Hire an Office Manager Before You Hire a Project Manager

Business and its terms are constantly changing.  I've worked in offices and have been an office manager much of my career.  Before project managers, office managers handled a good majority of the tasks that might be considered projects in today's business world.

It was fine by me, but I've been asked to do certain tasks that a seasoned office manager could definitely do.  And at the end of the project (smile), I asked if they had someone internally that usually did that type of work.

In some of the conversations, it turned out that a company thought they were saving money by having someone come in for a short period of time; rather than hiring someone who had a general knowledge of the needed support. That approach works for some people.  However, some companies would be better off spending money hiring an office manager or specialist either full time, or as a contracted service.  For small and independent companies, I think a good rule of thumb would be:

• If the project you are working on is outside of what the business normally does, a project manager would be appropriate.  Otherwise, hire a skilled office manager.

For example, if you are about to run a major awareness campaign, and marketing isn't your primary business, then by all means, hire a project manager to run the campaign.  But if it's something routine,

3 Things You Can Do To Organize Yourself and Your Business

 

It's the beginning of the year and I know you have that urge to do something that makes you feel like you are progressing in life.  Here are 3 things you can do right now to help you inch along!

1. Get your email box in order.  You might be like me and have more than one email address.  If you've been busy and haven't check them thoroughly in a while, it's time to get back on track.  Make it intentional by carving out a few minutes each day to check and clear them out.  You could start out with 10 minutes.  Then, if necessary increase the time. You might find hidden opportunities that have been waiting for you!  You can also create a few additional folders to help you sort through the email quickly.
   
   
2. Organize your files and paperwork.  This will be helpful in both saving you time and headaches! If you are a seasoned business owner, and/or have someone on your team managing your office and files for you, great! But if you are an independent  or just starting out and struggling-- consider this "in the trenches" method of maintaining your information.

Discover Durham

I was out searching and browsing the internet, and this cool site about Durham, North Carolina came up.  It’s called, Discover Durham.  It looks more like an arts page to highlight all the activities in the city but it looked so cool, I thought I’d share! 

As you may know, I’ll be sharing more travel information in 2024—so why not get started with North Carolina!  I’m an administrative consultant and personal assistant so hit me up if you need travel arrangements.  Let’s talk about it.

I found a another new podcast that I like ... Native Land Pod

I found this new podcast with Angela Rye, Tiffany Cross, and Andrew Gillum called Native Land Pod.  I listened to the first episode and it was honestly a great podcast.  Talked about lots of good topics and hitting many concerns of the day.

Very plain spoken and to the point.  I hope they do well!

I must say I don't agree with some of their views-- for instance I think there are choices outside of Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and wish they would acknowledge it. But, besides that it was a pretty good listen.  Check it out.

#NativeLandPod