8 Office Management Checklists for Astounding Operational Efficiency

8 Office Management Checklists for Astounding Operational Efficiency process.st/office-management August 16, 2018

Alex Gallia August 15, 2018

Make office management processes fun, fast, and faultless Every office manager has 47 responsibilities, according to TopResume.

That is a pretty insane number (I challenge you to find another job description with as many).

Simply put, office managers have a lot on their plate. From the management of sensitive company records to reviewing employee performance and preparing annual budgets, their scope of work is very broad.

When there is so much going on, it can be incredibly challenging to keep track of everything, let alone ensure that the execution of specific tasks is on point every time and employees are consistently in good spirits. “The number one thing that makes a rockstar office manager is a high degree of emotional intelligence. You deal with everyone in the company, and experience a lot of different emotions and attitudes� – Sean Kelly, The 9 Undeniable Characteristics of a Rockstar Office Manager

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The fast-paced world of 21st-century business does not leave much room for error, meaning office managers must continuously improve the way they manage critical processes, to retain good employees and help the business achieve their goals.

That’s why we’ve created this set of checklists; to make the process of completing recurring office management tasks fun, fast and faultless.

In this post, I’m going to provide you with a brief outline of each along with some guidance on how they can help you improve the way you get stuff done!

If you want to dive in and go straight to the checklists, here they are:

Records Disposal Checklist

Records disposal is a critical component of records management as it can result in costly legal troubles or major data breaches if not executed correctly.

Although it may seem like a straightforward process, it is all too common for companies to throw themselves in the fire by failing to follow strict guidelines. As recently as a few weeks ago, a Dermatology and Laser Center in New England improperly disposed of 16,000 medical records that resulted in a significant loss of public trust and damaged their reputation.

It is therefore absolutely essential for companies of all sizes, particularly enterprises dealing with thousands of records containing private information, to establish a process for carrying out record disposals.

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Whether your records are paper or digital, need to be destroyed or retained in a storage facility, this checklist will guide you through all the steps to ensuring you are disposing of records in a compliant and efficient manner.

Click here to get the records disposal checklist

Office Safety Inspection Checklist

Maintaining a safe and secure working environment is a key responsibility for office managers.

Failing to do so can be extremely costly, both financially and in terms of the company’s reputation.

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A checklist is an essential ingredient for a properly conducted workplace inspection, seeing as it is the only way to know for sure that everything has been done to prevent incidents, injuries, and illnesses.

Beyond the general inspection of common hazards, electrical, and fire safety, this checklist will guide you through ensuring the safety of all aspects of an office space.

This means that in addition to ticking all general safety boxes, it will enable you to create a more comfortable and productive environment for your employees.

Click here to get the office safety inspection checklist

Office Risk Assessment Checklist

As part of managing the health and safety of your organization, you must routinely assess and control the risks in every office space.

From common hazards like slips and trips to ergonomics and the way employees handle office equipment, this checklist is a comprehensive guide to performing a full risk assessment of an entire workspace.

It is in many ways similar to the safety inspection checklist, though it contains additional tasks for evaluating employee awareness and reviewing the risk assessment with colleagues upon its completion.

Click here to get the office risk assessment checklist

Office Conflict Resolution Checklist 4/9

85% of employees experience some kind of conflict, of which 29% are constantly experiencing it. This is an alarming statistic that raises the question of whether or not managers are doing enough to mediate office conflicts, and ultimately resolve them.

Of course, the majority of conflicts between two individuals are resolved without outside interference, as the number 1 cause of workplace conflict is simply poor communication.

However, if there is a serious underlying problem and the conflict is clearly affecting the mood and productivity of other employees, leaving the antagonists to sort it out themselves is not the best approach. Getting involved and positioning yourself as a neutral mediator who is prepared to listen, can often create a better solution and prevent the conflict from getting out of control.

This checklist will walk you through each step of the conflict resolution process to ensure that a calm office environment is maintained and everyone can get back to work in good spirits.

Click here to get the office conflict resolution checklist

Employee Discipline Checklist

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In an ideal world, this checklist would never need to exist. However, we are only human, and sometimes an employee needs to be reminded of what is expected of them regarding their behavior and/or performance.

The first thing to acknowledge is that employee discipline is not a form of punishment, but rather a clarification of expectations and an opportunity for development. When seen in this light, a manager can approach the process in a practical way that is most likely to result in positive change.

It is important to note that a certain level of trust between employee and manager is necessary for effective disciplinary action. Trust can be built in various ways, including making an active effort to listen to the employee’s concerns, showing them a high level of respect, empowering them with new responsibilities, and leading with integrity.

This checklist is designed to guide you through the entire disciplinary process, from issuing a verbal warning to a written warning, suspension, and if absolutely necessary, employment termination.

Click here to get the employee discipline checklist

Employment Termination Checklist

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Terminating an employee is a serious procedure that can have devastating consequences if not done properly.

From disabling access to company property to issuing a benefits status letter and conducting an exit interview, there are numerous steps that need to be completed before you bid them farewell.

Whether the employee has chosen to resign or is being involuntarily terminated, this checklist will ensure that you execute the process in a respectful, compliant and efficient manner.

Click here to get the employment termination checklist

Performance Review Checklist

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69% of employees say they would work harder if they felt their efforts were better recognized.

Performance reviews provide an excellent opportunity for managers to praise employees for what they’ve done well, correct what they’re doing wrong, and offer opportunities for career development. They are also a good opportunity to have a candid discussion about how the employee is feeling about the job in general; a good old fashioned chit chat to boost motivation.

This comprehensive checklist will enable you to execute a flawless performance review for each and every employee.

Click here to get the performance review checklist

Budget Preparation Checklist

Financial planning is often an important responsibility for office managers, and putting together an annual departmental budget is perhaps the most arduous task that falls in that category.

This checklist is designed to walk through the budget preparation process from analyzing your most recent budget to determining your goals, calculating expenses and income, and ultimately gaining approval from top management.

By integrating this checklist into your financial planning process, you can optimize your budget preparation and implementation process, while also making a potentially exhaustive task a little bit more fun!

Click here to get the budget preparation checklist

Why not integrate these checklists with the tools you already use?

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Process Street offers an extensive range of automation capabilities that allow you to connect our checklists with over 1,000 tools including G Suite, HelloSign, Slack, and Trello.

If you don’t have any workflow automation set up in your business yet, don’t worry. It is surprisingly easy to get started.

Here are some ideas of specific tasks you could automate: 1. Send a risk assessment report to your manager upon completion of the checklist 2. Email an employee a summary of their performance review 3. Schedule a date to review an employee’s progress once a verbal warning has been issued 4. Pass employee performance data between Process Street and G Suite apps during performance reviews 5. Create a Trello card when you begin a safety inspection checklist to increase transparency with colleagues 6. Upload attachments such as a certificate of (record) destruction to Google Drive For additional ideas, check out these 50 ways to save time and money with workflow automation. Also, learn more about how to streamline your business processes with our ebook, The Ultimate Guide to Business Process Automation.

Looking for other checklists?

Have a look through some of our other template packs below to see which ones you can implement in your business.

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