Only One Staff Member Should be Ordering Equipment
Posted by SceneR on June 30, 2008
One of the things that I learned during the years that I managed an office was that it’s important to make sure that tasks are delegated appropriately. I also learned that it’s important to make sure that you delegate tasks in an organized fashion so that no two staff members are doubling up on duties. Being organized in this way is what will keep the office running smoothly. Of course, no one ever told me this; it was something that I learned the hard way.
I was working in a fairly small office so I left a lot of the decision making up to the individual staff members on my team. At one point, we had a project that required us to cut a bunch of papers into different sizes and then to fold them for mailing to potential clients. I mentioned in a meeting that someone would need to purchase the right tools to get this job done. I wasn’t clear about who this should be or what should be purchased.
Several different staff members went into the petty cash drawer that week. By the end of the project, the office owned a business card cutter, two paper cutters and a paper folder. We didn’t need all of these things. It was a waste of time for staff to go out and buy them and it was a waste of money spent on unnecessary equipment. But it did make me learn my lesson!