Trello

Managing tasks with ‘disruptive’ technology

rindraramliLeave a comment

This may sound cliche: I am swamped with project work, routine tasks, meetings, supervision work…and the list goes on.  I have tried a number of methods: from pen and paper, MS Outlook folder and other productivity tools to help me keep track of stuff.  One such tool that has helped me so far is Trello.

There are a number of Trello features that contribute to this.  Here’s one of Trello’s feature: (Oh for those who would like to know more about Trello, here’s a link to guide you.)

Delegate a task via email and with the help of Trello, get it ‘pushed’ into your ToDo Board.

Here’s how my Trello board looks like:

trelloboards

Suppose if I need to email and delegate a task to another staff, I’ll open MS OutLook and begin writing the email.  Once completed, here’s what I do:

  1. Open my Trello ToDo board. Locate the Show Menu (somewhere near the top right of the screen) and click on it.
  2. Click More and “Email-to-board” settings.
    trellomore
  3. Ensure the Cards appear in the correct Column:
    trellocol
  4. Copy and paste the “Email Address for Board” into your BCC field of the email.
  5. If successfully executed, the email should appear under the correct column.
    trellotriage

Hope this simple stuff helps.

Useful Links:

 

Advertisement

Tools of trade

rindraramliLeave a comment

Below is the list of tools (not exhaustive) which I find useful in my area of work.  (Not the ones in the illustration 🙂 )

Tools

My favs are Evernote, Trello and MS Sharepoint

Why Evernote? Helps me in keeping track of outstanding e-resources issues – I can attach information  to the notes in Evernote.  These also serves as a knowledge-base for me whenever I’m resolving similar e-resources issues.   Another feature that I find useful is collecting information from various sources such as internet, email snippets, etc.  On top of that, Evernote is also a tool that helps me collect and manage my information when I am planning for family activity such as vacations.  I’d plonked useful information into a notebook in Evernote for future references.

Trello is another tool: Simplifying project management.  I’m still learning this and it’s fun.  I ‘jot’ down all the tasks needed to be done for a particular project, tracking their progress, marking their completion dates and so forth.

MS Sharepoint:  I can create team worksites, document libraries, wiki and blog sites and even forum discussions.  I can share documents selectively, providing admin rights for certain staff and so forth.  There are loads of other features in Sharepoint.

What tools work for you? Appreciate your comments.