Have you heard? It is that time of year when the word “resolution” is everywhere; gym memberships are bought, diets are started and the air is thick with self-improvement and good intentions. In fact, the word resolution probably completes about 98% of its yearly usage by January 15th. According to the dictionary, a resolution is simply the determination to do something.
So way back in 2011, some PSGers noticed something was amiss and went about fixing it. You could say we made a resolution to do things better.
The result? A new app for a new year.
The Situation
Around here, Wednesdays are Status and Tactics Meeting Day. This is where we discuss what we’ve done and what we’re going to do.
Here’s how our meetings begin:
1. We go around the table and have each person talk about what he/she completed last week (the Status part).
2. This is recorded in a spreadsheet.
3. We go around the table a second time, asking each person to talk about what will be completed next week (the Tactics part).
4. This is also recorded in the same spreadsheet.
5. To prevent boredom or napping, we sometimes throw a ball at each other to choose who goes next.
The Problem
The problem is painfully obvious: not only is this process time-consuming (we have 15-16 people around the table), but it also needlessly boring and cumbersome. We’d easily waste an entire hour going round the room. Twice.
We needed to figure out a way to make our meetings work more efficiently and feel less like detention (especially since we hold these meetings 52 times a year).
The Solution
In all other areas, PSG is an efficient, effective and downright fun company (if we do say so ourselves), so the giant time suck that had become our weekly Status and Tactics meeting didn’t fit into our corporate culture.
So in true PSG style, we created our own solution in the form of a Google Gadget and named it Status & Tactics Gadget.
Two weeks in the making, this application covers both individual task management and group project management. It connects everyone with what’s going on, their shared priorities and who owns each part of the effort.
Here’s how our gadget works:
- The application runs through the previous week’s spreadsheet and generates a list of questions. For example, “Did I complete the fabulous much-loved new blog post?”
- I select Yes or No.
- If No, the task is carried over to next week’s tasks.
- If Yes, the task is marked “completed” in the Google documents spreadsheet.
- There is also a text area that allows me to enter the tasks I will complete before our next meeting that will go into the Google spreadsheet as new tasks.
The best part: all we need to do is simply submit this form that takes less than 2 minutes to fill out. Hallelujah!
So instead of going around the room (twice!) and listening to everyone individually, now we quickly review what’s been entered for next week and talk about it, if needed. This frees up a ton of time, allowing us to spend our two hour meeting actually getting stuff done, instead of just talking about getting stuff done.
Now our Wednesday meetings are like a bank robber (or Santa Clause for that matter): Get in, get it done and get out.