rnia ,1 5547 ^^, 114 proved ' • L ' ;: ^2 "^ plans to save a busy man time. Southern Branch of the University of California Los Angeles Form L-l HP 55^7 osa This book is DUE on the last date stamped below .VIA/ 7 192&- JAN 31 199 ■^orm L-9-2m-7,'22 t-.> In this drawer are paper, cards. envelops, and other supplies naturally reached tor with the left hand These are the only transient papers ahout the desk. The folder in theexecu five's left hand contains reports relating to these papers, and helongs. when not' in use. in the lower right hand drawer. Folders containing reports on work In process, riirtation and house notes Pencils and rubber stamps Clips, pins, rubtier hands and paste Graphs and reports of progress, posted up (odate from time to time Small scratch pad with the pad flush against the glass he can tear off a sheet with one hand Noteliook for appointments and "things to do" Putting your desk in fighting trim is a good first step to- ward saving time for big tasks, loe' II all agree. This busi- ness man has made his desk an effective business tool by arranging it so he can secure, with the least waste of mo- tions, all his "'equipment." (See Plan 93.) lU PROVED PLANS TO SAVE A BUSY MAN TIME TESTED PLANS FOR MAKING EVERY MINUTE COUNT- WAYS TO KEEP WORK FREE FROM INTERRUPTION- HOW TO PUT YOUR OFFICE AND DESK IN EF- FECTIVE TIME-SAVING TRIM— METHODS THAT HELP TO SPEED UP ROUTINE A. W. SHAW COMPANY CHICAGO NEW YORK LONDON "HOW BOOKS" How to Increase Your Sales How to Increase a Bank's Deposits How to Increase the Sales of a Store How to Sell More Fire Insurance How to Talk Business to Win How to Write Advertisements that Sell How to Finance a Business How to Advertise a Bank How to Get More Out of Your Factory How to Cut Your Coal Bill How to Run a Retail Lumber Business at a Pro&t How to Find Factory Costs How Scientific Management is Applied The Knack of Managing {five pocket volumes) The Business Man's Encyclopedia (fonr volumes) The Knack of Factory Management {ihree volumes) 78 Proved Plans for Handling and Closing Real Estate Deals 96 Proved Plans for Collecting Money by Mail 161 Store Plans to Win New Trade SHAW STANDARD BUSINESS BOOKS Advertising''* Good Will, Trade Marks and Unfair Trading Purchasing and Employment** How to Write Business Letters Business Correspondence* Sales Correspondence** The Automatic Letter V/riter and Dictation System The Business Correspondence Library {three volumes) How to Teach Business Correspondence Credits Collections and Finance** Office Methods and Accounting** The Cost of Production* Costs and Statistics** A Report on Scientific Office Management Personality in Business Employer and Employee* Handling Men* Organizing a Factory* Industrial Organization** The Library of Factory Management (six volumes) A Report on the Taylor System of Scientific Management • The'Knatii oESellJag (sz«,^oci;ei w^«tft«) * t Sal^f'^anjigensgnt*'^ \ * ' •,* • t « • • •AmerJcau -Industrfas*— Studies uiTTliie^ pommercial Problems Volume I-The V/ool Industry *g6uI^P^* Jitssi*e^ J> the '^d'*cal*o^rjfidiion) •••Ret^Iil'Mefch&ftdisJhg* *•** *•* *.,• Commercial Correspondence REPORTS {Issued by the Bureau of Business Standards) What It Costs to Run a Bank The Taylor System of Scientific Management Scientific Office Management A. W. SHAW COMPANY Publishers SYSTEM, the Magazine of Business FACTORY, the Magazine of Management SYSTEM ON THE FARM NEW YORK CHICAGO LONDON * Formerly Issued in "THE BUSINESS MAN'S LIBRARY" »* Formerly issued in "THE LIBRARY OF BUSINESS PRACTICE" CopjTight, 19 IS, by A. VJ. SHAW COMPANY Printed in U. S. A. W F WHERE TO FIND THE PLAN YOU WANT ^ Plan No. Accounting sj^stem, a simple one 22, 101 Annunciator, for appointments 80 APPOINTMENTS - early morning 114 - making, with employees 15 -watching 97.112 ARRANGEMENT - of desk 54, 58, 66, 83, 93 30, 64, 70 84, 98 ^ - office S Assigning tasks :^ B Bids, tabulating 21 BOARDS - display 48 - for watching office work, 14, 26, 40, 45, 78, 85, 92, 105 «jO Callers, handling, 8, 12, 20, ^ 25. 35, 37, 55, 61, 65, 70, 86, 106, 109 Catalogs, filing 31 Causes of wasted time 74 CHARTS -graphic 9, 36, 52, 100, 104 - organization 37 - progress 11, 16 Checking up on yourself 43 Codes, color 13, 26 Colors, individual for each de- partment 6, 13 Concentrate, plans that help to 77, 82 CONFERENCES - saving time with 88 Plan No. - starting the day with 87, 114 - that save time 17 Delegating work to assistants, 72, 108 Desk arrangement, 1, 2, 54, 58, 66, 83, 93 Display boards 48 Fatigue, avoiding 24 File, memory 96 FILES - information, 6, 7, 10, 18, 27, 38. 62, 69. 81. 102 - that cut time 67 FILING - catalogs 31 - magazines 32 - routine 107 - system, that saves time. 89, 90. 91 Finishing work 111 Graphs 9, 36, 52, 100, 104 I Indexing information 95 Information file, 6, 7, 10, 18, 27, 38, 62, 69, 81, 102 Interviews, saving time on 29 Instructions, issuing 95^ Plan No. K Keeping information in sight 1 Keeping the desk clear 3 Knacks that save time 73 Letter writing 5 M Machines, using 76,99 MAGAZINES -filing 32 - reading Mail, handling the Map for routing calls 103 49 4 MEMORANDA - special pad for - one way to keep Memory cards 34.44 41 19,27 - the day's work Progress charts Plan No. 46,47 11, 14, 16 Reading magazines 76, 99 Recreation periods 24 Remembering names 19 Reports that save time 60 Routing calls on customers 4 Schedule, working by, 51, 57, 63,68 Shock absorbers for execu- tives 8 Signing mail 42, 113 System for the man who travels 79 "Odds and ends" folder 44 OFFICE - arrangement 30, 64, 70 - a traveling 56 - directory 59 - hours 39 One-man business, accounting system for 22 Tabulating bids 21 Tasks, assigning 84 Telegrams, getting service on 110 TELEPHONE - orders, handling 23 - ways to use the 50, 72 Traveling office 56 PLANNING - boards, 11, 26, 36, 40, 45, 78. 85. 92. 105 W Wasted time, eliminating 28 Writing letters 6 HOW TO GET THE GREATEST VALUE FROM THIS BOOK There are scores of time-saving plans in this little book, but each of them was selected only after one or more similar plans had been discarded. Several hundred plans were carefully inspected to secure the 114 printed in the book. "WTiere did they all come from?" you will probably ask. They have been furnished by a group of unusually successful business men with which the editorial organiza- tion of the A. W. Shaw Company has built up a con- fidential contact. Only those in this group who have specialized on working out plans and methods for saving time supplied material for this particular book. So the book really not only contains the very best plans from among several hundred for cutting down time wastes, but the best plans worked out by the men with the best records for perfecting plans whom the A. W. Shaw Com- pany has been able to discover after a country-wide search extending over a number of years. This explains why the plans cover so many types of business. But this only increases their value, of course, for it is a demonstrated fact that nine out of every ten plans that succeed with one type of proposition can be used for almost all other types. Furthermore, the ever- increasing intensity of the competition which business men face nowadays makes it necessary for them to draw their ideas from more than one type of proposition if they are to keep up to date. Just try out one or two of the plans that appeal to you most if you want a first-hand proof of this assertion that ideas can be transferred from one field to another. As a matter of fact, there are many classic incidents illustrating this truth — the cash register is said to have come from a device for recording the revolutions of a ship's engines, for example. These incidents all go to illustrate the important fundamentiil truth that the various types of business are after all very much alike. The A. W. Shaw Company has on file records of hun- dreds of letters which demonstrate the practicability of using the other man's idea. There is even a department "How I Used Another Man's Idea" in its magazine. System, which you will receive in connection with your purchase of this book. Here is a good example of these letters from a recent mail : Joseph L. Holbrook is office manager of the Fuller- Morrison Company, and a regular reader of System. In his December 1916 copy he read an article by W. H. Leffingwell on "What Scientific Rlanagement Did For My Office." Mr. Holbrook quickly saw how he could use Mr. Leffingwell's plan to advantage in his business. Let him tell in his own words about the idea which cut time losses for him: "This plan," writes Mr. Holbrook, "is a dandy in handling mail. We give credit for it to System, as it is a combination of various methods that we read of there. The last plan that we saw described hi the magazine before we completed our new building and installed the equipment was in W. H. Leffing- well's article, 'What Scientific Management Did For My Office.' "A new sorting rack, placed as part of the dividing line between the mailing department and the general offices, is the result. Since our mail for individuals is likely to be rather bulky, we changed Mr. Leffingwell's idea. He described a rack on the 'incoming mail' table, with narrow vertical divi- sions in which the sorting clerk places letters and department notes to the various men. "We have, instead, compartments that run clear through the rack. The incoming mail is sorted into the respective pigeonholes by the man who handles this work on the mail- ing room side of the rack. On the office side of the rack the letters are taken out and stuffed into the delivery folders tor the boy. It saves us lots of time in handling the incoming mail." Be^sure to read each issue of System carefully, for it will describe to you month after month not only many other tested plans for saving time, but also new and practical methods for increasing your sales, for adver- tising, training salesmen, keeping records, holding down expenses, and carrying on all the other activities of your business- in the most effective way. PLAN I THIS PLAN MAKES A DESK DO MORE WORK Here is described a new u-ayfor handling detail by means of zvhich a Detroit business man makes his desk do tasks that formerly he, or his secretary, had to do. In fact his desk has become a real "partner." ' ' I have one great little time saver, ' ' says an executive with a Detroit firm. "My work makes it necessary to have before me a variety of lists and tables of informa- tion. My desk top and all the convenient wall space are utilized, and I was puzzled, for a time, as to where to put a running record of the whereabouts of my men and when they expected to return. You can see that this record must be handy and have frequent attention. * * I solved the difficulty by having the right-hand slid© leaf of my desk planed down about a quarter of an inch on the under side; turned it over and put my records on it in a frame under glass. The glass is cut in strips about two inches \vide. By pushing the strips to one side or the other, it is easy to write in any column. "My office is laid out on the principle of quick and easy access to everything I want, ignoring all traditional arrangements. So well has my idea worked that every man in my department uses the same plan and as a result anyone here can go to any desk and find any informa- tion it contains without difficulty. ^ "In addition to a standard system of desk drawei*s, files and basket, I have a file for departmental mattei's that belong to no one desk; and a simple little idea has 10 PLAN TWO saved me a world of time — just putting the index under the glass, on the right-hand comer of my desk. The file stands almost touching that corner, so you can see I have reduced the time necessary to find a paper in that file practically to a minimum." This same man has a simple little attachment on his desk which, he says, has returned its cost several times in the minutes it has saved him. And he thoroughly believes that time is money. He had his dictating machine mounted on a drop in one side of his desk, and by press- ing a lever with his foot, he raises it into place, or drops it out of sight. As a result the machine is never in the way, invisible when not in use, and can be put in position for use in less time than was formerly required. PLAN 2 A PLAN WHICH "GETS THE INFORMATION ON THE SPOT" This plan, as you II quickly see, is not unlike some others in this hook, but this man carries it far enough to make it do the work in almost every case. Surely almost anyone can lift a helpful suggestion from what he tells. "It's wonderful how much time and annoyance I've saved myself since I applied this plan to my desk," de- clares an Iowa business man. "I was slow in coming to it, for it is my misfortune to be of the type that chucks work away in a desk hurriedly. However, I've become accustomed to my plan now and find it worth more per- haps than any other move I ever made toward greater effectiveness. ' ' The upper left-hand drawer of the desk is instantly available as I turn in my swivel chair. It contains a card index for quick reference to the information in the PLAN TWO 11 other drawers and files. The shallow center drawer is divided into little bins for clips, pen points, rubber bands, erasers, and the like. The upper right-hand drawer holds a filing system for work in process. Beneath these are storage drawers — not ordinarily used for any regu- lar filing purposes. "The vertical file consists of manila folders between pressboard guides, fitted with tabs and compressors. It is indexed alphabetically, numerically, geographically, and chronologically, to suit my peculiar needs. As it contains only unfinished business, the guide headings read: 'Pending Correspondence,' 'Rush Dictation,' 'Telegraph Business,' and the like. Into the folders go the papers tliat formerly were chucked into the pigeon- holes of my old desk. The moment any pending transac- tion is closed, the papers regarding it are removed and transferred to the permanent files. This keeps my desk and personal files clear of all except live data, and I can find the papers I want. "I have also an extra cabinet near by to use occasion- ally when press of business takes up all my own available space. The card index is specially divided to show me instantly what information is in this subsidiary desk file. My clerk keeps the index and drawers in order and I can refer to what I am looking for quicker than the time re- quired to give instructions to anyone else as to what I want and where to find it. "In the lower drawers of the extra cabinets are filed catalogs, drawings, and other large and bullry papers. The other drawers contain salesmen's reports, follow-up systems, comparative statistics, advertising figures, buy- ing records, current invoices, stock records, and special information not needed every day but important enough on various occasions to have quickly available when the demand for it does arise. 12 PLAN THREE "The folders are numbered. If I wish to refer to certain advertising statistics under the subtitle of some magazine, I turn to my index and find the card bearing the name of the periodical, in its alphabetical position in the tray. This gives the number of the folder in the cabinet. I have found, too, that often the index card itself can be used to present brief summaries or tabula- tions, or concise statements of facts, so that the mere reference to the card will sometimes suffice, without opening the cabinet, PLAN 3 HERE'S A TESTED PLAN FOR CUTTING A FEW CORNERS And that is not all. It also provides a simple way for handling and disposing of unfinished icork in quick order. A Cleveland executive whose desk tray had become a catch-all for miscellaneous papers and letters which had to be kept ready for reference but individually were hard to find when needed, worked out a simple plan for overcoming this handicap. He had filing folders made of different colors of stock: red for papers of impor- tance which he may have to refer to at any instant; blue for papers to go over with the sales manager ; and buff for plans or suggestions to be considered later. When a note or letter comes to his desk which cannot receive immediate attention, it is placed at once in the proper folder, to be taken up at the earliest opportunity. The items may include important letters that require answers within a day or two, details to take up with a department manager, reports to be acted on, or other memoranda that cannot be permanently filed. Now he doesn't have to rummage through the tray and take the time to see if he has forgotten some duty. PLAN FOUR 13 Figure 1: Glance at this map and then read Plan 4 and you will no doubt agree that the map can be of real service in almost any office. The big idea behind it is a classification of business interest by sections. This makes it possible to cover all the prospects in a certain section ivithout "doubling back." PLAN 4 "SAVES HOURS WHICH MIGHT OTHERWISE BE WASTED" There are surely a score of ways in which the idea back of this man's plan can be adapted to special circum- stances — and no doubt you'll quickly work out all of them. A management consultant, whose duties take him to various industrial plants in and around a large city, has evolved a plan for saving time in calling upon those of hLs prospective clients who are located in the sections in which he already has clients. The task of *' routing" himself on these trips is sim- plified by a large wall map of the city mounted on a wooden frame which hangs directly before his desk. Into it he sticks numbered tacks of different colors to indi- cate the location of his prospects and their financial ratings according to the leading commercial agencies. The "key" to this map is typewritten on sheets of paper that give the names of the concerns (opposite 14 PLAN FIVE numbers corresponding to those on the tacks), the indi- viduals in charge, and additional details about the ratings. Before starting out to visit one of his clients, he glances at the map, makes out his itinerary on a small card, and drops in to see his prospects on either the way- out or the way back. The idea is, of course, applicable to the work of any man, whose business calls him out- side the office at times. PLAN 5 THIS PLAN HELPS IDEAS GROW Ueres a plan which doesn't cost a cent to start, and yet the man who uses it says it is a gold mine of mimdes and no doubt you II agree that's a pretty good recommen- dation for any plan. ''I now prepare my letters in about half the time that it formerly took," says one man. "By this I do not mean that I have allowed quality to sag. A good letter is, of course, worth all the time necessary to make it good enough to engage the reader's attention. "Here is my system: Every interesting letter that comes to my office goes into a special file. Two or three times a month I run through the letters I have collected and pick out the ones that seem worth keeping for refer- ence and further study. "In this way I have secured a permanent collection that I value highly. When I need an idea I go to my file of good letters, and usually quickly get a valuable suggestion that I can use in the letter I am planning. I often find paragraphs ready made, almost always sugges- tions of wording, arrangement, and sometimes whole plans, and so my special file is a 'veritable gold mine' of both minutes and ideas gained." PLAN SIX 15 PLAN 6 THIS MAN HARDLY EVER GETS "SNARLED UP" IN DETAILS And that's what every business man is trying to do. So this plan for handling the day's work is almost bound to contain suggestions that may be worth your while. An executive with an eastern company does not allow himself to get snarled up in a mass of detail, because he has developed a definite plan for each day 's work. First of all, when he saw his tasks increasing, he established a statistical department, which has become invaluable to him. With this supply of information at his command at an instant's notice, he does not have to hold up an expensive proposition while all the facts essential to its completion are gathered from various sources. This department is really nothing more than an en- larged information file. It keeps this executive in close touch with every branch of his own industry, as well as with market conditions affecting the commodities in which his company deals. It affords him ready access to every feature of operation and maintenance in both the manufacturing and merchandising ends of the busi- ness and collects every desirable fact on trade conditions for his use at any time. Articles by financial and trade authorities are also carefully filed for future reference. As this executive's product is used in finishing new buildings he has placed on his desk each day tabulations of the building permits issued throughout the country. Thus, without holding long conferences or wondering over business conditions he can tell at a glance just about what the market possibilities for his product are. On his desk stands a tickler file. Any proposition that can be decided at once is decided at once. He dis- 16 PLAN SEVEN ciplines himself against even a moment's waste of time. If it requires investigation and a report, it is ticketed to the person who is to handle it, with instructions as to when a reply is expected, and a tickler memorandum is put under that date. In order to keep his memoranda distinct and different from all other memoranda in the office, he notes them all in purple pencil. In this way he saves considerable time because he does not have to affix his signature or add any unnecessary explanation. Every assistant and employee knows the source of a purple note. This idea of individual pencil colors is carried out by each depart- ment head who uses his own particular color, for in- stance, one blue, one red, another yellow, and still another green. The executive allows no business to accumulate on his desk. He never permits himself to become tangled up in any routine which is better understood and handled by his lieutenants — and, since it is better understood, is better executed by them. He has clearly defined de- partmental policies, and details are thus carried into effect by his subordinates without frequent interruptions to consider unimportazit details. PLAN 7 "ONE OF THE BEST TIME SAVERS I HAVE EVER FOUND" Here^s a flan to gain a lap on the clock which has stood a practical test. You may say that there is nothing par- ticularly new about it, but it actually did save time for this man, and surely a plan that actually saves time for one business man ought to interest all of us. * * It wasn 't so very long ago that the deep lower drawer of my desk was cluttered with odds and ends — bits of PLAN EIGHT 17 information I thought I might have use for some time, ' ' writes a southern business man. "But it did me no good because I couldn't find what I wanted without wasting too much time. So I cleaned out the material one day and fixed up an orderly information file in its place. This plan for keeping items where I can find them in a jiffy has proved one of the best time savers I have been able to find. ' ' Whenever, in my reading or elsewhere, I come across articles that may later prove valuable to me I clip them and place them in folders carefully indexed as to subject in this deep lower drawer. If, for example, I read a par- ticularly good article on 'paints,' I clip it and file it in a 'paints' folder. If I receive a good circular letter, I file it with other 'sample letters.' I have quickly accumu- lated in this way an excellent review file, in which I look for ideas when I need them on short notice. It contains the data I need, and I can get at it just when I want it." PLA^3 8 A "SHOCK ABSORBER" PLAN FOR SAVING TIME At least thaCs what it is called by the man who iises it. lie says it has saved him many valuable hours. The idea is not new, perhaps, but some of the features of the plan are different and, as Wee as not, will be xiseful to you. The president of a Pacific Coast concern believes in extending the utmost courtesy to every visitor from the "least to the greatest," but his time is too valuable to see them all, so he saves precious hours by having a specially trained assistant receive them. He first analyzed his plan from various angles and then selected a courteous and diplomatic young lawyer for the job. The young man was not thrown blindly into his task. For several months he simply was present 18 PLAN NINE at all interviews conducted by the head official. He was introduced as the ''assistant to the president" when he began his new work. When he had sufficiently imbibed the concern's cour- tesy policy he was given the title of "vice-president" and assigned the duty of receiving all callers. As an in- centive to guard the interests of his employer he was given one share of stock in the company. Now, with the exception of a very few persons, whom it is unques- tionably to his chief's interest to see, he satisfactorily takes care of all visitors. This "shock absorber" arrangement, as the president himself calls it, has given him incalculable minutes for his larger problems. Of course, the selection of the right subordinate is essential and he must be carefully trained. PLAN 9 SPECIAL PLANS ARE OFTEN NEEDED FOR SPECIAL CASES You may say that this plan only applies to special cases. That is quite true, but the principle behind it — eliminat- ing petty details in order to have more time for the real problems, applies to scores of cases. In an office where diagrams and graphs have been used for some time to visualize periodic reports and state- ments, the executive has hit on a plan to cut his routine still further and at the same time to secure very satis- factory results. Frequently he has occasion to refer to these reports in working on his various financial and development prob- lems. Formerly this meant getting out the ones desired and going over them on his desk, which had to be cleared for the purpose. This meant loss of time. Now he has them mounted and hung on swinging racks near his desk. Each statement is before the executive and he can gain PLAN TEN 19 his information without moving even a piece of paper. He uses racks to hold 12 graphic charts. Each chart, of course, contains facts on a single, specific phase of the firm's activities. The fluctuations in the amount of business on hand, the numbers of employees, the financial account, the purchases of material, and even in market prices of com- modities, which have a bearing upon the welfare of the business, are among the items thus charted. The graphs are all of uniform size and are mounted under glass in the rack frames, w^hich are suspended from a wall holder. Thus all important reports are preserved just as perfectly as if filed. Furthermore, the frames are so arranged that they can be closed together to insure privacy whenever desired. It is the task of a clerk to keep the graphs up to date. "I have found the plan elastic and adaptable to the needs of the individual case," says this business man. "Indeed, one or two such graphs might serve the pur- pose of the average office. Sales records, cost records, and production records are particularly well expressed in this graphic form which I am using." PLAN 10 ANOTHER PLAN WHICH BRINGS INFORMA- TION TO HAND QUICKLY In folders like this carbons of all items that require follow- ing up are filed, and they automatically appear on the proper day. "A little thought outside the office and an 'informa- tion' file inside have combined to save me many hours of mechanical search for information during office hours," says a southern business man. 20 PLAN ELEVEN "Some years ago my tasks broadened into fresh chan- nels and led me to seek new funds of information. I found mj'self exclaiming with increasing; frequency when searching for some specific fact : 'Why I read about that in some magazine only a week or so ago.' But which magazine or which issue I could not tell. In fact, the more I racked my brain the more I became confused as to just where I had read it. This uncertainty and con- sequent waste of time bothered me, so I worked out the following plan for cutting out the guesswork : "Whenever I run across anything in my reading that I feel has some bearing on my own business activities I clip it and slip it into a small, vest-pocket book, I do this no matter where I am or when I come across it. The newspapers often contain important items and business magazines are prolific in suggesting better business methods. "Once a week I take the clippings from my little book and file them in folders, arranged by subjects to afford ease in looking up any desired fact. I keep this file near my desk and as I work I refer to various subjects which put me in touch quickly with the ideas I want. I thus have at ray command a fairly complete reference library of practical information. ' ' PLAN n A PLAN WHICH IS "WORTH MANY HUN- DREDS OF DOLLARS" TO ONE MAN Unfinished work is always a troublesome "Sword of Damascus" in most concerns. Here's a plan for reducing its terms. A "danger signal" progress board serves one business man as a v/arning on work unfinished in his office. This is a development from the progress sheet on which tasks PLAN ELEVEN 21 Figure 2: Here's a managers' progress board designed to strip both office arid factory work of its routine details, delegate duties to assistants, and definitely fix the responsibility for all tasks. You II agree that stich a plan goes a long tvay toward giinng the manager a whip-handle grip on accomplishment {see Plan 11). were checked to completion as they passed through various stages. His objection to this old method was that the blank spaces, showing what was still undone at critical periods in the work, were lost in the maze of "finished" checkmarks. The new plan, on the contrary, "shows up" boldly in red any steps still to be taken on any tasks. The executive thus has at his command a picture of delays or slow spots in his organization and can quickly attend to essentials in management without burdening himself with unnecessary supervision. This plan is a panacea for complaints and excuses from his assistants. The * ' red signals ' ' afford no chance for useless parleying and therefore are invaluable in conserving his time. The arrangement of the board is indicated in Figure 2. The red signals are colored pasteboard disks an 22 PLAN TWELVE inch in diameter, and they take the place of the check- marks in the old scheme, or rather, of any missing check- marks of work still incomplete. These disks have a small hole punched in the center and slip over screw eyes on the board slightly smaller in diameter than the hole. The chart itself is of a dustproof gray and is arranged in this case especially for the individual busi- ness of this executive. Circles are drawn in rows around the screw eyes to map the progress of each task, which is indicated by name on a removable tab at the left. In operation each circle is covered with a colored disk at the start of the work. As each step is performed, the particular disk that represents it is removed. The red spots remaining on the board at any time thus show prominently the incomplete items and consequently those that need attention. The task-name tab is of card- board and is punched at both ends and mounted over screw eyes in the same way as the colored tabs. The desks are a standard product sold for use as checks, and are ready for use when purchased except that they have to be punched. In cases where a sharp distinction is deemed necessary for different tasks, blue tabs are also used. The red disks indicate the more important items. In a larger organization a variety of colors would probably extend the scope of usefulness. PLAN 12 A PLAN FOR QUICKLY "CLEARING THE DECKS" Is there too mvch intrvsion on your time ? Here's one way out. At least it has turned the trick for others. One executive has worked out a plan for disposing of interviews in the lea,st possible time which makes a sub- stantial saving for him because he sees an unusually large number of callers. PLAN THIRTEEN 23 His desk is located in the center of the room, a little back of the middle. About six feet away from him i3 a long seat for those who are waiting to see him. When this man talks with a salesman, the visitor's chair is so placed that he cannot help seeing the others who ai'e waiting. This obviously hastens the interview. The merchant himself is a man of quick decision which gives him a reputation of seeing all callers quickly. If a salesman asks an opportunity to show him photographs or samples which he does not have arranged, the merchant leaves his desk and goes to the next caller while the sales- man is preparing the goods to show him. Again, while the salesman is packing his samples, the merchant finds time for another caller or for work at his desk, PLAM 13 A "COLOR CODE" FOR KEEPING TRACK OF VERBAL ORDERS All there is to this plan is a "memo" pad and three pencils of different colors. They are not the plan, however — they are only the tools. Each pencil serves a different purpose — and therein lies the plan. Colored pencils help the secretary of one company to watch the day's work. He uses a desk calendar as a reminder in keeping track of verbal orders and following up all details. On it he notes in red pencil all important items requiring attention first. Subjects for disposal next are entered in blue pencil, while unimportant de- tails which can be left to the last are written in black pencil, and not too heavily. With this calendar .schedule in "color code" before him at all times, the secretary is enabled to tell at a glance what duties are to be taken care of each day. The important subjects, standing out in red, indicate just ln r J /3- 7 l/XI '/ZS IMS /^r ? 3 1 t S / s- '/Z% a/' a// 7 3 -i^ 5" 19 a/y 2lf a/? 3 5 II 7 ^ / 3 3-/" i/'.^ 2/'3 / 6 3 5 3. H- Zll« a/a/ 2/2i. /5 i3 9 %/:i5 3l3c 3/jO 7 ¥r Jf <*3 L — — 1— , L . 1 ' ' 1 ' -=. 1 1 ■ 1 Figure 6: When casting about for neio ideas to loork out in your bttsiness, have you ever come to a standstill and said to yourself, "I read something along the same lines not more than a month ago, hut I cant figure out where' '? Well, the executive mentioned in Plan 32 worked out this ever-ready index for just suck occasions. book. Thus the first catalog in his file covering explo- sives would bear the number 1-1, the second catalog, 1-2, and so on. This arrangement brought together in his files all the catalogs of each of the different groups of articles he waa buying. At the same time this numbering system dis- tinguished each particular manufacturer's catalog so that the buyer was not only able to pick out from his files the ones issued by each concern, but could also select all of the catalogs on any one particular subject. PLAN 32 THIS TURNED OUT TO BE A VERY HANDY PLAN Although like Plan 31 in its purpose, this one takes a different tunst to save you time. Probably you'll be able to apply this idea in more than one way. "I find it profitable to index the magazines and trade journals I read for the purpose of gaining new ideas 46 PLAN THIRTY-THREE and a wider outlook on my business," says a western business man. "My plan is simple and effective, es- pecially for referring to any specific item quickly, and at any time. "I have learned by careful tests just what magazines contain subjects of practical value to me. I go over these journals thoroughly and read any articles that appeal to me. I have on my desk, or carry with me when needed, a small note book with sheets made up as indicated in Figure 6. The arrangement of this index is such that the subjects I am interested in are all included in the column headings. At the top is the name of the publication. "One page is given to each magazine. At the left I enter the date of issue, and the date I have read and filed the articles that interested me. In the squares I note the page number. As the magazines are filed by months and years it is easy to refer to any issue. For a personal record of my reading this has turned out to be a very handy plan. ' ' PLAN 33 THIS PLAN TOOK A KINK OUT OF THE DAY'S WORK Ifs an unpretentious plan, but it accomplished a lot for the man tcho originated it. You may find in it just the time saver you are looking jor. A Washington business man, who uses the telephone a great deal for giving and receiving price quotations, noticed that he often wasted time trying to remember figures given to him over the wire, because he either had lost the "piece of paper" he had hurriedly jotted them on or had found it inconvenient at the time to make a record of them. He had depended on his memory for PLAN THIRTY-FOUR 47 the most part, because it meant an awkward interruption in the conversation when he stopped to enter details on a blank sheet. Consequently valuable data was often overlooked and seriously missed later. He eliminated the trouble by keeping constantly on his desk a small looseleaf pad of quotation blanks printed in such form that a quotation made over the telephone or by a sales representative calling on him may be entered with the least effort. The book is always handy as a reminder to enter other data or memoranda for safe- keeping. At the end of the day his assistant files these slips in his personal file where they can be referred to at any time. The idea has been of great value from the start in quickly taking care of important details. PLAN 34 THIS PLAN "SAVED HOURS OF TIME" It's the minutes lost here and the minutes lost there that count up so heavily on our time schedules. Here's how one man tags and utilizes a lot of the "loose minutes." ' ' I have saved hours of time, ' * writes a Michigan man, "by receiving every caller, whenever possible, the minute his name is announced. I have made a rigid rule that no one shall be kept waiting, whether customer or solicitor. You may ask : * How does that save your time ? * *'I have proved by careful observation that the longer a person is kept waiting, the more impatient he becomes and the more attention I have to give him when I do see him. The customary, ' Sorry to keep you waiting, ' with a line of explanations, is necessary and the minutes quickly pass. "With my plan, the interviews are short and snappy because the visitor is in a better frame of mind. Most of my interviews now are satisfactorily handled in the 48 PLAN THIRTY-FIVE lobby and do not average more than two minutes each. It is seldom necessary to receive visitors in my private office. " As an additional time saver I always have a schedule of fill-in tasks which I take up whenever a moment's leisure in the day occurs." FLAN 35 THE "SPECIAL EXIT" PLAN A busy man with whom every minute counts, gets more work into the day with this flan for cutting down lost time. He says the plan works particularly well under pressure and that it has no drawbacks. * ' I find I gain time by dismissing callers from my office out into the building corridor just as many busy doctors do," states one business man. **By adopting this plan instead of ushering callers at the end of an interview back into the room where others are waiting, I have the advan- tage not only of speeding my work but also, in some cases, of keeping my business more private. "Under the arrangement, the outgoing salesman and the incoming salesman do not meet in the visitor's room and stop for a moment's chat while I wait. Wlithout thinking of the amount of time such chats took away from me, salesmen formerly often stopped for a few seconds, or even a minute or two, for a talk at my door. "That may seem to have been a small waste of time, but in the aggregate it was a considerable loss to me. I do not mind a little friendly talk in my office, between the salesman and myself, for that may promote good feeling and be of value to both of us, but for one salesman to tell the other how many fish he caught on his vacation trip, while I am waiting, does not profit me. My plan has made quite a difference at busy times." PLAN THIRTY-SIX 49 PLAN 36 A TIME-SAVING PLAN WHICH SET A RECORD It wasn't developed primarily to save time, but just read how much it helped out during one year. A western business man has devised a graphic wall- chart plan, which is somewhat different from the major- ity of those in use. The arrangement saves him a great amount of time. This man is superintendent of a public utility com- pany and his supervision covers all of the city, so far as complaints, improvements, operation, and other impor- tant phases of management are concerned. His plan was developed because his floor space is limited and he wanted to eliminate some of the file cabinets. But these con- tained a great deal of practical data required frequently. A majority of the papers were maps and layouts of sec- tions of the city, showing locations of customers and other important details. After some study he decided to hang the charts on brackets fastened to the wall, as shown in Figure 7. This was easily accomplished by building a wall holder containiiig a number of ordinary curtain rolls, arranged in the form of an inverted "terrace." The maps and important papers were attached to the rods, after being reenforced at the edges to prevent tearing. With the "overhead terrace," any of the "map curtains" can be pulled into full view quickly. For instance, when a complaint is received from a customer either in person or by mail, reference can be made to the exact location and conditions involved simply b}^ glancing at the map for that district. In less than a minute all the facts in connection with the affair can be brought together where formerly a clerk had to plow through the files to unearth the desired document. 50 PLAN THIRTY-SEVEN As a result of the change this one official, assisted only by one clerk and one stenographer, was able during the succeeding year to take care of 2,200 complaints. His department wrote 3,214 letters touching complaints ; 1,380 street car service checks were made and car rout- ings were improved; 9,902 scale inspections were certi- fied ; a record for that department. This man adds that the idea or a modification of it ought to be a time-saving boon to any business where frequent reference to charts or similar data is made. PLAN 37 ANOTHER PLAN WHICH CLEARS THE PATH FOR LARGER TASKS You'll admit that progress is possible only as the way is opened to greater accomplishment. And that's why you II not want to miss finding out how this New York man handles his work. A New York business man whose duties have rapidly grown to large proportions carefully trains his assistants to take over various tasks from time to time. This has in a measure freed him from detail loads. However, he has gone still farther and has developed an intelligent information service to supplement his careful distribu- tion of work. All of the functions of the business are accurately listed and grouped. Opposite these groups are entered the names of the several assistants whose training has made them competent to handle the specific tasks. When a caller enters and asks to see the president the girl at the information desk requests the nature of his business. She then refers him to Mr. Maynard, or whoever the assistant may be, and tactfully explains that this official, who is "an authority" on that particular subject, can PLAN THIRTY-SEVEN 51 Figure 7: To he able to pick up information in three minutes that ordinarily required an hour to gather is certainly a worth-while rec- ord. Plan 36 will tell you exactly how a bufnness man who is abvays up and doing discarded maps and charts which were taking up a lot of space in his office and now uses a wall holder like this 07ie. take care of the visitor more promptly and satisfactorily than the president himself. This method not only frees the head for larger tasks but it also insures adequate and quick service to the customer. As most of his day is spent in interviews on the con- cern's larger problems, this executive provides against any time losses through misunderstandings by having an accurate stenographer make notes' of every conversa- tion, so that the possibility of error is as far removed as it can be among human beings. These conferences are seldom long but they are always thorough. He has a way of getting down to brass tacks within a very few seconds. The caller leaves with the impression that he has said all that he wanted to say. 52 PLAN THIRTY-NINE PLAN 38 "WORTH $10,000," SAYS THIS MAN OF HIS "60 SECONDS" PLAN It saves days of time for him. It's quick "on the trigger," too. ''I can locate in not much over 60 seconds an authority on nearly anything I need to know, ' ' says an advertis- ing man. "You could not buy my data book and col- lection of information for a cent under five figures. "I keep a small looseleaf note book indexed under a number of headings, including letters, sales, slogans, short cuts, purchasing and management. When a busi- ness magazine comes to my desk I glance through it to see which articles look most valuable. Then on the front cover of the magazine I mark the pages on which these begin. As I finish an article I check the page number on the cover, so that I know where to resume reading next time. Every year I have my magazines bound. In vertical files I also put away clippings and similai' information, indexed exactly like my note book and instantly available when needed. "In a few moments I obtain from this file facts which otherwise would take weeks to get. Not only do I save incalculable hours, but I pass the profit along to those I serve." PLAN 39 YOU CAN TEST THIS PLAN WITHOUT SPEND- ING A CENT It's not as simple as it looks, perhaps, but a number of men make use of it, even though it does involve self-denial. "My day wasn't long enough to do all the necessary checking, reading, and planning," says one executive. PLAN FORTY 53 "So I decided to 'kick my shins out of the rut' and dis- cover some way to economize my time. "I found I had lots of 'pep' in the morning, so I re- arranged my hours. Now I save time by coming down to my desk at 7 o'clock every morning, thus pushing my day ahe?d li/4 hours. I find that portion of the day the best for my work. The hours between 7 and 9 o'clock are equal to any other four hours. ]My afternoons are used mainly for the smaller detail work that is involved in the supervision of my department. I believe that the nearest approach to getting 100% value from my time is accomplished by utilizing the morning hours to the maximum." PLAN 40 HERE'S ANOTHER TIME SAVER WHICH HAS MADE GOOD There are several plans in this book that are similar to this one, but when you read it you cannot fail to see why it wa^ included. When work has the habit of piling up in a depart- ment, some form of planning board often will do away with the difficulty. The manager of one office found the remedy in a workboard divided into two sections — one was red and the other black. The red portion he reserved for emergency and rush jobs, and the black for routine. A vertical column for each member of the office force shows to whom a job is assigned. Three-by-five-inch cards are used in connection with the board. Each card has spaces where the executive may indicate to whom the order is issued, what it covers, and to whom the work goes next. The cards are punched at the top to fit over hooks on the board. If a card hangs in the first position of the red division, it has the 54 PLAN FORTY-ONE right of way over anything else in that employee's col- umn. All work in the red portion has precedence over the black. Time spent on a job must be shown on the slip, thus affording a check on the speed of the worker. PLAN 41 HERE'S AN "ALWAYS -WITH -YOU" TIME- SAVING PARTNER You'll point out that there's a "string'' tied to this plan. That's true, but it may suggest to you, as this manager says, ''an idea of even under application." ''I am away from my desk so much of the time at- tending to important problems," writes an executive, "that, until I devised the present plan, I found it diffi- cult to keep track of memoranda of interviews or duties to be taken care of during the day. "It was impractical to hurry back to my desk fre- quently to see what was next on the program because I might be in a far corner of the house. Neither could I take chances on stuffing these notations in my pockets. Consequently I was wasting time and undergoing un- necessary irritation. "As I put my glasses away one day I hit on the idea of making a tickler partner of the case. I now carry on small cards in this eyeglass holder any exceptionally important memoranda that I simply must not overlook. Since I change my glasses every time I turn from read- ing to talking, or back again, the notes are sure to come to my attention, regardless of where I am in the building. "For my particular kind of supervision I've really found this 'makeshift' invaluable. Of course its avail- ability is limited to those who wear glasses, yet it may suggest to someone an idea of even wider application,'* PLAN FORTY-THREE 55 PLAN 42 A PLAN FOR CLIPPING TIME FROM ROUTINE WORK The most obvious time-saving methods are sometimes the easiest overlooked. Here's one you may not have tried. It is curtailing waste motions for a busy man and may also prove profitable in your work. A middle western business man frequently has to attach his autograph signature to a large number of letters and documents. To do this it was necessary for- merly to clear his desk and handle the task laboriously, Hotting and arranging the papers in order to resume his other work with as little delay as possible. This method took up too much time. He met his problem by adding to his private ofSce equipment a long, high desk, on which documents for signatures are spread out single fashion beforehand by assistants. AVhen a lull comes in his routine tasks he goes to this desk and stands, signing the papers rapidly one after another, inasmuch as the large surface permits him to waive the waste motions of blotting and arranging the sheets. In this way, too, his regular work-desk is un- disturbed and he can at any time take up a proposition quickly at the point where he left off. PLAN 43 BOOSTS MY WORK ALONG WONDERFULLY Have you taken a bird's-eye view of your own job? Whether you sell knives or tin cans, own a business or merely expect to, you'll doubtless find it interesting to try this plan. "I boost my work along wonderfully," says one man, "by using what I call 'My Job' folder. Some time ago I 56 PLAN FORTY-FOUR realized I was so busy trying to make the office efficient that I was slighting iny own progress. I hit on the folder plan as a solution. I analyzed my duties as best I could, mapped out the work I personally was responsible for, and listed various ideas that came to me for bettering myself and the office. These papers I put in the folder and gave instructions that it be placed on my desk once a month, ''When it comes to my attention, I go into the execu- tive session with myself. I test the month 's work accord- ing to my analysis. I see where I've fallen down and where next month I can improve. It is helpful to ask such questions as 'Did I make the most of today?'; 'Am I neglecting some vital point in my work?' or 'Has any new condition come up which I should change front to meet ? ' "I keep the folder up to date, adding suggestions or ideas as they come to hand. If someone else, in print or at a convention, has told of a better way to handle such work, a note or clipping finds its way into the folder. If I hear comments that are critical, or if the facts and figures of the business have gone against me, I note the change in the demands. The folder goes back to the follow-up, but each time that I use it I have a new grip on my job." PLAN 44 THIS PLAN HELPS CLEAR AWAY "ODDS AND ENDS" Jleres another plan for handling unfinished tcork. It helps one manager "get away with it" satisfactorily, and is evidently a "clean-up" idea of considerable value. One executive found himself frequently buried under a mass of details, which either absorbed too much time PLAN FORTY-FIVE 57 if attended in the midst of other important duties, or caused him unexpected losses when neglected too long. He hit on this plan to take care of these "odds and ends" of unfinished work. He now uses an "odds and ends" folder into which he slips every item of business not requiring immediate attention. All unimportant details and suggestions are dated before being put into the folder, and a tentative date added for their completion or adoption. At first various times were tested for "cleaning up" the contents of the folder, and it was soon found that these details could best be handled before the day's work was fairly commenced. As this manager usually gets down to the office twenty-five or thirty minutes before the office force begins work, he devotes that extra period to going through the folder. He finds that this arrangement actually saves hours of overtime work which were formerly required to get through with details and unfinished work. The ' ' odds and ends ' ' folder and the set time have for over two years automatically taken care of the little yet necessary items that "only the boss" can handle. PLAN 45 THE "CHECKERBOARD" PLAN To be sure it's an odd vay of saving a busy mans time, bid it's results that count. Here the man who originated it tells you just how he uses the "checkerboard" plan. Playing checkers during office hours is a habit with the office manager of a Michigan concern, but he does it to save his time — and he finds it successful. A trans- formed card table is his checkerboard, and the "pieces" he uses are disks of various colors, on each of which is 58 PLAN FORTY-FIVE Figure 8: Playing checkers with your employees might seem a rather far-fetched method of stimulating production; nevertheless one business man hit upon this idea as a means of not only speeding up work, but also of quickly discovering the capabilities of different employees and then promoting them, to more responsible positions. written the name of one of the employees who come under his supervision. This office manager formerly had a good deal of diffi- culty in keeping an accurate record of his constantly shifting force. A card index failed to give him the results he wanted. He required a visible record which would show him at any time in the day the exact dispo- sition of his forces, as well as general facts that would help him to insure better control of the work. Like many business men, this office manager believes a mobile force of employees aids economy ; for when one department is exceptionally busy, another may not have enough to do. With a proper organization, employees in the idle division may be shifted to help the busy department through its temporary period of rush. In this office, when workers are transferred to an over- worked section, their disks are moved by the manager's secretary. She receives notification of the transfer from the division heads concerned. PLAN FORTY-FIVE 59 Thus an unusual amount of labor in any one depart- ment comes to the immediate attention of the manager, and he can either direct that no additional work be sent into the crowded department, or that sufficient addi- tional employees to clean up the work be transferred from a less congested section at once. I J^--^-- r— t ■ n,':._.'.uy .-Ml.- '3 % i ■ ,r :y. "" ' ■ ^*^" •pr.iv^r.iP:-,^ ■^■. 1 ^ , !•' .' ': ~' ''' ~ ■ '. . ' G f ''^} ::;■, [ 1 ■■■'\\ .J ':-. ' ■ .-' 1 ifczz. ' ■' ■ ;.::!':' J.. ".,_:,: \., Figure 9: Refer to Figure 8 and you'll recognize the above as a '* ground floor" vievfoj the same "office" checkerboard. Here you see just how the checkerboard works out — how it helps the office manager to keep his finger on every detail of the work. After you have read Plan ^5 perhaps you will want a checkerboard of your oum. In case of serious congestion, a small red flag mounted on a disk is placed on the checkerboard space which represents the crowded division. This is a signal that calls for the manager's immediate attention, A white flag, similarly placed, means that the department thus indicated is able to spare part of its workers for service in some busier divi.sion. Just as soon as a division has returned to normal condition through borrowed aid, the return of the workers to their own tasks is chronicled 60 PLAN FORTY-FIVE on the board simply by shifting disks. Thus the man- ager can see, without leaving his office, that the usual routine is resumed. The office checkerboard performs many other equally important services. It records tardiness and absences in a simple and satisfactory fashion. Late arrivals are reported by the office timekeeper to the manager's sec- retary. She inserts a small green thumbtack in the offender's "checker." Absentees' disks are lifted from their places on the board and laid side by side in an absentee rack, which is provided at the side of the table. Here the checkers remain until the absentees return to work. Tardiness signs remain on the disks throughout the day. Three days' tardiness in succession earns for the belated offender a black tack, which may result in a talk to the employee by the manager. Members of the office force know how the tacks work on the man- ager's checkerboard, and this has reduced the tardiness ■percentage. Black tag records are almost unheard of. The use of "checkers" of various colors brings quickly to the attention of the executive much information of a miscellaneous nature that is valuable in regulating and controlling the work of the office. White disks, for example, signify workers of ordinary ability — those whose tenure of employment has been brief and whose record for efficiency entitles them to no special consid- eration. Red disks indicate division heads — workers who deserve recognition because of their special executive qualities. Gold disks designate all those whose long and efficient service warrants the manager in entrusting them with authority. These gold disks are in high es- teem among the division heads, as are the red disks among those who aspire to promotion. Disks half white and half red indicate workers of ordinary grade whose industry and adaptability place PLAN FORTY-SIX 61 them in line for promotion. Blue disks without names indicate vacancies in the office force which need to be filled. On occasion, the board is also used to chronicle infor- mation regarding the progress of special tasks. Small squares of pasteboard are in readiness, and when the manager wishes to follow the progress of some par- ticular work, one of these squares is placed in the proper position on the checkerboard, and is moved as the work progresses. Thus, a square labeled "fall letter to Kan- sas list" can be transferred from one department to another as the task goes ahead. Reports come to the secretary regularly from the addressing, enclosing, and mailing di\'isions, and the square is moved along in accordance. If it stops too long in any one division, that fact is apparent to the manager. Information regarding office transfers, deserved pro- motions, and the like, comes to the manager's secretary from division heads in the form of office notes. The data represented is at once registered on the checker- board, so the manager may see at a glance just what is taking place in the office without the need of reading lengthy memoranda. The amount of time he saves in this way is considerable in the course of a month. He is relieved of the necessity of always asking himself whether details are being attended to. PLAN 46 A PLAN WHICH CLEANS UP TASKS DAILY Getting every day's task finished on schedule is pretty nearly perfection, most of vs will say. Still, here's a plan that has helped one man do it. "Every morning, after I reach my office," says a manager, ' ' I spend at least half an hour in planning my 62 PLAN FORTY-SEVEN work. As nearly as possible I map out a schedule for the entire day, and try to adhere to it. I find that I more than make up that half hour by eliminating the little 'in between' time losses which usually occur in deciding on the next thing to do. "My stenographer keeps a small weekly memory jogger and makes a note of every appointment. Every morning she places on my desk a memorandum of the day's engagements. By means of this system my desk is 'cleaned up' daily." PLAN 47 A QUALITY-RATHER-THAN-QUANTITY PLAN In these days of "Please Rush" in almost every line of work, this Boston business man's plan for giving a task the time it is worth is interesting, and so because his policy actually provides him loith more time. "Push the work; don't let it push you. Give a task the time it is worth and find a way to get it done in that time." This is the idea which a Boston business man keeps before him to save his time and get the most done. He has gone in for time and motion study and has profited much by putting a schedule or quota of work before him. "It is better," he says, "to think of a schedule as a quota; not something inviolable, but something to work to — if possible, to beat. Every week or month I make it a policy to readjust my schedule ; but I do not make changes without reason. And I keep the time table flexible. * ' The orderliness in working and thinking secured by this plan gives me more time for the broader phases of business and constantly urges me on to greater accom- plishment. In fact, it means 'quality' rather than 'quan- tity' in attainment, which after all is right." PLAN FORTY-EIGHT 63 PLAN 48 THE "FILE-AND-DISPLAY" PLAN At small expense this man equipped his office with a small cabinet and a display board and then added a box of thumbtacks. Now he says he doesnt fritter away time clearing off his desk as he used to. He has no "corner" on the idea, and explains it fully below. *'I formerly fritted away hours each, month clear- ing my desk top to make room for charts, maps, reports, and drawings of unusual size that required my careful study," says one man. "And even then it was often a question whether I had weights enough to make them lie flat. My work plan now eliminates all this trouble and saves not only time but nerve strain. "I have my office equipped with an especially con- structed upright filing cabinet (see figure 10) which also serves as a display rack. A regular wooden cabinet was built against one of the walls. It is approximately 11^ feet in depth and 3 feet high, divided into compart- ments and furnished with doors. From the outer edge of this cabinet projects a ledge, upon which drawings and other large sheets may be easily placed for inspec- tion. Prom the ledge a reclining wall extends to the ceiling. This wall is made of soft pine and covered with cloth so that thumbtacks may be pushed into it easily. "Thus instead of having to disturb my desk during a busy part of the day and clear away papers I am work- ing on, I can instantly thumbtack any larger sheets on the pine frame for quick inspection. There is never any need of using a chair as a makeshift easel to avoid stir- ring up the desk. This piece of equipment has two addi- tional advantages. It displays the exhibits in the proper light and at a correct angle of vision. The cabinet and rack were built by a carpenter at moderate cost. ' ' 64 PLAN FORTY-NINE Figure 10: While it may he true that we can't always save time the exact way the other fellow does, rnost of us probably can use to advan- tage afiling cabitict and display rack like the one pictured above. It's another ^^ detail-made-easy idea'' that helped one business man get home to his meals on time, as you'll see in Plan ^. PLAN 49 THIS PLAN MIGHT ADD AN HOUR TO THE DAY No matter whether you employ a large force of assistants or only one, you will find an interesting thought in this plan for handling correspondence. The man who uses it says he now not only gets more whole-hearted and loyal sernicefrom his assistants, but that the plan also saves much of his own time. A business man whose particular hobby is the training of employees tells an interesting story of how he saved time and expense in handling his mail. "In reality," he says, "the element of saving never entered my head ; all I was thinking about was develop- ing responsibility in a certain employee. Yet I honestly believe my plan has worked better as a time-saving plan for that very reason, than if I had been actually trying to lessen expense in that way. * ' Here is what happened : One morning while dictat- ing my mail, I noticed a letter calling for a reply of the PLAN FIFTY 65 simplest nature. The only information needed could be had immediately by reference to our files. Almost with- out thinking I handed it to the girl and remarked 'You know all about this. Answer it.' " "All that interested me was the effect on her; she could do it easily if she thought so. Soon I was delegat- ing more important replies to her and I shortly realized how many details were now being handled at less expense and how much more time I had for larger affairs. This time is now equivalent to adding an hour to my day, and it was an hour I needed badly, too. ' ' PLAN 50 WHAT'S THAT SAYING ABOUT A MINUTE SAVED? These two little plans may seem insignificant, but they are nevertheless saving minutes every day for one man — and you know the old adage about minutes saved. When the head of one firm needs one of his office boys, he simply lifts his telephone receiver slowly twice. The switchboard operator automatically sees the signal and sends the messenger in. Should he desire to send a telegram, he lifts the receiver three times and the tele- phone girl puts in a call to the telegraph office. This simple little plan, this man says, saves him a great many minutes. He is able to keep on with his work and he obviates in this way the time it always takes to get the operator's response and explain the requirements. In fact, so automatically and quickly is this signal idea, that he can call for a boy without even pausing in the midst of an interview, in his dictation of a letter, or the perusal of a report. Furthermore, he now uses the office boys for tasks which formerly con- sumed thousands of higher-priced seconds. 66 PLAN FIFTY-TWO PLAN 51 SIMPLE, BUT IT HELPS ONE MAN A "GREAT DEAL" No doubt you will find it difficult to see ivhy a flan like this couldn't be xmed to advantage by nearly every business man. It has been tested out, which makes it all the more valuable. *'I proportion my time as definitely as possible," says one purchasing agent. ' ' A specific hour to transact each kind of business helps me a great deal, I find. * * I spend from 8 to 8 :30 reading reports on the market and general business conditions ; 8 :30 to 9 :30 review- ing mail and placing it in line for the attention of the proper persons; 9:30 to 10:30 dictating; 10:30 to 11:30 approving and placing requisitions received in the morn- ing mail ; 11 :30 to 12 handling miscellaneous matters, including interviewing of salesmen ; 1 to 1 :30 approv- ing requisitions received in the noon mail ; 1 :30 to 4 handling miscellaneous matters, including the interview- ing of salesmen; 4 to 4:30 approving invoices; 4:30 to 5 :30 signing correspondence, orders, tracers, and similar routine matters." PLAN 52 THIS PLAN PLUGGED A LEAK WHICH CAN BE FOUND IN MANY OFFICES We'll all agree that time worth $10 an hour is usually wasted if spent on work a $20-a-week employee can do as well — or better. This happens right along in many offices, however, and this plan was successjvlly used in one offiA;e to cut out the resulting waste. "When I first came to this concern," says an eastern man, "I had to rebuild my job from the foundation up. If I had followed the precedent set for me I still would PLAN FIFTY-THREE 67 be just as swamped by detail as I was in the first week. "The big problem was to find time for my real work of managing. The details, of course, had to be handled by somebody, so it was simply a case of finding someone else to handle them. Under ray predecessor, the depart- ment had been a one-man affair. "I instituted periodic talks to my department em- ployees, some by outside experts. Each individual's work was taken up and discussed and the employees were in- structed in the purpose of graphs and charts in super- vision. Photographs helped to demonstrate in a forceful way the advantages of certain routine processes used in other offices, as compared to the old, ineffective methods we were gradually discarding. "In an unusually short time I had an educated de- partment, a group of people who understood the routine better than I did. Immediately and almost automatically — I don't think I ever issued an order to the effect — the detail work stopped coming to me, and I had a maximum of time for giving my attention to the larger phases of sales work which required attention. PLAN 53 THIS PLAN CAN EASILY SAVE ITS COST THE FIRST TIME IT'S USED Do you want your conferences to grip your merCs interest from start to finish? If so you II recognize the value of this plan right away and no doubt you may be able to adapt it to your work. "How to speed up our weekly conferences was a real problem," says a sales manager, "until we conceived the idea of distributing, two days before the conference, copies of a synopsis of the subjects to be discussed at the conference. 68 PLAN FIFTY-FOUR "We recognized the value of the personal touch in these meetings, but far too much time was being wasted through failure to stick to a definite program. Con- ferences usually develop diverse views. Mental processes vary with the individual. Some men think quickly ; oth- ers grasp subjects slowly, approach discussions cau- tiously, and scarcely develop interest until near the end of the meeting. The opinions of these men are valuable, but rather than humor their mental attitude, it seemed best to make them do at least their preliminary thinking beforehand. "The results were all we hoped for. Our men meet together each Saturday. On Thursday morning each man receives a letter outlining the subjects to be taken up at the conference. We meet at 10 :30 and now usually are through in an hour. This is in contrast with former meetings which usually occupied the whole forenoon and often carried over into the afternoon. Even then, sometimes, we did not entirely finish." PLAN 54 THIS INGENIOUS PLAN SAVED TIIME AND PATIENCE ALSO The three simple ideas in this plan may suggest ways in which you can avoid some of those ^'little delays" that individually take but a small amount of time, but which use up a good deal in the aggregate. An eastern business man who uses a roll top desk by a bit of ingenuity overcame some of the annoying delays experienced in fumbling for envelops and papers in the pigeonholes. He h-ad blocks of wood inserted in those pigeonholes which were too deep. The blocks are sawed diagonally for one face, so that each envelop protrudes slightly PLAN FIFTY-FIVE 69 beyond the next. He now has no difficulty or annoyance in getting one quickly. This same man has many papers to sign in the course of his day's work. He was, for a time, the victim of occasional delays due to his pen going dry. To prevent this, he now keeps a supply of fountain pens constantly in front of him. The pen caps fit tightly into holes bored in a piece of wood which is fastened conveniently over the two center pigeonholes. By means of this simple device the points are kept clean and there is no mess from leakage. One of the daily tasks of the office boy is to see that all pens are full. PLAN 55 A PLAN WHICH SAVES YOU TIME AND THE CALLER'S, TOO Usually the busier you are, the more people wan* to see you, UTid it is often a problem to hear everything important that a visitor has to say, and then get him out of the office quickly without giving him offense. Here's the way one executive does it. "I have an engagement this morning at 10, which, gives me 15 minutes now. I will be back at 1 :30 and will then have a half hour before 2 o 'clock, when I have another engagement. If 15 minutes will do, I wish you would come in now; if it will take longer suppose you come around this afternoon." By a simple and straightforward statement like this a traction executive saves much of his own time and hurts nobody's feelings. No visitor expects to trespass upon an important board meeting, so no offense can be taken. He excuses himself from callers by a buzzer system. At the end of the time allotted for the interview the 70 PLAN FIFTY-SIX buzzer rings, the traction man rises, excuses himself, and the caller usually leaves without further ado. If another man comes to see this executive while he is talking with a visitor, and the secretary knows that his superior wants to see the second caller, a prearranged huzzer signal notifies the executive of this fact. If his visitor is slow to leave he presses a secret button which signals his secretary to interrupt the conversation to teU him that he is wanted in some other part of the office. PLAN 58 THE "OFFICE TRUNK" PLAN You may never travel and an office trunk may be the last time saver you will ever need in your business, but that doesn't get around the fact that the underlying 'principles oj never allomng your work, to pile up on you is as appli- cable to your business as it is to that of the man who originated this plan. Here is a man who has all the conveniences of his office, even while he is "on the road." Correspondence and other routine duties have no chance to accumulate, for they are handled as they come up. All the facilities are ready and at hand in the "office trunk" which this man has had especially built for him. The following is a list of the articles the trunk is de- signed to hold : 1 typewriter. 1 portfolio with all sample forms and bulletins required for presenting the product to any prospect. 1 four-drawer steel card index (3 by 5 inches) for prospects and users. Capacity about 4,000 cards. 4 pocket rating-books. 1 complete sample machine. 2 sample drawers. PLAN FIFTY-SIX 71 Figure 11: Keeping an office in a trunk may strike you as wry unusual, but the man who designed the ^''office trunk" shown above, says it has worked mighty well for him. Out on the road it keeps his business with him, and it's a new profit builder because it helps him save a lot of time in "working while he waits." 1 house-organ binder with house organs. 1 sales and commission ledger. 1 letter portfolio for correspondence. Several sales manuals and bulletin books. Advertising and stationery. The trunk, which is illustrated in Figure 11, is made of three-ply veneer covered inside and out with fiber and strongly reenforced with iron corners and small angles. The partitions are made of veneer and covered with thin brass at the front. The trunk dimensions are 24 by 20 by 18 inches. The weight, empty, is about 80 pounds ; filled to capacity, about 170 pounds. The principal advantages of the trunk, says the man who uses it, are : "1. I have complete office facilities with me at all times. "2. My prospect files are always up to date and I have all my correspondence records with me. 72 PLAN FIFTY-SEVEN "3. I can keep up my records while on the road at a substantial saving of time. Otherwise I would have to work a couple of days at the conclusion of each trip to catch up. "4. I have all facilities for handling any sale that may arise. I have a complete sales kit, latest bulletins for special cases, a typewriter for reports, correspond- ence, and for writing quotations or proposals. I have tools for repairs, rating books for credit, house organs for ginger, and a profitable occupation for a lonesome night in a dull town." PLAN 57 45 MINUTES A DAY IS THE TIME-SAVING RECORD OF THIS PLAN A Columbus, Ohio, business man was "at sea." His cor- respondence methods were losing business because he couldn't get letters out on time. So he did some analyzing end developed the following plan which has eliminated worry and enabled him to dispose oj his mail in one read- ing. "I was always behind time in answering important letters," states a Columbus, Ohio, business man, ** be- cause I tried to handle all the correspondence myself. While busy on non-essentials I was delaying dictation and that meant loss of business. "After worrying several months I saw where I was 'lame' and worked out a plan which enables me to dispose of practically all letters in one reading, saving me at least 45 minutes every day. The extra time I am able to devote profitably to the larger problems of my business. ''I now have a definite schedule for handling corre- spondence the first thing in the morning. Here it is : PLAN FIFTY-EIGHT 73 1. Look over the mail 2. Pass on to subordinates all letters not requiring my attention 3. Have looked up information on correspondence re- requiring my attention 4. Write customers and others as required "I save time with this desk procedure even in the most ordinary transactions. For instance, a customer calls up on the telephone and asks for a verbal summary of an estimate on a prospective job. It may be that he has mislaid the written estimate, or perhaps it has passed into the hands of some assistant who is out for the day. Ordinarily it would have taken me, possibly, several minutes to gather this data. In the meantime my work would have slipped behind and the customer would have become disgusted. But with my modern desk methods, I keep the wire open just a moment, turn to my card index and then to my desk file, get the carbon of the estimate blank, and give him the information on the spot, and give it to him accurately." PLAN 58 THIS PLAN SAVES ITS ORIGINATOR FOUR HOURS A DAY You probably dislike details as heartily as the next man. They annoy, they jiever stop, they steal time which as a rule would be better employed if devoted to other work. A busitiess man here tells how he lessened his "detail load." One executive keeps nothing on his desk or inside it except his inkstandj pen, and such documents as are under his consideration at the moment. His stenogra- pher has the card index system and is within instant reach of the desk cabinet file. The stenographer also keeps an hourly tickler of appointments and important 74 PLAN FIFTY-NINE business, and sees that the executive is kept informed. A year ago tliis executive's desk was literally buried by papers of every description. He was a slave to detail. "The difference," says this business man, "expressed in time, is this : I now accomplish in an average of two hours or less what formerly took me about six or eight hours every day. Now I have plenty of time for think- ing about the big questions of the business. "Of course the fundamental explanation of these al- tered circumstances is the development of competent assist-ants to do what I had to do before." PLAN 59 THE "OFFICE DIRECTORY" PLAN Here's a plan ivith a "Who's Who" angle to it that can be applied in almost any business. As a time saver the evidence is all in its favor, and the chances are, too, that it will suggest an idea or two to you. "In our office," says an eastern business man, "there are several men whose time is much in demand by sales- men and outsiders in general. A good deal of that time was being wasted in preliminaries such as introductions and so on. "We overcame this loss by posting conspicuously in the office and plant notices which read in part as follows : INFORMATION Our correct name is the A. P. HYATT MANUFACTUR- ING COMPANY. Our mail address is Norman and Lawrence Streets, EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY. Our shipping address is in all cases to be taken from our purchase order form. Our telephone number is ORANGE 6000. The officers are as follows: D. F. O'BRIEN, President; M. G. PERKINS, Vice-President; T. F. HALPIN, Secretary; PLAN FIFTY-NINE 75 P. A. HYATT, Treasurer. All of the officers, except Mr. Perkins, are located at this plant. Mr. O'Brien can be seen, if an interview has been ar- ranged, any day, except Saturday, between 10 o'clock and 4 o'clock. Mr. Halpin has charge of sales, advertising, office employ- ment, prices on supplies and specialties in our water works line. He can usually be seen on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, from 1:30 o'clock to 4:30 o'clock. Mr. Hyatt has charge of buying, charity and other dona- tions, prices on brass and iron castings, and machine work and factory privileges. He can be seen usually on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, from 10 o'clock to 12:30 o'clock and from 2 o'clock to 4:30 o'clock. In order to SAVE YOUR TIME and ours, it is best, in all cases, to arrange an interview in advance. Please give the boy at the window full information; you will save time by it, as he has orders that he must obey. He will furnish you with a card marked APPLICATION FOR AN INTER- VIEW, if you desire it. VISITORS must have a pass, properly signed by an officer, before admission to the factory will be granted. APPLICANTS FOR EMPLOYMENT must fill out an application card. Ask the boy for one. We will appreciate it if you will report to us any dis- courtesy on the part of any of our clerks toward you. Their instructions are to help you as much as possible. We have street directories, maps, and guides, and will be pleased to loan them to you on request. We have many trade papers. If you must wait, as unfortunately you will will have to, at times, ask for one, so that your time will not be wasted. We thank the SALESIVIEN who visit us for the informa- tion and many new and good ideas they have brought to us. "You'll notice several important features about this plan," he continues. "It is definite, it furnishes the information that any visitor desires, and it is courteous. There is no excuse for a caller getting in touch with the wrong man." §2 3 ff-.K i 1 e i . V^IV^ rf 3 1 |oU 1 »<>« »e-wtr)^ i i •L C [ (iMntianO 1 ^ — n ■ _ 1 1 i - 1 1 ^ HI = TT 1 h ° 1 j 1 - T^T^ 1 t h l' I - : 1 = 1 % ll if - - I- J -jl i| 1| » ■ ' i g 1 » s 1 1 ii i| 1 1 1! i 5 i u:eja.|*i s I p,>«:s 9 P-MJ«d 1 iuin a 3 i«r«>«Ji Q s o*wS 3 itqiunu |i»uivv«a 1 U i ' 3 i 1 1 —\ IB . S3 u.^.1 i (tfottiS » 2 pmiierf 1 , =; ; S| MUVS^oJ 1 1 1 i I i^ 1 1 1 I ■"f+i M 1 1 144- ■ t I'-s ' " 1 N J I I 1 ' " " " " ll •^u'!i''!ii 4i--===i ■Jl '" ■.__ .. J;_l_l "■" 1 3 - fh 111 ipilii 1 3 1 3|^ f ' ■ T 1' 1 1 — ! U-- / M ji h ^ e -2 ill e '=0 ** i -•! lit s s -^ <» P>, to e o s -« ?a. *^ s r* g^ ^ a 5>, esi s s < ,^ ^ ^ '^ ^ w. -O -£> 76 PLAN SIXTY 77 PLAN 60 A PLAN THAT FINDS OUT QUICKLY "HOW WE STAND" Here a man tells how he saves hours of time. The idea is not brand new, perhaps, but the use he makes of it will no doubt open up new channels to use for saving time. "A definite plan of receiving daily reports from the routine departments of our business has been one of my best time-saving helps, ' ' says the head of a Kansas firm. "I formerly spent much time going here and there throughout the office, asking this or that question, to find out 'how we stood' at any certain period. This took up the hours of the morning best suited to work on the larger duties of my position. "I realized I was constantly running behind on my *bef ore-noon schedule,' and adopted a new method. I now have the daily repoi*ts, as indicated in Figure 72, placed on my desk as early as possible each morning and I go over them at once. ''These six slips may seem like a formidable array of figures and facts to look over every day, but such is not the case. Each report is so arranged that I can glimpse totals quickly. Often I scarcely more than glance at each slip, but they are at hand if I want them. In this way I have at my instant command the statistics, both financial and clerical, of every department of the business. The fact that these reports come to me is sufficient to spur every worker to his best efforts, it has been my experience thus far, ' ' I gain hours for my desk duties by this plan and still know what is going on. The reports are filed in consecu- tive order for 30 days and kept easily available until thp monthly recapitulations have been checked. After that they are filed in the general file." 78 PLAN SIXTY-ONE PLAN 61 A PLAN WHICH REDUCED TEN HOURS TO SIX Quite a jump, isn't it — a gain of four hours? Yet it wasn't such a difficult ta^k uiih the aid of the "dead- line" railing, the handful of letters, and the "chair-less" interview. A ten-hour day reduced ta six is the net result of a plan for handling callers put into practice by an execu- tive located in the West. No caller is admitted directly to his office. The infor- mation clerk meets the visitor, learns his name and busi- ness, or secures his card and says: "I will see if Mr. Booth is disengaged." Sometimes the president sends back word he cannot see the man. If he is in doubt as to what the caller wishes to discuss, or if he knows it will not require much time, he leaves his office and meets the visitor outside the "dead- line" railing; usually with some papers in his hand. No warning is needed to impress the caller that he is inter- rupting a busy man. Should the business require a little private discussion, the executive invites the caller inside the railing of the outer office, usually with some such remark as "Come inside a minute or two. " Here the proposal is discussed ; and as the president is being kept out of his office and away from his work, it is easy for him to end the inter- view by saying he must get back to his desk. ' ' A handy extra chair is the worst device in the world to invite and hold a caller," this president says. He keeps ' ' guest chairs ' ' just outside his office door. Should a visitor get inside the private office he has no place to sit down. "Once a man lands in a chair, it's practically impossible to get him out without dynamiting him, until he has told the whole story, ' ' explains the executive. PLAN SIXTY-TWO 79 Where the visitor gets inside the private office, the president leads him out by going outside himself. Here the ' ' You 're-holding-me-away-f rom-niy- work ' ' impression is given, and the executive can cut the interview easily and without offending. Where the caller is especially welcome or much time is required, "guest chairs" are brought in by the office boy. This method is tactful and handles effectively both the outsider whose call is for a v/orth-while purpose, and the man for whom a minute of the president's time will suffice. PLAN 62 A PLAN FOR GETTING FACTS WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR DESK You may already use an adaptation of it, oecause the man who originated it has told a lot of people about it, and news of good time-saving plans travels fad. But that only goes to show how good he considers the plan and why it is included here. A two-drawer letter filing cabinet at the right of his desk is the groundwork of a Chicago business man's plan for saving time. He has found it exceptionally practical in taking care of his personal tasks. Without leaving his desk or rising from his chair he has instant access to his important collection of letters, clippings, and reports. This handy cabinet enables him to avoid delays and the possibility of errors that result when papers of a more or less personal nature are kept in the general files. The drawers are equipped with folders numbered from 1 to 60, each of which contains papers classified according to specified subjects. The " key " to these folders appears on typewritten sheets of paper placed under the glass top of his desk. 80 PLAN SIXTY-THREE When he desires information, say, about foreign ad- vertising agencies, he turns to his key and finds that all his data on the subject are filed in folder number 7, and he has what he wants on his desk in a moment. If he seeks an anecdote about business for a speech which he is to make, he quickly notes that his favorite anecdotes and pertinent paragraphs are kept in folder number 45. In like manner he has classified all clippings or penciled memoranda that bear upon any of his various interests ; it takes but a moment to file them away and they are instantly available when needed. This man finds that his file is flexible, and readily adaptable to his peculiar needs. He has described it to a number of his friends — manufacturers and retail- ers — who have put it into use. Each individual, of course, makes his own classifications according to his requirements. PLAN 63 A FEW MINUTES' WORK NOW— HOURS SAVED LATER Here are two -plans in one. Both indicate the value of preparing for a business "drive" in advance. IVs )">rettu nearly a certainty that they'll a' least suggest a time- saving idea to you. A "seller of service" in the Middle West saves both his own and his salesmen's time by keeping on file at his office, rough plans of each proposition on his lists. Little expense attaches to these layouts, for he or one of the men quickly sketches them on chart paper. When a prospect inquires for a certain proposition the agent shows him the plans to correspond. As each pros- pect usually has a certain arrangement in mind as most desirable, these plans enable him to choose the one or two possibilities that suit his fancy. All the other plana PLAN SIXTY-FOUR 81 can then be discarded. Thus fewer trips to show propo- sitions at first hand are necessary and hours are gained in handling the business. Another man who spends almost no time in his office, conserves his hours by using a written schedule. Each evening he lists the tasks he should accomplish the next day, and then arranges them in the order of importance and convenience. This takes perhaps 10 minutes. He sets down no definite hours except for appointments and aims to make as few hard and fast engagements as possible. With this schedule he fares forth on his day's work. He makesi most of his deals on the outside and, although adhering as closely as possible to his schedule, he never hesitates to disregard it if he thereby gains some advan- tage. A daily time sheet like this often succeeds in regu- lating activities in lines of business where such regula- tion is generally regarded as next to impossible. PLAN 64 THIS PLAN PROVES THAT THE OTHER MAN'S METHOD OFTEN FITS The idea back of the cash register is said to have come from a denice for recording the revolutions of a ship's engines. That goes to indicate that ideas can he trans- ferred from one field lo another. And this plan offers you still another indication. "A simple idea for arranging desks, which I picked up while looking through a newspaper office and put into use, has resulted in con.siderable time economy for me," relates a manager. ''The plan is this: Instead of having men scattered about the office as formerly, I now have their desks arranged nearer together in *U' shape, with my desk at the open end of the *U' facing 82 PLAN SIXTY-FIVE the others. This arrangement is patterned after the desk line-up in the city editor's room, "The plan especially appealed to me for I have a number of assistants and find it necessary to inspect their work frequently as well as to confer with them. Under the old method, I had to leave my desk many times a day to see how office tasks were going. Also, if I wanted quickly to take up some item with an assistant, I was compelled to wait till he reached my desk. All these minutes of delay meant time more or less wasted. Now I am near enough to each worker so that it takes but a moment to step to any desk to look over accounts or other papers or books too bulky to carry around con- veniently. "In case I want to ask any of the men a question, I do not have to hold up the subject in hand till he arrives at my desk. I simply call over to him without raising my voice. Thus the information is at once forth- coming and I can go right along with my work. If I wish to present some important phase of the business to all the force, we are able to go into conference without loss of time. This 'U' arrangement so far as I have been able to discover has no drawbacks. PLAN 65 •THIS PLAN HAS SAVED ME HUNDREDS OF HOURS" A Pacific Coast man is most enthusiastic about this plan of hu and. considering the results secured, he has caus« to he. Even though you may not he so husy in just the same direction, you will nevertheless he interested in his "10- reason" time saver. ""Wihen I tell you that I confer with more than 1,000 solicitors a year, or an average of more than three a day, you'U see why it is that I must have a definite plan for PLAN SIXTY-SIX 83 handling this feature of my work, ' ' states a Pacific Coast manager. ' ' It took some months to hit on a satisfactory solution, but I am now able to conserve my minutes and finish each day 's tasks without wearisome overtime. And yet I see just as many salesman as before. "Each solicitor, as he enters the office, is received by a stenographer, who hands him a definite form to fill out. On it are spaces for all the information I require — name, commodity handled, and other details. There are addi- tional blank lines for the use of the salesman in entering 10 reasons why I should use what he has to offer. When he comes to my desk I ask him first to read these 10 rea- sons, and then to amplify them by further remarks. "The plan has saved me hundreds of hours, for it has automatically developed in each salesman the ability to present a short, definite, and exact outline of what he intends to say. Formerly his natural tendency was to keep on talking until he got the contract. Even now, of course, the solicitor who reads the 10 reasons he has just written may add a little to each reason, but when he has finished the list he stops. That is my cue to ask for his information blank and tell him I will mail him my deci- sion to reach him within a week. In this way the inter- view is over quickly, we part on friendly terms, and I can make my decision carefully and at my leisure." PLAN 66 IT WOULD BE HARD TO IMPROVE THIS PLAN'S RESULTS This -plan keeps a busy man 's desk free from details and his mind clear for big problems. What more could one ask? The private office of an engineer who handles many important construction jobs is an example to those in search of time-saving opportunities. His double flat top 84 PLAN SIXTY-SEVEN desk is covered with plate glass, under which are progress charts and maps of the work. The charts are brought up to date once a week by an assistant. Nothing is allowed to remain on top of the glass — no pens, pencils, ink, or papers. The desk equipment consists of two pencils and a mem- orandum pad, kept in the flat middle drawer ; in the left- hand top drawer is a pen and a non-leakable inkwell, and in the top right-hand drawer, a box of cigars. The methods used to bring about this condition are few. No details take up this man's time because they never get to him. An organization surrounds him which is capable of attending to the lesser business. He keeps in touch with every department, but seldom interferes. The memorandum pad in the middle drawer is used frequently for making suggestions to departments. In order to keep duplicates of his instructions and at the same time avoid shifting a piece of carbon paper, he uses pads with alternating white and yellow sheets. The white sheets are perforated and carbonized on the back. With this pad it is a simple performance to jot down memoranda, call a boy and send notes on their way, leav- ing a record on the yellow duplicates for follow-up. PLAN 67 A PLAN WHICH GIVES THE DAY A GOOD START Here's a new kind of partner — a "file partner" — and the man toho first took "him" into business reports favor- ably on "hi7>i." To avoid loss of time in his daily work a manager in the West uses a special "file partner" to remind him of his various tasks. Located in the upper desk drawer, these files supplement the function of the desk calendar pad. They are divided by tabs into the following head- PLAN SIXTY-EIGHT 85 ings: ''immediate;" each, of the six weekdays; "sales- men ; " * ' in a few days ; " " ideas, ' ' and ' ' printer. ' ' The "immediate" file he tackles first each morning. Without delay he can jump into this important work. Then as he gets to it, he goes through the file covering that particular day. All material to be used in discus- sion with another officer he places in the file bearing that man's name, pending a conference between them. The printer, whom he sees daily, gets the same treatment. Under "salesmen" he puts items for attention with the salesmen and, under the "ideas" and "in a few days" folders, he files topics of value for later use. This data is looked over thoroughly every few days. For subjects of great importance, the manager dictates a letter to himself, and makes the stenographer respon- sible for its delivery to him on the morning of the speci- fied day. This is in addition, of course, to the "file memory. ' ' PLAN 68 THIS PLAN IS WORTH ITS WTIGHT IN GOLD TO ONE MAN Here a busy man tells hotv he uses a unique "date book" to distrHnde his appointments evenly over the week. A glance at it tells him exactly V)hat work is laid out for each day anci enables him to finish tasks on time. One executive who has many appointments for confer- ences and interviews each week has worked out a plan for charting his tasks which he says is worth its weight in gold to him. He keeps on his desk a looseleaf pad of paper 8V2 by 11 inches, with the individual sheets ruled off into a set of squares, six across, and eight deep. Each vertical row, beginning at the left, represents a day of the week, and the horizontal rows, beginning at the top, are for the 86 P LAN SIXTY-NINE working hours of each day. Thus each sheet, dated at the top, represents a week. AVhen this business man makes an appointment to see Stone next Wednesday at 11 o'clock, he simply jots Stone's name down in the third column from the left — Wednesday — and the third square from the top of the column — since his day begins sX 9 a. m. A real advan- tage of the idea is the way in which it enables him to visualize his appointments and distribute them evenly through his days and through the week, so that he does not overload one day at the expense of another. A single glance enables him to tell just how full next Thursday is. and whether he had better see Hayes on that day or on Friday. Moreover, each night a quick survey of the vertical column of next day's work enables him to map out his schedule effectively, economizing on time and details. He says that he finds the little unpleasant jobs, on which he formerly was likely to procrastinate, have a habit of getting themselves done on schedule if jotted down for a given day and hour. PERHAPS THIS IS THE PLAN YOU'RE LOOiaNG FOR The chance.t are that no matter vhat kind of business you happen to be in, you trill find it about as easy as falling off a log to work out some sort of a variation of this plan to fit your oum particrdar needs. An "office encyclopedia" is the plan worked out by a Pennsylvania business man for saving his time in look- ing up information regarding customers. Before he evolved the new method rarely was there a record suffi- ciently complete at hand. Like many other managers he looked up accounts, examined the contract books and PLAN SIXTY-NINE 87 DATE PAID DATES WRITTEN — REMARKS BRDST. SEE OTHER SIDE— HISTORY AND REMARKS Figure 13: Here^s a way to know "who's who" among customers and to keep the information always at hand. This office "encyclo- pedia" contains a "boldface' ' record of all customers who have been extended credit, and, as a rule, it determines those who are acceptable for future trust. Plan 6'J tells you all about it. the orders previously entered, delved in Dun or Brad- street, and otherwise resorted to the usual laborious methods. And it all took time. Now he consults the ' ' office encyclopedia. ' ' He or the head of any department can refer instantly to the com- plete record of any customer and learn the condition of the account at the moment without bothering the book- keepers; note how the customer has been paying; find the record of letters written for a remittance; deter- mine his credit rating; learn what material the cus- tomer buys; the contracts in force; and his address, shipping point; and every other data that may be of interest regarding him. Two card records constitute the "encyclopedia." One (Figure 13) is the basis of the customer's record. A 88 PLAN SIXTY-NINE card is made out for every customer on the books and for all prospective buyers. It contains all pertinent information concerning each one. All departments must join in the accurate keeping of the record. For instance, the names and addresses are filled in by the sales department upon the receipt of the first inquiry, together with credit or any other data obtain- able. The invoice department is next required to in- sert the necessary information under "material," show- ing the principal products which the customer buys. The information imder the heading "contracts" is fur- nished by the clerk who has charge of this detail. A cipher often is used for the insertion of prices, but this practice is not invariable. The back of this form is blank and is reserved for special remarks — ^principally information gathered through correspondence or furnished by agents, com- plaints of importance, and the disposition or settlement of them. The card is 5 by 8 inches and is filed alpha- betically in a cabinet which is kept in the most con- venient position for reference. The cards are filed and cross-indexed under whatever headings are deemed necessaiy. The second card (Figure 13) is for collections and is kept separate from the customers' record. Its prime purpose is to enable the manager to keep an accurate tab on all past due accounts. The bookkeeper, every few days, goes over the invoice book and enters on the cards each customer's name whose account is past due, the dates, and the ledger folio. All cards are placed in alphabetical order in a cabinet. This enables anyone to go quickly over the past due accounts and make deduc- tions without Avasting time asking questions. Whenever an account is settled the card h marked "paid." PLAN SEVENTY 89 My assistants understand they are to adhere strictly to this plan and I encourage them to be alert in follow- ing it out in detail. I get my information speedily and clear away my desk without vexing delays. Certain letters obviously fall into well-defined classes so that I merely designate what answers to send. I realize that the way we handle correspondence re- flects the spirit of the house, so that is all the more reason why I want it handled systematically and by a definite schedule. I read the letters received only once unless they are of such importance that they require holding over for study. This method — open, read, dictate answer — makes for quick, effective handling of correspondence. pim 70 THIS PLAN SAVED 10% It happens that this is the plan of a factory superintendent, but once you have read it, you loill readily see that it can he applied wherever interviews form a part of the day's work. A factory superintendent, whose time is much in de- mand by people both in and out of his own organization, has so arranged his office chairs with relation to his own desk, as to make an estimated saving of 10% of the time formerly taken up by interviews. The chair to the right of his desk is for outside callers ; that on the left is for employees. Regular callers under- stand the plan and, when admitted, they always take the chair on the right without being invited to sit down. If a foreman enters w^hile an interview is going on he takes the left-hand chair and the superintendent can dispose of him quickly, as a rule. Conferences of more importance are held in a private office. This same executive has saved himself many additional 90 PLAN SSVEXTY-ONE minutes by having his office walled with clear glass. From his desk he can see the entire floor, a fact which has made unnecessary many of the inspection trips he foraierly had to make. He overcame any possible objection to this idea from the men by explaining that the windows were put in not that he might spy upon them, but merely to save his own time. PLAN 71 HOURS SA\^D BY ELIMINATING "IF'S" AND "AND'S" This is similar to Plan 95 in some respects, but it operates a little differently. That's why it's included — so that you can take your choice or combine the two, pre- haps, to save some of your fleeting tninutes. "I save hours in the course of a month by putting all my instructions in writing," says an Atlanta business man. "I do not except even the less important detailed orders, where it is possible to get them in black and white. * ' Formerly I sent for men and more or less discussion was bound to result. "While holding these interviews I often had my mind on other work, v/hich was pressing, and was delayed by the 'if 's' and -and's' that arise dur- ing a personal talk over business problems. I have elimi- nated a lot of useless argument and superfluous explain- ing of points an assistant can usually figure out for him- self and to much better advantage. And, even more important, I am sure that my instructions will be carried out as soon as possible. ' ' For each note I use a special sheet in duplicate with only two words on it, 'Do' and 'Done,' and also a serial number. I write the name of the person addressed just over the word ' Do. ' The instructions and the date when the work is to be finished follow under this heading. PLAN SEVENTY-TWO 91 The duplicate is kept by my secretary who files it under the date on which the task should be completed. "At the bottom of the original slip is the word 'Done' and just below is a space for the worker's signature. When he has finished the assignment he signs his name and returns the sheet to me. I give each assistant plenty of time for his task and I expect him to be through on the date specified, unless he sends in an explanation, bearing the number of the instruction note, and convinces me that he is warranted in having an extension of the time. In that case, the date on the duplicate is advanced accordingly. ' ' PLAN 72 THIS PLAN SAVED MOMENTS TODAY And, what's more, it also chased away noise and inter- ruptions for the man who oriijinafed it. If yo^i are dis- turbed too frequently in your work you'll want to knoiv how this executive secludes himself successfully. An ingenious short cut in executive work has been devised and put into practice by the head of a business man located in the Middle West, with the aid of a well known device for transmitting or overbeaming speech. No telephone or other mechanical appliance appears on his work-table; to all outward appearances his private office is as free from the machinery of business as is his library at home. But attached to the bottom of the work- table is the device, located at his right and within reach of his hand when he is seated in his chair. To this device are connected five wires. Three of these Avires are connected with the private offices of his chief assist- ants ; the fourth, with the desk of his secretary, while the fifth is connected with the telephone switchboard in tlie outer office. This arrangement enables him to handle 92 PLAN SEVENTY-THREE his day's work, if need be, without leaving his chair and without summoning a single individual to his office. By merely holding the small circular receiver to his ear, he is able to carry on, in a normal voice, telephone con- versations via the switchboard, or to converse privately with any one or all three of his assistants; private con- ferences between the four are sometimes conducted by means of this device. The executive dictates his letters over the instrument, to the economy of time and effort both of himself and of his secretary. And the device has been of special service in enabling his secretary or one or more of his three assistants to overhear the conversation that is of interest to them by the simple device of calling their offices — a modification of a scheme which has been exten- sively used in detective work and broadly exploited in spectacular ways during recent years. PLAN 73 A PLAN :MADE up ENTIRELY OF "TIME- SAVING KNACKS" Ifs a knack for saving time that puts many a man ahead, we'll all admit — but even if we haven't the knack, tchat difference does it make as long as we have descriptions of the plans used by the lucky ones with the knack? One business man has found that "little knacks" in the aggregate save him valuable time each day in han- dling correspondence. His plan eliminates all petty annoyances and obstacles to an orderly completion of the work. His assistants are given certain rules by which they cooperate with him, so that all letters come to him ready for easy reading. The use of pins or clips in the extreme upper left-hand comer only, or for some docu- ments, the extreme lower left-hand comer, makes it PLAN SEVENTY-FOUR 93 imnecessary to remove the pin from correspondence in order to get at a name or date that is covered up. In the letters themselves the sorter checks and under- scores important points so that the executive is enabled to visualize the contents quickly. As he goes over them he in turn indicates what disposition he wishes made of them. To save time in this work he uses abbreviations — a "shorthand" that explains itself — such as a capital "C," when he desires previous correspondence attached, and the letters "fu" followed by a future date, when subjects are to be followed up, as well as other private marks for various processes the letters require. There is a vertical file within reach of his chair, with folders marked for "look-up" and for various form- letter replies. As he sorts his mail two or three times a day, he puts the routine items in the proper folders. His stenographer gets one or another folder in her free time, and answers the group of similar queries quickly. PLAN 74 THIS PLAN CHECKED EIGHT TIME LEAKS This man, finding himself too often sivamped vnth work, and desiring to 'profit by previous mistakes, analyzed his problem as described below, and noio he doesn't give him- self a chance to be overcroivded. How he does it — and it's really a simple plan — rnay give you a profitable idea. "Anah^sis of my problems enabled me to develop a plan for minimizing detail loads which were occurring all too frequently, " says one business man. "So swamped was I at times by unexpected work that I found little opportunity for vital phases of policy and business growth. I have overcome these conditions successfully. "I saw in going over past work that losses in time came from the following eight causes: ' in PLAN SEVENTY-FIVE "1. Delay in getting quotations showing extreme mar- ket changes. "2. Unusual runs on items which must be ordered from various supply sources. "3. Emergency orders which upset routine. "4. Delay in promised shipments. "5. Unreported breakage. "6. Calls for goods stocked by competing firms. "7. Excessive correspondence covering a line or item under consideration. "8. Miscellaneous causes not important enough to be listed in above. "To do away with these conditions, and thus gain time for myself, I not only placed more responsibility on my immediate assistants but arranged for greater cooperation from the various clerks — a simple readjust- ment when it was made clear. For instance, in handling unusual runs, I eliminated most of the worry and trouble by having clerks report such demands for goods the first day, making renewal possible ahead of the ordinary minimum stock notification. PLAN 75 "IT HAS STOOD THE TEST OF YEARS," SAYS A MAN WHO HAS USED THIS PLAN This plan — in a little different '''dress" to be sure — to you is described as used by several men. Isn't ike fact that they could all adapt it to their individual needs en- couraging? For tabulating quickly all useful information, one executive finds a "roster of data files" helpful and prac- tical. He has proved its worth through several years' actual test. PLAN SEVENTY-FIVE 95 This "roster" is made up of about 130 subjects, ar- ranged alphabetically and placed under the glass plate in his desk. Opposite each subject is printed the number of the file in which data on that topic is placed. When- ever the executive comes across a letter, newspaper or Roster of Data Files Numerical 1 CcnvnitoiQ ee Credit Men's Association Talkj Adcraft Club 2 Uyouta 67 Saving* Idea and the Pooolo Ad»nrl)3inii Agortcy. The (37) 3 OeslcHnf M9 68 Annual Report-TSia Advertising Coooemllon « SmojIIt AdvertJslfig 68 Advertisino Schemss Advertising Department 5 Rilfill Advenuing 70 Books lor a Businecs Man's Um Advertising Manajjer. The 1 Cull (E» 126. 127, 128, 129) 74 "Attar th« Day's Work" Aftar Hie Day's Work 10 Une.-i 75 Nations! Economic League Agency Advertising II Cfwic Betuttllcalloiw 78 National Aisoclation CorpofBtion Agency Relatitwis 12 CIvk Morality 77 Advertisli>g Cooperation Amoricsn Association for Promoting Effldinqr 13 Ctvic Birslnesa 78 EtPtlency— Gettinfl Right Stirt Anotdotes ot Sloro Management " ComnWKiAl Education (Talk) 78 Efficiency— Rules of llie Gamo Annu^ Report (1910) U Fon»w-iip Idaas 80 Efficiency— What 8 the Use Annual Fteport iWU) le BookXI Ideas 81 ^Ehl'iwcy— On the Road to Damascus Associated Advertising CliAs 17 ComiT\ercial Ciutl TsIVs 82 EfTiciency— Vision ot Things Well Don« As6;>ciation of I^alional Advertiaing Manager* IS Adyerttslng Oepartrae/it 83 Efficiency— Paper of Brass Tacks - ■ ■ . 1 » Human Nature 114 C. SI Pirtwial lllualrttlona. 115 Trade EtcunJons CadiltacTui 52 AdcranCkib lie General Manatrer n7Ui^ 2 Monday 9 OmM'UmxJi 3 (Mjfrur^J^ Tuesday /o .2. C:zo Bsm^ * Wednesday /i 5ta^ctZ-ti. u Thursday II CcripiA£/>vzil / ^^^d^ G::5o * Friday II %^^ y ' Saturday ?, AMMa^y^e^ Figure 23: Who among us lias not missed an important appoint- ment because "he forgot"? This card index of engagements, {see Plan 97) kept in a convenient holder, enables one business man to be on time for all appointments. It's just a simple plan, but "it enables me," he says, "to keep an accurate check on myself." PLAN 98 THIS PLAN DID AWAY WITH TAKING WORK HOME Ifs certainly discouraging to find yourself confronted with a pile of unfinished work at the close of the day. Here's a plan that may help. "I have never favored having all the details of our organization come to my desk," says one business man. ' ' Yet s'o complex is the problem of keeping in touch with various activities, that for some time I frequently took reports home, or stayed after business hours at my desk, just trying to find out what was going on. ''There must be some way of simplifying the work, I felt, so I set about developing a system. It took about six months before we found out all its faults and cor- rected them ; then it worked like a charm. "It is a good deal like a newspaper's system for han- 136 PLAN NINETY-NINE clling reporters. Tlie basis of it is an assignment sheet, and a set of files which automatically sort out the com- pleted work, and the various classes of 'live' business. The assignment sheet is a daily schedule of work for everybody in the office, even of routine tasks. * ' The employees like the system, for it helps them get things done in short order; any papers that are needed can be quickly located by reference to the file and it has been a life saver for me. All carbons of letters and memorandums are made on a special form which contains reference to the individuals in the departments, the assignment sheet, the various files, and a ticker arrange- ment of dates. By simply checking the destination of the order, the person handling it, and the date, on the carbon of a letter, I know that item of business will be entered on the assignment sheet, and duly attended to at its proper time. "This system has saved me time in disposing of my mail — this applies as well to every other correspondent in our organization ; and it has also saved a tremendous amount of time in overseeing the work, for now I can put the assignment sheet in front of me and line up the situation in a few minutes." PLAN 99 AN AUTOMATIC "PRIVATE SECRETARY" THAT SAVES TIME WITH A VENGEANCE In this flan you vnll find time saving reduced almost to a science. Of course dictaling machines and inierhouse telephones may be "fifth wheels" to your business, but do not therefore pass the plan by; for to do so would be merely begging the question. A western business man who believes in making ap- pliances save a lot of his time has his dictating machine sunk in his desk, squarely in front of him and ready for PLAN ONE HUNDRED 137 use. The tube lies at all times beneath his fingers. He has but to lift it to his mouth and turn the switch, when he can begin dictating. Not only does he handle all his correspondence and interhouse communications in this way, but he makes it a practice to unburden his mind of every little sug- gestion that occurs to him. Ideas are elusive. They may even take flight while reaching for a note book and pencil. But if you can formulate them into words as they unfold in the mind, escape is much more difficult. This machine is arranged so conveniently that it is the next thing to an automatic memory for him. It enables him to get ideas down which might never be recorded otherwise — ideas that may mean thousands of dollars to the business. This use, which may be con- sidered incidental by most people, is, in his opinion, the biggest single advantage of the appliance. A handy intercommunicating telephone directory is another interesting feature of this executive's office. Instead of having a pendant card, he has a large paper disk fitted over the mouthpiece. This carries the house directory as well as the more important local calls. If he happens to forget a number, in the moment that he is waiting for his central to answer, he can spin the disk around until the desired number is directly in front of his eyes. All the telephones in the plant are similarly equipped. PLAN 100 A PLAN FOR DOING IT IN "HALF THE TIME" Here you II find out just how one business man freed himself from a mass of minor detail work and accom- plished more in the same time. An executive with a Baltimore concern found he was spending too much valuable time going over the volumi- 138 PLAN ONE HUNDRED COST PCT UNIT OOllftRS Superintendence and Labor Material Use[ JA^ EB MArJaPD. M»V,twHE|jULy|AUC|sm oct.|nov.1d£c . JAH.|FtB . MARJAPf . MA-l 15.00 14.00 15,000 14,900 Icellaneous Total Cost 1 lit HE JULY AUG. SEPT. CXT. NOU. DEC. JAN. FEa MAR APH MAY JUKE JULY AU6. SEPT. OCT NOV OEG. - KM ZZZ.Z^. CURVE XT^^O^ POINTtO :>' '^C CURVE desired to draw more Ihan one curve on the tame- sheet and in the same- colored ink ^ — — _^ ^ _J _^ , . -^ -^ P^ ' " "" — -\ f— Figure S^: A Baltimore executive goes over his records in "half the time" now because he has them pictured in graphic form on charts like the above (see Plan 100). The variation in costs is shown by plotting the squares according to the key at the left. He points out that a draftsman is not necessary to work up the graphs. ^^-^iis monthly reports of the aeconnting department. ^^st he had to know the vital facts. To eliminate the waste motion he worked out a plan to have each report summarized in the form of a graphic chart. Now in less than half the time he is able to make comparisons and visualize the status of the business. A written report for various details is attached to the chart, should the executive desire and have time to study the figures further. He finds that one of the main obstacles to the wider use of charts has been the fact that ths) average office manager believes it is necessary to employ a draftsman to make them up, and that ex- pensive drawing instruments will have to be procured. "It is true," he says, "that the average clerk is not trained a ong these lines ; but he very soon can be, for PLAN ONE HUNDRED 139 anyone of average intelligence may, with sufficient train- ing, become expert in plotting and drawing curves in a very short time. The drafting consists chiefly of draw- ing straight lines, and a little lettering, although a type- writer may be used for most of this. As to the cost of the necessary tools, $4 will more than cover the price of a very complete set. The following list includes everything needed : 3 bottles of drawing ink, one each of black, green, and red. 1 51/^-inch ruling pen 1 18-inch celluloid straight edge 1 6-inch celluloid triangle 1 fairly hard lead pencil 1 piece of soft rubber "The cross-section paper, which in my own experience I have found to be most convenient for general use, is made in sheets 15 by 11 inches. Most stationery stores carry it. Each sheet is divided into squares, of which there are 24 one way and 20 the other. Each large square is subdivided into 10 small squares, making the total number of squares 240 one way and 200 the other. This permits the use of a great many kinds of headings. "When it is desired to make a comparison of various years, a different color of ink is used for each year. With this arrangement it is possible to draw charts on the same sheet for as many years as there are colors of ink. "The framework for the chart, w^hich has been used with success for some time for keeping track of operat- ing costs, is shown by Figure 24. It is applicable to many uses. Wliere this form is used, the sheets are kept in a looseleaf binder, and as the figures are available each month the curve is plotted and drawn in, and the book laid on the executive's desk." 140 PLAN ONE HUNDRED ONE PLAN 101 SAVES 50% IN COST AND LOTS OF TIME There may be nothing brand new under the sun, but it's pretty certain that some of the old ways can be worked over to advantage. And of that this plan is the proof. ' ' It costs us only about half as much now as formerly to handle our records on accounts payable," says one busy man, "We also spend only about half as much time at the work as before; yet we find that our records are even more valuable than they used to be. Our sys- tem has worked so well for us that we believe it should produce similar results in other concerns. ' ' We made the saving in two ways : first, we reduced the number of operations; second, we adopted a com- I^act card index and a simple voucher sheet in place of an immense voucher register, 10 feet long, that we had previously used. The work is now arranged so that several entries are made at one time on the typewriter. This considerably reduces the time and labor. "We have eliminated hand work in a dozen or more places, using rubber stamps instead; yet we have not decreased the value of the records in a single instance. In fact, we increased their eifectiveness. ' ' Our former plan was to make a record of all vouch- ers to be paid on a page that contained enough columns to accommodate every department or controlling account, governing auxiliary department records, to which an ex- penditure might be charged. Our company owns a number of mines. In order to save time and have the record complete, it was necessary to have a separate column under each department for each mine. As our operations grew, the size of this book increased, until at the time when it was abandoned, as we have said, it was fully 10 feet long when open. PLAN ONE HUNDRED ONE 141 "The importance of having immediate access to the original record of an invoice and its voucher was indi- cated to us time and again in legal proceedings. We never were able to satisfy a lawyer with anything but the original record, and we found that our filing system did not permit us to find that quickly. We had been de- pending largely upon our lO-foot register and an ade- quate filing system. "As our system is now, the originals are the records to which we most often refer. This original record we know as the voucher sheet which is assembled in a bound volume with the original invoices and papers. It is a carbon made at the same time as the statement of settle- ment — which goes to the supply company from which we have purchased — and the paying check. All three of these documents are written at once. The statement of settlement is exactly twice the size of the check, and the voucher sheet is twice the size of the statement of settlement. "Writing the three at once means an important saving of labor ; and it also means that all the documents corre- spond in every detail. The check, which is smaller than the other sheets, drops out of the typewriter after the name and address, the amount, and a reference to the statement of settlement are entered. Then as much of the invoice as may be necessary is copied to the statement of settlement; and at the same operation, of course, the carbon transcribes the invoice on the voucher sheet. At the next turn of the typewriter platen the statement of settlement drops out. A final entry is made on the voucher sheet to indicate the account to which the bill is to be charged, the name of the mine, and the initial of the clerk who made the voucher. In this way, one opera- tion makes all these important documents. 142 PLAN ONE HUNDRED ONE ' ' The treasurer signs the check after it has been signed by the general auditor. We then place it, with the state- ment of settlement, in a window envelop — thus we avoid the necessity of writing the address again. "For quick reference to a given creditor's account we have a card file. The cards are arranged alphabeti- cally according to the names of the creditors. Each card has 24 spaces, in which to make records of payments. Columns are provided to show the voucher number, date of entry, the amount and the date. * ' Our method of handling checks is a little unusual. In fact, the sheet which we have been calling a 'check' might better be termed a 'warranty of payment.' In the lower left-hand corner, under the words 'payable through, ' we stamp with a rubber stamp the name of the bank through which payment is to be made. We have accounts in several banks. When our check, or 'war- ranty,' returns to the bank, it is brought, togethei with all the 'checks' received on that day, to our treasurer. "The operation of finding a certain voucher is some- thing like finding a given page or chapter in a book in a library. We first go to our card index, find the name of the concern to whom the voucher was made, find the item wanted, and thus secure the voucher number. We then go to our voucher 'library,' select the book containing this number, and find the voucher and papers as you find a page number in a book. ' ' I should like to call special attention to an important feature of our check. Just above the space left for in- dorsement are these words, which turn the check into a valid receipt: 'Indorsements legally and technically correct must be made below. Officers of corporations must give their proper titles. Signatures by mark must be witnessed and witness's residence must be stated. One party signing for another must attach power of attorney. PLAN ONE HUNDRED TWO 143 Indorsement of payee hereunder will constitute a receipt for the account specified hereon,' "A complete record of all voucher amounts is made on a 'voucher index.' This index is printed on a letter size sheet. It has columns in which we enter the voucher number and amount. Postings of totals are made from this index to the ledger. ''"We post to the other ledger accounts direct from the voucher sheet, which is our permanent and original record. "This system, which requires us to make only two postings, has greatly decreased the number of errors. Experience has shown us that over 60% of the errors in balances are directly due to rerecording and sum- marizing. Our method eliminates most of this extra work to a large extent." PLAN 102 A *TILE" PLAN FOR FINDING FACTS INSTANTLY And it comes in handy for a Denver business man when- ever he attacks a knotty problem. It's somewhat like plan 27 and has proved practical in every way. ' ' I wanted a practical substitute for the old-time scrap book," writes a Denver executive, "one that would enable me to file clippings, memoranda, and suggestions so that I could get at them quickly. The scrap book, of course, I had discarded because it took too much time. After studying my requirements I decided on a plan that has not only saved me time but is much more ac- cessible than any I have ever heard of. "It consists of a cabinet with eight rows of what may be termed portfolios. The cabinet contains about 300 of these pockets, which are made to open at the top. Each 144 PLAN ONE HUNDRED TWO SUBJECT yktiytuiJlAyyu^^ nn\JZ.n. DATA MAGAZINE OR BOOK S Ju^UJUryT^ DATE \3l/ / 'l/oJLu..