[thelist] Day-to-day workflow related questions

[Alan Mccoy]

Chris (the question-asker-Chris),

These are all great ideas. I'm a project manager with an average of 6-8
projects running at any given time, and a dev staff of 5 people. My previous
job sounds much like the one you have now...sole web person, with enough
work for 5 people. At my present digs, I've had to force myself to structure
my day to get through things without losing my head.

Usually, it goes like this:

- check my email and review my task list for the day
- check in with the staff and make sure they have enough tasks to get them
through the day
- client calls and project status reports
- check in with sales staff for current events
- lunch (this is extremely important for productivity and sanity. Do
something fun!! Personally, I've found that a couple of games of bowling at
the alley around the corner is a fantastic stress-buster. There's something
cathartic about making those pins come crashing down. Plus, the opportunity
to wear tacky-looking shoes is quite a mood lifter!)
- after lunch, I'm refreshed enough to work on proposals
- check in again with the dev staff to see how things are progressing
- start planning for the next day

This might not seem like too many tasks, but when you throw in the
occasional meeting and a fire or two to put out, it pretty much fills up the
day. Also, don't forget to take several stretch breaks. You really don't
have to get up and walk around every time (although it's a good idea). A
stretch break can be simply backing up from your desk a bit, stretching out
your legs, stretching your arms straight up into the air, taking a deep
breath, and exhaling as you stretch. (I'm sure there are other 2-minute
stretch routines out there that are even better)

And like Chris Williams said, schedule your tasks for specific blocks during
the day. Client calls from X-o'clock to Y-o'clock, meetings from Y-o'clock
to Z-o'clock, and so on. That's kinda what I've been doing and it really
works.

Hope this helps!

Alan McCoy


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chris Williams [mailto:cwilliams at compumodules.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2001 6:47 PM
> To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
> Subject: RE: [thelist] Day-to-day workflow related questions
> 
> 
> Sounds like a normal day in life to me. Sole person here 
> also, and sometimes
> it's hard to get anything done.  I would cut out all phone 
> calls, axe the
> meetings, stop reading 600 emails per day, and see if your 
> productivity
> improves.  Remember, you can always be replaced.
> 
> Go for a walk, schedule your meetings during certain times of 
> the day only,
> ie. am or pm.  Get an answering machine and make it clear to 
> your clients
> you will be available to them between x and y times. Set a 
> part of the week
> aside for just 'you'  ie, ice cream afternoon/bike ride/nap 
> on Wednesday
> afternoon.  You dont have to say where you are going...it's your own
> meeting.
> 
> Just remember to take care of your mental state. Set your 
> boundaries and
> people will respect them.  Have non, and you will be mincemeat.
> 
> Chris - but a different chris -
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: thelist-admin at lists.evolt.org
> [mailto:thelist-admin at lists.evolt.org]On Behalf Of Chris George
> Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2001 1:52 PM
> To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
> Subject: [thelist] Day-to-day workflow related questions
> 
> 
> Good afternoon all,
> 
> I was wondering about day-to-day workflow.  I am now the only 
> Web Designer
> here... I've been struggling over the past couple of weeks in 
> getting some
> project deadlines accurately predicted.  When there was a few 
> of us, there
> was some delegation and some independent project initiation.  The work
> hasn't slowed down (in fact, it's prolly increased), but I find myself
> getting bogged down with tasks that interrupt projects.  I've tried to
> augment how much of my time I allocate to projects (like 80% 
> rather than
> 100%, and so on), but that doesn't work for all days.
> 
> Some actions that take up time:
> 
> E-mail correspondence
> CRM
> Phone calls (clients, business partners)
> Archiving of projects
> Documentation (internal, not billable)
> Meetings
> Tendering quotes (quote creation)
> 
> Can anyone shed some light/encouragement on this?  It's not a 
> life-or-death
> thing, and I'm given lots of leeway to get all this sorted 
> out, but I like
> to have some sort of 'formula' I can go on... Rather than 
> slightly vague
> 'today I might be this busy, but tomorrow I'm that busy'.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Chris.
> 
> 
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