Google analytics helps me identify business strategies

Watching how your own website is used can become a bit addictive. I'm interested not in how it is being used right now, or in historical information. Now I've been using it for some months it is clear to me that spotting the trends is important. For example, when the map overlay shows a flurry of interest from one country or city then I can expect to get a call from there, or it may be just the place I need to aim some marketing at. Similarly, finding out which pages are most accessed hints at what value people are placing on different parts of it.

Google Analytics takes only 10 minutes to set up. You do need to be the owner of the webiste (or ask your IT department to help). It is really not complicated http://www.google.com/analytics/

Do you know how your website is being used? Do you know how you would use the information to inform your strategy?

Create charts online, then share

ChartTool offers you a number of types of charts, including meter and bubble which are not on the common "Excel" list of options. You can create your chart online using your own data and then share the results. A useful thing to do is to link these to your website - great if you are keeping track of your improvement efforts and want to find a way to share your results.

http://www.onlinecharttool.com/

Tracking computer use for personal productivity

ManicTime have created a personal time management software application. Dead cool it measures what you are doing on your computer, with what software and over what time (including idle time..). You get all sorts of easy to read and useful graphs.

If you're wondering whether your time on your computer is valuable and if you want to find out what you actually do rather than what you think you do - then try this out http://www.manictime.com/

Using voting buttons in Outlook

OK, so this probably doesn't count as "new stuff" though it is new to me and I've since found it useful.

Outlook has an option where you can send an email with the question in the title and then all the recipients have to do is answer the question by choosing one of the options you give them. They do not need to reply. You can also track the responses.

To set up and use the voting buttons, click on the Options tab which is part of the email msg bar (open a new msg and then usually the bottom row has a bar with Options in it). Click the voting buttons checkbox, select the choices from the list, or make your own list. To make your own list, delete one of the lists available and list your own options, with a semi-colon betwene them. To track the responses, open each reply (that tells Outlook to count the responses). Or you can set outlook to track automatically (Tools - Options - Email options - tracking). To see the results open the original email (usually in your sent folder)

When you create an email with voting buttons, make the subject line the question. In the body of the email write something like "Click on the bar as indicated above to give your response. You do not need to reply to this email".

All this sounds a lot more complicated than it is so try it out.

I use this to test whether I am still required to hold a time / appointment, to ask whether more infomration is required and also who is attending a meeting.

(I use Microsoft Outlook 2003)

No acces to the web? Get a page sent to your email inbox

I'm continually finding staff who have web access denied. While I can understand the fear they may spend half the day on Facebook and eBay, they are also missing out on infomration that is available to them and which may help them in their work.

Nice to see someone has found a way round the problem! If you know the web page you want to view (and yes, you need to know the address so you can't go browing - but it is good if someone has sent you a link you can't access) then send a command in the subject to browse@webinmail.com and the system will send you the webpage you wanted to browse in reply to your mail.

You get the page and if you then want to go deeper into the website, then if you click on the webpage buttons the process can be automatically repeated for you.

A clunky way to view web pages but sometimes it has to be done.

www.webinmail.com for more info

Collaborative projects need collaborative management systems and processes

Most projects don’t fail because of a lack of charts, stats or report. They fail because of a lack of communication. Where the participants are located apart in distance and the conversation about the project are held asynchronously, then there is a high possibility of poor project outcomes unless specific project systems are put in place.

Collaborative project management (CPM) is a methodology that can be applied in these circumstances. It requires a different way of working and the use of project management (PM) tools that are familiar yet used in different ways. To overcome the distance / time issue the majority of CPM methodologies use online systems to support the project team. These range from a small use to cover some gaps through to completely managing the project using sophisticated yet simple to use online systems. To continue to run collaborative type projects without using CPM techniques will likely mean reduced productivity, less documentation of progress, overuse of emails and lost time due to a higher number of face-to-face meetings.

I've listed below a few of the online systems that may be helpful in co-ordinating collaorative projects.


http://www.veoproject.com/home.aspx full online system for projects with templates, gantt charts, roles, tasks etc.

http://www.manymoon.com/auth/login more simplified online project management that combines with Google documents

www.huddle.net good for virtual team working though note specifically project management related

http://www.workflowmax.com/features/jobtracking.html a bit different to project management though useful if you have a number of people on the same project and need to keep track of inputs and outputs

http://www.basecamphq.com/ simple to use and one of the earliest online systems

http://www.teamdirection.com/ lots of features and an MS Project add-in which is useful. Also syncs with Sharepoint. Not specifically online but can support CPM

http://www.trackeroffice.com/tracker_project.html is an Outlook import that integrates with existing software and helps personal as well as group project productivity. Can also be provided on a web basis

http://www.kalmstrom.com/products/Outlook/TimeCard/ an Outlook import that can monitor time spent on a project (productivity / reporting rather than project management)

If you want to use a wiki then there is a wiki on how to do this! http://projectmanagementdemo.pbwiki.com/ Although this can be customised to suit your purposes it feels a bit clunky when compared to the tools available

to keep up to date with “New stuff for change agents” then subscribe to Sarah Fraser’s blog at www.sfassociates.blogspot.com

Simple online feedback system to help you improve: Rypple

I'm impressed. That doesn't happen often, but here is one of those online products that is incredibly simple to use and which can have an extraordinary impact. So you want to know how your project is progressing, how people feel about a change process, what the participants thought of your presentation etc?

www.rypple.com is a simple system where you ask a question and invite people to respond. Their answers are anonymous and you are also able to track your feedback by a graph and see a trend.

My one concern is if it does take off I may be beset by queries from people for feedback - on the other hand that may actually be a good thing.