gain time by dismissing callers from my office out into the building corridor just as many busy doctors do,” states one business man. “By adopting this plan instead of ushering callers at the end of an interview back into the room where others are waiting, I have the advantage not only of speeding my work but also, in some cases, of keeping my business more private.
“Under the arrangement, the outgoing salesman and the incoming salesman do not meet in the visitor’s room and stop for a moment’s chat while I wait. Without thinking of the amount of time such chats took away from me, salesmen formerly often stopped for a few seconds, or even a minute or two, for a talk at my door.
“That may seem to have been a small waste of time, but in the aggregate it was a considerable loss to me. I do not mind a little friendly talk in my office, between the salesman and myself, for that may promote good feeling and be of value to both of us, but for one salesman to tell the other how many fish he caught on his vacation trip, while I am waiting, does not profit me. My plan has made quite a difference at busy times.”
PLAN 36
A TIME-SAVING PLAN WHICH SET A RECORD
It wasn’t developed primarily to save time, but just read
how muck it helped out during one year.
A western business man has devised a graphic wall- chart plan, which is somewhat different from the majority of those in use. The arrangement saves him a great amount of time.
This man is superintendent of a public utility company and his supervision covers all of the city, so far as complaints, improvements, operation, and other important phases of management are concerned. His plan was developed because his floor space is limited and he wanted to eliminate some of the file cabinets. But these contained a great deal of practical data required frequently. A majority of the papers were maps and layouts of sections of the city, showing locations of customers and other important details.
After some study he decided to hang the charts on brackets fastened to the wall, as shown in Figure 7. This was easily accomplished by building a wall holder containing a number of ordinary curtain rolls, arranged in the form of an inverted “terrace.” The maps and important papers were attached to the rods, after being reinforced at the edges to prevent tearing. “With the “overhead terrace,” any of the “map curtains” can be pulled into full view quickly.
For instance, when a complaint is received from a customer either in person or by mail, reference can be made to the exact location and conditions involved simply by glancing at the map for that district. In less than a minute all the facts in connection with the affair can be brought together where formerly a clerk had to plow through the files to unearth the desired document.
As a result of the change this one official, assisted only by one clerk and one stenographer, was able daring the succeeding year to take care of 2,200 complaints. His department wrote 3,214 letters touching complaints; 1,380 street ear service checks were made and car routings were improved; 9,902 scale inspections were certified ; a record for that department.
This man adds that the idea or a modification of it ought to be a time-saving boon to any business where frequent reference to charts or similar data is made.
PLAN 37
ANOTHER PLAN WHICH CLEARS THE PATH
FOR LARGER TASKS
You’ll admit that progress is possible only as the way
is opened to greater accomplishment. And that’s why
you’ll not want to miss finding out how this New York
man handles his work.
A New York business man whose duties have rapidly grown to large proportions carefully trains his assistants to take over various tasks from time to time. This has in a measure freed him from detail loads. However, he has gone still farther and has developed an intelligent information service to supplement his careful distribution of work.
All of the functions of the business are accurately listed and grouped. Opposite these groups are entered the names of the several assistants whose training has made them competent to handle the specific tasks. “When a caller enters and asks to see the president the girl at the information desk requests the nature of his business. She then refers him to Mr. Maynard, or whoever the assistant may be, and tactfully explains that this official, who is “an authority” on that particular subject, can take care of the visitor more promptly and satisfactorily than the president himself. This method not only frees the head for larger tasks but it also insures adequate and quick service to the customer.
As most of his day is spent in interviews on the concern’s larger problems, this executive provides against any time losses through misunderstandings by having an accurate stenographer make notes of every conversation, so that the possibility of error is as far removed as
it can be among human beings.
These conferences are seldom long but they are always thorough. He has a way of getting down to brass tacks within a very few seconds. The caller leaves with the impression that he has said all that he wanted to say.
PLAN 38
“WORTH $10,000,” SAYS THIS MAN OF HIS
“60 SECONDS” PLAN
It saves days of time for him. It’s quick “on the trigger,”
too.
“I can locate in not much over 60 seconds an authority on nearly anything I need to know,” says an advertising man. “You could not buy my data book and collection of information for a cent under five figures.
“I keep a small looseleaf note book indexed under a number of headings, including letters, sales, slogans, short cuts, purchasing and management. When a business magazine comes to my desk I glance through it to see which articles look most valuable. Then on the front cover of the magazine I mark the pages on which these begin. As I finish an article I check the page number on the cover, so that I know where to resume reading next time. Every year I have my magazines bound. In vertical files I also put away clippings and similar information, indexed exactly like my note book and instantly available when needed.
“In a few moments I obtain from this file facts which otherwise would take weeks to get. Not only do I save incalculable hours, but I pass the profit along to those I serve.”
PLAN 39
YOU CAN TEST THIS PLAN WITHOUT SPENDING A CENT
If s not as simple as it looks, perhaps, but a number of
men make use of it, even though it does intone self-denial,
“My day wasn’t long enough to do all the necessary checking, reading, and planning,” says one executive.” So I decided to ‘kick my shins out of the rut’ and discover some way to economize my time.
” I found I had lots of ‘ pep’ in the morning, so I rearranged my hours. Now I save time by coming down to my desk at 7 o’clock every morning, thus pushing my day ahead l1/2 hours. I find that portion of the day the best for my work. The hours between 7 and 9 o’clock are equal to any other four hours. My afternoons are used mainly for the smaller detail work that is involved in the supervision of my department. I believe that the nearest approach to getting 100% value from my time is accomplished by utilizing the morning hours to the maximum.”
PLAN 40
HERE’S ANOTHER TIME SAVER WHICH
HAS MADE GOOD
There are several plans in this book that are similar to
this one, but when you read it you cannot fail to see why it
was included.
“When work has the habit of piling up in a department, some form of planning board often will do away with the difficulty. The manager of one office found the remedy in a work board divided into two sections—one was red and the other black. The red portion he reserved for emergency and rush jobs, and the black for routine. A vertical column for each member of the office force shows to whom a job is assigned.
Three-by-five-inch cards are used in connection with the board. Each card has spaces where the executive may indicate to whom the order is issued, what it covers, and to whom the work goes next. The cards are punched at the top to fit over hooks on the board. If a card hangs in the first position of the red division, it has the right of way over anything else in that employee’s column. All work in the red portion has precedence over the black. Time spent on a job must be shown on the slip, thus affording a check on the speed of the worker.
PLAN 41
HERE’S AN “ALWAYS-WITH-YOU” TIME-SAVING PARTNER
You’ll point out that there’s a “string” tied to this plan.
That’s true, but it may suggest to you, as this manager
says, “an idea of even wider application.”
“I am away from my desk so much of the time attending to important problems,” writes an executive, “that, until I devised the present plan, I found it difficult to keep track of memoranda of interviews or duties to be taken care of during the day.
“It was impractical to hurry back to my desk frequently to see what was next on the program because I might be in a far corner of the house. Neither could I take chances on stuffing these notations in my pockets. Consequently I was wasting time and undergoing unnecessary irritation.
“As I put my glasses away one day I hit on the idea of making a tickler partner of the case. I now carry on small cards in this eyeglass holder any exceptionally important memoranda that I simply must not overlook. Since I change my glasses every time I turn from reading to talking, or back again, the notes are sure to come to my attention, regardless of where I am in the building.
“For my particular kind of supervision I’ve really found this ‘makeshift’ invaluable. Of course its availability is limited to those who wear glasses, yet it may suggest to someone an idea of even wider application.”
PLAN 42
A PLAN FOR CLIPPING TIME FROM
ROUTINE WORK
The most obvious time-saving methods are sometimes the
easiest overlooked. Here’s one you may not have tried. It
is curtailing waste motions for a busy man and may also
prove profitable in your work.
A middle western business man frequently has to attach his autograph signature to a large number of letters and documents. To do this it was necessary formerly to clear his desk and handle the task laboriously, blotting and arranging the papers in order to resume his other work with as little delay as possible. This method took up too much time.
He met his problem by adding to his private office equipment a long, high desk, on which documents for signatures are spread out single fashion beforehand by assistants.
“When a lull comes in his routine tasks he goes to this desk and stands, signing the papers rapidly one after another, inasmuch as the large surface permits him to waive the waste motions of blotting and arranging the sheets. In this way, too, his regular work-desk is undisturbed and he can at any time take up a proposition quickly at the point where he left off.
PLAN 43
BOOSTS MY WORK ALONG WONDERFULLY
Have you taken a bird’s-eye view of your own job? Whether
you sell knives or tin cans, own a business or merely
expect to, you’ll doubtless find it interesting to try this
plan.
“I boost my work along wonderfully,” says one man, “by using what I call ‘My Job’ folder. Some time ago I realized I was so busy trying to make the office efficient that I was slighting my own progress. I hit on the folder plan as a solution. I analyzed my duties as best I could, mapped out the work I personally was responsible for, and listed various ideas that came to me for bettering myself and the office. These papers I put in the folder and gave instructions that it be placed on my desk once a month.
“When it comes to my attention, I go into the executive session with myself. I test the month’s work according to my analysis. I see where I’ve fallen down and where next month I can improve. It is helpful to ask such questions as ‘Did I make the most of today?’; ‘Am I neglecting some vital point in my work?’ or ‘Has any new condition come up which I should change front to meet ?’
” I keep the folder up to date, adding suggestions or ideas as they come to hand. If someone else, in print or at a convention, has told of a better way to handle such work, a note or clipping finds its way into the folder. If I hear comments that are critical, or if the facts and figures of the business have gone against me, I note the change in the demands. The folder goes back to the follow-up, but each time that I use it I have a new grip on my job.”
PLAN 44
THIS PLAN HELPS CLEAR AWAY “ODDS
AND ENDS”
Here’s another plan for handling unfinished work. It
helps one manager “get away with it” satisfactorily, and
is evidently a “clean-up” idea of considerable value.
One executive found himself frequently buried under a mass of details, which either absorbed too much time if attended in the midst of other important duties,
or caused him unexpected losses when neglected too long. He hit on this plan to take care of these “odds and ends” of unfinished work.
He now uses an “odds and ends” folder into which he slips every item of business not requiring immediate attention. All unimportant details and suggestions are dated before being put into the folder, and a tentative date added for their completion or adoption.
At first various times were tested for “cleaning up” the contents of the folder, and it was soon found that these details could best be handled before the day’s work was fairly commenced. As this manager usually gets down to the office twenty-five or thirty minutes before the office force begins work, he devotes that extra period to going through the folder. He finds that this arrangement actually saves hours of overtime work which were formerly required to get through with details and unfinished work.
The “odds and ends” folder and the set time have for over two years automatically taken care of the little yet necessary items that “only the boss” can handle.
PLAN 45
THE “CHECKERBOARD” PLAN
To be sure it’s an odd way of saving a busy man’s time,
but it’s results that count. Here the man who originated
it tells you just how he uses the “checkerboard” plan.
Playing checkers during office hours is a habit with the office manager of a Michigan concern, but he does it to save his time—and he finds it successful. A transformed card table is his checkerboard, and the “pieces” he uses are disks of various colors, on each of which is written the name of one of the employees who come under his supervision.
This office manager formerly had a good deal of difficulty in keeping an accurate record of his constantly shifting force. A card index failed to give him the results he wanted. He required a visible record which would show him at any time in the day the exact disposition of his forces, as well as general facts that would help him to insure better control of the work.
Like many business men, this office manager believes a mobile force of employees aids economy; for when one department is exceptionally busy, another may not have enough to do. With a proper organization, employees in the idle division may be shifted to help .the busy department through its temporary period of rush- In this office, when workers are transferred to an overworked section, their disks are moved by the manager’s secretary. She receives notification of the transfer from the division heads concerned.
Thus an unusual amount of labor in any one department comes to the immediate attention of the manager, and he can either direct that no additional work be sent into the crowded department, or that sufficient additional employees to clean up the work be transferred from a less congested section at once.
In case of serious congestion, a small red flag mounted on a disk is placed on the checkerboard space which represents the crowded division. This is a signal that calls for the manager’s immediate attention. A white flag, similarly placed, means that the department thus indicated is able to spare part of its workers for service in some busier division. Just as soon as a division has returned to normal condition through borrowed aid, the return of the workers to their own tasks is chronicled on the board simply by shifting disks. Thus the manager can see, without leaving his office, that the usual routine is resumed.
The office checkerboard performs many other equally important services. It records tardiness and absences in a simple and satisfactory fashion. Late arrivals are reported by the office timekeeper to the manager’s secretary. She inserts a small green thumbtack in the offender’s “checker.” Absentees’ disks are lifted from their places on the board and laid side by side in an absentee rack, which is provided at the side of the table. Here the checkers remain until the absentees return to work. Tardiness signs remain on the disks throughout the day. Three days’ tardiness in succession earns for the belated offender a black tack, which may result in a talk to the employee by the manager. Members of the office force know how the tacks work on the manager’s checkerboard, and this has reduced the tardiness •percentage. Black tag records are almost unheard of.
The use of “checkers” of various colors brings quickly to the attention of the executive much information of a miscellaneous nature that is valuable in regulating and controlling the work of the office. White disks, for example, signify workers of ordinary ability—those whose tenure of employment has been brief and whose record for efficiency entitles them to no special consideration. Red disks indicate division heads—workers who deserve recognition because of their special executive qualities. Gold disks designate all those whose long and efficient service warrants the manager in entrusting them with authority. These gold disks are in high esteem among the division heads, as are the red disks among those who aspire to promotion.
Disks half white and half red indicate workers of ordinary grade whose industry and adaptability place them in line for promotion. Blue disks without names indicate vacancies in the office force which need to be
filled.
On occasion, the board is also used to chronicle information regarding the progress of special tasks. Small squares of pasteboard are in readiness, and when the manager wishes to follow the progress of some particular work, one of these squares is placed in the proper position on the checkerboard, and is moved as the work progresses. Thus, a square labeled “fall letter to Kansas list” can be transferred from one department to another as the task goes ahead. Reports come to the secretary regularly from the addressing, enclosing, and mailing divisions, and the square is moved along in accordance. If it stops too long in any one division, that fact is apparent to the manager.
Information regarding office transfers, deserved promotions, and the like, comes to the manager’s secretary from division heads in the form of office notes. The data represented is at once registered on the checkerboard, so the manager may see at a glance just what is taking place in the office without the need of reading lengthy memoranda. The amount of time he saves in this way is considerable in the course of a month. He is relieved of the necessity of always asking himself whether details are being attended to.
PLAN 46
A PLAN WHICH CLEANS UP TASKS DAILY
Getting every day’s task finished on schedule is pretty
nearly perfection, most of us will say. Still, here’s a
plan that has helped one man do it.
“Every morning, after I reach my office,” says a
manager, “I spend at least half an hour in planning my work. As nearly as possible I map out a schedule for the entire day, and try to adhere to it. I find that I more than make up that half hour by eliminating the little ‘in between’ time losses which usually occur in deciding on the next thing to do.
“My stenographer keeps a small weekly memory jogger and makes a note of every appointment. Every morning she places on my desk a memorandum of the day’s engagements. By means of this system my desk is ‘cleaned up’ daily.”
PLAN 47
A QUALITY-RATHER-THAN-QUANTITY PLAN
In these days of “Please Rush” in almost every line of
work, this Boston business man’s plan for giving a task
the time it is worth is interesting, and so because his
policy actually provides him with more time.
“Push the work; don’t let it push you. Give a task the time it is worth and find a way to get it done in that time.”
This is the idea which a Boston business man keeps before him to save his time and get the most done. He has gone in for time and motion study and has profited much by putting a schedule or quota of work before him.
“It is better,” he says, “to think of a schedule as a quota; not something inviolable, but something to work to—if possible, to beat. Every week or month I make it a policy to readjust my schedule; but I do not make changes without reason. And I keep the time table flexible.
” The orderliness in working and thinking secured by this plan gives me more time for the broader phases of business and constantly urges me on to greater accomplishment. In fact, it means ‘quality’ rather than ‘quantity’ in attainment, which after all is right.”
PLAN 48
THE “FILE-AND-DISPLAY” PLAN
At small expense this man equipped his office with a small
cabinet and a display board and then added a box of
thumbtacks. Now he says he doesn’t fritter away time
clearing of his desk as he used to. He has no ”corner”
on the idea, and explains it fully below.
“I formerly fritted away hours each* month clearing my desk top to make room for charts, maps, reports, and drawings of unusual size that required my careful study,” says one man. “And even then it was often a question whether I had weights enough to make them lie flat. My work plan now eliminates all this trouble and saves not only time but nerve strain.
“I have my office equipped with an especially constructed upright filing cabinet (see figure 10) which also serves as a display rack. A regular wooden cabinet was built against one of the walls. It is approximately 11/2 feet in depth and 3 feet high, divided into compartments and furnished with doors. From the outer edge of this cabinet projects a ledge, upon which drawings and other large sheets may be easily placed for inspection. Prom the ledge a reclining wall extends to the ceiling. This wall is made of soft pine and covered with cloth so that thumbtacks may be pushed into it easily.
“Thus instead of having to disturb my desk during a busy part of the day and clear away papers I am working on, I can instantly thumbtack any larger sheets on the pine frame for quick inspection. There is never any need of using a chair as a makeshift easel to avoid stir- ring up the desk. This piece of equipment has two additional advantages. It displays the exhibits in the proper light and at a correct angle of vision. The cabinet and rack were built by a carpenter at moderate cost.”
PLAN 49
THIS PLAN MIGHT ADD AN HOUR TO THE DAY
No matter whether you employ a large force of assistants
or only one, you will find an interesting thought in this
plan for handling correspondence. The man who uses
it says he now not only gets more whole-hearted and loyal
service from his assistants, but that the plan also sates much
of his own time.
A business man whose particular hobby is the training of employees tells an interesting story of how he saved time and expense in handling his mail.
“In reality,” he says, “the element of saving never entered my head; all I was thinking about was developing responsibility in a certain employee. Yet I honestly believe my plan has worked better as a time-saving plan for that very reason, than if I had been actually trying to lessen expense in that way.
” Here is what happened: One morning while dictating my mail, I noticed a letter calling for a reply of the simplest nature. The only information needed could be had immediately by reference to our files. Almost with- out thinking I handed it to the girl and remarked ‘You know all about this. Answer it.’ “
“All that interested me was the effect on her; she could do it easily if she thought so. Soon I was delegating more important replies to her and I shortly realized how many details were now being handled at less expense and how much more time I had for larger affairs. This time is now equivalent to adding an hour to my day, and it was an hour I needed badly, too.”
PLAN 50
“WHAT’S THAT SAYING ABOUT A MINUTE
SAVED ?
These two little plans may seem insignificant, but they are
nevertheless saving minutes every day for one man—and
you know the old adage about minutes saved.
“When the head of one firm needs one of his office boys, he simply lifts his telephone receiver slowly twice. The switchboard operator automatically sees the signal and sends the messenger in. Should he desire to send a telegram, he lifts the receiver three times and the telephone girl puts in a call to the telegraph office.
This simple little plan, this man says, saves him a great many minutes. He is able to keep on with his work and he obviates in this way the time it always takes to get the operator’s response and explain the requirements. In fact, so automatically and quickly is this signal idea, that he can call for a boy without even pausing in the midst of an interview, in his dictation of a letter, or the perusal of a report. Furthermore, he now uses the office boys for tasks which formerly consumed thousands of higher-priced seconds.
114 Proved Plans to Save a Busy Man Time
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