MANAGE YOUR PROJECTS WITH ASANA

In a successful small business, you don't have the expensive "checks and balances" (translation: redundancies) possible in larger organizations. Using the right tools helps assure quality while saving time.

When you're working with more than one other person on a project, communicating becomes a challenge. Email adds noise and wastes time. How do you manage your projects?

Many Options

You've got lots of choices for project management but no perfect solution. Your personal preferences matter. I seek solutions which are inviting and well-equipped for free users.
Asana stands out. It’s free for unlimited projects, each with a team of up to 15 people. The pricing for additional features and larger teams looks reasonable.

Why Asana?

Over the years, Asana has become more powerful and flexible but stayed simple. Your shared project can have sub-projects (called "Sections"). Your tasks can have subtasks. You can add descriptions and notes. Your tasks appear in an inbox.

Isn’t that enough to make quick progress?

Example

This screenshot shows two of my important priorities: Taxevity (the insurance advisory where I work) and Money 50/50 (a financial education initiative). The projects are underneath. The example under Networking shows the task of creating a permanent nametag to wear to events (no pins or adhesives to damage clothing!). Click to enlarge.

Other uses

Asana fits work-related projects well. For context-based tasks (e.g., remembering the bread), a smartphone app is more useful. You may find other uses as you become more familiar.
For client-related tasks, you might want to use a CRM like Contactually for tracking.

Since Asana is free, why not try?

Links

• Asana website: asana.com
• Asana: the ‘Tesla of productivity tools’ (Mashable, Aug 2013)
• Asana review (Project Management Software)
• The best CRM for small business
• Tips for setting priorities and organizing your time
• Collect, plan and do with Trello
• Three rules to use the right tools
• Three time tracking tools that work
• image courtesy of Joe Zlomek

PS If you’d like more choices, Lifehacker compares five (including Asana)

FIVE STEPS TO CREATING A POWERFUL, ENGAGING POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

Creating a presentation is easier if you’re familiar with the topic. What if you aren’t? What if you’re creating an all-new presentation? That’s the situation I’ve been in when preparing my talk for The Global Change Initiative on how to profit from doing what’s right.

This five-step process helps. It also works if you’re familiar with a topic.

1. Create An Outline

You may already have many ideas. A mind map helps you capture and organize them. I especially like iThoughts HD for the iPad. I haven’t found a comparable choice for Android.
When your mind map is with you, you can capture fresh thoughts as they strike you (provided you’re not driving!).

With your mind map, you can brainstorm.

As with a speech, a presentation has a beginning (hook), middle (details) and ending (call to action). As your ideas gel, you can arrange your points in a suitable structure with branches and sub-branches. Your presentation is now taking shape.

You may have too much content. That’s fine since you don’t need to use it all.

2. Collect Information

Once you’ve got your outline (and perhaps while you’re creating it), look for information. You can add links to your mind map. That’s what I used to do. Now I’ve started using Evernote to capture web pages. There’s an excellent plugin for your Chrome web browser. Evernote lets you categorize the information, which is very useful. The free plan is a great way to start.

You’ll likely have too much information. That’s fine because it’s organized and might prove to be useful as your presentation evolves.

3. Draft A PowerPoint Presentation With Bullets

Yeah, we know about death by bullet points but they are helpful in drafting a presentation. They’ll be removed later. Bullets are quick to create. The slides are easy to move around to create a good flow.

4. Replace Bullets With Visuals

Bullet points are boring. You won’t win an audience that’s snoring. Now’s the time to add images and move the bullet points to your speaker notes.

Finding the right visuals takes time but isn’t your audience worth the investment? I generally get free photos at everystockphoto.com and often use screenshots taken with Snagit. I also use Snagit to resize the images (e.g., to 960x540).

5. Refine

This part can be the most time-consuming. You’ll see what works and make adjustments. This is the phase where you work on your speaker notes and how you’ll transition between slides (visually and with your words).

It’s tough to remove a visual or segment you like. I’ll put them at the end of the slide deck in a section called Outtakes. That lessens the pain and preserves the content in case you find a need (perhaps for another presentation).

Do record yourself to check the timing. Listening to the playback helps you remember your content.

Bonus

We can’t be objective about our own presentations. Practice in front of a test audience, if possible. A Toastmasters club is ideal since the members know how to give feedback. If that’s not possible, ask for feedback on segments from people whose input you value. 

Links

• How to prepare, promote and practice a brand-new presentation
• Five presentation tips from Seth Godin
• Five presentation tips from Steve Jobs
• Five presentation tips from Bruce Springsteen
• Make your presentation better than a TED Talk
• Three permanent fears for presenters

PS How about recording your presentation and posting it on YouTube? That’s a nice memento for your digital tapestry.