WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:01.165 Hey everyone. 00:00:01.165 --> 00:00:03.873 Welcome to this video and in this video 00:00:03.873 --> 00:00:06.409 I'm joined by Mr. David Burk 00:00:06.409 --> 00:00:07.634 from the Electron Shop. 00:00:07.634 --> 00:00:09.021 Hey David. How are you doing? 00:00:09.021 --> 00:00:09.817 Hello. 00:00:10.270 --> 00:00:11.977 In this video I want to talk... 00:00:11.977 --> 00:00:13.980 David and I are gonna have a bit of a chat 00:00:13.980 --> 00:00:15.982 and I want to really learn from you David 00:00:15.982 --> 00:00:17.609 about your journey and 00:00:17.609 --> 00:00:20.112 your transition moving your team to Asana. 00:00:20.112 --> 00:00:22.460 Because I know that some companies 00:00:22.460 --> 00:00:24.060 can struggle with the transition 00:00:24.060 --> 00:00:26.610 changing how their teams communicate, 00:00:26.610 --> 00:00:28.309 how they manage their work. 00:00:28.309 --> 00:00:29.660 It's not always easy to make 00:00:29.660 --> 00:00:31.569 that transition so I'm really interested 00:00:31.569 --> 00:00:33.050 to hear your take on 00:00:33.050 --> 00:00:34.562 your experience with that. 00:00:34.562 --> 00:00:35.892 So maybe to kick things off 00:00:35.892 --> 00:00:37.229 you want to give us a bit of 00:00:37.229 --> 00:00:39.100 background context around like 00:00:39.100 --> 00:00:40.663 before you guys were using Asana 00:00:40.663 --> 00:00:42.609 what did your workflow look like? 00:00:42.609 --> 00:00:44.409 Were you using any other tools 00:00:44.409 --> 00:00:46.703 or what were the... 00:00:46.703 --> 00:00:49.008 how did you, tell us the story, 00:00:49.078 --> 00:00:50.988 how did you get into Asana? 00:00:50.988 --> 00:00:52.459 Great question. 00:00:52.459 --> 00:00:54.835 We tried a couple of products actually. 00:00:54.925 --> 00:01:00.510 We tried Teamwork, and we tried Trello, 00:01:00.510 --> 00:01:04.739 and then we decided that Slack was 00:01:04.739 --> 00:01:07.039 working really well for us so we started 00:01:07.039 --> 00:01:08.987 managing everything through Slack. 00:01:08.987 --> 00:01:10.891 But it got to be too much 00:01:10.891 --> 00:01:12.458 and people were randomly 00:01:12.458 --> 00:01:14.079 dashing off assignments 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:15.762 and I was unsure 00:01:15.762 --> 00:01:17.388 if people could track whether 00:01:17.388 --> 00:01:19.952 they were still in the queue or done. 00:01:19.952 --> 00:01:22.673 So we took a look at Asana 00:01:22.673 --> 00:01:25.360 and in my first review of Asana 00:01:25.360 --> 00:01:28.408 what I liked the most was the flexibility. 00:01:28.408 --> 00:01:30.780 It is really, really flexible. 00:01:30.780 --> 00:01:34.470 That's a plus and a minus, because 00:01:34.470 --> 00:01:36.495 it's a plus because it's really flexible 00:01:36.495 --> 00:01:37.813 it's a minus because 00:01:37.813 --> 00:01:39.290 people tend to go rogue 00:01:39.290 --> 00:01:40.650 and use it their own way. 00:01:40.650 --> 00:01:41.602 Yeah. 00:01:41.602 --> 00:01:44.459 So that's how we chose it. 00:01:44.919 --> 00:01:47.269 Yeah. Go ahead. Let's keep going. 00:01:47.269 --> 00:01:48.237 Yes the flexibility, 00:01:48.237 --> 00:01:49.928 so when you talk about flexibility, 00:01:49.928 --> 00:01:51.838 it's kind of what you mean is there's 00:01:51.838 --> 00:01:53.797 lots of different ways you can use it. 00:01:53.797 --> 00:01:56.130 And one of the things I found is like 00:01:56.130 --> 00:01:58.561 you don't just have to manage tasks in it 00:01:58.561 --> 00:01:59.694 like things you can do. 00:01:59.694 --> 00:02:01.724 You can actually use it to manage clients 00:02:01.724 --> 00:02:03.021 or support tickets from 00:02:03.021 --> 00:02:04.680 a customer service point of view. 00:02:04.680 --> 00:02:05.440 Right. 00:02:05.551 --> 00:02:07.372 Yeah. I agree it is one of those 00:02:07.372 --> 00:02:08.679 very flexible platforms. 00:02:08.679 --> 00:02:11.125 Yeah. I would say that also 00:02:11.125 --> 00:02:14.627 our project management methodology 00:02:14.627 --> 00:02:17.558 having been in the agency business 00:02:17.558 --> 00:02:19.110 for many years, 00:02:19.110 --> 00:02:23.381 it's very much around just basics 00:02:23.381 --> 00:02:25.887 of getting things done by the end. 00:02:25.947 --> 00:02:26.808 Yep. 00:02:27.058 --> 00:02:31.218 And this idea of having a platform 00:02:31.218 --> 00:02:33.476 that allows you to reduce everything 00:02:33.476 --> 00:02:34.661 to a unit of work 00:02:34.661 --> 00:02:36.321 with a person responsible 00:02:36.321 --> 00:02:38.042 was really what we were after. 00:02:38.042 --> 00:02:38.770 Okay. 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:41.274 And in your experience the other tools 00:02:41.274 --> 00:02:42.589 that you tried, Trello, 00:02:42.589 --> 00:02:44.151 you mentioned a few others, 00:02:44.151 --> 00:02:46.149 they just didn't quite tick that box 00:02:46.149 --> 00:02:48.195 in terms of making it very clear 00:02:48.195 --> 00:02:49.846 who was responsible for what? 00:02:50.627 --> 00:02:52.230 There were those issues and then 00:02:52.230 --> 00:02:54.282 there were presentation issues. 00:02:54.772 --> 00:02:57.298 The idea that in Asana 00:02:57.298 --> 00:03:00.811 you could look at a list, calendar, 00:03:00.811 --> 00:03:03.781 and use the advanced search, 00:03:03.781 --> 00:03:06.588 and then save the search was just 00:03:06.588 --> 00:03:08.819 unparalleled relative to other products. 00:03:08.819 --> 00:03:10.930 Okay. Actually that was gonna be one of 00:03:10.930 --> 00:03:12.479 my questions, was there any, 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:13.929 you mentioned the flexibility, 00:03:13.929 --> 00:03:15.309 but was there any key feature 00:03:15.309 --> 00:03:16.878 that really sold you on it? 00:03:16.878 --> 00:03:19.269 Was the advanced search... 00:03:19.269 --> 00:03:20.879 sounds like one of those? 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:23.249 Yeah. The advanced search absolutely. 00:03:23.249 --> 00:03:23.950 Okay. 00:03:23.950 --> 00:03:25.690 And regarding the transition, 00:03:25.690 --> 00:03:27.046 moving your team to Asana, 00:03:27.046 --> 00:03:28.990 you've got a little bit of an advantage 00:03:28.990 --> 00:03:30.470 in that you have a smaller team 00:03:30.470 --> 00:03:32.190 which obviously makes the transition 00:03:32.190 --> 00:03:33.310 a bit easier to manage. 00:03:33.310 --> 00:03:36.450 But what were the common 00:03:36.450 --> 00:03:38.780 challenges or issues that you faced 00:03:38.780 --> 00:03:40.074 during that transition 00:03:40.074 --> 00:03:41.258 and then part B 00:03:41.258 --> 00:03:43.022 if you want to answer that as well as 00:03:43.022 --> 00:03:44.403 then how did you manage those 00:03:44.403 --> 00:03:46.246 how did you iron out those flaws? 00:03:46.545 --> 00:03:48.760 I think a lot of it is very common 00:03:48.760 --> 00:03:51.865 change management issues. 00:03:51.865 --> 00:03:52.920 Number one, 00:03:52.920 --> 00:03:55.093 broadcasting early and often that 00:03:55.093 --> 00:03:57.646 in 30 days we're changing. 00:03:57.646 --> 00:03:58.409 Right. 00:03:58.409 --> 00:04:00.700 Every day for those 30 days. 00:04:00.700 --> 00:04:02.445 What are we changing, too. 00:04:02.445 --> 00:04:03.625 We're changing to Asana. 00:04:03.625 --> 00:04:05.358 You might want to check it out. 00:04:05.358 --> 00:04:08.585 Letting people do it on their terms. 00:04:08.585 --> 00:04:12.501 And then, as you know, we hired up, 00:04:12.501 --> 00:04:14.757 and that was really good 00:04:14.757 --> 00:04:17.048 I am fond of saying 00:04:17.048 --> 00:04:19.897 when you're in uncharted territory, 00:04:19.897 --> 00:04:20.847 hire a guide. 00:04:20.847 --> 00:04:22.216 It's worth it. Right? 00:04:22.216 --> 00:04:24.471 Local knowledge is worth a lot. 00:04:25.076 --> 00:04:28.443 So for very effective investment 00:04:28.443 --> 00:04:30.939 basically Paul, you provided us 00:04:30.939 --> 00:04:34.246 with a framework and a methodology. 00:04:34.246 --> 00:04:36.669 I took your framework and methodology 00:04:36.669 --> 00:04:39.519 and then I drafted several documents. 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:41.962 The two most important of those documents. 00:04:41.962 --> 00:04:44.055 First of all, you trained us, 00:04:44.055 --> 00:04:45.807 we taped that training, 00:04:45.807 --> 00:04:47.489 any new employee that comes in 00:04:47.489 --> 00:04:49.252 watches a one-hour training. 00:04:49.252 --> 00:04:49.975 Mm-huh. 00:04:49.975 --> 00:04:50.847 Number two, 00:04:50.847 --> 00:04:52.889 I did a document called 00:04:52.889 --> 00:04:55.126 Using Asana the Electron Shop Way 00:04:55.126 --> 00:04:57.577 and that covers all the idiosyncrasies 00:04:57.577 --> 00:04:58.990 of how we use it. 00:04:58.990 --> 00:05:01.126 And then the third document was 00:05:01.126 --> 00:05:04.233 the File Naming System at the Electron Shop 00:05:04.930 --> 00:05:08.549 Every file has prepended a client name 00:05:08.549 --> 00:05:11.572 and has date in a certain format 00:05:11.572 --> 00:05:13.066 at the end of the file name, 00:05:13.066 --> 00:05:15.062 and then a version number. 00:05:15.062 --> 00:05:16.410 Gets complicated, 00:05:16.410 --> 00:05:19.090 but the version number has client's themes 00:05:19.090 --> 00:05:21.457 and then internal rips. 00:05:21.457 --> 00:05:24.641 So 1.1 would be clients of 1.0 00:05:24.641 --> 00:05:26.470 we internally rip to 1.1. 00:05:26.470 --> 00:05:28.504 And this really helps us 00:05:28.512 --> 00:05:30.690 track the most recent file. 00:05:30.816 --> 00:05:32.052 That's really interesting. 00:05:32.052 --> 00:05:33.292 I want to back up a little 00:05:33.292 --> 00:05:35.005 something you said at the beginning. 00:05:35.005 --> 00:05:36.290 You said you had like this. 00:05:36.290 --> 00:05:37.930 This definitive start date, 00:05:37.930 --> 00:05:40.701 in 30 days, we're using Asana. 00:05:40.701 --> 00:05:42.473 What did you do during the transition 00:05:42.473 --> 00:05:43.989 we using it a little bit 00:05:43.989 --> 00:05:45.340 and it was kind of you were 00:05:45.340 --> 00:05:46.889 trying to pull people into it? 00:05:46.889 --> 00:05:49.570 Why did you choose, how did that look, 00:05:49.570 --> 00:05:51.610 and why did you choose to do it 00:05:51.610 --> 00:05:53.500 that way instead of just saying 00:05:53.500 --> 00:05:55.693 right, starting today we're doing it? 00:05:55.693 --> 00:05:57.575 Talk me through that a little bit more. 00:05:57.575 --> 00:05:59.017 I got the free version, 00:05:59.022 --> 00:06:01.802 which is wonderful for teams under 15, 00:06:01.802 --> 00:06:04.954 and I pulled people in one by one, 00:06:04.954 --> 00:06:07.950 and I also did demos once a week just 00:06:07.950 --> 00:06:10.144 we were on a production call or something 00:06:10.144 --> 00:06:12.200 and I would say, let me show you something 00:06:12.200 --> 00:06:13.824 I found this interesting thing. 00:06:13.849 --> 00:06:15.860 Remember also that 00:06:15.860 --> 00:06:18.709 like you Paul I'm interested in 00:06:18.709 --> 00:06:20.505 productivity and efficiency. 00:06:20.505 --> 00:06:22.722 So I spent a lot of time in the system 00:06:22.722 --> 00:06:24.788 experimenting with my partner. Right? 00:06:24.788 --> 00:06:25.719 Just the two of us 00:06:25.719 --> 00:06:27.830 assigning tasks to each other 00:06:27.830 --> 00:06:29.811 starting to play 00:06:29.811 --> 00:06:31.857 with all the various systems. 00:06:31.857 --> 00:06:32.924 You know. 00:06:32.924 --> 00:06:35.315 We figured out sections on our own 00:06:35.315 --> 00:06:38.362 but that was not easy to find. 00:06:40.148 --> 00:06:41.643 Okay. That's really interesting 00:06:41.643 --> 00:06:43.418 because I think from the experiences 00:06:43.418 --> 00:06:45.401 I've had working with different companies 00:06:45.401 --> 00:06:46.851 as well as companies I've been 00:06:46.851 --> 00:06:48.356 part of where we've used Asana 00:06:48.356 --> 00:06:50.630 there's been that almost like 00:06:50.630 --> 00:06:54.860 that communication element that 00:06:54.860 --> 00:06:56.640 you've said to your team like 00:06:56.640 --> 00:06:58.670 guys, we're using this in 30 days 00:06:58.670 --> 00:07:00.060 maybe hasn't been so clear 00:07:00.060 --> 00:07:03.720 and it's just like you soft roll it out 00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:06.140 and you start today 00:07:06.140 --> 00:07:07.850 and try and get people using it 00:07:07.850 --> 00:07:10.330 and then when people don't fully adopt it 00:07:10.330 --> 00:07:12.170 because it's new and it's scary 00:07:12.170 --> 00:07:15.170 and it challenges the way they work, 00:07:15.170 --> 00:07:17.510 it fizzles out, and maybe 00:07:17.510 --> 00:07:19.770 the adoption isn't as successful because 00:07:19.770 --> 00:07:22.649 that clear expectation wasn't made. 00:07:22.649 --> 00:07:24.129 But it sounds like in your case 00:07:24.129 --> 00:07:25.241 you made it very clear. 00:07:25.241 --> 00:07:26.495 Guys, we're using this. 00:07:26.495 --> 00:07:27.430 Get on the train 00:07:27.430 --> 00:07:28.750 because it's leaving soon, 00:07:28.750 --> 00:07:30.843 which sounds like it worked very well. 00:07:30.843 --> 00:07:31.917 That's right, it did. 00:07:31.917 --> 00:07:33.570 And I'll tell you one other thing. 00:07:33.570 --> 00:07:35.096 I started basically 00:07:35.096 --> 00:07:36.795 putting people in the system 00:07:36.795 --> 00:07:40.667 letting them pool around, and I also said 00:07:40.677 --> 00:07:42.774 starting on this date 00:07:42.774 --> 00:07:45.203 if you send me something via email 00:07:45.203 --> 00:07:46.753 I'm not gonna answer. 00:07:46.938 --> 00:07:50.514 Okay. And how did that play out? 00:07:50.514 --> 00:07:53.402 Were people pretty good getting into Asana 00:07:53.402 --> 00:07:55.270 or did you still get a few emails? 00:07:55.270 --> 00:07:57.549 It took about a month. 00:07:57.549 --> 00:07:58.417 A month. 00:07:58.417 --> 00:08:01.251 You know we also use Slack. 00:08:01.251 --> 00:08:02.923 So Slack and email really confused 00:08:02.923 --> 00:08:04.173 how do we use these things 00:08:04.173 --> 00:08:05.815 that's one of the things that's in 00:08:05.815 --> 00:08:07.940 How Do We Use Asana the Electron Shop Way. 00:08:07.965 --> 00:08:08.717 Yeah. 00:08:08.717 --> 00:08:11.814 And so I started delineating 00:08:11.814 --> 00:08:13.785 Asana is the system of record. 00:08:13.785 --> 00:08:15.464 Slack is for checking in. 00:08:15.464 --> 00:08:17.853 Email is for things with clients. 00:08:17.853 --> 00:08:18.853 That's it. 00:08:19.743 --> 00:08:21.039 Okay. I want to recap 00:08:21.039 --> 00:08:22.535 because that's really important 00:08:22.535 --> 00:08:24.305 and actually you addressed something 00:08:24.305 --> 00:08:25.803 that I think a lot of people 00:08:25.803 --> 00:08:27.523 get hung up about is 00:08:27.523 --> 00:08:28.606 how does this fit in. 00:08:28.606 --> 00:08:30.083 There's so many tools now 00:08:30.083 --> 00:08:31.843 if someone emails me or Slack 00:08:31.843 --> 00:08:32.844 where do I check 00:08:32.844 --> 00:08:34.635 for these points of communication. 00:08:34.635 --> 00:08:36.192 And I think which sounds like 00:08:36.192 --> 00:08:37.800 what you've done really well is 00:08:37.800 --> 00:08:40.370 have clear divisions of what goes where. 00:08:40.370 --> 00:08:43.039 You said email is for clients only, 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:44.984 pretty much external communication? 00:08:45.009 --> 00:08:46.095 Correct. 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:47.799 Slack it or Asana it, 00:08:47.799 --> 00:08:49.237 can you talk to me, 00:08:49.237 --> 00:08:51.469 do you do all you communication in Asana 00:08:51.469 --> 00:08:54.025 and just informal communication in Slack 00:08:54.025 --> 00:08:55.507 or how do the two work there? 00:08:55.507 --> 00:08:58.290 All communication in Asana 00:08:58.290 --> 00:09:00.449 relevant to tasks. 00:09:00.449 --> 00:09:01.449 Right. 00:09:01.449 --> 00:09:02.604 Slack, 00:09:02.604 --> 00:09:04.956 what we do is it's a sort of thing like 00:09:04.956 --> 00:09:06.136 I'm on the phone, 00:09:06.136 --> 00:09:08.544 can you tell me this number 00:09:08.544 --> 00:09:10.550 or sorry I forgot where this file was 00:09:10.550 --> 00:09:11.780 it's not in Asana 00:09:11.780 --> 00:09:13.933 can you point me at that file? 00:09:13.933 --> 00:09:14.872 That kind of thing. 00:09:14.872 --> 00:09:16.300 It's just for brief checking. 00:09:16.300 --> 00:09:18.415 It's got to be like a 30-second thing. 00:09:18.860 --> 00:09:21.140 My rule is... 00:09:21.140 --> 00:09:23.780 What we're trying to do is 00:09:23.780 --> 00:09:25.573 get things down to units of work 00:09:25.573 --> 00:09:27.647 that take two to five minutes. 00:09:27.647 --> 00:09:30.317 Right? Slack is a 30-second tool. 00:09:30.317 --> 00:09:32.540 Mm-hm. That's really good. 00:09:32.540 --> 00:09:33.589 And I think that's 00:09:33.589 --> 00:09:35.150 a really good way to divide it. 00:09:35.150 --> 00:09:36.931 Look, if there's any communication 00:09:36.931 --> 00:09:38.749 that needs to happen about work 00:09:38.749 --> 00:09:40.335 which internally in a team 00:09:40.335 --> 00:09:41.655 that's probably going to be 00:09:41.655 --> 00:09:43.335 the majority of your communication, 00:09:43.335 --> 00:09:44.919 like 80% of your communication? 00:09:44.919 --> 00:09:46.350 So it should live in Asana 00:09:46.350 --> 00:09:47.839 because it's tied to tasks. 00:09:47.839 --> 00:09:49.650 It's tied to things you need to do, 00:09:49.650 --> 00:09:50.627 where Slack is 00:09:50.627 --> 00:09:52.669 the informal quick communication tool 00:09:52.669 --> 00:09:54.013 that you can use to quickly 00:09:54.013 --> 00:09:56.061 get an answer or check in with someone. 00:09:56.061 --> 00:09:57.785 I think that's a really good way, 00:09:57.785 --> 00:10:00.000 really smart way to divide the two so that 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:01.979 you're not stuck in this transition 00:10:01.979 --> 00:10:04.270 or this blurry area where you're not sure 00:10:04.270 --> 00:10:06.270 did David send me that in Slack 00:10:06.270 --> 00:10:07.555 or did he send me in Asana 00:10:07.555 --> 00:10:09.556 you should just know. 00:10:09.581 --> 00:10:11.393 I think a couple of other things 00:10:11.393 --> 00:10:12.355 about that. 00:10:12.355 --> 00:10:13.898 One is, I said that 00:10:13.898 --> 00:10:16.134 email is for client communication, right? 00:10:16.134 --> 00:10:17.474 external communication. 00:10:17.474 --> 00:10:18.437 If there's a task, 00:10:18.437 --> 00:10:19.970 if the client writes to me, 00:10:19.970 --> 00:10:21.970 which is every day, and they say 00:10:21.970 --> 00:10:23.720 could you please 00:10:23.720 --> 00:10:26.800 change this, do that, fix this typo? 00:10:27.069 --> 00:10:29.489 I take that and I put it in Slack either 00:10:29.489 --> 00:10:33.800 as separate tasks, or one task saying 00:10:33.800 --> 00:10:36.589 please complete fixes and then 00:10:36.589 --> 00:10:40.459 paste the email into Asana sliced. 00:10:40.459 --> 00:10:42.634 Because the key thing about Asana 00:10:42.634 --> 00:10:43.910 that's wonderful is 00:10:43.910 --> 00:10:46.478 it's all about accountability. Right? 00:10:46.478 --> 00:10:48.362 You can't shirk it. 00:10:48.362 --> 00:10:50.296 They're assigned a task, 00:10:50.296 --> 00:10:52.037 and you need to either do it, 00:10:52.037 --> 00:10:55.519 or reassign it, or get it off your plate. 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:58.338 Yeah. I totally agree with you. 00:10:58.338 --> 00:10:59.851 It's very transparent like 00:10:59.851 --> 00:11:02.054 who's keeping up and maybe because 00:11:02.059 --> 00:11:04.216 you can just click on someone's account 00:11:04.216 --> 00:11:05.073 and see exactly 00:11:05.073 --> 00:11:06.778 how much they've got going on. 00:11:06.778 --> 00:11:08.078 There's no hiding. 00:11:08.078 --> 00:11:09.798 I think some people may even find it 00:11:09.798 --> 00:11:10.909 a little bit scary like 00:11:10.909 --> 00:11:12.534 oh gosh, I need to pick up my game 00:11:12.534 --> 00:11:14.435 because everyone can see what I'm doing. 00:11:14.435 --> 00:11:15.827 Yeah. I think it's very good. 00:11:15.827 --> 00:11:17.726 We have a weekly production meeting 00:11:17.726 --> 00:11:19.401 and that production meeting 00:11:19.401 --> 00:11:21.014 consists of a budget review 00:11:21.014 --> 00:11:22.874 which is done in Harvest. 00:11:22.874 --> 00:11:23.579 Okay. 00:11:23.579 --> 00:11:25.463 There we are in terms of hours 00:11:25.463 --> 00:11:26.709 on various accounts. 00:11:26.709 --> 00:11:29.027 The rest of the meeting is basically 00:11:29.027 --> 00:11:32.019 all incomplete tasks in Asana. 00:11:32.019 --> 00:11:35.230 We go to one by one and also 00:11:35.230 --> 00:11:37.650 I have saved searches for every employee. 00:11:37.923 --> 00:11:41.192 Incomplete tasks for tasks for so-and-so. 00:11:41.192 --> 00:11:43.364 So when I talk to them one on one, 00:11:43.364 --> 00:11:47.725 I can say I see that this one stuck or 00:11:47.725 --> 00:11:50.096 maybe you have too much work to do. 00:11:50.096 --> 00:11:51.573 There's a lot of insight that 00:11:51.573 --> 00:11:53.030 comes from it as well. 00:11:53.030 --> 00:11:55.358 I said it was gonna be one of my questions 00:11:55.358 --> 00:11:57.666 which I think segues quite nicely is 00:11:57.666 --> 00:11:59.423 what are the business problems 00:11:59.423 --> 00:12:01.038 that you've solved with Asana? 00:12:01.038 --> 00:12:02.658 And it sounds like that could be 00:12:02.658 --> 00:12:03.858 one of them where 00:12:03.858 --> 00:12:06.112 as the manager, as a leader 00:12:06.112 --> 00:12:07.169 you can just... 00:12:07.169 --> 00:12:08.855 it's not about calling people out 00:12:08.855 --> 00:12:10.640 and saying you're not doing your job. 00:12:10.640 --> 00:12:12.106 It's about as you've said like 00:12:12.106 --> 00:12:13.438 where are you getting stuck, 00:12:13.438 --> 00:12:15.308 how can I help you, how can I help you 00:12:15.308 --> 00:12:16.800 move these tasks forward? 00:12:16.800 --> 00:12:19.380 And Asana is what provides you 00:12:19.380 --> 00:12:22.248 with that transparency. 00:12:22.248 --> 00:12:23.160 That's right. 00:12:23.160 --> 00:12:26.190 There's a larger issue at play I think 00:12:26.190 --> 00:12:28.103 that's really important. 00:12:28.103 --> 00:12:30.069 And that is engagement, 00:12:30.069 --> 00:12:31.735 employee engagement. 00:12:31.735 --> 00:12:34.704 So, when everybody is updating their tasks 00:12:34.704 --> 00:12:36.450 and nothing is overdue, 00:12:36.450 --> 00:12:38.273 people know that everybody's engaged 00:12:38.273 --> 00:12:40.430 and everybody's doing the business and 00:12:40.430 --> 00:12:42.428 business is as strong as the weakest link. 00:12:42.428 --> 00:12:43.128 Yeah. 00:12:43.128 --> 00:12:44.758 Someone is consistently letting 00:12:44.758 --> 00:12:46.859 their tasks slight past the due date, 00:12:46.859 --> 00:12:47.684 so every week 00:12:47.684 --> 00:12:49.233 on during our production meeting 00:12:49.233 --> 00:12:50.595 I also look at it, 00:12:50.595 --> 00:12:52.898 and even before I start the meeting, I say 00:12:52.898 --> 00:12:54.806 Okay I'm assuming everybody has updated 00:12:54.806 --> 00:12:56.192 the due dates on the tasks. 00:12:56.192 --> 00:12:56.955 Yeah. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:56.955 --> 00:13:00.002 It sends a big message about engagement 00:13:00.002 --> 00:13:03.083 so accountability again is very important 00:13:03.083 --> 00:13:05.998 and in my personal philosophy 00:13:05.998 --> 00:13:07.559 accountability is actually 00:13:07.559 --> 00:13:10.416 a very positive thing for organizations 00:13:10.416 --> 00:13:12.143 because people don't like it 00:13:12.143 --> 00:13:14.740 when someone's sitting around being lazy. 00:13:14.745 --> 00:13:16.368 Yeah. You're totally right. 00:13:16.368 --> 00:13:18.099 As not just the managers 00:13:18.099 --> 00:13:19.299 but the employees as well 00:13:19.299 --> 00:13:20.630 they feel hard done by 00:13:20.630 --> 00:13:22.399 because hey this guy over here 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:23.773 he's not doing his job 00:13:23.773 --> 00:13:25.550 and I'm working my ass off. 00:13:25.550 --> 00:13:27.958 Yes, that's really interesting. 00:13:27.958 --> 00:13:30.579 Were there any other significant 00:13:30.579 --> 00:13:32.569 business problems that you solved 00:13:32.575 --> 00:13:34.919 with Asana that you can think of? 00:13:34.919 --> 00:13:38.302 Version control on files 00:13:38.302 --> 00:13:41.407 so we insist that 00:13:41.407 --> 00:13:44.910 if you update a version of a file then you 00:13:44.910 --> 00:13:46.938 delete the one that's attached to the task 00:13:46.938 --> 00:13:49.269 and attach the most recent one. 00:13:49.269 --> 00:13:50.287 Right. 00:13:50.287 --> 00:13:51.497 So it's always there. 00:13:51.497 --> 00:13:53.182 That was a big one. 00:13:53.182 --> 00:13:57.290 And I think this idea of 00:13:57.290 --> 00:13:58.811 employee performance 00:13:58.811 --> 00:14:00.404 and resource allocation 00:14:00.404 --> 00:14:02.540 there are many indicators of that 00:14:02.540 --> 00:14:04.392 within the system. 00:14:04.392 --> 00:14:07.150 I would say those were the major problems. 00:14:07.464 --> 00:14:09.669 We are probably 00:14:09.669 --> 00:14:13.653 I'm gonna guess, 20% more efficient 00:14:13.653 --> 00:14:16.710 in productivity because of the system, 00:14:16.710 --> 00:14:18.018 because everybody knows 00:14:18.018 --> 00:14:19.258 what's hanging out there 00:14:19.258 --> 00:14:20.957 and they don't wait around for you 00:14:20.957 --> 00:14:22.351 to tell them to do something. 00:14:22.351 --> 00:14:24.155 There's a whole list. Right? 00:14:24.155 --> 00:14:25.405 Yeah. Go pick something. 00:14:25.405 --> 00:14:27.029 Yeah, that's some 20% 00:14:27.029 --> 00:14:28.869 and that's not a small number either. 00:14:28.869 --> 00:14:30.171 Yeah. Pretty good. 00:14:30.171 --> 00:14:31.487 And do you... 00:14:31.487 --> 00:14:33.391 you've touched on it a bit with 00:14:33.391 --> 00:14:34.886 your client working things but 00:14:34.886 --> 00:14:37.248 what kinds of work do you track in Asana? 00:14:37.248 --> 00:14:38.380 I mean you've obviously 00:14:38.380 --> 00:14:39.349 got the client side 00:14:39.349 --> 00:14:41.634 that's really important in terms of 00:14:41.634 --> 00:14:43.348 your business planning 00:14:43.348 --> 00:14:44.558 and business project 00:14:44.558 --> 00:14:46.103 so working on your business 00:14:46.103 --> 00:14:47.500 rather than in your business. 00:14:47.500 --> 00:14:48.487 Can you talk about 00:14:48.487 --> 00:14:49.961 the different kinds of work 00:14:49.961 --> 00:14:51.879 that you're currently tracking in Asana? 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:53.379 For internal projects? 00:14:53.379 --> 00:14:54.739 Oh, just in general 00:14:54.739 --> 00:14:56.579 like if you have to think about 00:14:56.579 --> 00:14:58.170 or talk us through your projects, 00:14:58.170 --> 00:15:00.823 in both internal and with clients. 00:15:00.823 --> 00:15:02.481 What are the main things that 00:15:02.481 --> 00:15:04.301 you're using Asana for? 00:15:04.718 --> 00:15:07.185 It goes to the framework that we're using 00:15:07.185 --> 00:15:08.331 so let me just talk 00:15:08.331 --> 00:15:09.617 about that for a second. 00:15:09.724 --> 00:15:12.950 I think that the most confusing thing 00:15:12.950 --> 00:15:16.153 in Asana is the word, teams. 00:15:16.616 --> 00:15:21.425 Because there is an organization, 00:15:21.425 --> 00:15:23.455 which is the Electron Shop, 00:15:23.455 --> 00:15:24.944 my company. Right? 00:15:24.944 --> 00:15:26.309 Then we have teams 00:15:26.309 --> 00:15:27.959 and our teams are organized 00:15:27.959 --> 00:15:29.756 around clients. 00:15:29.756 --> 00:15:31.921 We use teams as a client name 00:15:31.921 --> 00:15:34.175 and then we have projects, 00:15:34.175 --> 00:15:35.228 and then we have 00:15:35.228 --> 00:15:36.858 tasks within the projects. 00:15:36.858 --> 00:15:38.890 The reason that Asana is good for us 00:15:38.890 --> 00:15:41.299 is because we're a digital agency, 00:15:41.299 --> 00:15:44.533 we have multidisciplinary tasks going on. 00:15:44.533 --> 00:15:46.406 So how do we organize 00:15:46.406 --> 00:15:50.066 an interdisciplinary team on a project? 00:15:50.066 --> 00:15:51.005 Right? 00:15:51.005 --> 00:15:53.484 The types of projects that we do 00:15:53.484 --> 00:15:55.216 and by the way Paul, when I tell you 00:15:55.216 --> 00:15:56.949 we're gonna try out that templates NOTE Paragraph 00:15:56.949 --> 00:15:58.600 function that just came out. 00:15:58.600 --> 00:15:59.580 Oh, great. 00:15:59.710 --> 00:16:03.842 So that could be a website development, 00:16:03.842 --> 00:16:08.528 could be a weekly email, 00:16:08.528 --> 00:16:13.157 could be an integrated content calendar, 00:16:13.157 --> 00:16:18.118 could be blog posts, 00:16:18.118 --> 00:16:20.312 things to write, 00:16:20.312 --> 00:16:22.640 ads, paid ads. 00:16:23.969 --> 00:16:27.600 Really, we do a very wide range of things 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:30.259 and again I said Asana is very flexible. 00:16:30.259 --> 00:16:32.956 You can pretty much track anything in it. 00:16:32.956 --> 00:16:34.451 Let's save that in there 00:16:34.451 --> 00:16:36.776 advertising and the right. 00:16:37.703 --> 00:16:38.821 That's really good. 00:16:38.826 --> 00:16:40.275 David, look, thank you so much 00:16:40.275 --> 00:16:42.524 it's been really interesting to learn 00:16:42.524 --> 00:16:43.701 how you're using it 00:16:43.701 --> 00:16:45.032 and the challenges you face. 00:16:45.032 --> 00:16:47.325 Do you have any kind of final 00:16:47.325 --> 00:16:48.947 nuggets of advice 00:16:48.947 --> 00:16:50.915 that you would suggest to anyone watching 00:16:50.915 --> 00:16:52.246 like who's maybe using Asana 00:16:52.246 --> 00:16:53.880 they're just onboarding their team 00:16:53.880 --> 00:16:54.604 at the moment? 00:16:54.604 --> 00:16:55.570 What would be 00:16:55.570 --> 00:16:57.170 your couple of key bits of advice 00:16:57.170 --> 00:16:59.000 to people getting started 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:00.220 in terms of how they can 00:17:00.220 --> 00:17:02.315 just be more effective with it 00:17:02.315 --> 00:17:05.829 or get their team using it better? 00:17:06.019 --> 00:17:07.915 There are two. 00:17:07.915 --> 00:17:10.420 One, you told me, which is 00:17:10.420 --> 00:17:12.317 turn off email notifications. 00:17:12.322 --> 00:17:13.024 Oh yeah. 00:17:13.024 --> 00:17:14.363 But if you're gonna turn off 00:17:14.363 --> 00:17:15.269 email notifications 00:17:15.269 --> 00:17:17.163 then you have to follow this rule 00:17:17.163 --> 00:17:19.545 Check your inbox every hour on the hour. 00:17:19.550 --> 00:17:20.371 Right? 00:17:20.392 --> 00:17:23.040 You cannot forget just let it go. 00:17:23.040 --> 00:17:25.454 The inbox is the key starting point 00:17:25.454 --> 00:17:26.541 to everything. 00:17:26.546 --> 00:17:28.260 When I say that to clients 00:17:28.260 --> 00:17:30.080 when we're working with clients 00:17:30.080 --> 00:17:31.679 and they're adopting the system. 00:17:31.679 --> 00:17:33.600 Check your inbox every hour on the hour. 00:17:33.600 --> 00:17:35.946 They get much better adoption at that. 00:17:36.850 --> 00:17:37.920 Yeah. Great tip. 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:39.600 I think it addresses one of 00:17:39.600 --> 00:17:41.580 the common problems I see people facing 00:17:41.580 --> 00:17:44.490 which is they're not sure 00:17:44.490 --> 00:17:46.470 what am I supposed to be doing, 00:17:46.470 --> 00:17:48.686 what am I working on right now, 00:17:48.686 --> 00:17:50.543 where is the latest updates, 00:17:50.543 --> 00:17:52.640 and it's that inbox and you can 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:54.540 really create a lot of noise and stress 00:17:54.540 --> 00:17:56.620 for yourself by getting the emails as well 00:17:56.620 --> 00:17:58.170 so definitely turning those off, 00:17:58.170 --> 00:18:00.070 and then archiving those notifications 00:18:00.070 --> 00:18:01.368 once you're done with them. 00:18:01.368 --> 00:18:03.961 So your inbox is... really 00:18:03.961 --> 00:18:05.958 it only contains or should only contain 00:18:05.963 --> 00:18:07.433 the active work in progress 00:18:07.433 --> 00:18:09.513 like comments that you're still working on 00:18:09.513 --> 00:18:11.767 or obviously new notifications as well. 00:18:11.767 --> 00:18:14.873 Great, thanks for the tip, David. 00:18:14.873 --> 00:18:16.279 Thanks for having me.