Overwhelmed by HR Admin Tasks: How Do You Stay Organized and Focused?

Hi all,

I am working as an admin assistant in the sub HR Unit in an organization (Employee Services Unit) that has many branches. My department has almost 230 staff. I have to answer their phone calls, assist them personally when they approach me in my office, reply to their emails, collect their sick leave, attendance forms, training forms, leave forms, performance appraisals, manage papers of selected candidates, take photocopies, and perform tasks requested from my manager. I only have one colleague working with me.

My question is that I get distracted a lot because of the heavy workload and multitasking. As a result:

1. Many papers are missing.
2. Many tasks remain undone because I forget about them.
3. I get distracted when more than one person asks me for something.
4. Many papers clutter my desk.
5. I don't have time to do the filing, and all papers are kept without proper filing.

Could you please help me organize my work or provide me with a format for follow-up and reminders? Any ideas that could assist me in sorting out my work would be greatly appreciated. I will appreciate your replies.

Thank you.

Hi Ayesha,

You have correctly identified the source of your problem, and that's a good sign. As someone who has struggled with a similar issue, I hope the following steps work for you:

1. Set aside a block of time every day when you CANNOT be disturbed. If your manager can help you schedule this at the beginning or end of each day, nothing like it. Else consider coming in 30 minutes early, or leaving 30 minutes after working hours, or keeping your door closed, or just being away from your desk at lunchtime every day! Use this time to plan your day - work that needs to be done immediately, and tasks that are important but not urgent. Check if you have the necessary inputs for each task; otherwise, send out emails/set up reminders to collect the necessary details. Do all your planning in this time.

2. Use your Outlook calendar wisely. Set 30-minute tasks on it, one or two each day. Aim to complete those - if you get more done, reward yourself, but don't let the most critical task slip.

3. Organize your workspace. I do not know about your filing methods, but set up an Inbox & Outbox for all your papers. Everything goes into one of these, or it gets shredded. Once a day, pick up everything that needs to be filed and put them away. Twice a day, review the items in your inbox and process them, so you don't miss out on important updates.

4. Organize the requests/complaints that come to you. Check if your manager can schedule a block of time - say 4 hours every afternoon - to respond to employee queries. Else print out a simple form - name, employee ID, complaint - and ask them to leave it in a separate tray. Review and respond to each at one time in a day - and let the employees know when they can expect a response (within 24 hours?). Ask them to email you their queries as much as possible - it's easier to track your responses and copy-paste responses to similar queries.

5. On your desk, leave out a copy of the employment policy manual, leave policy, etc. Anyone asking routine queries can read through those right there.

6. For issues that you need to check with others, write them down on a notepad, and check all queries at one time. Again, once a day should work fine, depending on the numbers. Have all facts at your fingertips before you check.

7. Attendance Forms, Training forms, Leave Forms, performance appraisals - If you're walking around collecting these, do it once a day and drop them in your inbox for processing in your 'planning time'. If they're dropped off at your desk, ask for a drop box or ask employees to drop them in one tray.

8. The simple rule is to do similar activities together - if you're processing papers, all the paperwork gets done at the same time. If you're doing data entry, all the data gets entered at that time. Keep your desk clean - ask for more storage or workspace if it is warranted. Ask your colleague if she can split tasks with you - she does all the data while you do all the files, or something.

9. Learn to be more assertive. A part of your problem is your perceived lack of control over your work, so learn to ask with a smile.

10. For tasks that need to get done later in the week/month/year, set up reminders in your calendar. I used to highlight the relieving dates for employees in red on my desk calendar. Joining dates were green, training dates were blue... You can use your desk calendar or outlook, or a diary for this purpose.

11. Get an address book to store numbers, visiting cards. Put up a printout of the extension numbers you frequently use.

12. Lost stationery still frustrates me. I use a stationery box, but unless I'm vigilant, the pens and staplers are always missing. Your suggestions?

Good luck!

Sree

Dear Ayesha3000,

It is good that you have shared the aspects that are troubling you. I agree with what Sreeee_HR has stated; it is indeed wise advice. I would like to suggest that you try to overcome your fears and organize your schedule effectively.

If you are not familiar with organizing, you can start by using an organizer. Take some time to schedule your pending tasks. Spend at least 10 minutes at the end of each day to write a report to yourself. This practice can greatly help in standardizing your routine. Remember to relax and avoid letting tension and nervousness hinder your peace and productivity.

Begin with these points, and within a month, you will likely notice a positive difference. Gradually progress and adjust your schedule accordingly. Utilize reminders and scheduling tools to help manage, document, remind, and prioritize your tasks effectively.

Anyway, All the Best!

Checklists work well too, especially if your work consists of little steps that you're likely to miss. I set up checklists for joining formalities, joining documents, files, appraisal process, relieving, on rolls conversion, and visa processing.

I'm afraid the response is too long, but I just had to share my experience. Trust me, with a little planning, you can get on top of your work.

I just saw your post and the responses from other members. Getting things organized and working efficiently in an environment like yours is really challenging. I guess that there are many senior members in the community who have worked in much more demanding conditions and developed skills and techniques to adapt and manage. I wish many such persons come up and reply. Sharing their wisdom would help many junior members in their work and life too.

Resources for Handling Workload

I think I have greatly benefited in handling similar situations by the following resources:

1. **Book:** "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. This book has been a great help in practice.
2. **Application:** I use an application called Evernote. This helps me in keeping track of things present, past, and future. It is available on the internet, and there is a free version also, which we can download on the desktop and also upload our data so that we can use it on the web if necessary. I find this application very useful. You may try it out.

Thanks