Sifter Blog2022-09-29T21:26:42+00:00https://sifterapp.com/Sifter, LLC7 Tips for an Effective Quality Assurance Process2020-10-06T00:00:00+00:002020-10-06T00:00:00+00:00https://sifterapp.com/blog/2020/10/tips-for-an-effective-quality-assurance-process/Ashley Guttuso
<p> </p>
<p>Your team is about to launch your latest mobile app, which means it’s time to start your quality assurance process. While the client loves the design you’ve worked on for months, you still need to test it thoroughly before it’s live. So you ask your team to begin pushing the software and looking for bugs. Maybe you even ask the clients and a select group of beta users to play with the software.</p>
<p>The problem? There’s too much going on, in too many places. Slack, Asana, emails, texts, group chats…important issues are getting lost in the shuffle. This drags out your testing time and ensures that you’ll miss quite a few bugs. The upset in communication and delays doesn’t just throw you off, either. Your client isn’t happy, and your team is confused.</p>
<p>Quality Assurance (QA) is a simple process. But when you have many different voices, it can get complicated fast.</p>
<hr />
<h2 id="what-exactly-is-quality-assurance">What exactly is quality assurance?</h2>
<p>QA is the process or procedure that your developers follow to ensure that your product is the best it could be. Generally, this means that your QA team will be focusing on bugs, issues, and fixing other feedback offered by your team and your clients.</p>
<p>QA also tends to include rigorous testing and a seemingly never-ending cascade of tasks. Despite the fact that QA is a relatively simple concept, it’s easy to go off track.</p>
<p>Here are our top 7 tips on keeping your QA process effective and streamlined in 2020.</p>
<h3 id="get-organized">1. Get organized</h3>
<p>First things first: It’s time to get organized. Before you do anything, it’s critical to make a checklist that contains all information that could be critical for a QA assessment. This includes who is involved, what libraries the project is built on, the ideal user, which tests you’ll want to run, and key dates.</p>
<p>Vivek Chopra, Head of Engineering at <a href="https://www.verygoodsecurity.com/">Very Good Security</a>, says that writing their tests comes first in the development process. “If you treat QA as the end of your process, it’s easy to see testing as expensive and time-consuming. But if you write your tests first and design your product from that criteria, you’re actually moving faster and you’ll build an app that works.”</p>
<h3 id="start-early-in-the-development-process">2. Start early in the development process</h3>
<p>Don’t start QA after everything is finished as an afterthought. As mentioned above, it’s best to plan your tests in the beginning and develop your product with these tests in mind.</p>
<p>You should also consider creating comments and feedback as you progress in the project. For ideal efficiency, you may want to split your project into modules or parts. You can begin testing each part as you finish it.</p>
<h3 id="build-in-elements">3. Build-in elements</h3>
<p>There are six principles to a solid website, app, or general product:</p>
<ul>
<li>Usability</li>
<li>Efficiency</li>
<li>Portability</li>
<li>Maintainability</li>
<li>Reliability</li>
<li>Functionality</li>
</ul>
<p>It’s important to bake them into your QA process and use them as guidelines to improve your final product. How intuitive is your interface? Can it integrate easily with other apps? How difficult will it be to maintain? Ask yourself these questions at every step of the process to ensure that you minimize feedback and bugs, and accelerate the launch process.</p>
<p>Another major factor outside of these six elements is security, especially if you plan to regularly update your product. If your application will be handling personal or sensitive data, this is especially important. Kathy Wang, CISO at Very Good Security as well as a startup advisor and investor, recommends that startups should test against pre-set benchmarks. “With each product release, you should be running your code against your benchmarks in a consistent process and making improvements against vulnerabilities,” says Wang.</p>
<h3 id="shift-left-shift-right">4. Shift left, shift right</h3>
<p>More likely than not, you’re not going to have a full QA team. If you’re a startup or small business, your engineers and developers may also be carrying out your quality assurance tests. To make things easier, you’ll want to “shift left” and “shift right.”</p>
<p>“Shifting left” equates to starting early in your testing process. You shift left when you design your tests at the beginning of your development process and focus on preventing bugs.</p>
<p>When you “shift right,” you put your energies into fixing bugs and issues post-production. You can employ strategies here like testing your final product with a small portion of users.</p>
<h3 id="choose-an-efficient-communication-program">5. Choose an efficient communication program</h3>
<p>Github comments are great. But they can get lost easily, especially when you throw emails and instant messages into the mix. Consider investing in a program to help you manage your work tickets. Typically, you can also assign tasks and review your overall progress. This keeps things organized and prevents bottlenecks.</p>
<p>Matt Washburn, VP of Operations at <a href="https://simplefocus.com">Simple Focus</a>, is well-acquainted with the struggle of keeping communication clear between multiple parties. He shared that introducing a dedicated communication platform was a game-changer for his team., “Before Sifter, everything was disorganized,” he says. “ The big value for us was that moving to a detailed tracking software allowed us to stay disciplined and keep our eye on resolving the issues as quickly as possible.”</p>
<p>With teams going remote, this becomes an especially attractive option. When tasks are neatly listed and assigned, you don’t need to worry about asynchronous schedules.</p>
<h3 id="be-clear-and-be-comprehensive-in-your-notes">6. Be clear and be comprehensive in your notes</h3>
<p>Each ticket should be written as clearly and comprehensively as possible, with plenty of context. Be sure to list the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>The bug or issue</li>
<li>The URL</li>
<li>The file name</li>
<li>Which browser or device you used.</li>
</ul>
<p>You may also want to include screenshots and other documentation.</p>
<p>Clear communication and a consistent process to ensure high-quality releases is critical for cloud-based products. Wang says, “A common mistake we find is that after a bug is fixed in a quick patch, this update is often lost in the next release and the vulnerability returns.”</p>
<p>Keeping detailed documentation can help you prevent such common pitfalls. Consider these examples shown in Sifter’s bug and issue tracking software:</p>
<figure class="small">
<img src="/blog/images/2020-10-06-tips-for-an-effective-quality-assurance-process/SifterQAIncompleteReporting.png" alt="A screenshot of a poorly documented Sifter issue." />
<span>A screenshot of a poorly documented Sifter issue.</span>
</figure>
<figure class="small">
<img src="/blog/images/2020-10-06-tips-for-an-effective-quality-assurance-process/SifterQADetailedReporting.png" alt="A screenshot of a wonderfully documented Sifter issue." />
<span>A screenshot of a wonderfully documented Sifter issue.</span>
</figure>
<p>Notice how much easier it will be for a team member to understand how to hop right in and address the employed photo alignment issues because of the context provided?</p>
<h3 id="consider-outsourcing-additional-qa-tests-before-launch">7. Consider outsourcing additional QA tests before launch</h3>
<p>Before you launch your product, consider getting some clean feedback from a new pair of eyes. You can outsource to another testing team for an additional round, or consider setting up some usability tests with your ideal consumers to ensure that your product has taken all of their needs into account.</p>
<p>CEO of <a href="https://bharyang.com.np/">Bharyang</a>, a major IT company based out of Nepal, Riwaj Ghimire, says that in addition to his own team, he frequently outsources QA services depending on the project to maximize feedback. “After we have the product finished on the development side, we begin daily testing and rotate between several teams to ensure we find and fix as many bugs as possible.”</p>
<hr />
<h2 id="a-qa-process-that-works-every-time">A QA process that works every time</h2>
<p>An unclear QA process can do more than muddle the waters for your project. If you plan ahead and walk through your testing plan ahead of time, you’ll save yourself some headaches. And you’ll be able to avoid launch delays while keeping your clients happy.</p>
<p>“Your end goal is that your code does what you want it to do,” says Chopra. “Worry less about generic factors like testing coverage and rather design your QA and development process with the end-goal in mind.”</p>
The Best Tools for Remote Teams2017-06-26T00:00:00+00:002017-06-26T00:00:00+00:00https://sifterapp.com/blog/2017/06/best-tools-remote-teams/Andy Newton
<p> </p>
<p>This is the decade where many teams will break down their cubicle walls and expand their work-from-home policies. New technology drives change, and now that WiFi access is widely available, the definition of “office” has shifted. Scores of startups already rely on virtual teams to drive their productivity, but a <a href="http://http-download.intuit.com/http.intuit/CMO/intuit/futureofsmallbusiness/intuit_2020_report.pdf">2010 study</a> projected that by 2020, 40 percent of Americas workforce will be remote.</p>
<h3 id="tools-for-going-the-distance">Tools for Going the Distance</h3>
<p>If you’re thinking about letting your team members work remotely or trying to improve your distributed team, here are some things the most successful offices do.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wrike.com/blog_images/396368/infographDistAgileTeams.jpeg">This infographic</a> visualizes the top challenges of distributed agile teams. The top issue, by far, was poor communication. If communication truly is key, youll need to sort through the many ways your team can keep in touch and keep your projects on track. Each of these depends on the size of your group, internet speed, and willingness to adopt new systems.</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p><strong>Message service:</strong> Inboxes quickly get crammed, so adopt a team messaging service to reduce the load of internal emails. Using <a href="https://slack.com/">Slack</a>, <a href="https://www.hipchat.com/">HipChat</a> or <a href="https://hangouts.google.com/">Google Chat</a> for messaging helps cut down emails and phone calls and creates a dedicated place for company announcements. Remote team members can connect quickly to keep communication lines tidy and productive and get the answers they need faster.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Conference calls:</strong> A reliable conference call solution is crucial for distributed teams, and screen-sharing capability is a must. <a href="https://zoom.us/">Zoom</a>, <a href="https://www.skype.com/en/">Skype</a>, <a href="https://highfive.com/">HighFive</a>, <a href="https://groups.google.com/">Google Groups</a> all provide free (or fairly cheap) video and conference call services. For quick calls between team members, Slack added a video chat feature on top of its popular message service.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Cloud storage:</strong> Whether your team is working remotely or all in one room, it’s crucial to have a central place to keep your files. Find a platform that stores your work in the cloud for when multiple team members need access to the same files. <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/">Dropbox</a> and <a href="https://www.google.com/settings/storage">Google Drive</a> serve different organizational demands, but both can meet your needs. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-cloud-storage-price-google-drive-dropbox-icloud-one-drive-2014-12">Here</a> is a good resource that compares the pricing and features of the most popular storage platforms.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Document creation:</strong> Sending document files back and forth between team members becomes cumbersome and hard to keep track of different versions. Choose a cloud-based document creation tool that includes sharing, commenting and version control. <a href="https://docs.google.com/">Google Docs</a> and <a href="https://paper.dropbox.com/">Dropbox Paper</a> lead the pack for word processing, note taking and sharing, but you might make your decision on whether you spend your day in Dropbox or Gmail.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Project management:</strong> Your team needs access to schedules and other project info at all times. <a href="https://www.getflow.com/">Flow</a>, <a href="https://www.wrike.com/">Wrike</a> and <a href="https://www.teamgantt.com/">TeamGantt</a> can all help you keep your team on track. Some teams additional task management help and whether you need simple issue tracking like <a href="https://sifterapp.com/">Sifter</a>, basic task software like <a href="http://www.trello.com/">Trello</a> or something created for specifically agile development like <a href="https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira">Jira</a>, you will need to try a few out and see which is the best fit for your team size and need.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Culture:</strong> If a team only talks over video chat, the natural hallway conversations and small chat that helps a team get to know each other gets lost. It can be difficult to determine morale and to intuit group preferences. <a href="https://knowyourcompany.com/">Know Your Company</a> is a software tool that promises to help managers learn how their employees feel about the business, help the team know what everyone is working on and learn who the team members are on a personal level. If you’re a growing company that wants to feel close, this might be worth pursuing.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Workspace:</strong> Trello, Happy Cog and Github are all companies that decided to close their physical office and go 100 percent distributed. If some team members live in the same area, they may want to collaborate in person. A coworking space like <a href="https://www.wework.com/">WeWork</a> offers open spaces, desks, meeting rooms and private offices for rent.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h3 id="and-beyond">2020 and beyond</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3049532/heres-why-the-freelancer-economy-is-on-the-rise">Fast Company</a> and <a href="https://qz.com/65279/40-of-americas-workforce-will-be-freelancers-by-2020/">Quartz</a> say that offering remote flexibility to new hires can be a boon for potential employers looking to hook the best and brightest team members anywhere in the country. If you put great systems in place, you can add a great fit to your team even if they live across two time zones.</p>
Hidden Reasons Why Your Projects Fail2017-03-22T00:00:00+00:002017-03-22T00:00:00+00:00https://sifterapp.com/blog/2017/03/hidden-reasons-projects-fail/Andy Newton
<p> </p>
<p>There are many reasons that projects come off the rails. We’ve heard horror stories of unprepared project managers, bad scheduling and terrible communication. We dug deeper for some more habits that doom your projects before they begin.</p>
<h2 id="no-milestones">No Milestones</h2>
<p>Milestones ensure project success because they allow your team to focus on smaller chunks of work. If you only look at your project as a whole, it’s overwhelming and hard to schedule your resources appropriately. At the start of every project, give your client and your team a timeline full of attainable, smaller chunks to help organize and track your progress.</p>
<p>Scheduling milestones will also allow your project manager to slice up the project in a way that may be better suited for your various team member’s skills – rather than scheduling the same team members in the same roles all the way to the finish line.</p>
<p>Your team and your client or stakeholder should be clued into your project progress at all times. When both parties can reference mutually understood milestones, communicating project progress will become faster and easier.</p>
<p>Not only do milestones create a common timeline language for your project manager and client, but they’re also great for the people who are doing the heavy lifting. It doesn’t matter how talented or smart your team is, we all like to break down big items to iron out uncertainties, timelines and accountabilities.</p>
<h2 id="no-milestone-dates">No Milestone Dates</h2>
<p>It’s one thing to organize your project into milestones, it’s another thing to know when you’re committing your team to accomplishing them. For the same reasons that milestones give your project structure, give your milestone due dates to set expectations for your stakeholders and team.</p>
<p>To figure out your milestone timeline, start with your deadline date and work backwards to your milestone dates. If your milestone dates don’t agree with your end date, you won’t finish on time.</p>
<h2 id="invisible-project-schedules">Invisible Project Schedules</h2>
<p>Once you’ve set your milestone dates, make sure everyone can see the project schedule to avoid stonewalling your team. Even if everyone on the team isn’t involved at every point, project managers get busy and don’t always update the timeline. Your team can help provide accountability to correct your project manager’s oversights.</p>
<p>Your team will also benefit from the project schedule because it creates buy-in, accountability and an appropriate sense of urgency.</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Buy-in: The team will feel like their contribution chips away at the final goal. It’s too easy for people to get cloudy on timelines when they only trust their guts. When each member can see their goals, they can see how whether they’re putting in enough effort.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Accountability: It can feel uncomfortable to look at your name in an empty slot of a Gantt chart or Trello board. Because everyone can see it, a posted project schedule can make it hard for people to just punch their time card.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Creating a sense of urgency: Nobody wants to be known for turning in rushed or incomplete work. Laying out the project schedule at the beginning will help your team set an appropriate tempo for their workflow.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="milestone-lag">Milestone Lag</h2>
<p>Milestone lag is when a team waits too long to start its next project milestone. It’s the project manager’s responsibility to keep the team on track by using milestones: when one milestone ends, the next one starts. But preparing for the next milestone at the end of the first is a good way to waste time and blow your schedule.</p>
<p>You’ll need any necessary project information and assets on the first day of Milestone Two, or you‘ll be already behind schedule. To avoid lag, start ramping up project management tasks for Milestone Two well before the team is ready to begin work. Staying ahead of the team allows your project manager to smooth out potential roadblocks before they surface for the team.</p>
<h2 id="surprise-changes">Surprise Changes</h2>
<p>It’s wise project management to anticipate the things you don’t know that you don’t know. During the life cycle of every project, someone will raise their hand and say, “Well actually, this has changed…”</p>
<p>Sometimes a team member will have a family or health emergency that will take them out of play. In your project plan, try to anticipate the things that can ground your work.</p>
<p>Make sure you have a way to account for unknowns, either by an official contingency in your statement of work or by adding breathing room in the project timeline. Track any instances of Murphy’s Law while they happen to later understand their impact on timeline, dollars and manpower. This data can give you an idea of how plan for these unknowns in future projects.</p>
<h2 id="scope-creep">Scope Creep</h2>
<p>Everyone runs into scope creep. Even if you listen to all of the advice above, it still won’t brace you for client curveballs. Scope creep is when a stakeholder asks for something outside your original agreement. They might say, “Actually, we need this thing too – I thought we talked about that…”, but the request will change your project timeline and budget.</p>
<p>Before you kick off your project, both parties should agree to a clear project scope. When scope creep hits, both sides can discuss the difference between the original agreement and the new request.</p>
<p>If your project priorities do shift, both the client and your team needs to be clear on the impact. Your team must rework your timeline, budget and milestones.</p>
<p>Have your team talk through this list at your next team meeting to see how you can help ensure your projects’ successes.</p>
Keep Your Customers Happy2017-03-07T00:00:00+00:002017-03-07T00:00:00+00:00https://sifterapp.com/blog/2017/03/keep-your-customers-happy/Andy Newton
<p> </p>
<p>Project teams may consider Sifter a tool to help organize and track problems within their company. While that’s absolutely true, don’t overlook those who receive some of the greatest benefits from Sifter – your customers.</p>
<h2 id="everything-in-its-right-place">Everything in Its Right Place</h2>
<p>Let’s say a customer contacts your business with a problem, either by phone or email. Say that somehow their issue fell through the cracks and was never resolved.</p>
<p>What now?</p>
<p>Your first job is to be professional and organize customer concerns in an efficient manner.</p>
<p>When you have an organized hub of all reported issues at your disposal, finding this customer’s problem – and the status of its resolution – should be as easy as a simple search. Sending your customer a quick response, containing the exact steps being taken to solve their problem, will help them feel reassured that you are on top of their issue.</p>
<h2 id="teamwork">Teamwork</h2>
<p>Maybe the employee who took the complaint doesn’t have the faintest idea how to solve that customer’s problem, or even who to assign it to. A dedicated ticketing hub makes it fast to alert all of the right people to an outstanding issue.</p>
<p>Use Sifter to track an issue’s progression through the troubleshooting process by checking the status tag. If there’s any doubt about who the issue should go to, it’s easy to assign a group of people to come up with the solution.</p>
<p>Sifter streamlines collaboration among team your members with the ability to add and drop assignees at will, also giving your team a complete record of accountability. Our <a href="https://sifterapp.com/changelog/2017/02/internal-only-comments-issues-through-email-category-tags/">new internal comment feature</a> helps improve team communication even further.</p>
<h2 id="prioritization">Prioritization</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sifterapp.com/blog/2017/02/when-everythings-a-priority-nothings-a-priority/&sa=D&ust=1488906345886000&usg=AFQjCNEJ1OV2SMoRwm0Rl2nrNkXv3ANGcQ">We’ve talked about urgency before</a>, and when it comes to customer issues, your job is to make a client feel heard, even though their bug may not be urgent enough to jump to the front of the pack.</p>
<p>Use Sifter to assign a specific priority level to every issue. This will help your team sort the wheat from the chaff, and you’ll spend your time solving crucial problems ahead of minor ones.</p>
<h2 id="knowledge-is-power">Knowledge Is Power</h2>
<p>As you begin collecting a wealth of problems and their solutions, you’ll create the foundation for a knowledge base. An knowledge base established from resolved issues is an invaluable resource tool for you and your customers.</p>
<p>Let’s take our example of the worst case scenario earlier and say that there is NO record of that customer’s issue. By searching your database of issues reported by this customer in the past, (and perhaps similar issues from other customers) you’ll find a solution immediately.</p>
<p>Customer satisfaction will grow as customers see their needs are valued. If a client calls to check on the status of a problem, you should be able to share that status immediately. Prompt and accurate answers to their questions will let your clients know you care about their issues and aren’t just twiddling your thumbs.</p>
<p>Without clients and end-users, you don’t have a business. Using your workflow with customers in mind is treating yourself right.</p>
7 Habits of Highly Effective Project Managers2017-02-21T00:00:00+00:002017-02-21T00:00:00+00:00https://sifterapp.com/blog/2017/02/7-habits-of-highly-effective-project-managers/Garrett Dimon
<p> </p>
<p>Steven Covey’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People"><em>7 Habits of Highly Effective People</em></a> has sold 25 million copies in 40 languages since its publication in 1989, and its tenets have been incorporated into a dizzying array of professions and pursuits.</p>
<p>We’ve found that these principles can apply to project management, too. Whether you’re a project manager or you support one, applying these seven tips can lead to more efficient teamwork and a smoother workflow process.</p>
<h2 id="be-proactive">1. Be Proactive</h2>
<p>A proactive project manager is a step ahead of a one who is caught responding to the actions of others. Navigating changes during the course of a project is a crucial skill, but it’s best to always have a contingency plan in place for likely (and even unlikely) problems. Outline a project plan before starting any work and try to anticipate possible changes to your outline before they occur.</p>
<p>Proactive project managers also communicate clearly with their team members. Make sure everyone on your team knows their own roles and responsibilities, as well as those of the rest of the team. You’ll avoid slowing down productivity when a problem needs to be handed off to another team member.</p>
<p>By using a tool like Sifter to keep track of specific tasks and responsibilities, you can build a healthy communication process for your team.</p>
<h2 id="begin-with-the-end-in-mind">2. Begin With the End in Mind</h2>
<p>Keep a clear vision of exactly what your team is expected to accomplish. We’ve mentioned this in <a href="https://sifterapp.com/blog/2017/02/when-everythings-a-priority-nothings-a-priority/">previous posts</a>, but it’s still great advice: your project goals must stay at the forefront of all planning decisions.</p>
<h2 id="put-first-things-first">3. Put First Things First</h2>
<p>We’ve said it <a href="https://sifterapp.com/blog/2017/02/when-everythings-a-priority-nothings-a-priority/">before</a>, but try to knock out your most important projects first. First, concentrate on your “big rocks” (a phrase Covey uses for the most important tasks), and then move onto smaller tasks.</p>
<p>Take a website project, for example. You’d need to get your client’s business goals and design objectives in place before developing content. This practice will help you build momentum and avoid becoming distracted by less important tasks.</p>
<p>Of course, it helps when you or any member of your team can use Sifter to check a task’s priority tags to see which rocks are the biggest. The smaller rocks can wait until you’ve cleared away a bit more rubble, so to speak.</p>
<h2 id="think-win-win">4. Think Win-Win</h2>
<p>Foster a win-win mindset between team members and clients. This means that agreements and solutions should be mutually beneficial and satisfying to all parties.</p>
<p>Do your best to see things from other perspectives, and work hard to come up with fair and impartial resolutions when heads start butting. This takes more work than simply overriding the requests of others, but in the end, this will reduce friction and keep project goals at the forefront of the discussion when discussing a compromise.</p>
<h2 id="seek-first-to-understand-then-be-understood">5. Seek First to Understand, Then Be Understood</h2>
<p>In order to understand the perspective of another, you first have to listen to them. Covey frequently refers to “empathic listening” in his book. In short, it’s the practice of listening with emotional identification and compassion.</p>
<p>The idea here is that once you are capable of understanding others, and they become aware of your willingness to share their concerns, they are more willing to return the favor and attempt to see things from your perspective as well.</p>
<p>This kind of communication is beneficial in all walks of life but is particularly pertinent when dealing with groups of people who may have conflicting ideas on how to best achieve your goals.</p>
<h2 id="synergize">6. Synergize</h2>
<p>A great businessman named <a href="http://taragentile.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/ppp_jackdonaghy.png">Jack Donaghy</a> may have said it best, “First of all, never bad mouth synergy.”</p>
<p>Synergy is simply cooperation between groups to accomplish goals that would not have been possible by individuals. And yes, that’s the whole idea of project work.</p>
<p>The major obstacle to this kind of collaboration is getting everyone on board. Your team must set aside their egos and accept that teamwork will be the most effective method.</p>
<p>Synergy can best be achieved through (one more time!) complete and open communication. Share your calendars and task completion schedules, consistently use group brainstorming to solve problems, and actively listen to the concerns of your team will go a long way to promote group synergy.</p>
<h2 id="sharpen-the-saw">7. Sharpen the Saw</h2>
<p>Covey uses the phrase “sharpen the saw” to refer to things like taking care of yourself, resting, eating right, and finding a good work-life balance. For project managers, the meaning I suggest you take away is to stop and improve your tools when the opportunity arises.</p>
<p>Here’s a tale of two web designers: while one is crunching out sites 24/7, the other spends a few hours a week studying new tech advancements, reading update notes, or learning new programming languages. The programmer who keeps adding to his knowledge base will keep his cutting edge sharp, and likely be more valuable than the programmer who stagnates.</p>
<p>Make it part of your culture to give your team an hour a week to sharpen their saw. Through learning a useful application or brushing up on a skill they may not have used in a while, your team will be stronger and you’ll see more wood added to the pile than expected.</p>
<p>Could applying these habits to your team help you meet clients’ needs better?</p>
When Everything's a Priority, Nothing's a Priority2017-02-06T00:00:00+00:002017-02-06T00:00:00+00:00https://sifterapp.com/blog/2017/02/when-everythings-a-priority-nothings-a-priority/Andy Newton
<p> </p>
<p>One day at a former job in IT, two supervisors wanted updates on two separate projects, a team leader needed me to take support calls, and the business owner emailed – asking for a meeting and a blog post.</p>
<p>So which problem would you address first?
(I sat down and took some calls. Customers are the real boss, right?)</p>
<p>Most of us have been in a similar position before. Due to messy organization, supervisors with conflicting needs, or a never-ending string of fires to put out, we know what’s it like to juggle more than one “top priority.”</p>
<p>Here are five steps you can take to help set priorities when everything is urgent.</p>
<h2 id="plan-backward">1. Plan Backward</h2>
<p>Take a look at your milestones and plan backward. Often, we don’t get to choose our own deadlines, so this is an ideal place to start. Examine each task on the road to that milestone and set a clear deadline for it. Work backward, from project completion to present day. You can use <a href="https://sifterapp.com/try/">Sifter</a> to set milestones, label the priority level and assign responsibility. This should give you a good idea of when tasks need (or needed) to start, and it can also help you rank their value. This will create a solid outline of what you need to accomplish and when.</p>
<h2 id="lists-are-your-new-best-friend-if-they-werent-already">2. Lists are your new best friend (If they weren’t already)</h2>
<p>Now, using your outline, make a list of what you plan to accomplish today, tomorrow and this week. Be <strong>honest</strong> with yourself. Try to be as accurate as possible, but remember that more urgent obligations will likely come up.</p>
<p>This is not a best case scenario or dream list; it’s a list of what you plan to accomplish. The best approach is to plan conservatively, rather than to fall further and further behind on a task list that’s too unrealistic. Setting deadlines that are too tight is a good way to end up with shoddy or incomplete work – costing you more time in the long run.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Setting deadlines that are too tight is a good way to end up with shoddy or incomplete work – costing you more time in the long run.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="assess-the-value-of-your-tasks">3. Assess the Value of Your Tasks</h2>
<p>Your team may not agree on the importance of each task. The obvious strategy is to tackle the earliest task due first, but you may not always have that luxury. If a project manager suddenly puts a rush on something you hadn’t planned for, pivot and take it on smoothly. Some tasks can be pushed back more easily than others. Sifter can help you reorganize your priorities by using tags.</p>
<p>Get your team on the same page regarding the difference between “Important” and “Urgent.” Urgent tasks need to be handled immediately to prevent bigger problems. Important tasks have a high priority, but the world won’t end if they aren’t finished in a few hours, or by the end of the day. Replacing an outdated phone system is important, repairing an email outage is urgent. Keeping up with a project timeline is important, hitting a client deadline is urgent.</p>
<p>Sometimes you may not even be sure of one task’s priority compared to another. A good piece of advice, in that case, is:</p>
<h2 id="communicate-with-your-teammates">4. Communicate With Your Teammates</h2>
<p>Ask your team leader which tasks are the highest priority (they might even agree with each other). If there’s a conflict, try to get them talking about it.</p>
<p>If you know you can’t complete a task before someone else finishes another, politely ask them about their status. They may be asking you a similar question tomorrow.</p>
<p>Working on the same page will help you and your team meet goals on time and can cut out a lot of needless frustration when group priorities get out of sync. Sifter can help you out here as well. One of your team members may be flat-out too busy to talk, so just check on a project’s status in Sifter and avoid a “Got a minute?” meeting.</p>
<h2 id="be-flexible">5. Be Flexible</h2>
<p>No matter how much you plan, truly urgent issues will interrupt your schedule. You will have to make compromises.</p>
<p>Evaluate the importance of tasks carefully, because you’ll likely also have to make cuts. Sometimes, entire projects get dropped at a moment’s notice, so know what your next task will be if this happens. Stay calm and stay relaxed.</p>
<p>Changes are a big part of any project; the best thing you can do is roll with the punches, secure in the knowledge that you’re on top of everything. You can also use a tool like <a href="https://sifterapp.com/try/">Sifter</a> to help you nail down your team’s milestones, responsibility and priority.</p>
7 Ways to Improve Your Team's Productivity in 20172017-01-18T00:00:00+00:002017-01-18T00:00:00+00:00https://sifterapp.com/blog/2017/01/7-ways-to-improve-your-teams-productivity-in-2017/Andy Newton
<p> </p>
<h2 id="clearly-define-tasks-and-roles">1. Clearly Define Tasks and Roles</h2>
<p>This may seem obvious, but it’s an important priority. If responsibilities are not well-organized among various team members, crucial project milestones may fall between the cracks. This can divide your team and waste valuable time and energy as you retrace steps that should’ve already been completed and figure out who dropped the ball.</p>
<p>Everyone on your team should understand how they should be spending their time, from what tasks are their responsibility to which projects they should be prioritizing.</p>
<h2 id="openly-set-and-track-goals">2. Openly Set and Track Goals</h2>
<p>Once roles and responsibilities have been clearly established, it’s important to set some goals for your team. As with tasks, team goals should be transparent to all members.</p>
<p>By defining goals and monitoring progress towards them, feedback from managers and other team members becomes an ongoing conversation. And, it reduces the time spent in meetings getting everyone “caught up” with where other team members are at on their projects.</p>
<h2 id="offer-incentives">3. Offer Incentives</h2>
<p>Hitting milestones and completing projects is rewarding for your team in itself, but that doesn’t mean you can’t buy them a couple of pizzas, too. Even small incentives have a positive effect. Consider letting your team suggest some incentives that will motivate them. (Bizarre as it sounds, not everyone likes pizza.) If your team is working particularly hard to meet their goals, a little recognition of that extra effort can go a long way.</p>
<h2 id="manage-distractions">4. Manage Distractions</h2>
<p>Distractions are, by definition, difficult to ignore. How many times do you come into the office with only one project to work on that day? How many times has a team member or project manager interrupted you with the phrase “Got a minute?” (Has it ever actually only been one minute?)</p>
<p>Set up blocks of time for your people to work uninterrupted by phone calls, notifications and instant messages related to other matters. Perhaps encourage team members to mark “busy” time in their calendars to communicate this concept to the rest of the team. It’s important that everyone understands the “how and why” of this practice, though. If some team members or support staff don’t get that this actually helps productivity, they’re more likely to ignore the process.</p>
<p>In the same respect, you may wish to establish periods for team members to check personal email, discuss other projects, or even just walk outside for some fresh air. They can then come back to their primary tasks renewed and unencumbered by other responsibilities.</p>
<h2 id="meet-with-your-team-regularly">5. Meet with Your Team Regularly</h2>
<p>Wait a minute. What was all that about defined tasks and transparent goals? Do you really need to waste time with a meeting, just for the sake of having a meeting?</p>
<p>Of course not. But periodic, consistently scheduled meetings will go more smoothly knowing that everyone is starting on the same page. Instead of communicating through long and hard to follow email or IM chains (or “Got a minute?” meetings), sessions of open communication are an ideal time for group brainstorming, conflict resolution, or revamping of tasks that can save everyone time in the long run.</p>
<p>Meetings on a set schedule are more practical than impromptu “Everyone in the conference room!” scenarios that can that can halt the productivity of the entire group just to hash out a single issue. Make a list of items to be discussed with all team members at once, and know when the appropriate time for that discussion will be.</p>
<p>Another option to consider are short, daily “stand-up” meetings where the most pertinent problems can be quickly addressed. We obviously don’t want too many meetings, but we also don’t want to stall progress waiting for a scheduled project meeting.</p>
<h2 id="avoid-micromanagement">6. Avoid Micromanagement</h2>
<p>You assigned these tasks to other people for a reason, right? Give your team some room to make judgements on their own. If every member has to stop and account for each step at any given moment, productivity will suffer. Unless the issue is urgent, save it for the meeting.</p>
<h2 id="make-use-of-technology">7. Make use of Technology</h2>
<p>Advances in technology over the past few years have made it easier than ever to connect, collaborate and organize with your team like never before. It is important to use the right tool for each job, though. Email chains are often not the best method for communicating complicated subjects among groups of people, particularly when tracking an issue that requires multiple parties working in discrete stages.</p>
<p>Consider <a href="https://sifterapp.com/try/">Sifter</a> for simple or complex issue tracking to provide clear status reports and improve accountability. Sifter even works well for the less technically savvy members of your team. Save time by tracking issues with one program, rather than sorting through an email chain with five or more contributors.</p>
<p>We want you to have a productive and successful new year. If you have any additional tips for keeping your team on track, let us know on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/@sifterapp">@sifterapp</a>.</p>
The Point Is Winning, Not Passing Blame2016-09-19T00:00:00+00:002016-09-19T00:00:00+00:00https://sifterapp.com/blog/2016/09/the-point-is-winning-not-passing-blame/Andy Newton
<p> </p>
<p>If your team was anything like ours here at Sifter, you spent quite a bit of time last month watching the Olympics down in Rio.</p>
<p>Amidst the stellar displays of athleticism and sportsmanship came a funny realization: the dynamics of team sports have a lot in common with the dynamics of teams managing an issue.</p>
<h2 id="the-business-metaphors-write-themselves">The business metaphors write themselves</h2>
<p>Take, for example, indoor volleyball. Have you caught any of the matches? The players hit missiles left and right. They play complicated chess matches of power and finesse. This is not your niece Tiffany’s high school volleyball. For one thing, there’s more grunting. The stakes are higher, and with medals on the line, people leave everything on the court.</p>
<p>Every player has world-class talent, and every single person knows his or her responsibility. No matter the rotation, three front row players hit the same spot. A key defender dominates the back row. A fourth attacker serves a double role as defender, and perhaps most important of all, each team designates someone to set up the attackers.</p>
<p>The business metaphors write themselves: When a coach assigns responsibility and when each player, in turn, accepts accountability with the team, they can embrace the madness. They can only succeed if they act as a single cohesive unit.</p>
<p>The key is accepting both responsibility and accountability.</p>
<h2 id="responsibility-and-accountability">Responsibility and accountability</h2>
<p>Once they know their responsibilities, the team can practice and train to become better at doing specific tasks. If something goes wrong, everyone can quickly diagnose the problem.</p>
<p>Because of the fast-paced nature of the environment, the competition, the person at fault can quickly recognize the breakdown, apologize, and re-engage. The goal is never passing blame. The goal is to overcome breakdowns and, of course, winning.</p>
<p>Imagine if your team at work functioned like a volleyball team.</p>
<p>Sometimes the ball comes flying at you unpredictably. Sometimes, an erratic trajectory creates chaos. People scramble to cover one another, to catch mistakes before they happen. When the emergency passes, the team resets. Each member resumes his or her position of responsibility and accountability.</p>
<h2 id="sifter-sets-the-plays">Sifter sets the plays.</h2>
<p>Sifter is the perfect tool to assign such positions to designers and engineers. Your key defender passes the initial report to the proper dev who can assess the situation and fix the issue or set up a third person.</p>
<p>In volleyball, the ball always comes back over the net. In business, new issues will always arise.</p>
<p>Take 15 minutes right now to answer these questions for your team:</p>
<ul>
<li>Is each role clearly defined in your bug and issue-tracking process?</li>
<li>Are team responsibilities documented in a GoogleDoc available in an easy-to-access place like Slack?</li>
<li>Have you established clear accountability?</li>
<li>Have you facilitated a brainstorming session about process improvement? <a href="https://sifterapp.com/blog/2014/01/increasing-software-quality-with-process-and-automation/">This</a> article is a great springboard.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://hbr.org/2011/06/how-toyota-pulls-improvement-f">Toyota is famous</a> for their Toyota Production System, which relies on front-line workers to help improve operations. You are sitting on a treasure trove of insights and improvements. Use some interviews and brainstorming to bring them to the surface.</p>
<p>Your customers will thank you.</p>
Keep Your Software Simple2016-08-26T00:00:00+00:002016-08-26T00:00:00+00:00https://sifterapp.com/blog/2016/08/keep-your-software-simple/Andy Newton
<p> </p>
<p><img src="/blog/images/2016-08-26-keep-your-software-simple/2016-08-26-sifter-blog-2.jpg" alt="brain struggles to understand" /></p>
<p>One of the hardest parts of running a profitable business is dealing with all of the hidden, unpredictable costs. These variables create complexity, and complexity, in turn, constricts cash flow and negatively influences customer retention.</p>
<p>So if you want to grow your business, look for ways to simplify your systems and processes.</p>
<h3 id="hidden-costs-of-complexity">Hidden Costs of Complexity</h3>
<p>Let’s start with the hidden costs of complexity. Complexity—meaning, how hard it is to understand a new software you’re implementing—comes into play early when you’re training your team on it.</p>
<p>The longer your team needs to gain a working knowledge of the software, the more their education costs. The more their education costs, the longer it takes to recoup your investment in the software.</p>
<p>Complexity creates mental drag, and mental drag discourages adoption.</p>
<blockquote>
<h2 id="the-longer-your-team-needs-to-gain-a-working-knowledge-of-the-software-the-more-their-education-costs">“The longer your team needs to gain a working knowledge of the software, the more their education costs.”</h2>
</blockquote>
<p>A software’s complexity also affects your team <em>after</em> initial adoption. You went to all that trouble to research and champion a new solution. You want your team to stick to that solution. But if a tool is <em>hard</em> to use, people use it <em>less</em> often.</p>
<p>The dominoes fall, one by one. People fall off, one by one. You’re left with sunk costs (internally) or unsatisfied customers (externally).</p>
<p>For example, let’s say that half of your sales team uses Salesforce. The other half, who for whatever reason don’t, prefer a random assortment of tools, including Excel and email. Business owners and other stakeholders can’t easily track and analyze their sales data and are thus flying blind.</p>
<h3 id="simplicity--consistency">Simplicity > Consistency</h3>
<p>Steve Jobs talked about delivering complex ideas in simple packages. Why is simple so powerful? Because simplicity trends toward consistency.</p>
<p>If you’re making software solutions for other people, you want them to keep using the product so that they continue to derive value from it. People tend to like tools that are easy to use.</p>
<h3 id="making-incremental-improvements">Making Incremental Improvements</h3>
<p>Every business needs the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flywheel_effect">flywheel effect</a>. Over time, improvements to the business can create momentum in tiny increments.</p>
<p>A customer complains about a product feature. You take note. A competitor launches a new service. You realize you need to strengthen your positioning and raise your prices. A team member has a cool idea for a giveaway.</p>
<p>You don’t have to consider right now but will next week.</p>
<h3 id="put-a-system-in-place">Put a System in Place</h3>
<p>What simple, repeatable system do you have in place to track issues or even capture opportunities? If your current tracking system has proven itself incomplete and inaccurate—due to the software itself or to human error—you might need to simplify.</p>
<p>Many reported issues can be a good sign because fewer issues are lost or forgotten. You can address visible customer support or product issues. It’s the invisible ones that get you.</p>
<p>Even if you can’t fix an issue right away, you can note the issue on your FAQ page or knowledge base to pre-empt customer confusion and complaints.</p>
<p>Your customers will have more patience if they know you know.</p>
<p>Simplicity makes it easier to keep doing something that’s good for the business. Consistency starts a virtuous chain reaction.</p>
<p>Consistent issue tracking and improvement leads to a stronger business and tighter brand. You’ll create a better experience for your customers. A better experience translates into more satisfied customers. Satisfied customers reduce churn. Reduced churn translates into higher profits.</p>
<blockquote>
<h2 id="consistent-issue-tracking-and-improvement-leads-to-a-stronger-business-and-tighter-brand">“Consistent issue tracking and improvement leads to a stronger business and tighter brand.”</h2>
</blockquote>
<p>At Sifter, we believe that issue tracking simplicity and consistency win the day. They are the antidote to complexity and its hidden costs.</p>
<p>After all, the easiest way to make money is to not lose it in the first place.</p>
<p>What kind of successful systems does your team use?</p>
5 Ways to Help Teams Adopt New Technology2016-06-09T00:00:00+00:002016-06-09T00:00:00+00:00https://sifterapp.com/blog/2016/06/5-ways-to-help-teams-adopt-new-technology/Andy Newton
<p> </p>
<p><img src="/blog/images/2016-06-09-5-ways-to-help-teams-adopt-new-technology/2016-06-10-Sifter-Blog-01.jpg" alt="hands with wristwatches typing" /></p>
<p>New technologies sometimes create new opportunities to claw back efficiency. Increase your efficiency, and you can increase your profits. Increase your profits and, well, you get the point.</p>
<p>So why is it so hard sometimes to integrate a new app or service into your existing workflow?</p>
<p>For starters, not all of us on our teams are tech-savvy. And in order to use a tool like Sifter with any effectiveness, you need buy-in from your whole team, which may include some non-techies. If some of your people dig in their heels, then your nifty little innovation may stall out.</p>
<p>Sifter was designed specifically with the non-technical person in mind. To drive home that focus, the purpose of this post is very simple: we want to help you onboard your people.</p>
<h2 id="tip-1-use-concepts-people-already-know-to-explain-ones-they-dont">Tip #1 – Use concepts people already know to explain ones they don’t.</h2>
<p>Stay away from technical jargon if you can. Most people now understand the basic principles of email and social media. They can tag their friends, upload pictures, or attach documents. Lean on that understanding when you’re introducing them to Sifter. (For more thoughts on using “sticky” language, check out <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Made-Stick-Ideas-Survive-Others/dp/1400064287?ie=UTF8&keywords=make%20it%20stick&qid=1464722069&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2">Made to Stick</a> by Chip and Dan Heath.)</p>
<h2 id="tip-2-create-very-short-screen-capture-tutorial-videos">Tip #2 – Create very short screen-capture tutorial videos.</h2>
<p>A series of videos (or even short PowerPoint or Keynote presentations) can quickly help your people understand why and how you use Sifter. Recruit a team member who is already quite conversant with Sifter to go through the basic functionality and features. Stick to layman’s terms.</p>
<h2 id="tip-3--give-your-team-a-deadline-for-adopting-the-new-system">Tip #3 – Give your team a deadline for adopting the new system.</h2>
<p>We’ve all had those coworkers who are—<em>ahem</em>—stuck in their ways. They resist change, not because they’re lazy, but because they’re already very busy. Why wouldn’t they? Any new app threatens to disrupt their already packed and balanced day-to-day routines. So force the issue. Even people who resist change have a lot to offer. Your job as a leader is to show them how the new app lines up with something they already care about, and more importantly, makes their job easier. Your next job is to set a deadline in order to best help serve their schedule and personality style.</p>
<h2 id="tip-4--make-it-convenient">Tip #4 – Make it convenient.</h2>
<p>Save any screen-capture tutorials in a Dropbox or GoogleDrive folder that everyone can access. And consider creating a quick-reference guide that people can keep at their desks. This “cheatsheet” doesn’t require them to memorize a large chunk of new information, but it puts the most information at their fingertips. Be sure to add the Help Desk link to the cheatsheet: <a href="http://help.sifterapp.com/.">http://help.sifterapp.com/.</a></p>
<h2 id="tip-5-have-an-honest-conversation">Tip #5 – Have an honest conversation.</h2>
<p>The best way to achieve non-techie buy-in is to set aside some time and encourage questions about the new software you’re implementing. Formal meetings create a sense of shared responsibility, and questions help to get fears out in the open before they can sabotage anything.</p>
<p><img src="/blog/images/2016-06-09-5-ways-to-help-teams-adopt-new-technology/2016-06-10-Sifter-Blog-02.jpg" alt="chat bubbles below a crown" /></p>
<h1 id="communication-is-king">Communication Is King</h1>
<p>Within Sifter you can set up multiple channels of communication for your team. Why not create a Frequently Asked Questions channel within Sifter? Drop in a link to your quick reference guide and videos folder and allow every team member to interact within that channel to learn the new system.</p>
<p>Not only will you foster faster adoption, but you’ll create an environment where it’s okay to have questions.</p>
<p>The stronger the trust, the stronger the team. The stronger the team, the stronger the product. The stronger the product, the better chance you have at turning a profit.</p>
<p>Do you have any other tips for training that you’ve found using Sifter? Let us know! We love our clients and client feedback consistently helps us enhance and develop new features.</p>