{"id":2134,"date":"2017-11-27T19:02:07","date_gmt":"2017-11-27T17:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themanual.local\/?p=2134"},"modified":"2018-03-02T18:03:18","modified_gmt":"2018-03-02T16:03:18","slug":"using-trello","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simonbarnett.co.za\/themanual\/using-trello\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Trello – Part 1 – An Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first in a two part series. Here is part 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Email, e-meh<\/h2>\n

Email..<\/p>\n

..great for conversations.<\/p>\n

Big projects? Not so much.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Re. re. re. re. re. re. what?<\/h3>\n

If you’ve ever tried to use email for a complex project you’ll probably have bad memories of digging through threads of emails running into the hundreds.<\/p>\n

And that’s not all. Emails would probably start with a project-related subject, but then veer into unexpected plot-twists involving conversations between characters from another movie entirely.<\/p>\n

So when you composed your response much explaining had to be done to re-contextualise the task within the current project status, making the already-epic thread even longer.<\/p>\n

And of course each email contained a copy of the entire thread prior to that.<\/p>\n

Then finally the placeholder text:<\/p>\n

<\/pre>\n
.. would eventually be a call to abort the whole thing and start a spinoff.<\/p>\n
But as time went on, the email headed south and became buried under whatever came afterwards.<\/p>\n
Unless you had a filter \/ label \/ folder system, emails from multiple clients and multiple jobs were all in one list.<\/p>\n
Going back and searching that chaos? . . NIGHTMARE<\/i><\/p>\n
No more email?<\/h3>\n
No, look, I don’t hate email.<\/p>\n
When email is kept as a place to discuss work, how the project is going, and for casual talk, email can be an away-from-desk space: the board room, coffee area, watercooler, bar, or nearby diner \/ eatery \/ caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n
But email is not a good project space, nor really a space at all.<\/p>\n
Ok, I did just make an analogy comparing email to various spaces, but what they have in common is the lack of a workspace.<\/p>\n
But people work in boardrooms and diners you might point out.<\/p>\n
yes.. ok look, I’m going to move on now..<\/p>\n
Project Space<\/h3>\n
A project is a collection of tasks.<\/p>\n
In fact a project is a collection of collections<\/em> of tasks.
\nPerhaps with each involving different groups of people.<\/p>\n
And the tasks of a project are not necessarily happening chronologically in order, or one at a time by priority in linear fashion.<\/p>\n
To track each task, you need a space where you and the other team members can see all of them, and what their status is.<\/p>\n
A status is a complex thing, however, with a history of discussions and decisions, so you need to be able to drill-down into each task to see what was discussed.<\/p>\n
Sound complicated? Not really actually..<\/p>\n
Hello Trello..<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
Trello uses an approach which is such a simple and obvious solution to email’s shortcomings that you’ll wonder why you hadn’t thought of it yourself.<\/p>\n
Then you’ll realise you probably had thought of it.<\/p>\n
And essentially probably use aspects of it in other activities, starting with thinking itself.<\/p>\n
..then maybe making a list.<\/p>\n
Kanban<\/h3>\n
Trello, and other similar web applications, base their concept on the Kanban system<\/a><\/p>\n
It’s a scheduling system and concept used by Toyota which developed in the 1940s and 50s.<\/p>\n
Today’s Kanban-based web applications are a distillation and reworking of – and some have said departure from – the Kanban concept.<\/p>\n
Sign up<\/h2>\n
First create your Trello account here<\/a>.
\nIt’s free (or rather you can do everything we need to do with the free account).<\/p>\n
How it works<\/h2>\n
“So what exactly is this mind-blowing organisational invention?” I hear you ask.<\/p>\n
Well before we get stuck in with a screenshot, perhaps this will lay down the foundation.<\/p>\n