Organizing is the process of putting order and structure into place for more efficient systems. It is taking chaos and making it controlled in such a way as to support an individual or organization. While many people thrive on chaos and have built their identity on living in chaos, the real successes for leaders are when they can take a situation that is out of control and organize it efficiently.
Putting order to chaos is quite simple when they have the natural skills to do it. When their mind can organize chaos just by seeing it, they are likely gifted with the skills needed to put order to the mess. Others can learn the skills needed to organize their surroundings. Like anything, when they start out small by learning the basics over time they can build up to more complex challenges and meet them successfully.
Let’s be clear that the mess is when things are in complete disarray. There are people who can work with things piled up on their desks or in stacks around their workspace, these people will argue that their organizational system works for them. Many people will accept this as their truth until they have data to the contrary. For example, if someone is asked to hand something to another person and they start searching in the piles and stacks and don’t come up with it, they are not organized.
Leaders have a responsibility to ensure that order and structure are maintained for many reasons, not the least of which is efficiency and sustainability. Businesses will not survive long term chaos and disarray. The costs associated with things being in chaos is very high for many organizations. Looking at some of the reasons why businesses fail would include there not being any organization to support them. This makes the business case for having organizing skills in business organizations.
Organizing can be focused on resources within a business; how do they align their talent with the processes that must be completed for the company to be successful. Do they have a systematic organizing process for aligning the people in the company with the roles to be completed. Organizing the roles and responsibilities structures are a critical foundational component to any business.
Additionally, how do they organize the work flows and processes? Are teams focused on the right work and are they working with others teams in an organized and structured way? Any process is only as good as its organizational set up; do things flow from one to the next with ease or confusion? Will the customer be served satisfactorily with the process as it is currently organized?
Many people are not gifted nor talented when it comes to organizing and there is no judgement. The best teams are made up with diversity that has been well thought through. One team member may be proficient with organizing while another is successful with planning. When they are working together they are more likely to create bigger successes together. Leaders work to support people bringing their strengths to the game.
There are those who will want to develop their organizing skills and this is very doable. Start small with things that are in chaos and put them into some order or structure. It could be organizing their desk top, their desk drawers, supply room, their home pantry or their dresser drawers. By putting all of things on their desk top in an orderly manner, they are proving to others and themselves that it be can organized well.
Organizing is taking a jar of coins and sorting them into the different coins. It is taking anything that looks or feels out of order and putting it back into some order. Systems keep businesses in an organized state. When leaders follow the systems that have been established they are far more likely to achieve more successful outcomes.