Code of Ethics

National Association of Professional Organizers -

NAPO Code of Ethics

This Code of Ethics is a set of principles to provide guidelines in our professional conduct with our clients, colleagues, and community.

As a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers, I pledge to exercise judgment, self-restraint, and conscience in my conduct in order to establish and maintain public confidence in the integrity of NAPO members and to preserve and encourage fair and equitable practices among all who are engaged in the profession of organizing.

Clients

I will serve my clients with integrity, competence, and objectivity, and will treat them with respect and courtesy.

I will offer services in those areas in which I am qualified and will accurately represent those qualifications in both verbal and written communications.

When unable or unqualified to fulfill requests for services, I will make every effort to recommend the services of other qualified organizers and/or other qualified professionals.

I will advertise my services in an honest manner and will represent the organizing profession accurately.

Confidentiality

I will keep confidential all client information, both business and personal, including that which may be revealed by other organizers.

I will use proprietary client information only with the client's permission.

I will keep client information confidential and not use it to benefit myself or my firm, or reveal this information to others.

Fees

I will decide independently and communicate to my client in advance my fees and expenses, and will charge fees and expenses which I deem reasonable, legitimate, and commensurate with my experience, the services I deliver, and the responsibility I accept.

I will make recommendations for products and services with my client's best interests in mind.

Colleagues

I will seek and maintain an equitable, honorable, and cooperative association with other NAPO members and will treat them with respect and courtesy.

I will respect the intellectual property rights (materials, titles, and thematic creations) of my colleagues, and other firms and individuals, and will not use proprietary information or methodologies without permission.


I will act and speak on a high professional level so as not to bring discredit to the organizing profession.

(Re-printed with permission from www.NAPO.net)

Did I single-handedly predict my future?

Single-Handedly

Quick personal note: I wrote the draft for this post quite a while ago and noticed today that I hadn't officially posted it yet.

The strangest thing is that right this minute my left arm is in a brace while I'm recovering from rotator cuff surgery. I really have had to do things with only my right hand and arm for the last 8 weeks!

(Quick, take another look at the post's title.)

Just in case my thoughts and words really do predict the future, I'm going to keep quiet while you read this, maybe all day. ...Did I catch you grinning?!

We’ve all heard the term single-handedly. "She single-handedly tiled the bathroom!" I love words and word origins. I started thinking about where this term may have gotten started. Someone probably was able to complete a task quickly and efficiently – or literally with just one hand.

It may not be possible everywhere but I'd like to have certain storage areas organized to work in that way. Let's think about it. How can things be retrieved from and returned to their proper place without needing two (or multiple) hands?

This seems to be especially important in the kitchen since we're often multi-tasking there. Without moving away from stirring something on the stove, you may want to grab another utensil from the drawer. One hand to open the drawer and the same hand to grab the item. Nicely done!

How about dishes? Is your cupboard storage set up for you to pull out something using only one hand? I challenged myself to arrange mine like that some time ago.

I’ve limited glassware and cookware to only the basics that I use every week – no excess items that I rarely use. Glasses are not stacked on top of each other. Small plates stand vertically, cups are on hooks, plastic containers are in large milk crate bins below that make it easy for me to get just one item without toppling everything around it.

It makes putting clean dishes away a lot easier too. Think about ways you can single-handedly ‘staff’ your kitchen. It’ll be one systematic change that will serve you for years to come. (But not because you're predicting you'll need to have it that way because of an accident or illness! Do it just because you want to make it a fun challenge and have more efficiency!!)