The work world today is dominated by a spreadsheet culture. You might say the whole world is. Is there anything that at least some people wouldn’t consider putting on a spreadsheet? Back in the 1980s, I remember my mother laughing while recounting that one of the other Girl Scout mothers said she would put details about our troop onto a spreadsheet. Today, who would laugh?
I’ve never been drawn to spreadsheets. I never learned to properly use Excel and still get anxiety when asked to create a spreadsheet on my own. In addition to my ignorance, I don’t think having a multitude of spreadsheets necessarily makes you more organized.
The More Spreadsheets, the Less Rushed You Should Be?
I once worked with a person who loved her spreadsheets. She easily had 50 at any given time yet never seemed to have her affairs in order. She always appeared, to put it in her own words, to be “hustling.” Call me naïve, but I thought the purpose of having so many spreadsheets was to be ultra-organized, with everything mapped out far enough in advance to make rushing around at the last minute, or “hustling,” unnecessary.
A segment on staying organized can be an invaluable part of new manager and leadership training. You want to make sure your up-and-coming leaders are not just performatively organized. Saying you’re creating a spreadsheet may be code for “I’m organized,” but it often doesn’t tie to real organization. As a best practice, employees should be trained to first ask, “Do I need a spreadsheet for this project, task, etc.? How will a spreadsheet help me stay on track for this particular challenge?”
Creating and Duplicating Work
Our software systems often have built-in tracking, so a spreadsheet is not necessary and only creates additional work. For example, in one of my past jobs, we had a software system to manage freelancers. You could easily look up each freelancer in the system and see all the payments we had made to them for years. You also could click to get a list of all the freelancers who did work for each manager. My spreadsheet-loving former colleague felt she needed to create a spreadsheet to document exactly what the software was already documenting.
Naturally, the junior employee of this colleague caught on that her boss adored spreadsheets and didn’t waste time creating spreadsheets for anything and everything. For instance, she created a spreadsheet to keep track of all her social media posts, though as far as I’ve noticed, you can usually find that information about past posts easily for any account you manage—within the social media site itself. How much time did my colleagues expend creating and maintaining these superfluous spreadsheets?
Are We Over-Documenting?
When she became head of a larger business unit, my spreadsheet-obsessive colleague decided she would have all her employees not just verbally share a success from their past week and a goal for the coming week but also document them in a spreadsheet. When you add such documentation to a meeting, you add formality. You’re saying that you think there should be an official record of what is shared. Do we really need a legal record of what might have been an informal conversation between colleagues and friends? To make matters even more formal, she kept a record on the spreadsheet of which stated goals were accomplished and which fell short.
When you go overboard documenting, it changes your workplace culture. It can create a sense of paranoia: “You’d better watch what you say. They’re taking notes.”
Just as there are things better left unsaid, there are things better left undocumented.
How are spreadsheets used in your organization? Does use of this tool contribute to organization and productivity or create undue annoyances and busy work?