“We Are Drowning in Work”

Get control of your to-do list!

Trish Perkins, ConsultantWorldstouch

Who’s Trish?

• Nonprofit systems analyst and designer

• Affordable nonprofit technology consultant

• Trainer, cheerleader, support personnel

I do cloud computing solutions

http://biggerboatconsulting.com/our-agile-approach-no-surprises/

How I Got Here

I got interested in this company called “Bigger Boat.”

From their website, one thing led to another to… Personal Kanban

Two Steps

• Visualize your work

• Limit Work in Progress

Most of the ideas in this slideshow were lifted from Jim Benson’s Personal Kanban book and web site, which has inspired me very much.

The Science

The underlying principles and research

Lesson from 1927

Russian psychologist: Bluma Zeigarnik

“When we finish tasks, we get closure and move on. When we don’t finish tasks—we don’t.”

This means our overloaded work-in-progress is robbing us of our memories, we don’t remember what we’ve done.

How do we concentrate?

• Coherence – following a linear line through a story

• Concentration – focusing our minds, limit our options (distractions)

• Sequestering – being left alone to finish stuff, also eliminating distractions

Jerry Weinberg’s Chart

http://www.infoq.com/articles/multitasking-problems

The story of the Cookie and the CocoPuffs

Work does not fill a vessel or a jar.

Work is more like a highway that flows.

Highways at 100% capacity STOP.

So do people!

Effectiveness over Productivity

• Productivity is measured by quantity against capacity

• Effectiveness is measured by value against effort

• “The paradox is that you can be very productive without being effective at all.”

My latest and greatest Kanban

Your Turn!

Four Steps, a bit more complex

1. Value Stream – graphic visualization of the steps in a process/project.

2. Populate Backlog3. Limit Work-in-Progress4. Pull Work – Pull not Push!

What are your Value Streams

Name some projects, processes, dreams, goals

Establish the backlog

What’s your WIP Limit?

Mine is three.

Begin to PULL!

Pomodoro Video

http://pomodorotechnique.com/ - the first video on the site

Pomodoro Technique

• Set a timer for 25 minutes• Focus on your work, minimize distractions,

note intrusions• When it goes off, take a five minute break. • That is ONE POMODORO• When you have four, take a longer break.

THAT’S IT!

My Pomodoros

I keep track of the number of Pomodoros on a scratch pad next to my desk.

Pomodoro MindMap

http://mastermindmaps.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/using-pomodoro-more- productivity-less-procrastination/

Questions???

Have fun!

…and thanks for coming!

Resources in the handoutBooks: • Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life, Jim Benson & Tonianne DeMaria Barry• Why Limit WIP: We Are Drowning in Work, Jim Benson

Web resources: • PersonalKanban: visualize, learn, improve• http://www.personalkanban.com/pk/#sthash.iE0BjZTW.dpbs• Especially the blog and pk101

• LeanKit Slide show on using Kanban for work teams• http://

leankit.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Designing-Your-Kanban-Board-to-Map-Your-Process-PDF.pdf• LeanKit itself:• www.leankit.com

• PomodoroTechnique Site• http://pomodorotechnique.com/ • Great Post on Using Agile and Kanban with GirlScouts• http://www.projectsatwork.com/blog/Dave-Prior/6390/