custom-made reports<\/a> a lot. I create the report templates which are highly flexible and then with a single click I can report to my clients and the Product Owners can report to the management in literally 1 minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIntegration with PM services<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
In this topic we have a special situation, most companies use one single Project Management Tool, but we use 2, Trello our standard choice, and Jira because some clients demand it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our first choice is Trello because we get all the flexibility we need. Trello is in many cases uncomprehended. Many times experienced project managers and software engineers say Trello is not their tool because \u201cyou can\u2019t do this or that\u201d. The truth is you can do whatever you want if you know how to use it and integrate it with other tools you are already using, such as Google Documents, Gantt for Trello, GitHub, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I always find a way to prove you can do whatever you want with Trello except for 1 or 2 very specific features from other PM tools. I see it as an almost white canvas, agnostic to the process you use. That is why I find it perfect because you can implement whatever you need and everyone, from clients to collaborators, understands how to use it without instructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everhour integrates with Trello and Jira and many other PM tools literally in a single click.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as I said previously, it is vital for us to have full transparency in all processes with all stakeholders, from collaborators to a client, so this integration is highly relevant because the Client will see the reports using the exact same titles we\u2019re using in Trello\u2019s or Jira\u2019s tickets with the time each collaborator estimated and took in each ticket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flexibility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Easy to imagine, as founder and manager of a small size agency I have to wear several hats, from strategy to marketing decisions, to day-to-day management to product decisions, to business development, I don\u2019t have 2 days that are the same. So I was looking for a tool that could give a structure to my team\u2019s time reporting activity and be flexible enough for my and my co-founder\u2019s asymmetric workdays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This one was a hard decision because some tools are totally flexible, you can log now and assign to a project and ticket later but Everhour was not. While Everhour has a strict user flux here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was fully committed to Everhour when I found this and for a time I was valuing the trade-off until I decided to adopt it for a period test. Now I understand and it actually helps us get even more organized<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe balance between flexibility and guarantees is the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- On one side you have the team always reporting in compliance with the defined tickets that are distributed in each scrum.<\/li>
- On the other side, we created a list in Trello for the recurring tasks: like scrum meetings, strategy meetings, etc. and we keep using these cards for the repetitive tasks.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Adoption curve<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
With Everhour, the onboarding\/adoption for the team was very fast and smooth. Onboarding is a simple email invitation and adoption was immediate from all operational teams: designers, developers, VA\u2019s, marketers, and almost immediately from the managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Price<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
On the price side, Everhour is an outlier on the bright side. It is by far the best pricing. It also provides a free plan!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer Support<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Customer Support wise I also strongly recommend it. Both by email and chat, the support team members always answer in 10 minutes, I always speak with the same account, so they always know what is my context, and they are even open to hearing some of our suggestions, in terms of product usability and UX. This means you are not talking to a machine, rather you have real customer support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was my process to pick Everhour. I hope it helps you if you are pondering Time Tracking \/ Reporting Tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BONUS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Since we\u2019re talking about time and productivity I leave a fast note about my hacks to keep priorities in mind and avoid procrastination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hack your team’s productivity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
On a team level, we do several strategy meetings with the co-founders’ team, to keep priorities in place and all of us aligned with a common strategic vision:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
monthly scrum: up to 4h,
weekly scrum: up to 1h,
daily scrum: 5m > 15m,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note: the meetings always have a predefined agenda shared across all participants at least 1 day before the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Personal productivity hacks (that you can start using today)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
On a personal level, I do a ritual I invented that I call \u201cTo the center<\/em><\/strong>\u201d. This ritual helps me keep the center and focus on the long-term priorities. The ritual is super simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\nI browse a folder with a collection of pictures of 2 kinds: (I) things that I love the most in life and work; and (II) images that inspire me and things I want to achieve. I just do this ritual when I need to come back to the center I want to keep in focus and It helps a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also use the \u201cEat That Frog<\/em><\/strong>\u201d technique. I simply start my day with the most important task that I\u2019m avoiding or feeling more friction to start. The idea comes from a Mark Twain sentence \u201cEat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day\u201d and it was turned into a book by Brian Tracy (that I never read, to be honest).<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe idea is so simple and highly practical that I just started doing it and it simply works. Another detail of this hack is finishing each day picking the frog for the upcoming day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last simple and practical tip: DON\u2019T CHECK YOUR EMAIL in the first 1h of work<\/strong><\/em>. The early hours in the morning are the best for your brain, so use it with the relevant things that need your brain before you get into the daily loop.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEverhour is the top choice for small businesses and small to mid-size teams of 5 to 50 members, including professionals like software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seamlessly integrating with popular project management tools<\/a> like Asana, Trello, and Jira, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution for small and mid-size teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWith dedicated support ensuring you receive timely assistance, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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