Hasta La Ideas

Reader Laura submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer:

I know that several people have asked about living with a messy person but I have a question about working with one. I work in a fast paced coffee shop as an assistant manager with my direct boss that is completely disorganized. As a tidy person, I understand the benefits of cleaning and clearing on a daily basis, especially with paper work. She, however, seems so stressed out that everything gets lost. I am constantly amazed when she can meet a deadline because she is so all over the place. This work environment is starting to stress me out and break down our communication! How do I handle this, noting that it can be a tense work relationship? Is this something
that I should just get over and deal with?

Every employee brings something different to a business. In fact, the more diverse the employees at a company, the better the company is at responding to its needs. What your colleague lacks in organizing skills, she might make up for in people or management skills. For instance, I am bad at brainstorming, but amazing at follow through. If you want something to get done, you come to me. If you want someone to generate the next multi-million dollar idea, you talk to somebody else. You’re likely in the position you are at your company because your boss sees your organizing skills as highly valuable and complimentary to her skills. You have something she lacks, and she needs your organizing talents to do her job well.

Instead of being frustrated about her lack of skills, find ways to help her develop her organizing skills. Start by asking her if she wants some help in a nice, friendly “I genuinely want to help” manner. If she does, work together to find ways you might be able to streamline parts of her job to make things easier on both of you. If she doesn’t want your help, try your best to lead by example and maybe she’ll eventually change her mind. You can’t force her to become organized, but it never hurts to politely ask someone if they could use some help.

I’ve been the extremely disorganized employee in the past, and I would have loved for someone to have offered me help. I constantly felt like I was underwater and that I was letting down my co-workers. Your boss might feel the same way, and giving her a helping hand will likely make things better for her, you, and everyone else at your coffee shop.

Thank you, Laura, for submitting your question for our Ask Unclutterer column. Good luck!

Do you have a question relating to organizing, cleaning, home and office projects, productivity, or any problems you think the Unclutterer team could help you solve? To submit your questions to Ask Unclutterer, go to our contact page and type your question in the content field. Please list the subject of your e-mail as “Ask Unclutterer.” If you feel comfortable sharing images of the spaces that trouble you, let us know about them. The more information we have about your specific issue, the better.