May 2016 Summaries

You've found a project management system that works for your team, tweaked your apps to fit that workflow, and boiled your goals down into clear next steps. Now, it's time for the real work. But roadblocks appear when your team gets into the weeds, making collaboration, sharing knowledge, adjusting to unforeseen challenges, and pushing the project to the finish line difficult. To tame these messy projects, you need a team of specialized apps. While no single app can cover every management method, finding tools that do most of what you need is key. By leveraging integrations like Zapier, you can connect your favorite apps and make them work together seamlessly, streamlining your workflow and keeping your project on track.

The text discusses various apps that can help users save and organize visual inspiration, such as images, videos, and screenshots. The 15 apps mentioned include Zappy, Dragdis, Genius, Pinterest, Board, Niice, Curator, Evernote, Ember, Mural, Pixa, InVision, and others. Each app has its unique features, pricing, and platforms, but all aim to provide a way for users to collect, organize, and share visual inspiration in creative workspaces. The apps cater to different needs, from simple moodboards to professional-grade collections, and offer various tools such as tagging, commenting, and collaboration features.

There are few things more obnoxious than business buzzwords, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) might be the worst of them all, as most SOPs are ineffective due to clunky manuals laced with technical jargon. However, if done correctly, using clear, detailed instructions based on past experience, SOPs can protect you from catastrophe literally. After the Great Train Wreck of 1856, public outcry prompted railroad companies to implement standardized safety measures, thus Standard Operating Procedures were born. Today, companies realize that informal communication won't cut it in an interconnected world and start writing manuals filled with step-by-step guides for each important procedure. Good SOPs have the same framework, no matter what industry you work in, including detailed instructions, checklists with measurable results, organizational charts, and accountability. There are various tools available to help build modern SOP documents, such as SweetProcess, Process Street, Pipefy, Hackpad, Evernote, WorkFlowy, Trello, and others, each offering unique features and pricing plans. Ultimately, the key to effective SOPs is consistency, making it essential for growing businesses to document their most complete SOPs possible, so their processes can scale with their team.

Project management apps can help individuals organize their personal lives and accomplish tasks beyond work, providing a flexible alternative to traditional to-do list apps. Apps like Trello, Evernote, and LiquidPlanner offer team-focused features, collaboration tools, and customizable workflows that can be adapted to suit individual needs. To get the most out of these apps, it's essential to choose one that aligns with your workflow, create a productivity system, break down tasks into actionable steps, set up integrations, and regularly review and adjust your approach as needed. By doing so, individuals can stay organized, meet their goals faster, and improve communication with themselves or others, ultimately achieving a better work-life balance.

Creating and maintaining a successful blog requires time, commitment, and energy. To achieve this, it's essential to have processes and tools that help stay organized and efficient. The author of "Things I Made Today" blog shares their experience of developing a blogging workflow that enabled them to automate tedious tasks, such as idea generation, research, content creation, scheduling, and sharing. They use Trello to centralize ideas, Todoist to manage tasks, and Zapier to integrate various tools and automate workflows. By implementing these processes and tools, the author was able to grow their blog audience by 10x over three years and maintain a sustainable blogging routine.

Accessibility is about creating content that can be used by everyone, regardless of their abilities. It involves designing and coding products that are usable for people with disabilities, but also considering the needs of those with temporary or situational disabilities. Accessibility affects over a billion people worldwide and has become an important aspect of corporate social responsibility and business strategy. Non-technical creators like marketers, project managers, and content authors can play a significant role in making websites more accessible by adding alt text to images, providing captions and transcripts for audio content, using descriptive link text, structuring headings, writing clear copy, and designing with real content. By incorporating accessibility into their creative process, individuals can make their content available to everyone, including those with disabilities. The web's filled with resources and communities that support web accessibility, and by staying positive and calling out successes, we can facilitate open communication and opportunities for all.

A successful project manager possesses a unique blend of skills that enable them to navigate the complexities of modern projects. By leveraging their ability to wield "the politician inside" themselves, they can effectively communicate with diverse stakeholders, manage personalities, and maintain strategic perspective while avoiding getting bogged down in details. This involves being organized, using tools to curate task lists, and adapting to new information daily. They also excel at communication, choosing the right tool for the job and maintaining a balance between short- and long-term performance of their team. By putting themselves in others' shoes, acknowledging good work, and providing positive reinforcement, project managers can create a harmonious team dynamic that ultimately drives success.

The IWT team used data analysis and automation tools to streamline their content management process, saving hundreds of hours of time. They created a self-serve data warehouse using PostgreSQL and Zapier, which enabled them to easily track customer and subscriber data, analyze it in real-time, and make data-driven decisions. The solution allowed the team to focus on learning from the data rather than spending time manually analyzing it. With the new system in place, the IWT team was able to answer basic questions about their readers, such as how many people read a particular guide, and dig deeper into more complex metrics like email confirmation rates. The results included a 10% increase in email confirmation rates, improved data-driven decision making, and enhanced team collaboration. The IWT team's experience demonstrates the power of using data analysis and automation tools to drive business growth and improvement.

The Zapier community has grown to over 1 million users, who are automating their busywork and freeing up time for more important tasks. The platform connects over 650 web apps, and its user base has driven the evolution of the product through customer requests. Zapier's workflows have saved users millions of minutes of time, with some users setting up automated tasks that can be triggered by just a few clicks. The company is proud to be part of the future of work, providing tools that put the power of code and integrations into the hands of every professional. With over 1 million tasks triggered daily, Zapier continues to grow and expand its capabilities, hiring new team members to join the effort.

You'll likely spend around 90,000 hours throughout your career, and much of it can get wasted due to distractions like phone calls, internet browsing, and delayed meetings. To optimize your productivity, you can track your time, identify habits that help or hurt your productivity, and change them effectively. Identifying positive triggers for a new habit is key to success. Make the new habit easy and rewarding, engage in it every day, and track your progress. By adopting good work habits, such as not answering personal phone calls, staying focused on tasks, meeting deadlines, and managing email, you can significantly boost your productivity and efficiency. Tracking your time and identifying areas for improvement can help you adopt new habits that will transform your workplace productivity.