Time Management for Complicated Jobs
June 15, 2023 5:55 PM Subscribe
My job has increased in complexity, with a lot of goals, priorities, moving parts, key stakeholders and in particular lots of ways that information and requests come in. I am far from unique in this, but I am increasingly feeling overwhelmed.
How are great middle managers, product managers, project managers, and other professionals managing this? What tools or techniques are you using?
I have tried googling, but all the advice is "prioritize", "block time" which is good advice but not helpful in terms of the details and how to actually do this. I manage of small team of analytics workers. We don't have business analyst, project management, or dedicated product support.
I get information and requests via email, Slack, Jira, comments on Google Drive, documents and spreadsheets, remote meetings and occasional in-person meetings. I have a particularly hard time tracking discussions and directions coming through Slack, but our product team loves to communicate this way. I don't have the ability to influence people to use only a preferred communication method, and our CTO loves Google Drive so that's not changing any time soon either.
I have used various flavors of Getting Things Done in the past, which advocates for a reliable system that centralizes all tasks and to dos. This used to be Outlook and OneNote and Teams for me, but my employer is using the Google suite instead of Office and I have had a hard time bringing all these disparate information sources together.
If you work in this kind of environment, how are you managing information flows, capturing tasks (both as part of a specific project and random one-offs), tracking toward goals, monitoring changing requirements, and capturing ideas? What are your workflows? Do you have any specific practices that help with this? What software do you use to manage it?
I'm also open to suggestions for books or resources if you have something that has helped you manage this modern information environment.
I have tried googling, but all the advice is "prioritize", "block time" which is good advice but not helpful in terms of the details and how to actually do this. I manage of small team of analytics workers. We don't have business analyst, project management, or dedicated product support.
I get information and requests via email, Slack, Jira, comments on Google Drive, documents and spreadsheets, remote meetings and occasional in-person meetings. I have a particularly hard time tracking discussions and directions coming through Slack, but our product team loves to communicate this way. I don't have the ability to influence people to use only a preferred communication method, and our CTO loves Google Drive so that's not changing any time soon either.
I have used various flavors of Getting Things Done in the past, which advocates for a reliable system that centralizes all tasks and to dos. This used to be Outlook and OneNote and Teams for me, but my employer is using the Google suite instead of Office and I have had a hard time bringing all these disparate information sources together.
If you work in this kind of environment, how are you managing information flows, capturing tasks (both as part of a specific project and random one-offs), tracking toward goals, monitoring changing requirements, and capturing ideas? What are your workflows? Do you have any specific practices that help with this? What software do you use to manage it?
I'm also open to suggestions for books or resources if you have something that has helped you manage this modern information environment.
I track all my work in Trello, including cutting and pasting Slack conversations, forwarding emails to my Trello board, linking Jira tickets I need to action on, etc. Then once it's there, I triage it, kanban style, and use time blocks and calendar holds to get s@#t done. Works for me!
posted by Threeve at 10:45 PM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Threeve at 10:45 PM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
I spent a couple of hours making myself a customized Google sheet with conditional formatting and special columns for the workflows I usually encounter. It has separate sheets for different kinds of clients/situations I encounter regularly so I can track them, a sheet for notes and ideas, etc. Not perfect but keeps everything in one place for when I need it.
For capturing tasks, I write down every task even if small in Google Tasks. You can pop the task list open as a sidebar to your other Google pages such as Gmail or calendar. If I am texted or messaged a task, I immediately put it in Tasks. If for some reason it's hard to capture in Tasks, I put a shorthand reference (see X client task re X in email) and then type or copy paste relevant info in a draft email to myself. This could work for capturing Slack with screenshots pasted into emails.
posted by Red Desk at 11:06 PM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
For capturing tasks, I write down every task even if small in Google Tasks. You can pop the task list open as a sidebar to your other Google pages such as Gmail or calendar. If I am texted or messaged a task, I immediately put it in Tasks. If for some reason it's hard to capture in Tasks, I put a shorthand reference (see X client task re X in email) and then type or copy paste relevant info in a draft email to myself. This could work for capturing Slack with screenshots pasted into emails.
posted by Red Desk at 11:06 PM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
I’m a big advocate of Getting Things Done. If that sort of approach has worked for you in the past, I would focus on how to rebuild those practices with the tools you have. Over the years, my implementation of GTD has gotten simpler so the tools don’t get in my way. Ultimately, you need a place to keep lists (which could be a Google Doc, or OneNote, or a task manager) and a calendar (which it sounds like you have).
The other implementation change I have made over the years is getting more comfortable taking larger chunks of time to review and clarify my commitments. As your work gets more complex, thinking about what to do, getting clear about what to take on, and being reflective about what is on your plate add a lot of value.
That time sometimes feels like administrative blah in the moment, but over time it’s easy to see how that time to update next action lists, do high level project brainstorming, map out a communication plan, or convert a series of notes into next actions and calendar events is what allows me to keep all the balls in the air, and make smart decisions about what balls should be put down.
In really practical terms, for me, I have a single text document where I capture all my active projects. Many of those projects have their own project plan that holds the next actions (which is a list in whatever tool we are using; it could be a spreadsheet table or a task board or sometimes a text document). If the project doesn’t have a next actions register (either because I’m not running it, or I think it’s small enough that I don’t need formal project tooling, I have a personal list of next actions for my combined miscellaneous projects. I put a lot of pings on my calendar reminding me that I need to take action on XYZ, which is my current way to do a tickler file. And every week I book time to go through that list of projects, and then sweep through the project plans and misc next action lists, to make sure I’m not forgetting anything.
posted by philosophygeek at 11:27 PM on June 15, 2023 [6 favorites]
The other implementation change I have made over the years is getting more comfortable taking larger chunks of time to review and clarify my commitments. As your work gets more complex, thinking about what to do, getting clear about what to take on, and being reflective about what is on your plate add a lot of value.
That time sometimes feels like administrative blah in the moment, but over time it’s easy to see how that time to update next action lists, do high level project brainstorming, map out a communication plan, or convert a series of notes into next actions and calendar events is what allows me to keep all the balls in the air, and make smart decisions about what balls should be put down.
In really practical terms, for me, I have a single text document where I capture all my active projects. Many of those projects have their own project plan that holds the next actions (which is a list in whatever tool we are using; it could be a spreadsheet table or a task board or sometimes a text document). If the project doesn’t have a next actions register (either because I’m not running it, or I think it’s small enough that I don’t need formal project tooling, I have a personal list of next actions for my combined miscellaneous projects. I put a lot of pings on my calendar reminding me that I need to take action on XYZ, which is my current way to do a tickler file. And every week I book time to go through that list of projects, and then sweep through the project plans and misc next action lists, to make sure I’m not forgetting anything.
posted by philosophygeek at 11:27 PM on June 15, 2023 [6 favorites]
My favourite time management system was simply three columns: SEP, MP, & MEH, and a graveyard for 'done' (however that happened). Every task/thing was on a post-it note and put into a column, with height within a column to indicate importance.
MP was My Problem. SEP was Someone Else's Problem. And MEH was exactly that: meh. The motto along the bottom read: Divide an Conquer. The goal being to deal with whatever was MP ASAP - realizing that most things aren't actually my problem, or once I do my little part, it's not my problem. Or really, no one but me cares about this thing but me, so it doesn't matter if it stays undone until I can prioritize it.
I expect you could subdivide the MP/SEP columns to creates room for things your minions must do that you are responsible for ensuring get done.
I can't really describe the satisfaction, of an empty MP column (I never managed it) but the growing pile of dead tasks in the graveyard feels good.
posted by gible at 12:06 AM on June 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
MP was My Problem. SEP was Someone Else's Problem. And MEH was exactly that: meh. The motto along the bottom read: Divide an Conquer. The goal being to deal with whatever was MP ASAP - realizing that most things aren't actually my problem, or once I do my little part, it's not my problem. Or really, no one but me cares about this thing but me, so it doesn't matter if it stays undone until I can prioritize it.
I expect you could subdivide the MP/SEP columns to creates room for things your minions must do that you are responsible for ensuring get done.
I can't really describe the satisfaction, of an empty MP column (I never managed it) but the growing pile of dead tasks in the graveyard feels good.
posted by gible at 12:06 AM on June 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Realize that your organization is possi ly using you instead of spending the time / money / effort to just automate these info processes. If you automate or find someone else to automate some of them, try it. You'll either get a promotion or suffer for making others look bad.
posted by KMH at 1:06 AM on June 16, 2023
posted by KMH at 1:06 AM on June 16, 2023
Do you have the ability to implement a ticket system for requests? I work in a department that often takes requests/projects from almost every department of the company and a ticket system really helps the flow. I'm talking about a system that can receive requests online, has standard fields for all the requestor info (name, request, priority level, etc.), and can log the response/close the ticket. Great for keeping track of open requests and much better than using email.
Other things we do at my office are:
Shared outlook calendars for specific events
MS Teams and channels within teams for specific topics
Using filters for your emails
Setting up specific places to share info instead of email (shared folders or Teams)
posted by jraz at 3:55 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Other things we do at my office are:
Shared outlook calendars for specific events
MS Teams and channels within teams for specific topics
Using filters for your emails
Setting up specific places to share info instead of email (shared folders or Teams)
posted by jraz at 3:55 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
The best systems I've seen for this situation - including dealing with Other People's Personalities - is to create at least a funnel for My Department even if nobody else will use it. Use what you can - Sheets, Jira, Trello, Tasks, post-its - and work with your team (another complication for this system) to make everybody use the Department System.
You can do it just for yourself, and at least that way you get more control, but if you can get buy-in from your team at least that everybody uses X, it will streamline many processes if not all.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:11 AM on June 16, 2023
You can do it just for yourself, and at least that way you get more control, but if you can get buy-in from your team at least that everybody uses X, it will streamline many processes if not all.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:11 AM on June 16, 2023
I organize everything in Trello, and a full list review and prioritization is my first and last task of the day. It means I often stop a conversation, ect., to add things to trello, which is a pain, but it works. The busier I am, the more important the review/prioritize daily time bocks become.
posted by Ausamor at 6:31 AM on June 16, 2023
posted by Ausamor at 6:31 AM on June 16, 2023
Best answer: I work for a mid-sized nonprofit (~60-100 people, depending on the season) and run a department of ~15. We are too small to have any real support in IT or project management, so absolutely everything is run on DIY tools. I have fallen into two incredibly low-tech methods to keep my brain from frying. I keep a running notes document for nearly every committee or person that I meet with regularly. It's not fancy, but everything is in that space, tagged by date, newest at the top. I can search or scan it at any time. With it being that simple, I don't need to worry about what tools or systems anyone else uses either. Any personal tasks from those notes go into my system below.
I've tried a million different systems (Google Tasks, Microsoft ToDo, Trello, Asana, MS Planner, journals, etc.), but ALL of my personal tasks now just go into a single spreadsheet with a bunch of preliminary columns. It only takes seconds to update, but each individual item gets its own row. First two columns are priority ranked (1-6) and are conditionally formatted to auto-color based on ranking. (Having two priority columns lets me sub-rank my top priority items to figure out what I really need to tackle next in what order.) The rest of the columns let me add info for department, project, and deadline. With this system, everything that I want to keep my eyes on is in one space, but at any time, I can reprioritize, resort, or filter my spreadsheet by department, project, or deadline, depending on what I'm trying to focus on. And, I can more easily weigh tasks against each other. I also have a small spot for "waiting" items that don't want to forget about. And, the second tab of the spreadsheet is for DONE items... It feels great to cut rows from the task list and paste them onto the completed one to have a visual for all I've gotten done.
Every once in a while, I do a full scan of the whole list to make sure that everything's still relevant, find things that no longer are needed, discover things that I somehow completed without checking off, and reprioritize the whole list. Realistically, I know will never get to item 114 in Priority #6 on the list, but by putting it on the list, I can acknowledge that I've just decided that other things are more important. And that, in its own way, feels good too.
posted by hessie at 6:48 AM on June 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
I've tried a million different systems (Google Tasks, Microsoft ToDo, Trello, Asana, MS Planner, journals, etc.), but ALL of my personal tasks now just go into a single spreadsheet with a bunch of preliminary columns. It only takes seconds to update, but each individual item gets its own row. First two columns are priority ranked (1-6) and are conditionally formatted to auto-color based on ranking. (Having two priority columns lets me sub-rank my top priority items to figure out what I really need to tackle next in what order.) The rest of the columns let me add info for department, project, and deadline. With this system, everything that I want to keep my eyes on is in one space, but at any time, I can reprioritize, resort, or filter my spreadsheet by department, project, or deadline, depending on what I'm trying to focus on. And, I can more easily weigh tasks against each other. I also have a small spot for "waiting" items that don't want to forget about. And, the second tab of the spreadsheet is for DONE items... It feels great to cut rows from the task list and paste them onto the completed one to have a visual for all I've gotten done.
Every once in a while, I do a full scan of the whole list to make sure that everything's still relevant, find things that no longer are needed, discover things that I somehow completed without checking off, and reprioritize the whole list. Realistically, I know will never get to item 114 in Priority #6 on the list, but by putting it on the list, I can acknowledge that I've just decided that other things are more important. And that, in its own way, feels good too.
posted by hessie at 6:48 AM on June 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Being at a Google-loving company as well, I ended up creating a couple of interlinked tables on Google Tables. For my personal and school-related planning, I had done the same in Notion which does the same stuff even more effectively. But since I was locked into the Google architecture, I ended up using Tables instead for work. It's a beta product that is in theory coming as a regular Google product at some point.
The main table I created is similar to Hessie's system. The nice thing about Google Tables is that I can cross reference tables, so I have tables for things like a client list, releases, documentation pages, etc. and I can cross reference them. So, if I need to go out and look for a specific list of actions related to a specific client, then I can open the client list and see what is linked to that specific client.
On Tables, you can also create a limited number of automatic actions and forms, so for one process I have a form that internal users can fill out to request a particular sequence of actions from me and it automatically emails me the information I need in addition to putting it on the appropriate table. When I switch that action to done, another automatic email goes out to the requester with the information they need to take the next step.
posted by past unusual at 7:32 AM on June 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
The main table I created is similar to Hessie's system. The nice thing about Google Tables is that I can cross reference tables, so I have tables for things like a client list, releases, documentation pages, etc. and I can cross reference them. So, if I need to go out and look for a specific list of actions related to a specific client, then I can open the client list and see what is linked to that specific client.
On Tables, you can also create a limited number of automatic actions and forms, so for one process I have a form that internal users can fill out to request a particular sequence of actions from me and it automatically emails me the information I need in addition to putting it on the appropriate table. When I switch that action to done, another automatic email goes out to the requester with the information they need to take the next step.
posted by past unusual at 7:32 AM on June 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
To deal with multiple channels and projects we (team of 3) use zammad for ticketing and leantime for project mgmt. I've even read of people using a zammad privately to deal with multiple channels in one place.
posted by yoHighness at 10:12 PM on June 16, 2023
posted by yoHighness at 10:12 PM on June 16, 2023
Two years ago I switched over to Obsidian as a local data repository and used it to manage a basic project/task management system called PARA (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive)(https://fortelabs.com/blog/para/). I’ve never stuck with any of these tools and processes for more than a few months, and today I can’t imagine how I got anything done without it.
Obsidian is pretty robust, with an active user and developer community, lots of fun addons and use cases. It feels like the internet in 1997. You don’t need it to run PARA, though. Google docs and some folders would work fine.
posted by notyou at 9:52 AM on June 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Obsidian is pretty robust, with an active user and developer community, lots of fun addons and use cases. It feels like the internet in 1997. You don’t need it to run PARA, though. Google docs and some folders would work fine.
posted by notyou at 9:52 AM on June 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
You’ve had lots of advice on individual personal management but I want to focus on the team level. You said:
> I don't have the ability to influence people to use only a preferred communication method
I hate to be this person but… have you tried?
If you set up a clearly labelled front door for requests to your team (e.g. a web form that feeds a generic team email address) and spent a couple of months really diligently ensuring that every request was redirected towards this, it could make a huge difference.
Yes it might make people uncomfortable to have to put some effort in to make the work they throw at you more manageable and more doable. Some people might be tremendously difficult and you’ll need to stick to your guns. You may have to perfect a narrative about your team being really stretched, and this being the most efficient way to ensure your time is used productively and every request is met. But unfortunately this kind of deft upward, downward, leftward and rightward communication is the real work of being a middle manager.
posted by Probabilitics at 2:35 AM on June 22, 2023
> I don't have the ability to influence people to use only a preferred communication method
I hate to be this person but… have you tried?
If you set up a clearly labelled front door for requests to your team (e.g. a web form that feeds a generic team email address) and spent a couple of months really diligently ensuring that every request was redirected towards this, it could make a huge difference.
Yes it might make people uncomfortable to have to put some effort in to make the work they throw at you more manageable and more doable. Some people might be tremendously difficult and you’ll need to stick to your guns. You may have to perfect a narrative about your team being really stretched, and this being the most efficient way to ensure your time is used productively and every request is met. But unfortunately this kind of deft upward, downward, leftward and rightward communication is the real work of being a middle manager.
posted by Probabilitics at 2:35 AM on June 22, 2023
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It’s a planning tool, not a project/task manager and not a calendar. It also has effective planning/reflecting modes at the beginning and end of the day and you can time block with it if you want. The end of day reflection can automatically post to slack, which serves as a great way to communicate with my colleagues. When I’m done reflecting, I really do feel done for the day.
YMMV, but for me it really solved a problem nothing else I tried (and I tried so very many things) ever managed to solve. I think the reason is because it doesn’t require work to shift out of the tools in order to be planned and tracked.
posted by 10ch at 7:12 PM on June 15, 2023 [5 favorites]