Planning Meetings

Friends, people from across the world are taking benefit from Smart Manager approach and we hope you are also among them.

Let's continue our journey forward with discussion of Planning Meetings

• Schedule should be finalized well in advance (as far as possible) because if it is kept open, participants may fill up their schedule with other things. This may lead to deferment of meeting resulting in delay in execution of connected tasks.
• It is useful to add meeting schedule in your mobile calendar too lest you forget.
• Agenda of meeting should be defined and shared with all participants ahead of meeting. Also all participants should be asked to be aware of the latest progress on all things that are part of agenda. Otherwise time is lost when during meeting participants start searching for emails, referring to latest documents etc.
• Date/Time/Agenda/ Venue are the fundamental components of a meeting
• Key points discussed should be jotted along side. Sometimes, it may not possible to do so due to various factors. To make up for it, immediately post meeting, whole session should be reviewed in mind and notes should be documented. This process can be done even if notes have been taken during meeting. Some new points are likely to surface.  Notes should be shared with other participants also for reference and their inputs.
• Relevant document name should be given like Meeting <key agenda point> on <date>. Top of the document should contain details like date/time/agenda/ venue /duration/participants followed by notes. Key decisions, unresolved issues should be highlighted under appropriate header. 
• One of the important things to do post meeting is updating Tasks, Expecting/Pending list to reflect the discussion in meeting 
• It is not just enough to create the Meeting document ; you should review the notes in future also while executing the dependant tasks. This ensures that fine points don't just remain embedded within document but are actually used to execute tasks correctly

We hope above points help you get more out of your meetings

 

We will be back soon ! Stay tuned

 

If you like it, don't hesitate to share it further and do a favour to your friends

 

Thanks                                                                                                                            

Aman Preet Singh

GlobalFactor     

Prev Tasks Planning

Content © 2013 GlobalFactor All Rights reserved

Feeback ? Share it on globalfactorapps@gmail.com

Tasks Planning

Friends, we hope you are taking maximum benefit of Smart Manager approach. Let's move on to Tasks Planning

• Many people complain that they always remain loaded, don’t get time to relax etc.
• One of the main reasons for this is that they don’t do enough planning, just jump into execution and end up spending much more time on each task then was actually needed

Here we share some points which if taken care of can improve execution efficiency which results in higher satisfaction levels

• Before start of day, you should know what activities you are going to perform and during which time. This should be thoughtful planning taking into account the nature of tasks. eg task involving analysis/brain storming should be taken early in day. If you do this at the end of day you may not have energy left to really give your best. On the other hand light tasks like email checking can be taken later in the day.
• For tasks which require you to go out, club tasks such that multiple can be executed in one outing. Some Factors which determine clubbing: Service providers in common route, appropriate state of task (means preceding initial activities have been already done). If this kind of planning is not done you would end up spending more time in travelling and probably spend more money too 
• Tasks where external service provider is involved ; get details of their working hours, days, contact number, location ahead of the schedule so that task can be executed smoothly and in one go. Common example where people suffer by not doing this is in doing bank related work. At times they visit after closing hours and then grudge, submit cheque after clearing and have to face delay in clearing.
• When interfacing with external service provider,  make a checklist of all things needed. Before visiting make a check that you are satisfying all requirements. eg For opening bank account address, identity proof , photographs etc are required. If this thing is not taken care of, it may result into wastage of time ; money by having multiple visits and frustration

Stay tuned for more !

 

Thanks

Aman Preet Singh
GlobalFactor 

Next Planning Meetings
Prev  Break Down

Content © 2013 GlobalFactor All Rights reserved

Feeback ? Share it on globalfactorapps@gmail.com

Break Down



Friends, hope you are using Smart Manager actively. Let's move on towards next concept of Break Down

• Some times person comes across projects which seem to be of huge size requiring great amount of effort and time. Sometimes people dream of starting a new venture. But even before starting, people start taking stress that how would such big thing be managed. Would they be able to do it or not ? They start doubting their capabilities. Many times people just buckle under the pressure of such thoughts and simply give up the idea
• In reality they have the capacity to execute but problem lies in attitude.
• This can be avoided by believing in Break down concept. It means that project / task of any magnitude and however complex it may be can be broken into simple units. You have to analyze the whole thing and break it down into simple units and execute them as per Tasks Management System which brings in systematic way of doing things.

When instead of seeing the whole thing at a time, you see small units your confidence grows and you start believing that yes this is possible

You will be able to handle any task with ease

 

There's lot more in Smart Manager coming up so stay tuned !

Thanks

Aman Preet Singh

GlobalFactor 

Next Tasks Planning

Prev  Keep Light

Content © 2013 GlobalFactor All Rights reserved   

Feeback ? Share it on globalfactorapps@gmail.com

Keep Light

Are you feeling loaded because of ever growing tasks list ? Don't worry solution is on the way !

As more and more tasks are executed, number of tasks under Done, No response categories may increase to large numbers over a period of time. This can

• Increase document loading time
• Increase scroll time 
• Make document look heavy

To keep things light, set a time interval in which all Done, No response (if response is not expected anymore) tasks are moved to Archive. Archive folder should be named as <context> tasks. Document which will hold the transferred tasks should be named as

 

<context> Tasks Done till <date of transfer>

Some important points to consider

 

• Whenever future tasks come, see if you have already done something similar before. If yes, follow the stages through which task was executed earlier. This would substantially cut execution time as you don’t need to reinvent the wheel
• Time interval of transfer should be defined on basis of how fast the Task list grows or process can be executed if you feel it’s getting loaded
• Move Done/No Response tasks to Archive which can be in your computer or external hard disk (assuming you use a mobile device for day to day updates). Remove in the active document to make things light

Sample

Folder:  B Tasks

Here B represents Business context

 

Documents under B Tasks

• B Tasks completed till 25 Sept’12
• B Tasks completed till 10 Nov’12

Stay tuned for more !

Thanks

Aman Preet Singh

GlobalFactor     

Next Break Down
Prev Snapshot

Content © 2013 GlobalFactor All Rights reserved

Feeback ? Share it on globalfactorapps@gmail.com

Snapshot


Friends, hope you have all gone through the last post on Tasks Management. Let's move on to next part of Smart Manager which is Snapshot

Snapshot is a special document which gives an instant view of what you are expecting from others and what all is pending on your end.  

Expecting

As tasks are performed, often external inputs would be needed. You may have asked someone for feedback, given a task to someone  or may have initiated a transaction (eg. bank) whose execution would take finite time. All these come under Expecting category

Pending

This is a snapshot of what things are due from your side. You may have to provide data to someone, work on a task etc.

More categories

Deferred

Expecting/Pending items which are not to be pursued in immediate future can be moved to this category

No response

Expecting items where no response is received after considerable time

Some important points

• Each Expecting/Pending item should be very brief, only a few words
• If context of item can be remembered, writing it can be avoided (though, this should not be done at the cost of loosing clarity)
• As soon as activity is performed, Snapshot list and the related task (if there) should also be updated
• Mostly Expecting/Pending items are connected with Tasks except in some scenarios where an entry may be directly added
• Expected date of action should also be added. In case of Expecting items, if response is not received by this date, follow up should be done

Benefits of Snapshot

• It helps in tremendous saving of time as one does not need to scan all tasks 
• It helps in having timely follow ups
• It helps in improving one's reliability

Sample

Expecting

. Feedback Raman websites analysis 20 Aug’12

Here websites analysis is the context. If no other feedback is being expected and you can remember the context, you may not write it, just to make it concise

 

Pending

. Sending email Ajay 25 Aug’12

If response is not received from Raman by due date, follow up should be made

After sending email to Ajay, entry should be cleared from list and update should be added to related task as applicable

Stay tuned for more !

If you like it, don't hesitate to share it further and do a favour to your friends

Thanks
Aman Preet Singh
GlobalFactor 

Next Keep Light
Prev Tasks Management

Content © 2013 GlobalFactor All Rights reserved

Feeback ? Share it on globalfactorapps@gmail.com

Tasks Management

Friends, let us talk about concept of Tasks Management in Smart Manager

• An efficient & robust Tasks management system is the need of the day
• Everyone who wants to work in systematic way with high efficiency must follow it

First step is to define place for your Tasks to reside. If you operate in multiple contexts, create documents with context specific name

For Personal tasks it can be P Tasks, for business tasks B Tasks, office Tasks O Tasks and so on If initial letter is same for more than one context two letters can be used

Hope you are moving along. Going to the next step ..

Add all known Tasks to the appropriate context. This is a recurring process. These documented tasks come under Planned category  

Example Getting son’s book goes to P Tasks whereas Talk to service provider goes to B Tasks

Segregating the tasks according to context helps you balance different roles you play with ease    

•  Moving on, select tasks which you intend to do in the coming days and move them to Scheduled category. Allot start and completion schedule dates for each of these tasks
• Add to Pending list also (under Expecting/ Pending list*) 
• As you start work on a scheduled task, move it to Progress category. Many times,  tasks may not be completed in one go. Whatever activity is performed, add a numbered update (U1, U2 and so on) to describe it. Always add date of starting and completion in each update. If an activity is completed in 1 day, add one date  
•  Make  U1, U2 bold (if support is present to do this) to easily identify Task stages
•  It’s good to create an execution plan for Tasks. It brings clarity as to how the complete task would be executed and also to have better schedule estimation

Each activity which is part of plan should be added  as a planned update (U1’ , U2’ and so on) to describe the planned activity. Special symbol should be used to distinguish planned update from executed update. Same symbol used twice can be used to mark updates which are in progress
 

• Schedule can also be added to planned updates
• Once the task is completed move it to Done category
• Separate each task with special character. Don’t use numbers as tasks are moved in different categories or shifted up/down in list, it could consume lot of time to update numbering
• Always update Expecting/Pending list* as you work on tasks

Have you identified your contexts yet ? Do a little brain storming and add some tasks to appropriate contexts. Start following the above process to get comfortable with the approach.

Let's move on to tasks categories

Tasks categories

Planned Tasks which have been documented but not assigned a schedule yet. If broad priority is known, keep Tasks with higher priority on top and vice versa. This helps in quickly moving top tasks to scheduled instead of thinking every time which tasks to pick in the case where tasks are present in random order

Scheduled Tasks which have been assigned a start & completion schedule 

Progress Tasks having at least one executed/ongoing update    

Done Tasks with all planned activities executed

Deferred Tasks which are not to be done in immediate future due to certain constraints

No response Tasks where you are dependent on an external entity for execution but you have not received necessary response from them yet and expectation for getting response is bleak

 
Need external input Tasks where you have performed actions in your scope and are waiting for someone else’s input before proceeding

Done/Repetitive Tasks which have been executed once but need to be repeated at a certain period of time again in future. Define: Repeat interval, last executed, upcoming execution date, dates on which execution happened

Sample

B Tasks

Progress

Do analysis of existing web sitesU1 Analyzed 5 sites SD 10 Aug’12 ED 12 Aug’12  U2’ Share analysis document for review 13 Aug’12 

SD: Update Start Date  ED: Update End Date U1 Executed U2’ Planned

Stay tuned for more !

If you like it, don't hesitate to share it further and do a favour to your friends

Thanks
Aman Preet Singh
GlobalFactor

Next: Snapshot

Content © 2013 GlobalFactor All Rights reserved

Feeback ? Share it on globalfactorapps@gmail.com

 * We would talk about this in future post

Welcome


You might be wondering what it is all about ? Nothing much complex for sure !

In nut shell, it is an approach to manage things smartly

Key features of Smart Manager

• ‘Smart Manager’ is a generic framework which helps people accomplish their tasks, execute projects small or big with high efficiency and reliability.


• It helps people maintain a healthy balance between their personal/professional/ business lives with ease.


• It is divided into number of modules which cover various aspects of management, helping people become ‘Smart Manager’ in real sense.

We will be sharing Smart Manager approach in a series of posts in the coming time.

We hope Smart Manager works for you in the same powerful way as it has for us

during the last few years.

If you like it, don't hesitate to share it further and do a favour to your friends

Thanks

Aman Preet Singh

GlobalFactor