Lack of system is mainly responsible for this state of affairs. While his duties may be more or less clearly defined, the work of the average office clerk does not follow any well defined plan. He does the thing that seems most important, leaving the less important tasks until he "has time." Instead of surveying the field and laying out a logical, systematic plan, the average office employe goes about his work in a haphazard sort of way following the line of least resistance. The work in every office is largely routine, but the faithful performance of routine tasks is a necessary accompaniment to those larger tasks, which in themselves, appear of greater importance. Routine tasks are drudgery--something that every man seeks to escape. In freeing himself from a state of drudgery, the department head should be careful lest he place his subordinates in the same dreaded rut. An office clerk should be given an opportunity to learn all of the routine of the division in which he is employed. He will become a more valuable employe; while adding variety, the performance of more than one task is training him for a more advanced position. [Illustration: Fig. 6. A Working Chart for the Guidance of the Employes in One Department] To properly systematize the routine, the department head should first study his department to find out what the routine tasks really are--what work must be done each day or each week. He should then list these tasks and assign them to certain clerks to be performed at certain stated times. This can be best presented by means of a chart as shown in Fig. 6. This chart covers the work of a typical general accounting department. At the top, the general or routine tasks are listed, grouped under proper divisions. From each task listed a line is extended to the time when it is to be performed: daily, the day of the week, day of the month, or the month. The letters at the end of the lines indicate by whom the tasks are to be performed, _C_ representing clerks, _B_, bookkeepers, and _A_, cashier. Taking the collection division as an illustration, we will suppose that it is Monday, the 2nd of the month. The chart shows that on Monday notices of notes and accounts due are to be mailed. On the second day of the month, past due accounts must be taken up and disposed of. In addition are the daily tasks as indicated by the lines extending to the daily line. When a task is to be performed two or three times in a month, the line is broken and the letter inserted at each break. Even the time of drawing off a balance sheet, once every three months, is indicated. A similar chart should be made to show the routine duties of each department.