Jimmy just asked us on the forums if it is possible to take “notes” on the Pelotonics system without sending out email notification to members of the project. This can come in handy when you want to archive critical project-based information for reference.

There are two ways to accomplish this within Pelotonics. (at least that I can think of right now!) Both of these methods are accomplished in the Messages section.

1. Create a Message Folder called “Notes”. Then create messages that contain the information you want to store as a note. Do not choose anyone on the email distribution.

This method gives you the ability to take notes and filter down to them using the foldering system.

2. On the front end of a message, append the words: “Note:”. This will identify all notes within your system. You can then use the search feature to filter down to your notes.

Special note: in these examples and per Jimmy’s question, there is no need to send out an email when you are creating a note. Your team will be able to see new notes in the Messages section, on the Dashboard, or on the Project Summary screens. It boils down to making sure that your team is following a consistent and agreed upon workflow!

Thanks for the question Jimmy. I hope this answers it!

Tweet This Post

We are constantly thinking about what the future holds for Project Management. It is clear that groups are changing the way they manage projects. New highly available tools like Pelotonics are helping groups and organzations get a handle on what needs to be done and where things are at.

A friend of my mother contacted me on Facebook recently and stated that she had a funny picture of my mom that she was going to send to me. Now, if this was just an email or phone-based promise, the chances of me seeing that picture go waaaay down. In my view, because she COMMITTED to send me the picture on a semi-public forum like Facebook, it happened like clock work! She scanned in the picture from the 80’s and sent it to me via email. A scant two years ago this same individual would have most likely not have done this citing it was too complicated or most likely she would have forgotten and moved on to other priorities.

It is my observation that a promise or committment made in public is much more likely to get done as stated. Leaving a Milestone or Task in Pelotonics assigned to a specific individual is a highly efficient way of getting things done; because they actually get done!

Do an experiment. Delegate something via email only and pay attention to the timelyness and accuracy of the output. Then delegate something in a public forum that has some legacy like Pelotonics, a Wiki or Facebook. You will notice that those tasks and deliverables made and agreed to in a public setting are much more likely to get finished on time and with more accuracy.

It is in everyone’s best interest to make Project Management a public and social endeavor. Over the next few months be looking for more social aspects to the Pelotonics platform!

Give delegation in a public forum a try! I would love to hear the outcome of your experiments.

Tweet This Post

Many of our users tell us they love the Task Report! If you don’t know what the Task Report is, it’s a report under the Reports Tab in the Pelotonics System that allows you to see all of your Tasks (or any other user that you would have access to within one of your Projects) across all of your Projects.

So what’s the big deal?

Well if you add Due Dates to your Tasks, there’s a quick filter on top of the report where you can filter what’s late, what’s due today, or what’s due within the next five days. It’s the ultimate check list!

Also, if you’re a manager trying to figure out how much one of your employees has on their plate (either late or this week), just change the filter over to them and find out!

Watch the video below to find out about a quick little tool to help you get to the Task Report even Faster! Just enter “/createreports.aspx?login=reports” to the end of your login URL.

Example: if your URL is “http://designfirm.pelowork.com” just change your bookmark to, “http://designfirm.pelowork.com/createreports.aspx?login=reports” it’s that easy!

Tweet This Post

What a great question! I can’t believe that we have not highlighted this before. Everyone on the Pelotonics system can have a “drop box” of sorts by working with the Evernote integration. Once you enable the integration, you will be able to copy emails out of your Outlook with the click of a button OR forward emails into your account by using a unique email address. Here’s how you do it:

Step 1

To start, you will need an Evernote account. You can sign up for Evernote at their website.

Step 2

Go into Pelotonics and find your profile in the Global Contacts section or in the Contacts section of any project. Edit your profile and look right under the Dashboard tab to find the “Evernote Settings” link.

When you click on the “Evernote Settings” link, you will be prompted to authorize communications between Pelotonics and Evernote. After you authorize this, you will then have an Evernote tab on the Dashboard level of the Pelotonics Interface. All of your notes will be presented within the Pelotonics application!

Step 3

Once you install Evernote, you will be able to get your unique email address from the Settings menu within Evernote.

Once you have this address, any emails you send to it will automatically be inserted into your Evernote account and by extension, your Pelotonics account as well!

Step 4

Evernote also provides you with an embedded button in Outlook that you can use to clip your emails to Evernote rather easily. Once you clip your emails or forward your email on to Evernote, they will be available for you in Pelotonics to assign out as tasks or turn into messages.

GTD Fest

We have noticed that many of our users are GTD enthusiasts. Using the email forward to Pelotonics will allow you to get all of your relevant emails into your trusted group system. Once in the system, they will be out of your head and you can focus on more important things!

Tweet This Post

Here’s a screencast I put together to show you how it works. Now, you can easily get a content only view of a page, clip it to Evernote and then turn that page into a task or message within Pelotonics! It is very easily done and helps cut through the clutter that we normally have to fight through.

Try it out and enjoy!

Tweet This Post

I was talking with a potential Pelotonics user over in England yesterday and she posed a great question. I figured that I would post the answer to this question for everyone to benefit from. Here was Nina’s question and requirement:

How can I manage people resources within Pelotonics?

This requirement is not just necessary for a business working on a large number of projects, it could be the difference between profitability and not! When I was at Blue Sky Broadcast managing our video production department, I had these types of questions every time we won new business.

Who can I assign to this?

What’s (insert name here)’s workload like right now?

Is that month a tough one for us as a company or do we have the capacity?

The good news is that with Pelotonics you can gain visibilty into all of these questions using two elements: The Global Calendar and Project Manager designations. Let me show you what I mean in this webcast:

Our approach maintains simplicity, yet provides a manager with the information they need to make that next assignment. Our assumption is that managers and their teams are transparent and up front about project requirements and scheduling. In my observation, teams become better at planning their resources as they gain experience in working similar projects and melding as a group.

Let us know how you plan your resources out for projects. I would love to hear!

Tweet This Post

Based on user suggestions we now give you the choice of sending an email notification or not when creating a new appointment on a calendar within Pelotonics. This gives you the ability to add people to an appointment without bugging them with an associated email. This is especially good when you have a conversation with someone and schedule a meeting…but don’t necessarily want to clutter their inbox with that same information.

Please be aware that you are still able to establish a reminder for the event!

Here’s a screencast that shows the detail:

Tweet This Post

This latest feature is simple, yet powerful. Here’s how it works. You may notice that each of your contacts now has an “Add Note” link under their picture or avatar. Clicking this link presents you with a modal where you can enter in any textual information you wish about this contact. This is a great feature for tracking the following:

1. Birthdays
2. Personal information
3. Preferences
4. Relevant History
5. Background

By tracking such information on a contact level, you can better manage your relationships with each of your clients, vendors, subcontractors, etc. We hope that you enjoy this feature. Please let us know how you are using it!

Tweet This Post

As I rode my mountain bike on New Year’s day, I noticed a few interesting things. When I started out, I was in a hilly forest that was quite thick. In many respects, I couldn’t see the forest for the trees! It was nice and cool, but otherwise a bit boring. As I climbed up the trail, I finally hit a ridge line. My perspective was drastically changed at that point. I could see down the valley from which I had come. I could also see the peak which was my ultimate goal. The finish line was finally in sight and I knew how to get there.

Many times, when engaging in project work with a team, we forget to check our perspectives. Some people on the team can stay in the forest and get the blocking and tackling work done, but someone or a small subset of the project group needs to have the ridge line view. Without this perspective, the project will have a tendency to wander and change frequently.

Ask yourself these questions to determine your perspective:

1. Do I have a clear vision of what the finish line looks like for this project?
2. Am I so overwhelmed with the details that I can’t think about the higher-level issues and objectives?
3. Am I watching my project wander on a daily or weekly basis?
4. Are daily “fires” taking the limelight and making the project suffer?
5. When I go to sleep at night, what am I thinking about? High-level opportunities or low-level details?

You will notice some common themes in those questions. If you are focused on the details, that typically means that you don’t have the details adequately organized, assigned out and accounted for.

I had a call from a client today asking me if there was a way to view all of his Milestones across all of his projects. I showed him the Global Calendar and he was in heaven. His perspective had changed. He was now on the ridge line with a great view of all his projects. He now knew where he had been and where he was going. It was a beautiful thing.

Think about how you can change your perspective to be more productive. A manager in the trees is not helpful; climb that mountain and get the view you need to run your projects with excellence!

Tweet This Post

As larger numbers of people are visiting our website and signing up for our application, we are learning that we need to offer some help to our growing user base. Many of the people that “get it” with regard to the Pelotonics system eventually need to sell the concept to management. This can sometimes be a tricky proposition and become bogged down in committees and other friction-producing groups.

As a result, I have come up with a short list of why Pelotonics makes sense for businessess and organizations. I will have this turned into a professional PDF that people can print out from our site to share with those stake holders they are trying to win over to the thought of using Pelotonics to make their businesses better.

I would also like to give a big thank you to all of our recent customers. We have recieved many great feature ideas and other productive directions as we have been talking. Remember that we are always available on PeloTV, so come join us in the conversation!

Here’s the top ten reasons organizations benefit from using Pelotonics:

1. Pelotonics creates efficiencies that will give us the ability to handle more projects with the same number of people!

2. Our project management process with Pelotonics can be highlighted in our marketing efforts to win new business.

3. Our clients will understand where their projects stand; all without calling us. You know the phone call. It usually starts with “where are we at?” Less time on the phone with clients means more time executing on the tasks at hand.

4. Details will stop “falling through the cracks”.

5. Our meetings will be shorter and more effective because information will be increasingly accessible, timely and meaningful.

6. We will be viewed as a leader in our market.

7. With a higher degree of organization, we will spend less time catching up with our projects and more time executing on them.

8. Accountability will produce greater returns for us in all of our projects. No more excuses!

9. You will “manage by exception” using the executive Dashboard. Reports will alert you to project areas that need to be addressed and focused on. You will see problems well before they are critical.

10. Best of all, we should all sleep better at night knowing that our projects are organized and accounted for in a “Trusted System”. 

Tweet This Post