While some of your colleagues might think it’s your full-time job to guarantee the office is stocked with everyone’s favorite snacks, ensure the printer is always filled with an adequate amount of ink, and make sure everyone’s desk is as ergonomic as possible, you know better.
In fact, office ordering is only one small piece of your job, so for everything outside of your intuitive knowledge around ordering, you’ve created processes and efficiencies that make office ordering easy as pie. Some would even say you deserve an honorary Ph.D.!
Here are a few signs that you are top of the class when it comes to keeping the office stocked and ready for anything:
1. You can get any supply delivered fast
Whether the office is down to its last coffee pod or the hand soap is down to its final pump, you know the fastest way to get restocked — without having to drive to the store on your way home from work. You know which providers will deliver the next day and you go with the ones you trust.
2. You know the value of a holistic partner instead of random websites
This is not your first rodeo. You have no time to remember the billing address every time you have to purchase something, or deal with sketchy charges or strange invoices. In order to maximize efficiency and prioritize financial security, you have go-to partners for your team to purchase from. Plus, sticking with holistic partners often comes with perks, such as extra savings and account managers that get to know the ins and outs of your team.
3. You have a secret backup supply closet
There’s the public office supply closet, and then there’s your secret backup. If there’s one thing you’ve learned over the years, it’s that, if there are sticky notes and pens, people will take them — even if they don’t need them. To avoid running out of supplies faster than expected, you only fill that public closet with exactly what’s needed. Meanwhile, your backup closet provides the team with a safety net to keep things running smoothly.
4. You encourage self-sufficient ordering
If your colleagues came to you for every supply they needed, you’d never get the rest of your daily work done. To make it easy for others to order what they need on their own, you encourage other high-volume buyers to set up accounts on your preferred supplier’s site. This allows you to monitor their spending but not have to place every single order.
5. You’re an expert at anticipating needs
The notebooks with the company logo for a big meeting next week — already ordered. The hard-to-find cord adapters for the new high-tech conference room — shipped and arriving tomorrow. You know what your office will need even before the rest of the team realizes they need it, and you all avoid that panicked request 24 hours before an important meeting: “We need to order ____, and we need it here by first thing tomorrow! How did we forget about that?”
