I remember all too well when I had my blog set up. There were 6 or 7 posts and I had 6 or 7 readers — all friends who were doing me a favor. I wanted so much to find a way to say, “Hey, I’m here! Come read me!”
I’m not patient in such situations. I’m a person who likes to make things happen. So make things happen is what I did. [Read more…]
Use this worksheet to gather information when you’re designing a complex process as described in Critical Skill 4: Part 2-Designing a Complex Process and Critical Skill 4: Part 3-A Virtual Process.
Fill in as much information as you can before you begin the process design. Then use the worksheet throughout the process to guide you. You can use this form even when you delegate process design to a team that reports to you.
1. The Leader of the Process Design Team will be ____________________________
2. Assign the Visionaries and Explorers. Who are the big picture, global thinkers who will help decide on the work flow? Which stages of the process will each of these team members represent?
Name: ______________________ Stage(s): __________________________________
Name: ______________________ Stage(s): __________________________________
Name: ______________________ Stage(s): __________________________________
Name: ______________________ Stage(s): __________________________________
Name: ______________________ Stage(s): __________________________________
3. What steps will the work follow? Note: This discussion should include the big picture thinkers listed above only at this point. The detail people should not be present. (Take notes on the big picture process discussion using separate pages. Summarize or draw a flow chart to summarize the process the above team designs in the space below.)
The Proposed Process
4. Assign the King’s Guards and Risk Managers. Who are the detail thinkers who will challenge the proposed process design? Which stages of the process will each of these team members represent?
Name: ______________________ Stage(s): __________________________________
Name: ______________________ Stage(s): __________________________________
Name: ______________________ Stage(s): __________________________________
Name: ______________________ Stage(s): __________________________________
Name: ______________________ Stage(s): __________________________________
5. When the process is defined, the big picture people share the summary/flow chart with the detail folks before a meeting occurs with all team members. Any member of the team can list questions and concerns here.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
6. The Explorers and Visionaries present the process design in detail to the King’s Guards and Risk Managers under the moderation of the leader. Now is the time to find the holes in the thinking — to validate the process and the plan.
When that discussion is complete, the process will stand as a working plan. The entire group should agree that this is the process, until the process doesn’t work, at which time, any member of the group can ask the team leader to call a meeting to adjust the plan.
Process isn’t hard if you take charge of it, instead of letting it drag you along.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Related articles:
Critical Skill 4: Part 1-Process Models
Critical Skill 4: Part 2-Designing a Complex Process
Critical Skill 4: Part 3-A Virtual Process
10 Skills Most Critical Skills Series on the SUCCESSFUL SERIES Page
Benjamin Franklin said, “Things that hurt instruct.” I’m a curious sort. I learned how a stapler worked in kindergarten by putting a staple through my hand. I didn’t do that again. I even told my friends about it. I’m still telling you now. That way some folks won’t have to learn the way I did.
Steve Remington agrees with Ben Franklin and me. So much he’s started a blog about it called Why My Blog Stinks and on one page in particular he’s inviting bloggers to swap stories of small things that went wrong on their way to success. I’ve started it out with one. Take a look and add your own by clicking the title below.
It’s a great way to learn from each other. No one else needs to learn about staplers the way I did. Not all learning needs to hurt. I think Ben would agree with that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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NEW BLOGGER PAGE Lots of great posts on how to avoid problems on the new blogger page.
When I first started blogging, I was anxious to do what I could do in print–add emphasis using color or maybe once on a rare occasion change the font for flavor. But I was new to HTML and the rules had me baffled. I recently found this simple tutorial that not only shows how, but also shows which fonts are those that usually work.
Great Find: Color in Your Text from Writing up.com
Type of article: HTML tutorial
Permalink: http://www.writingup.com/htmltutor/color_in_your_text_from_htmltutor
Target Audience: Folks who want to know more about HTML
Content: This tutorial starts out with the basic code for changing the font and the color of your text.
Then the tutorial offers two clicks further. The first click takes you to choosing type fonts. While you are there, you can see how each font looks and check whether it is available on your computer. The second click shows you a basic color chart and color words to allow a chance for experimentation.
This tutorial is great for new bloggers or for seasoned bloggers in a hurry looking for a color change in their typography.
Click this screenshot title to go there.
I’m adding this to the NEW BLOGGER PAGE in the side bar.
–ME “Liz Strauss
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Great Finds: EchoEcho on and on and on Coding Tools
Great Find: Adding Show-Hide and Categories
Stand-Alone Trackback Tool from WhizbangTech
SEOââ¬âLink Checking Tools
Well, it looks like a Great Find . . . I haven’t tried it. I don’t have that many friends who want to talk to me for extended periods of time. It sports and testimonial from Dick Costolo, however. I betcha he has more friends than I do.
ââ¬ÅOne chat with Campfire and you won’t remember how you got by without it.ââ¬?
-Dick Costolo, President, FeedBurner
Great Find: Campfire Group Chat
Type of Tool: Simple Web-based group chat system
Permalink: http://www.campfirenow.com/
Target Audience: Small businesses and groups who want to meet online with password protected privacy and little hassle
Content: Campfire is a pasword-protected, multiroom chat system offers folks a place to meet online. It requires only an online connection and a browser–no download, no installation, no IT person to set up anything. Campfire allows folks to get together in real time to have online conversations, complete with transcripts, and to share files and preview images. It includes an outer room — the Lobby — the chat room, which holds up to 60 people, and a private room, which can be locked for an off-the-record chat — no transcripts are taken. To see more about Campfire, click the screenshot below.
Sounds like an functional program that small businesses could find real use for. Can’t possibly be Web 2.0.
Who’s going to be the first to try it and write a review for Successful Blog?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Great Find: Adding Show-Hide and Categories
Great Find: 10 Reasons to Love Google Desktop
Perfect for Friday Productivity Checklist
Great Find: 20 Rules of Smart & Successful Web Development
There’s a reason I wrote poetry to Improbulus the blogger at A Consuming Experience. She is one great researcher, analyst, problem solver, who does everyone a service in every post she writes. Her analysis and deep research are featured in Technorati’s family of support pages.
This post is a two-in-one special for you. What I give you today is WAY COOL.
Great Find: How to include categories for your blog (manual, expand-collapse) by Improbulus
Type of Article: How-to article on adding show/hide feature and categories to blogging platforms that don’t offer those features.
Permalink: http://consumingexperience.blogspot.com/2006/01/how-to-include-categories-for-
Target Audience: Anyone who needs to add a way to do categories or show/hide features to their blog platform
Content: If there’s an interesting problem to be figured out, Improbulus has been on it and found a way to deal with–if not, she’s found out who’s already done that. This particular entry in her archives demonstrates how to break a post and continue it on the next page in the lower function blog platforms. It also shows how to manually add posts to categories in a platform, such as Blogger–the platform that Improbulus uses. The great news is she offers the exact code and how to use it. Click the Consuming Experience to access the article.
Adding categories is great promotion for page views. It pulls readers deeper into your blog. I’m going to have to write her another poem, but first I need to add categories to my blogspot blog.
If you use this post, how about leaving Improbulus a comment or better yet, linking to it. It’s always a great idea to support folks who do us these kinds of big favors.
Brand you and me. Improbulus understands that BIG TIME.
–Me “Liz” Strauss
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Title Tags and a Poem to Technorati
Editing Comments in Bloggerââ¬âWhat a Concept!
Blogger/ Firefoxââ¬âEditing Trap
Technoratiââ¬â¢s Family of Support Pages