Is there a spring in your step? If you need to spring clean your office systems, you might feel overwhelmed by your files and piles. These process upgrades will help you keep your insurance office workload manageable this year.
Develop More Efficient Spaces
Spring is a time to undertake a physical cleanup of your office. Teetering piles of paper are not an effective way to manage your files, nor do they present an appropriate image to your clients. If your pending paperwork is large, create a file where it can reside instead of living on your office desk. Work to file new material as soon as it comes into the office to reduce the size of the paperwork on your desk. When you're creating a more efficient office space, you want to find a place for every object so that you know where everything is and can file it away in a place where you'll find it and complete the task.
Is there a part of your office where doodads go to sit and accumulate? If there's a corner where people place their scrap paper or a room with broken equipment, eliminate this area. Designate a place for each object when it's at the end of its life, and strive to reuse as much as possible. Create scrap paper boxes and learn where to repair or recycle older equipment.
Look for Repetition
When customers walk into your office, do they get invited to do the same thing twice? If you're asking customers for the same information at the front desk as you are when they're talking with an insurance specialist, make sure that there is a way to communicate this information internally so they don't need to be asked about it twice.
Create Clarity About Job Responsibilities
What tasks are chronically left undone? What responsibilities live on the edge of someone's desk? When you're examining your office workflow, look at the areas of work that aren't getting done or are often late or missed. If these aren't part of a specific individual's job description, they should be. For instance, if you have a welcome package is it the administrator's responsibility to email this out to a new client or is it the job of the insurance specialist who was speaking with that client? Clarity about job descriptions will help ensure that all work gets done.
Align With the Traffic Flow
Where do people walk in the office? Where do they drop their things? When you look at your office systems, examine the office traffic flow and see how it works for your employees. Does paper have a tendency to get lost moving from place to place? Does everyone stop and chat in a particular area, making it harder for people in that area to get work done? Spend time watching how your employees move through the workspace and what they do in those spaces. You may find inefficiencies that are hindering your office workflow.
Where Do You Spend the Most Time?
When you'd really like to get down to the business of adding efficiency to your workplace, ask your employees to track their typical day or week at the office. Examine their workday. What areas take the most time, and which ones could benefit from improved systems, whether these are organizing systems or computer assistance such as software. Are there any tasks that take an inordinately long time compared to other employees? This could indicate that this task is a poor fit for that employee and should either be reassigned or the employee could be given additional training to learn how to complete that task more efficiently.
Are you looking for support in the development of your office systems? Tame your office workflow and create lasting plans to reorganize your office. With discounts on marketing tools and education that helps your insurance company succeed, the American Agents Alliance can help. Contact us today to learn more about our products for insurance agents. 
