There’s no time like the present

I’ve noticed in talks with several of my clients that they love my “Let’s try it right now” concept. Usually over Zoom and screen-share we make quick attempts to achieve something together in realtime, or backlog it if we run into delays. I use Trello to manage projects, so we toss the details into a card there to track progress when needed.

This allows me to address items more efficiently or see when it requires further research to be done offline and followed-up on later. It feels hyper agile to me, albeit not exactly project management when items are left out of such tools altogether.

At first I didn’t realize that I was doing anything differently by holding working calls. However, after hearing feedback from several clients, it’s clear that they are more used to speaking with project managers and salespeople who do not execute technical works in realtime. Thus, the amazement when a number of items get tackled in realtime!

I find that I get much more creative energy from clients when we’re collaborating in realtime. However, emails, support tickets, and project cards remain useful for items which are one of:

• lower priority
• larger size where breaking down and tracking is important

The same applies to using Slack for modern instant messaging. While I find the technology to be disruptive, the other side of the coin is the usefulness of realtime communications. If I’m busy on another project and clock then it may take me a little time to get back to a client, but there’s a 50% chance that we’ll connect when I’m available, and visa-versa. I currently offer this level of access to by bigger clients.

Next up – cell phone! So far I’ve done well to keep my cell phone for personal use. Given the volume of SPAM that comes into my business channels, I feel that I’ve got to keep it this way.