Posts Tagged ‘delegating’
March 30th, 2010 | 
Author: What is worse than phone or email tag to schedule a simple phone call or meeting? The back and forth and back and forth, just when you think you got it, someone sneaks in and schedules the time before you get the confirmation. Sometimes it takes longer to schedule the face to face than the actually call or meeting.
So what is a time crunched entrepreneur to do? Get an on-line scheduling tool and leave the tag games to the playground.
This article will compare two great tools that will automatically schedule meetings on your current calendar, Tungle.me and TimeDriver.com.
Comparing the Features
|
Tungle.me |
Timedriver.com |
| Free for basic / Premium features cost | $29.99/year after free trial period |
| 1 calendar | Unlimited Calendars (Schedule Books) |
| A unique link to each invitation sent from you | No invitation to specific times, they see availability and pick a time convenient for them. |
| Synchs with Outlook, Google Calendar, iPhone App, Apple iCal and Entourage | Synchs with Outlook and Google Calendar |
| A lot of control over message content that is sent, how it looks, etc, may add to the ease of scheduling. | Customized messages but a one time setup of the generic message. Simplified invitation. Simply embed or send the link. |
| Confirmation of the invitation schedules appointment on calendar (2 step process) | The client picking the time and confirming it automatically schedules to your calendar. (1 step process) |
| Dashboard interface on website account to edit details of scheduled meetings, changes trigger updated emails to invitees | Dashboard interface on website account to edit details of scheduled meetings, changes trigger updated emails to invitees |
| Multiple people can be invited with multiple proposed times | Single person invited to schedule |
| No download required for invitee | No download required for invitee |
| Can share details of calendar (Actual calendar entries) or just availability. | Only shows availability |
| Total control of availability shown. | Total control of availability shown |
| Meeting requests initiated by a client have an extra confirmation email on their end | Meetings initiated by a client are automatically scheduled |
| Single address http://tungle.me/yourname | Multiple addresses according to your Schedule Book address. Not easily given out as they are a “code”. |
| Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Xing links on your profile page that the client sees. | |
| Tungle.me widget to share availability on your website. | |
| Activity Feed Log to view history |
There are pros and cons with both programs.
Tungle.me is very robust and has given a lot of control to the user, allows multiple invitees and put safeguards to protect you from spammers. Some of the features add a few more steps into the scheduling process and in some cases complicates it a little. If your client’s are not technically savvy this may have a longer learning curve and they may miss some steps. All in all Tungle.me is a very good tool for scheduling.
TimeDriver.com is a very simplified version of a scheduler:
- Send the link via email or embed in other materials.
- Client pick the time from the availability.
- It’s scheduled on your calendar.
- Reminders are sent out.
Having the ability to separate calendars and tasks is a big plus for TimeDriver. Limiting interfacing with only Outlook or Google Calendar may make the decision for you.
Either of these programs will simplify the scheduling of your meetings and phone calls.Before you decide which program to use, try both of the Free versions and see how you like them. Check out the interfaces and controls, schedule a few fake meetings and see how it works from both sides of the scheduling process. They are different enough, you will probably clearly make a decision on one or the other based on what you want to experience or what you want your client to experience.
Either way you can’t go wrong and it will give you back a little bit of your precious time…to go play real tag.
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Lately I have been trying to figure out how to be much more efficient with my time. Part of the reason is that I am so busy and want to free up some time. Another part is I am looking to bring on more team members and I was interested in what it is that I actually “do” that I could delegate to someone else.
I found out something interesting as I have tracked very closely my tasks over the last month. Did you know about 90% of what you do every day you did yesterday or within the last week? As I think about it now I could have guessed that but you just don’t think about your days that way.
I also found out I spent a lot of time figuring out what exactly I did the last time when a task was either very new, or very involved. That made me realize I needed to get much more intentional about making things easier to duplicate by making checklists or procedures.
Here we go again! You decided to be self-employed or an entrepreneur because you didn’t want the constraints of an operations manual or procedures that were too strict. You want to be “free”. I totally agree. So let’s not get overly corporate and form a committee or anything crazy like that, but let’s just use a little reason and make our work more efficient so we can enjoy a little free time or be able to pursue even more profits with our time.
Track your tasks
Boring I know. I was resistant because I am so busy, it was one more thing I had to do. Believe me though it will be enlightening. You will see exactly what is going on, how much time you are wasting, and how much time you spend reinventing your wheel.
Depending on your personality you can be as detailed as you want or just jot some notes. Keep specific clock time or just jot minutes. Do it a minimum of two work weeks. I did it for a month and it was very enlightening.
Analyze the Results
Now go back through what you wrote down. Make three lists:
1) Repeated tasks with how much time spent and how often they are repeated.
2) Tasks that were just one time but could be delegated if needed.
3) Tasks that will be repeated in the future but are infrequent.
Look objectively at each list. For repeated tasks analyze and prioritize those tasks into a list of what will be the biggest bang if you get it under control.
Make a Plan
With that prioritized list begin working on making a future plan. For each task decide:
1) Does it need a procedure outline?
2) Does it need to be delegated?
3) Does it need to be grouped/scheduled better?
Then work through each of the tasks as you normally would over the next few weeks. As you do the task the next time, act on the decision you made above. You can outline it, make plans to delegate it, or group and schedule it to make it more efficient.
Here are a few things I have outlined with a procedure task and am preparing to delegate to my team:
1) Office Supplies- I spent a lot of time figuring out what toner I needed and where to get it at the best price. This potential sand trap can be taken care of with a list of common supplies and where you got them last time. If you are running to the supply store, check the other items from the same place and pick those up if you need them as well.
2) List of Usernames and Passwords- I know you can relate to this one. I do not advocate writing out the specifics because you are just waiting for someone to find it then. Use a code. For example, I use the same basic username and password for everything but with variations. So I may add a number or a letter to the end. In the documentation I will just put the number or the letter as the password as a reminder. I do the same with the username. I also make notes on special situations with the sites. If you have to do anything special or figure anything out, chances are the next time you visit you will have to figure it out again.
3) Gift lists and birthdays- This is not my forte so I will make a list and remember to check it. Someone gave me a tip of buying and addressing all my birthday cards in one weekend at the beginning of the year. They said to place the mail date where the stamp goes and then put them in order. When the time comes, pop a stamp on it and put it in the mail. No promises but could be a good project for my assistant. (I will sign yours mom…)
The major lesson I learned with this exercise is I can do some simple things without getting too complicated that will help me to be more efficient. I also have more confidence that I can hand a task off if I need to and someone can just jump right in and complete it like I would.
Here’s to moving forward…
Susan Snyder Founder/CEO
BuildYourVASkills.com http://www.pcstraining.net
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