This is saying you’re indispensable. It's either laziness or arrogance, and it’s a recipe for disaster if something happens to you.

I have been, and will always be, a proponent of a system to document, track and manage jobs that is shared agency-wide. Creating a central location for all of your relevant information is essential to reduce errors, track work, manage budgets, and allow everyone to be ‘in the loop’. Further, a system that provides access for everyone to contribute key data (and they should) will provide a real-time snapshot of all projects.

No more searching for the person who knows what’s going on because they have it all in their head.

Whether you use a simple system on your server (read: centrally located where others can access it), Google Docs, or a comprehensive software system, your agency will run more efficiently.

I can guarantee that if you do not have a central repository of client/job information, schedule or budget, your colleagues have some sort of ‘system’ on their computers that they devised (or downloaded) to track their work. Everyone needs a little structure because the alternative is chaos.

So if you’re keeping it in your head, your colleagues are wasting their time also managing work – in their own way.

And a couple other points: put a process in place – basic rules for everyone to follow as to structure and expectations of your centralized system. Email was not made for managing work. Don’t keep project-pertinent information on your laptop and think that is OK.

Think collaboration. Everyone will work better, smarter and faster when information is shared.