#symphonical

[leee787]

Enchanted Forest by Olabero http://ift.tt/1nH41Tb

[heycole-blog]

And The Winner is...

After many weeks of testing out 4 different multitasking/task management apps we have finally come to the conclusion as to which best suited us here at Hey Cole, and which one is reigned our winner.

Before we reveal our personal favorite, lets review the apps we have explored once more.

1) Evernote - Cole was the only person using Evernote. She used it for keeping track of expenses while on the road. She originally was making different “notes” for different topics that she needed to work on. This information was all then transferred to Symphonical (see number 3)

2) Wunderlist - Again, Cole was the only person using this app and decided that she would only use Wunderlist for personal items such as keeping a list of movies she wanted to watch or new music she wanted to listen to. Upon further review this could be handled via Trello.

3) Symphonical - Cole took all of the information originally in Evernote (except expenses) and migrated it into Symphonical. Once that was complete we decided this would be the site that everyone in the office would try. The biggest downside is that Symphonical is not technically an app and after asking the company regarding the status of an app they told us there was no plan on building one. On both smartphones and iPad’s you are required to use the regular website version since there is no App. We do find Symphonical to be helpful and we do enjoy using it.

4) Trello - This is the second app that the office used. We loved how easy it was to label our cards by color coding and the ease it came with to create multiple checklists. This app was pretty similar to Symphonical. At first we thought it had too many steps compared to Symphonical but once we really sat down and gave it a chance we grew to like all of the options Trello had to offer.

So who was our champ?

Drum roll please….

And the winner is….TRELLO!

We can’t deny it. Hey Cole loves Trello. It’s clean and easy to navigate. We are so happy we took a second look at Trello. Even though Symphonical was a close second the fact that Trello was an actual app that is offered to be downloaded on your tablet, android, iphone, or ipad is something that could not be overlooked. We will definitely continue to use Trello and must admit this multitasking/task management app study has been very helpful in our quest to see if these apps are even worth it!

[heycole-blog]

Taking Another Look at Trello

As you know we have spent the last few months trying out different task management/organization apps. The process has been very interesting and we are close to figuring out either who the big winner is or what the right combination of apps is to make us the most organized we can be.

Each week we tried out different apps and each and every one had their pros and cons. Let’s briefly reviewed what we have learned:

1) Evernote - Cole is the only person using Evernote. She uses it for keeping track of expenses while on the road. She originally was making different “notes” for different topics that she needed to work on. This information was all them transferred to Symphonical (see number 3)

2) Wunderlist - Again, Cole was the only person using this app and decided that she would only use Wunderlist for personal items such as keeping a list of movies she wanted to watch or new music she wanted to listen to. Upon further review this could be handled via Trello.

3) Symphonical - Cole took all of the information originally in Evernote (except expenses) and migrated it into Symphonical. Once that was complete we decided this would be the site that everyone in the office would try. The biggest downside is that Symphonocal is not technically an app and after asking the company regarding the status of an app they told us there was no plan on building one. On both smartphones and iPad’s you are required to use the regular website version since there is no App. We do find Symphonical to be helpful and we do enjoy using it.

4) Trello - Cole and myself are the only one who’ve experimented with Trello. So far so good. We will be introducing to the office soon once we figure out all the tricks, kinks, and figure out the best way to use this app. We originally thought Trello had too many steps compared to Symphonical, even though there is more steps to creating a task in Trello compared to Symphonical it is actually quite feasible and easy to figure out. It also has the capabilities of being more thorough.

After Symphonical we had thought the search was over but after some trial and error with using it we decided to try one more app that we had heard about, Trello. At first we weren’t sure, but realized we were blinded by our love for Symphonical to see what kinds of different benefits Trello could offer us; so we decided to give it a shot for an additional week...

Well, let’s just say that this time we entered Trello with an open mind and we grew to really like it. We are currently working on finishing our new website and the checklist and labeling that Trello offers has really helped us stay organized with that process.

The breakdown of having different “boards” for different topics is great. For example we can have a board with our roster, one for internal social networking, another one for the college booking conferences we attend and additional one to keep track of other projects.

The organization of the app is fantastic. Our board for our roster has a “card” for each artist we represent. It allows us log standard activity, assign tasks for that artist to someone in the office, plus start different checklists. The board for internal social networking has a different “card” for each social networking site so we can assign blogs under the Tumblr card and see what tweets we need for the following week under the Twitter card. I think you get my drift here.

If you have been following our study I am sure you can figure out which apps are out of the running for number one app, and which ones are the front runner. Have any of you guys used any of the listed apps? Which ones? What was your favorite? Let us know.

[heycole-blog]

Weighing the Pros & Cons of Multi-Tasking/Organizational Apps

For the past 3-4 weeks we have been testing out multitasking/organization apps. Our focus was on Evernote, Wunderlist, and Symphonical. Our original plan did include Timeli., but after looking into the app further we realized it wouldn’t benefit our needs. We also planned on trying out Springpad; unfortunately when Springpad updated it came along with many new glitches that made us unable to use it. Even with a couple of set back, we feel as though we have found the best contenders.

Each one of the apps came with their pros and cons. When we compiled a list of the pros and cons (see previous blog posts for individual list of each) and compared each app to each other we realized that these three apps compliment each other to certain points. What Symphonical is missing, Evernote makes up for it, and same goes for Wunderlist.

These apps truly do help with the flow of the office. Multitasking apps enable offices and their employees to stay well organized and achieve great productivity. Overall, no matter what app you choose to use we believe they will benefit your personal work ethic or even help with productivity at home.

We are not done yet with this study though! Now that we have individually test out these apps we are now going to enforce the use of them in our office to see which one fits the best for group tasks. I think we have a front runner already- but we won’t give away any spoilers.

[heycole-blog]

Multitasking/Organization Apps - Cole's Results Using Symphonical

Today was suppose to be a review of Springpad for our multitasking/organization app study. Unfortunately due to glitches with Springpad’s new update Cole was unable to properly test it out. After searching for a replacement she came across Symphonical in the Google Chrome Store. Symphonical is a task and project management website (and google chrome extension) consisting of digital sticky notes on a virtual wall.

What made Cole select Symphonical over other options like Google Keep (which appeared to be pretty much exactly like Evernote) was the ability for contacts to set up a profile so that tasks and projects could be assigned to them. But really that was only where the good news began.

While Cole was trying Symphonical out she added me as a member. This was because she had put a task up that was going to be assigned to me. I could see the task but needed to set up a profile in order to fully access the site. Setting up a profile took only a few minutes. My first thought once in my account was how incredibly organized it looked. It not only lists tasks but it is color coded in order of the task’s priority (High, medium, low, uncategorized). In addition to the color coding option, you can create columns and file more tasks under each column.

Here are some of the stand out features Symphonical offers...

Can share a wall with other Symphonical users.

Type in email of user you would like to share your wall with.

Can assign tasks to other Symphonical users.

Fun fact! The users icon will show up next to the task they are assigned to.

Double clicking a task will open task to see more details about that certain task.

You can insert thorough information for the person who is assigned the task. Both of you can keep updated notes in there.

There is also a section on the right hand side where you can leave comments for each other, it’s basically like a “chat session” within the task.

You can also upload files to attach to the task.

Shortcuts are enabled when you single click a task.

Open Details of Task

Color Code Task

Mark as Finished

Delete Task

Assign Task

Move or Copy to Another Wall

Set a Due Date

You have the option of keeping walls private or public

If you chose private, you can still share with selected users.

Has an activity wall.

Keeps track of new tasks added or finished.

Will let you know which user did what with each individual task.

Calendar View or Virtual Wall View option.

Can print walls.

One of the coolest features is the ability to start a Google Hangout with members of your team while working on project management or even having a meeting and being able to add or delete things off the task lists.

Symphonical is not just a place to list tasks; it also comes with many different options such as a weekly planner, monthly overview, monthly agendas, board meetings, swot analysis (helps with decision making, i.e. compare strengths to weaknesses), scrum board (review daily progress of your team), and develop games for the office.

Symphonical is technically not an app just yet, however you can access it via the Google Chrome Extension or the website itself. Although it’s not technically available for tablets or smartphones, the site is easily accessible by just going to the website and logging in rather than an app. Just think, you don’t have to worry about pesky updates.

Symphonical has an easy to use mobile web browser. It is very clean and views great online. A downside to this program is not being able to view a task in it’s entirety without opening it. Besides that, we definitely love this app in our office. It is a great way to stay organized and work on projects together as a team.

We are one step closer to deciding which app we believe best suits us here at Hey Cole. Check back next week as we weigh the pros and cons of all three apps!

[marrmar]

See, I'm not fond of the "I'm not good enough" type posts. You're more than good enough. You're good enough to be you and that's all you need. This goes for all girls who think they're not good enough for something. "Not good enough" doesn't exist.

Oh my goodness awh this the sweetest message ever :) thank youuu