How Poor Organization Skills Can Affect Your Productivity

Employers consider organization skills as one of the top skills every employee should have. These skills can also be learned as they work in the company. They include a set of skills and capabilities that help a person plan, strategize, and achieve the company's goals. These skills can bring companies to the peak of success. However, poor organizational skills can impact productivity and may affect the company negatively.

What are Organizational Skills?

According to Balance Career's published article, "organization skills are those related to creating structure and order, boosting productivity, and prioritizing tasks that must be completed immediately, versus those that can be postponed, delegated to another person, or eliminated altogether."

The article also added that maintaining excellent organizational skills can help reduce the risks of developing poor work routines such as clutter, inefficiency, procrastination, and miscommunication. This is why managers should motivate their employees to learn and develop effective organizational skills to contribute better to the company.

On the other hand, Indeed.com also shared its definition of organizational skills:

"Organizational skills are skills that allow you to use your resources efficiently and effectively. Being organized means managing your time, energy, and workspace well and can accomplish all your assigned tasks successfully. Organizational skills can take different forms depending on your particular workplace and job title, but they typically involve maintaining an orderly workspace, meeting deadlines, and communicating well with your team."

Indeed.com also mentioned that being organized in the workplace is related to the various essential skills such as time management, setting goals, self-motivation, analytical thinking, communication, delegation, strategic planning, working under pressure, decision-making, setting goals, and attention to details.

What are the Examples of Organizational Skills?

The following are the essential types of organizational skills needed by the employees to work more productively and efficiently.

#1 Planning

Without the implementation of a plan, any goal is like going to the battle without any armour. Planning is a way to allocate resources properly and effectively. A plan can be simple or complex, but what matters more is how they will be implemented and generate better results. The skills needed when planning include analyzing, data evaluation, decision-making, deadlines, budgeting, forecasting, understanding metrics, development planning, project management, and scheduling.

#2 Physical Organization

The physical organization does not only include a clean and organized desk. This also comprises the layout of the working space and the overall appearance of an area. A poorly organized working space can lead to wasted resources, physical discomfort, and lowered productivity levels. The way you set up your workstation can impact your productivity and efficiency at work. Everything you place on your desk should be something that you will use, and get rid of the items that are not necessary. Orderliness and tidiness matter when it comes to physical organization.

#3 Teamwork

A well-organized team is described to have an organizational structure with the proper delegation, collaboration, and communication towards a common goal. Each team member should have skills, including attentive listening, goal-setting, sense of leadership, implementation, discipline, and motivation.

#4 Other Organizational Skills

Other organizational skills are required to have in every company. Whether you're working from home or in a company office, the following skills are essential:

- Taking initiative

- Skills proficiency

- Decision-making

- Maintaining focus

- Active listening

- Proactivity

- Strategic planning

- Conscientiousness

- Self-motivation

However, poor organizational skills can affect your work adversely. It can lower the productivity level of an employee and may create bigger issues for the company.

How Poor Organizational Skills Can Affect Productivity

When poor organizational skills are present in the workplace, the level of productivity and efficiency will be adversely affected. Here's why:

Poor organizational skills can negatively impact your focus and the way of overseeing everything at work. You can become confused or less motivated to get the work done. For instance, an unorganized office desk can cause you not to think creatively. Imagine how difficult and stressful it is when looking for files in a cluttered desk or cabinets. This can turn your mood from good to bad, and the result will be lowered productivity due to inefficiency.

#1 Poor organizational skills hamper your focus

Poor organizational skills are a proven hindrance to productivity. Instead of focusing on things that can contribute to the company's success, poor organizational skills can slow down or hamper an effective process of doing the tasks. Imagine looking for a document from a cluttered desk, it will surely take some time, and you may forget to do other things. You may get confused and lose your focus when things around you are not organized and a mess. According to a published post in Chron.com, poor organizational skills can hinder productivity. It mentioned:

"Poor organizational skills are a hindrance to productivity. Instead of being able to get work done, poor organizational skills will leave you rummaging through documents and attempting to carve out a clutter-free area on your desk. Spending all of this time being non-productive causes your efficiency to suffer, which will not look good to your boss."

It is crucial to promote good organizational skills to make things done in an efficient and productive way.

#2 Poor organizational skills can affect time management

Poor organizational skills can affect how things can be completed on time. Since time is a valuable factor for every business, this should be given an adequate value. However, when things and processes are not organized, time can be wasted and may affect the company's resources. With poor organizational skills, you will not be able to fulfill your tasks, meet deadlines, prioritize urgent tasks, and complete your daily tasks. The result: lower productivity rate and poor work results.

#3 Poor organizational skills can also affect your health

Organizational skills are related to your mental and physical health. When you have poor organizational skills, you are more likely to acquire stress and anxiety. Your mood can be affected by a workplace that is poorly set up. Eventually, these stress and anxieties may contribute to the risk factors of having adverse health conditions. As advised by Health Life Magazine, "...just keep in mind that organization is a crucial lifestyle choice that impacts your productivity, alertness, focus, mental and emotional health, and stress levels. It is important to understand that you deserve to be stress-free, and organization will help you on the road to more relaxation."

Lack of organizational skills can cause you to forget to take care of your health, such as getting proper sleep, eating healthy foods, and promoting an active lifestyle.

#4 Poor organizational skills impact your professional growth

Poor organizational skills halt you from creating professional growth and career enhancement. When people become less efficient and productive, they can't adapt well to a fast-changing world. Your clients and customers may find it challenging to deal with you because you may often miss deadlines, confuse dates, mix up tasks, and become unreliable.

Some Tips to Be Productive By Having Organizational Skills

#1 Start your day with a plan and stick to it.

#2 Keep your goals and always gear towards development and being productive.

#3 Always aim for improvement; find better solutions after failures.

#4 Start with small steps when you're aiming for progress.

#5 Instill discipline in everything you do.

#6 Use time management apps and tools.

#7 Learn how to prioritize tasks.

#8 Declutter your desk and whole workspace.

#9 Make use of your idle time by creating a work-life balance

#10 Avoid stress and being overwhelmed.

Final Thoughts

Organizational skills are vital to the success of every business. The more organized you become, the more benefits you can gain. However, poor organizational skills can affect productivity and the overall success of a business. Furthermore, it can affect a person's health and general well-being. Make sure to consider doing the tips mentioned above to ensure you'll avoid poor organizational skills.