Dos and Don'ts for Online Meetings
Especialmente ahora, cuando muchos han pasado a trabajar desde casa debido al coronavirus COVID-19, las reuniones virtuales a través de la web son parte de la vida empresarial cotidiana. Después de todo, incluso en estos tiempos, el intercambio con colegas y el contacto con los clientes es importante.
Pero incluso antes de eso, esta forma de conferencia ya se consideraba flexible y eficiente, además de ser respetuosa con el medio ambiente al eliminar los viajes de negocios. Sin embargo, se deben observar algunas reglas básicas para asegurar que estas reuniones en línea realmente aumenten la productividad.
Para los participantes experimentados en conferencias web, algunos de los siguientes consejos pueden parecer banales, pero la experiencia demuestra que incluso lo aparentemente obvio a menudo se olvida.
Más información…Friday Again Already?
Lately, I’ve regularly found myself asking the same question by midday every Friday: “It’s midday Friday – how could this week have rushed past me yet again?” Yes, I really do ask myself this question just like that – and never like the often-said TGIF (thank god it’s Friday), because I like to work. My motto is “FAA” – “Friday again already” ;-)
So I’m taking some time again to review some of the topics that have caught my attention these past few weeks. Maybe I’ll even manage to throttle back a bit... Or as consultants say: “Decelerate”.
Microsoft Teams, Slack, and all the rest
The trend continues. Since this week, MS has also entered the chat-tools fray. Now dutifully integrated into Office 365 comes the next all-singing, all-dancing tool. While Microsoft Teams isn’t a big issue for us at ProjectWizards in particular, there does seem to be a trend towards companies integrating their own chat tools into their software. A prime example of this is Evernote with WorkChat. The problem I’m increasingly confronted with is that I find myself needing to rummage through loads of programs when searching for a specific discussion. Why don’t vendors simply support existing, compatible systems? In Merlin Project, I simply add a link to an info attachment, for instance, and hey presto I’m in the thick of the topic – and the discussion continues in the specialized system (here’s an example):
What do you think? I’m interested in hearing what you think, so tweet me or drop me an email with a short comment.
Tools we use
Talking about Evernote, I’ve been asked numerous times whether I’d be willing to tell you which tools we use – apart from Merlin Project of course. So I thought yes, why not.
First off, you need to know that we don’t have a centralized structure. This means, our staff can work wherever they want to get their job done. “Headquarters” in Melle is just my assistant (and combined wife) and me. That’s why there’s only one small common denominator concerning our must-have programs.
- We develop using Xcode and manage the source code using Git.
- User documentation is written in Asciidoc and managed in Git.
- Internal documents are organized in a variety of ways using Evernote.
- Support queries are answered via Kayako, but we’re working on changing the system.
- Oh yes, and we organize projects – in case you’re wondering – using Merlin Project.
In addition to these, each member of staff has their own favorite tools. In my case, these are:
- Keynote for presentations
- Things for organizing all those little tasks that don’t need full-blown project management. For viewing in Merlin, we developed an Action Script many years ago now.
- MS Excel for anything involving figures – I am the CEO after all – Chief Excel Officer ;-)
- And of course, the usual suspects that come with macOS, like: Mail, Calender, etc.
Almost forgot: As Merlin Project supports Mind-Maps, I’ve never needed to open any other Mind-Map app ever since it has. Obvious, right? ;-) If not, the usual applies: If you’ve got any questions or comments, simply get in touch via Twitter or send me an email.
Now I must get back to work. Bye for now...
