by Shawn | Apr 13, 2021 | Podcast
Back in episode 23 we talked about an app called Evernote that is a great tool for not only collecting and finding notes but has a ton of other uses as well. If you haven’t tried it yet, do a quick search and try it out.
On today’s Tech Tuesday, we’re going to take a look at a slick, cross platform task management tool called Trello.
Like Evernote, Trello is one that I’ve been using for years and still use here and there.
I love it because, again, it is cross platform and lets me enter, modify or retrieve my task info from my computer, phone or wherever.
So, what is Trello.
At it’s core, Trello organizes tasks inside Boards and then grouped by Lists.
A board might be a certain department or area or product line of your business (say Customer Success or Accounting or Manufacturing).
So, when you select a board, picture that board being like a cork bulletin board, filling your screen.
Then, on the board are a series of vertical tiles called lists. These can be for specific sub-areas within the main area. Or they could be each tied to a status of specific tasks for that board.
Each of these lists can be clicked and dragged to wherever you want them.
And then on each list are the tasks. Trello calls them cards. The same is true with the cards. They can be clicked and dragged, edited, whatever.
And you can add labels to cards to tie things together easily.
So, let’s say you have a board for a specific project.
And on that board your lists are titled “Not Started”, “In Process”, “Waiting” and “Complete”.
You would create all your cards (or copy from a template) in the Not Started list and then as they change status you can drag them onto the appropriate list.
Meanwhile, you can use the tags to connect items by type or category, you can assign due dates, add attachments or notes, add sub checklists, whatever.
And on top of all that, you can share boards with other people and assign specific tasks within the group.
It’s so clean and easy to use, is just as easy on a phone as a computer, and is just a great way to track things.
If you haven’t tried Trello yet, check it out at trello.com today.
Thanks for listening to today’s episode. You can shoot me an email at shawn@shawnwashburn.com.
I’d love to connect: website / LinkedIn / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
by Shawn | Apr 12, 2021 | Podcast
Slow motion video seems to be more and more popular as time goes on.
It seems that everywhere you look, you can catch some phenomenal feat happening in frame-by-frame action.
Maybe it’s someone jumping from one building to another and impossibly landing right on a ledge before rolling to safety.
Or a perfectly placed volleyball floating up in space right before a player rises up behind it to crush it to the floor.
Or an arrow being shot through colored water balloons that seem to explode in a way that we never could have seen in real time.
When the action is slowed down, we not only have a greater appreciation for what is happening. We also are able to see things that we would have missed before.
That’s one of the reasons why slowing down is a great problem-solving tool.
This can really apply anywhere, but I’ve especially seen it play out in manufacturing. Over and over again.
For example, the problem as it looks to the naked eye might be that a machine is erratically acting up and not doing what it’s supposed to.
On the surface, watching in real time, this does indeed seem to be the case. There isn’t any apparent rhyme or reason to it. It just seems to happen in no particular pattern.
But when you slow it down, that’s when the magic can happen.
Especially when you couple slowing down with zooming in.
I use these two together often. And what happens is that what couldn’t see because it was too fast or to small suddenly makes sense.
With the machine we mentioned earlier, when we took video and slowed down and zoomed in we noticed that one of the pieces wasn’t able to fully drop into place every time. And it was because one of the guides was loose.
I never could have seen that otherwise and would have wasted valuable hours and manpower to try to fix something with a solution that wasn’t addressing the root cause.
And you can apply this too, no matter your situation. If one of your processes isn’t giving you the results you are looking for, especially if it’s erratic, try zooming in, slowing down, taking it frame-by-frame.
It could be an issue with some coding in a program. Or an automated sequence in your email system. Maybe it’s a communication or instructional issue.
Whatever it is for you, it’s worth the time to walk it through slowly and zoom in to the details. That’s when you can find that one thing that is wreaking all the havoc.
And when you’ve solved the problem, you have my permission to capture a slow motion victory dance to share with the world.
Thanks for listening to today’s episode. I’d love to know what you find out as you slow down and zoom in. You can shoot me an email at shawn@shawnwashburn.com.
I’d love to connect: website / LinkedIn / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
by Shawn | Apr 9, 2021 | Podcast
On today’s Fun Friday, we continue on in our Ode to the Office series with something everyone can relate to.
Today I bring you Ode To The Zoom Meeting.
Ode To The Zoom Meeting
I glance at my watch and my heart starts to race
Just minutes until I will show them my face
Unless it’s just voice and then I’ll be OK
Another Zoom meeting almost underway
I click on the link and head into the matrix
Relieved to discover all squares there are faceless
But then one by one they begin to reveal
Their faces and backgrounds, both virtual and real
We spend a few minutes on small talk and chatter
Then Joe tries to talk but something’s the matter
His mouth is just moving but no sound is coming
“You’re on mute!” we all shout… so loud that it’s numbing
The rest of the meeting goes by in a blur
Some screen shots are shared and I am pretty sure
That though it was nice to be all there together
A simple group text might just have been better
Thanks for listening to today’s episode. If you’ve got an idea for a future Ode to the Office episode, shoot me an email at shawn@shawnwashburn.com. Â I’d love to connect: website / LinkedIn / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
by Shawn | Apr 8, 2021 | Podcast
How do you rest?
In the midst of all that you’re dealing with, all that’s on your plate, all the responsibility, conflict, stresses, deadlines and frustrations… how do you recharge and renew?
Or, maybe a better question is “do you?”
Is it a priority for you?
If it’s not, maybe it needs to become one before you burn out.
No doubt, you probably ask a lot of yourself and you’re usually able to just push through, make things happen and not worry about resting.
I know I’ve been there. And I also know that it almost always catches up to me.
Maybe in the form of foggier thinking or a quicker temper. Tougher time making a decision or loss of focus.
Bottom line is that we were created to need rest.
It’s a natural part of how our bodies work.
This could mean sleep itself or just unplugging, doing something you love, getting energized.
There are a lot of ways you can get recharged. But they don’t just happen by accident.
Are you willing to be intentional and carve out time in your day or week to rest and recharge?
You’ll see so many benefits, personally and in your role in your business.
Thanks for listening to today’s episode. You can shoot me an email at shawn@shawnwashburn.com. Â Can’t wait to be back with you tomorrow. Â I’d love to connect: website / LinkedIn / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
by Shawn | Apr 7, 2021 | Podcast
“The Waiting is the hardest part”
Tom Petty was really on to something here when he wrote those words almost 30 years ago. Side note, wow, that makes me feel old. Other side note, Tom Petty was one of the first concerts I ever attended.
Anyway, back In episode 13, we introduced the concept of the 8 Wastes.
It’s used widely in the Lean Manufacturing arena but is something every business leader should become versed in. The idea is that one of our goals is the elimination of waste in our organization and that those wastes exist in various forms.
Today we’re going to be focusing on the waste of waiting.
When looking at the different types of waste, some are definitely more visible than others. While others lurk more quietly in the shadows.
Waiting is a shadow lurker.
In most businesses, waiting creeps quietly in the dark, while slowly sucking out all the efficiency and productivity.
The first problem with the waste of waiting is, honestly, being able to identify it and label it as waste.
It takes so many forms and is often just accepted as the norm.
Maybe it’s waiting for someone to respond to an email (that should have been a call or an in person conversation or a Slack message).
Maybe it’s waiting to get an answer to a question that could have been answered but the authority to make that call hadn’t been granted to the person doing the waiting.
Maybe it’s waiting on one team member to complete a 2 minute task so that the next team member can complete their 30 second task, when the tasks could have been split up more evenly.
Maybe it’s waiting to read through 500 word essay of an email that could have been summed up in a few lines or not sent out to as many people.
Maybe it’s waiting to hear back from a customer because communication and expectations weren’t nailed down clearly in the beginning or there could have been an easier way to stay in touch with the customer.
There is so much more to dig into with waiting, and I’m sure we will on later episodes.
But how can you start to look deeper at the waste of waiting in your organization today?
The first step is to be able to write down all the steps in a particular process, along with a ballpark for how long they take. Don’t skip a step. Catch everything… including the waiting.
Waiting doesn’t like to be named. It likes to stay anonymous.
The more you can identify waiting in your day-to-day, the more you can begin to question if there is a better way.
So start there today. Pick one workflow or process and map it out… including the time estimates.
When you see waiting time, circle it in red. Pin it down. And begin to reduce or eliminate it, one step at a time.
And then channel your inner Tom Petty, look waiting straight in the eye, and tell it “Don’t do me like that!”
Thanks for listening to today’s episode. You can shoot me an email at shawn@shawnwashburn.com. Â Can’t wait to be back with you tomorrow. Â I’d love to connect: website / LinkedIn / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
