“Why did I not learn more about Finance?” I repeatedly asked myself, since I started my own business, will I ever get my head around the financial side? Will I ever get better at managing cash flow?
It didn’t make sense to me. I was good with computing cost projections and balance sheets in Global Mobility. I was an excellent math student in high school. I like numbers. My issue was that I lacked the practical understanding of a “good housewife.” I was curious to know how much a liter of milk would cost in the supermarket. I learned those little secrets of saving money in Switzerland, such as Migros and Denner are essentially under the same corporate umbrella, but you can buy twice as much food at Denner. Working as a Global Mobility Leader, I had a good paycheck. In Germany, I would even go grocery shopping in the “bio” shop Alnatura. My mother would say I could go shopping in a pharmacy. For me, this meant “quality of life.” I would not be stressed at the cashier on Saturday because five other people were in line behind me.
There was another reason why I stopped learning more about Finance, investments, and retirement savings when I was employed. I had a bad relationship with money. Money stinks. It doesn’t make you happy. When you have it, you don’t talk about it. I had all sorts of relationship issues with fortune.
If you start as a business owner or feel you need to heal your relationship with money, this article is for you. And if you are not a female founder, but feel you need to get better with money, you may also read this article. Let’s try to understand a few basics of Finance.
1 – Maintain one spreadsheet called Cash Flow Plan
If you want to run a sustainable business, work with a cash flow plan. It can be simple, but you need to have your finances in order. In the early days of my business, I asked my BFF (a Finance guru) to review my business plan. She explained that I would need to ensure that there is a cash flow in and that it is bigger than the cash flow out. Easier said than done, but I still use that same plan over ten years into the business.
2 – Move to a Fluctuating Income
When you are used to a particular lifestyle with a fixed monthly income, you rely on that paycheck often because you tend to tailor your lifestyle around your consistent monthly payment. If you are unemployed or start out as a freelancer, you must get used to a fluctuating income. You probably had 100’000 CHF in your bank account as a starting capital and reserve, and in my experience, you will need that in Switzerland in your first two years in business (unless your business is a hobby).
3 – Find your Finance Guru
Finding the Finance Guru is a challenge I have addressed with bankers several times. Most financial writing is so that no one wants to read it. Some of it does not even make much sense. I received a weird letter the other day and sent it back with edits and side comments. The main message was: We could not deduct money from your account, but there was much fluff around it. It took me a while to understand why this company wrote to me. I have started to read the Cashguru blog now, so at least I know what is happening at the SMI in Switzerland.
The most important figure I remember from uni is the relation between borrowed capital and your capital. Now, if you start, you should use your cash. That’s a lot smarter than lending. It would help to find a healthy ratio between investing and earning for the years ahead. That’s all. Remember that if you have a sole proprietorship in Switzerland, many of your reporting obligations change at the magic 100k CHF turnover mark.
4 – Learn Vocabulary
Suppose you want to appear financially competent when talking to your bank manager, financial advisors, insurance brokers, mortgage providers, or lawyers. In that case, you must know a few basics and speak their language. For example, you need to understand the interest and how it works. Also, adverse interest, debt, and how you get into debt. What is an advantage of a mortgage versus paying rent? How do open and closed investment funds work? I agreed with my bank lady that we would meet in person once a year to review the main issues, look at my risk profile, and discuss my financial planning for the year. I enjoy having a personal contact and someone who helps out in case I need urgent support with online banking.
5 – Budget the Fun Stuff
In the early years and even before I launched my company, I used to spend more than I earned. I applied “Reaganomics .” That did not work. At the time, I needed to understand that this early investment could hinder my potential to get out of the red figures in the long term. In my Female Founder past, I made bad financial decisions. For example, I started to pay myself a salary too early. I listened to an advisor and should have listened to my gut feeling. Remember that other people’s experiences in the business world could be biased. They have opened their business many years before. Switzerland has also suffered from the global economic crisis. The Swiss often have access to networks that foreigners will not get into. Also, men might have faster results than women because of the unconscious biases of their buyers.
Depending on your type of business, you should have a current account, which balances your company and your investments and costs. Please separate your private and company accounts.
My business is cyclical, and once I understood the cost and earning cycle, I could prepare myself better for the downtimes. For example, I have a lot of annual invoices in January, but January is often a slow month. It’s generally better to split invoices into smaller parts. When you ask the insurance provider, they are often willing to support you on a payment plan. If you want to be ahead of your costs, ask for larger invoices and pay them as soon as possible.
One cardinal rule is that I pay all my vendors in advance so that they would always get their money. It means that I have to budget their quarterly invoices, too, and it happened once or twice that I had to put a service on hold because of a lack of funding.
Another principle I have developed is to check my account twice or thrice a week, sometimes even daily. I will issue an invoice once the service has been delivered or the booking has been confirmed.
Many large relocation companies and training agencies have very long payment periods. I suffered greatly from these in the early years of my business. I had delivered a service but sometimes was only paid 60 to 90 days later. Occasionally, invoices got lost in cost center discussions and destructive processes. Once, an invoice was not paid by the company I worked with for over two years.
Now, I am more careful about the agreements in the contracts, and I follow up on outstanding invoices faster. Although I still see room for improvement, my financial stress eased a lot when I started using a tool for small businesses called BEXIO.
Even though Finance is not my favorite subject, I discovered that if I research more about a topic, I can reduce hassle and costs for my business. For example, I clarified how the VAT system works when working across borders. On invoices I received from service providers outside of Switzerland, I asked them to change their invoices so that my company would show as responsible for VAT. I also found a good rule for issuing invoices for service providers located out of Switzerland.
I allow most of my investments to be investments in myself. I enjoy having a beautiful working space I can go to and hang out in all day. I love to go to seminars and invest in my skills and knowledge. I know that I have to be better than average in order to stay competitive and that requires that I keep up to date with technology, and knowledge in my field and update my skills constantly. Keren-Jo Thomas helped me organize my pension and understand what I needed to improve in case I plan to stay in Switzerland during my old age. While this was a down-turner, to say the least, it helped me gain clarity. I also set up my last will and testament as I do not have children and in case of an emergency would like to ensure that my elderly relatives have financial support. Money and food have a lot in common too. If you tend to overeat, you might also tend to overspend.
Before we dive into this further in our next blog post I would like to remind you that you can always talk to me. Book your slot here via Calendly.
Guest Post by Balakirthika Jayakumar
Switzerland is considered a paradise on earth. Every human aspires to set his/her foot on the land of Switzerland. Why is it that one aspires to visit this place? It is the bounty of nature in this country that attracts people. Also, the high standard and quality of living.
The people of India are fortunate enough to have a glimpse of Switzerland through movies. It is a cliché to have a song shot in this country to add richness to the movie. Either personally or virtually people have ideas about this country that is exuding “excellence” on all levels (including but not limited to chocolate and cuckoo clocks).
These days, thanks to social media, we find resources on the net. Your search for any insignificant or significant details and you get them on the Internet. Thanks to the encouragement given by YouTube monetarily and/or intangible recognition that motivates one to share their knowledge and resources. It is up to the person looking out for the information to decide what he/she wants to look at.
I am a fortunate few who did not just read and virtually visit Switzerland but have been blessed to stay in Switzerland that too with a work permit. My husband works for a Switzerland-based company and after years of service in due recognition of his contribution to his company, he was asked to relocate to Switzerland and execute the responsibility globally from the headquarters. My husband is a self-made man with high aspirations felt blessed by the opportunity and with the most difficult dream becoming reality came a series of expectations to make this blessed life more blessed.
The first thing was to give wonderful education to children. To our surprise, the education consultants in India never suggested Switzerland. They supported Germany, but not Switzerland. With determination, my husband put us all on our toes, and the whole family was geared up to find a way. The process looked tedious as we did apply to colleges, but got rejections from many. We did not know the reason though it was clearly stated. The simple reason was the requirement of Work Experience for entering college. In India, we would work only after the completion of the first degree. This difference was not obvious to us in the beginning. Now anybody asks us, we would guide them.
One of the challenges to studying here as per our understanding was the high cost of living. The expense of education was affordable as the government supported the funding for all students. It was the living cost that one had to plan and be equipped with to pursue the education.
Another challenge was the immigration process. The country gets approval from the student that he/she will not demand employment in the country upon completion of studies. A country that readily extended its helping hand to accommodate the student to empower through education unbiased does not assure employment. Unlike the USA, Canada, and the UK, which charge their students a huge amount, but paves way for their employment, here was a country that did not assure the same. Unless the student has the thirst to acquire knowledge and the willpower to sustain the knowledge, he/she would choose the easier destination of the USA and like countries.
If the family relocates to Switzerland these challenges are nullified for the family bears the expenses of stay which is anyhow a necessity. Such was the case for us. The first add-on dream of educating our children abroad got fulfilled. The education system is highly commendable with passionate, unbiased teachers willing to impart knowledge genuinely.
Here the challenge was the pattern of examination. The examination was based on the understanding of the concepts learned. It was never reproducing the concepts. This was a part of the assessment in the education system studied by our children. Now when the whole assessment module revolved around assessing the understanding, it did look challenging in the beginning, but later children knew that the effort required was more and in a new direction and they accommodated themselves for the new system and started learning and implementing the same.
Life in Switzerland is fantastic if you have all the needed money. One had the potential to earn and equally had to shell money for a living. One cannot just casually lead a life. Things have to be planned. Certain commitments like insurance, tax, travel and accommodation are inevitable. A major portion of the earnings is spent on these inevitable. Like any expat, who relocates to Switzerland, we too have landed upon dreams to earn, spend and save for the future. This is an opportunity to create savings. With one person’s earnings, it is not possible to save as per the expectation.
The standard of living raises, the quality of life exceeds the expectation, and self-development increases. One tends to be more systematic and accountable. The trust one has in others is another marvel. The fitness quotient is another dimension that calls for appreciation and motivates one to be so. The dignity of labor is the culture of Switzerland that every country needs to acquire. The discipline inculcated into one from childhood requires a standing ovation. The concern for the environment, the patriotism ingrained in each, and the support they extend for local produce is something amazing.
Having seen all these wonderful aspects of this country as an expat wife with years of experience in my home country, I aspired to render my services to this holistic country. I landed in this country with high hopes of fitting into the job market and doing wonders in this already magical country. With almost score years of experience, I was very confident that I will be quickly absorbed into a renowned company and that there will be great learning as well as a contribution from my side. I took a month’s time to settle and with great enthusiasm started applying for the jobs that were suggested by well-known job portals. There was a rejection the first time, then the second, and then the third. And when the 10th consecutive rejection came, I was shattered.
Every rejection came with a sweet note saying that your experiences are highly appreciable but sorry to share that they do not fit our company requirements. My confidence was reduced and I was literally groping as to what to do next. I had no clue where I went wrong. All these years of experience I had created a mark for myself in my job domain and where did I go wrong? I was not even short-listed. How do I prove myself when not called for personal interaction?
This was when Ms. Sonia Meier, Managing Director / Immigration & Relocation Specialist, BECOMELOCAL GmbH who helped in getting settled in the country shared the details of a series of 3 free workshops to be conducted by Ms. Angie Weinberger, Female Founder, and Managing Director at Global People Transitions Ltd. This was what I was looking for. A helping hand to assist me. It came as a boon. I was a bit apprehensive. With an open mind, I attended the workshop. That was mind-blowing. It was organized so systematically with no strings attached that with no second thought, I enrolled myself in HireMeExpress. This program was for 12 weeks interspersed with one-on-one sessions with Ms. Weinberger. There were many other people like me who were looking for scaffolding. I deem that we were a blessed lot to be part of the group.
I could understand the system that worked in Switzerland. I knew what I had to work on. Never did Ms. Weinberger judge me. She was and is always there to guide me. She seems to understand what goes on inside of me. She understands my state of mind. I have understood how to proceed and what is that I am looking for. With great confidence and determination, my search is on. I am getting a few leads. It is not easy for a locale here also to switch jobs or get into a new job. The same applies to me. But I have got a path now with the destination. Soon I will be there.
I feel instead of being on a mission not knowing how to proceed when we know that there is someone to lend their helping hands, bringing in the human touch to global mobility not merely by words, but from heart, one has to utilize the service and follow the process religiously to embark on the best for you.
I am getting to know the culture of Switzerland. I value their space. I value their beliefs a lot more now. With conviction, I am all set to become the Digital Learning Specialist who would create a mark for herself in the industry as a trainer touching the lives of many. I started working as a Freelance Editor, pulled together several anthologies, and organized a club of writers and my days are busier than ever. While I still look for a full-time job, I cannot stress enough the importance of freelancing to expand my skills and enhance my personal brand and portfolio. I am on my path and look forward to meeting you anywhere in Winterthur, Zurich or Delhi.
If you want to contact me please reach out via LinkedIn or contact me through angela@globalpeopletransitions.com.
By Sean Patrick Hopwood
Riddled with quirky traits and poetic descriptions, the German language is a fascinating one. But why is German called “Das Land der Dichter und Denker”? In this article, we take a look at some wonderful and fun facts about one of the world’s most intriguing languages to explore why it’s considered the language of writers and thinkers!
Das Land der Dichter und Denker
The German phrase translates to ‘The Land of Poets and Thinkers,’ and it’s a common nickname for Germany. German culture ran through the veins of many famous minds that influenced the way the rest of the world reads and interacts with each other.
From Goethe and Schiller to Heine, Mozart, Beethoven, Fred, Klimt, and Einstein, German was spoken by many brilliant leaders and continues to stand tall as one of the most important cultural languages in the world. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, for example, the writer of Faust, is considered one of the greatest national treasures of Germany.
Interesting Facts About the German Language
Did you know that German is among the top 15 most widely-spoken languages on earth? It’s estimated that roughly 1.4% of the world’s population are German speakers. Here are some more interesting facts about the German language that prove that it’s the language of writers and thinkers!
German is a Close Relative to the English Language
German is a West Germanic language, just like the English language. This means that the languages share a lot of similarities and are actually closely related. However, there are many words that look and sound the same, but have totally different meanings!
Proverbs in the German Language Can be Bizarre at Times
Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei – Everything has an end; only a sausage has two. What it really means, however, is that all good things must come to an end at some point.
Das ist nicht dein Bier! – That’s not your beer. The meaningful translation would be that it is none of your business.
In German, All Nouns are Capitalized
If you’ve ever read a newspaper in a part of the German-speaking world, you’d have noticed how the paragraphs are permeated with extra-long words that are written in capital letters. That is because they write all nouns in capital letters. And it’s also part of the reason why written German is such a captivating language.
German is Full of Unique Words Describing German Philosophy
One notable aspect of the German language is its ability to create new, super-specific words that help to express life much more accurately than the English language could ever dream of. Schadenfreude, for example, literally translates the kind of happiness that is derived from someone else’s misfortune or pain. Then there’s Torschlusspanik, the word used to summarize the fear that creeps in with old age and the realization that one doesn’t have much time left, and this evokes a sense of urgency to do certain things before it’s too late.
Many German Words are Compounded Nouns
Did you know that many of the scarily-long German words can probably be broken down into smaller nouns? The German language is well-known for building new words from existing ones. A good example is Handschuhe. It combines the words Hand and Schue (which means shoes) to form a new word for ‘hand shoes’ and literally translates to ‘gloves’ in the English language.
It’s the European Union’s Most Widely-Spoken Language and the Heart of German Culture
Aside from being the official language of Germany, German is also an official language in Austria and Liechtenstein. It’s also a co-official language of Luxembourg and Switzerland, and thus, it is one of the most widely-spoken languages in the European Union! However, the dialect isn’t the same everywhere across the German-speaking world of the European Union, and depending on where you are in Germany, you’ll encounter various German dialects.
Nouns are Masculine, Feminine, or Gender-Neutral
All German nouns have genders, but the gender doesn’t comply with the gender of the object; it’s purely grammatical. According to Mark Twain, young ladies aren’t classified as a specific sex, but turnips are definitely female.
German was the Proud Owner of the World’s Longest Foreign Language Word
The supercalifragilisticexpialidocious you were thinking about might be the longest word in the English language, but German history used to top that! The 63-letter Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz, which means ‘the law concerning the delegation of duties for the supervision of cattle marking and the labeling of beef’ was too much for even the native German speakers. The word was eventually declared obsolete.
Germanic Script only Emerged in the Middle of the 20th Century!
German used to be written with the Fraktur script from the Latin alphabet up until the middle of the twentieth century. Gothic calligraphy was introduced to the language in the 16th century and was in use in German Universities until the end of the Second World War.
Wrapping Up
With all its unique quirks, fascinating words, and captivating phrases, German certainly is a wonderful language that can describe life and all its experiences in a very unique way. It’s no wonder the language is considered the best one that poets and philosophers can use to express their ideas!
So while a German citizen might call their language the language of poets because that’s what they were taught, there’s a very good reason why the rest of the world also agrees. German is one of the richest languages on earth thanks to its huge variety of words.
They have words to describe sounds, processes, and even the effects of certain emotional states, and very few other languages can boast of this. And it is in philosophy and poetry where words are armor to keep up the good fight of spreading knowledge!
Author Bio:
Sean Patrick Hopwood is the President of Day Translations, an academic evaluation services provider. He is also a language polyglot and can speak English, Spanish, French, Arabic, German, Hebrew, and Portuguese with varying levels of fluency. Soccer is one of his many passions. It allows him to socialize with his friends and brings him in close contact with people from other cultures. He loves to dance and salsa is one of his favorite styles.
Have you been chasing a full-time job for too long and are about to get bored at home? Maybe you need to consider career alternatives such as freelancing. You do not have to start your own business right away. There are payroll providers who organize your work permit, payments, social security, and tax payments. We are welcoming your feedback. We are trying to find legitimate and easy ways to earn money online and through platforms. Please send your feedback to monica@globalpeopletransitions.com or comment below the post.
Crowdsourcing
I was invited to work on a project for a large recruiting platform. This was real fun and also the reason why I am exploring the idea further. I learnt a lot, had a great exchange with other participants and did more research into a topic I find interesting. Atmosphere was very professional.
https://www.hyve.net/de/
Create and account and start contributing to ideas. First project was to come up with an idea for a special service and rate other ideas. I enjoyed this as I could choose and it related to my business so I even thought I learnt something. Not sure if I will get paid and how.
Crowdsourcing Platforms in German / French
https://www.entscheiderclub.ch/ueber-uns
Freelancing Platforms
Created a profile to see how it works. You are proposed projects based on your skills (tag specific skills). It is advisable that you transfer your skills from LinkedIn. Guru sends projects based on your skill set. That’s very convenient. Then you hand in a proposal. Within a few days I got selected for a really cool transcription project based on my German. Next step: Do it.
www.jobsinzurich.com/?sector=freelance
JobsinZurich is offering specific freelancing roles through individualized search machines.
Freelancermap was once recommended to me by a programmer at a networking event. He said he got work through this platform regularly. It looks more like a platform for IT Professionals.
https://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome
Heard through the grapevine that mturk is a good platform to work from.
Heard through the grapevine that upwork is a good platform to work from.
Heard through the grapevine that freelance is a good platform to work from.
www.leapforceathome.com/qrp/public/jobs/list?uref=e7ef95699e54a88c3b2da93a6f4495cb
According to a contact, decent pay and work outside the US.
They offer projects and micro tasks that you can start right away from the comfort of your home.
Gignow is a talent marketplace that matches contract workers with gigs at iconic organizations around the world. (present in 42 countries and growing, not in Switzerland yet).
Technical Services
On Mila you can offer technical services in Switzerland. You can also receive fast and competent help with any problems regarding your technical devices.
Bookreviews on Goodreads
Write book reviews on https://www.goodreads.com/ and become an authority there. Edit books and texts if you are an English native speaker.
Support intercultural trainers as a country resource
This has become a great side income for us. We regularly advise expats moving to Switzerland as “country resources”. You can let me know if you are interested in such a work as well for your home county and I could introduce you to trainer colleagues. Payment for two hours is around 200 USD if you are based in Switzerland.
- Technical Aspects
How can you work as a freelancer?
As a “third-country” national or EU/EFTA citizen (without a C-permit) you are not allowed to start a company. As a freelancer you will need your own company (sole proprietorship) to be compliant with social security and tax rules in Switzerland or go through a payrolling company.
You can work with one of the employment companies from this website:
https://www.thebusinessharbour.ch/
Obviously you need to have a work permit in order to work in Switzerland. The B-permit usually allows you to work. With the L-permit a special request to the authority is required.
LinkedIn:
Platforms like LinkedIn become more important than ever nowadays. They enable you to build effective connections and provide a great base for networking all from the comfort of your home. In order to find freelance job opportunities you should polish your LinkedIn profile and make it standout. This involves for example filling your bio with relevant information to capture the recruiters interest or adding a professional headshot. Besides, you want recruiters to be aware of your LinkedIn profile. This is where the “Open to Work” feature comes in quite handy as it signals that you are ready to take on a new job.
Additionally, in this world of anonymity it is highly important to personalize your job applications to standout from the crowd. Customizing and tailoring your documents individually towards each company increases your chances of landing the job position. And finally, you should work on what LinkedIn stands for: Networking. Try to build your network as this gives you the possibility to expand your search area. It enables you to talk directly to your first-degree connections but you could also ask your connections to introduce you to mutual connections. This is where the power of networking lies. Finally, it is always advantageous to be present to increase visibility. Sharing valuable insights or interacting with your network is a great beginning. Another thing you could do is to join and engage with industry-specific LinkedIn groups. And in case you feel extra bold: simply reach out to the hiring manager.
Negative experience
There are a lot of scams and less serious offers out there. The main failure is when they promise you fast money or when you have to pay anything upfront. One danger is as well that you fall into the trap of network marketing (MLM). When you have any doubts please feel free to discuss this with me. It’s also strange when companies ask you for a training fee or anything similar to an advance payment. Also, if you have a negative experience please share it.
Challenges when working from anywhere
Working from anywhere can become a bit lonely, crowded or annoying especially if you do not have an office room. One of the ways to deal with this is to go to a shared office space or work at a café (which is fine as long as you do not have confidential phone conversations).
I know freelancers and entrepreneurs who prefer to have an office where they have to go to and dress up for. It might sound weird but the idea of working in PJ can become less romantic after several days. Test out what works for you. For me the secret is in variety. Work one day at home, one in an office and make sure you build networks and meet real people in your break times.
If you have many projects to juggle, productivity becomes more important. Let me know if you have a challenge around remaining productive.
Here’s an overview of 25 companies with the most work from home jobs in the US.
http://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/25-companies-with-the-most-work-from-home-jobs/
Further Resources
http://digitalnomadhelp.com/findaremotejob/
The Digital Nomad Series:
The Digital Nomad Part 1: Why I’m inspired to grow Global People Transitions Organically
The Digital Nomad Part 2: Same Old or New Breed?
The Digital Nomad Part 3: Improve Your Productivity Kanban-Style
The Digital Nomad Part 4: How To Be A Global Digital Coach, Consultant or Trainer
The Digital Nomad Part 5: Which Channels To Use in Order to be a More Effective Global Digital Nomad
Freelance Writing and Blogging
Please ask me to send you a handout on this topic.
https://globalpeopletransitions.com/guestblogging/
The Digital Nomad – Part 3 – Improve Your Productivity Kanban-Style
Last week, when you could not fall asleep because you felt overwhelmed by the increasing number of items on your to-do list, you had the brilliant idea to buy post-its and start to plan your next four weeks. Then, you also thought about writing down your 25 priorities.
You already felt a little relieved and fell asleep. However, the question remains “did you actually do what you planned the day after?”
I bet you didn’t do it even if you thought it was a great idea.
The good news is that what happened to you last week happens to most of us too. The bad news is that when you do this in your personal life, you are more inclined to do the same in your professional life as well. We accept a mediocre solution or we try to put a plaster on a process instead of analyzing the root cause of the issue.
According to Schwarzt et al (2014), the great majority of companies see this phenomenon as a challenge to productivity and overall performance, but struggles to handle it. According to Deloitte, over half of the respondents to her survey say that “their organizations are not doing a good job helping workers address information overload and today’s demanding work environment.” 57 percent believe their organizations are “weak” when it comes to helping leaders manage difficult schedules and supporting employees manage information flow.
Have we lost all of our ideals of Total Quality Management (This is a management approach to long-term process through customer satisfaction. In a Total Quality Management effort, all members of an organization participates in improving processes, products, services and the culture in which they work) from the good old nineties? Do you know about Kanban and visualizing process flows?
We need to learn how to become more productive and we need to learn it now. If, like me, you are always eager to receive tips on how to increase productivity, check this podcast out.
Kanban
Kanban is a lean method which originated in lean manufacturing, which was inspired by the Toyota Production System. It aims at managing work by balancing demands with available capacity, and by improving the handling of system-level bottlenecks.
In knowledge work and in software development, the aim is to provide a visual process management system which facilitates decision-making about what, when, and how much to produce.
Among the most important characteristics is that work items are visualized to provide a view of progress and process, from start to finish, usually through a Kanban board. Indeed, in Japanese, kanban means “signboard” or “billboard.”
Kanban Boards
A colorful, tidy and good-looking kanban board is one of the most effective tools in project management. It can be used to plan and work through any project, both in your personal and professional life.
Kanban boards visually display a certain process in its various stages using cards to represent work items and columns to represent each phase of the process. Cards are moved from left to right to show progress and to help coordinate teams performing the work.
Simple boards have vertical columns for the “to-do”, “doing”, and “done” work. Alternatively, they may be labelled “waiting”, “in progress” and “completed”. Complex Kanban boards can also be divided into horizontal “swim lanes” representing different types of work or different teams performing the work. Additionally, it can subdivide the “in progress” work into multiple columns to visualise the flow of work across a whole value stream map.
Example of a Kanban board:
Seven core practices for Kanban
Here I suggest six core practices that will make you optimize the efficiency of the tool and become a master of kanban boards.
- Visualize the flow of work. You cannot work on a Kanban board, either physical or electronic, if you cannot visualize the process steps needed to deliver your work. Depending on the complexity of your process and your work-mix, your Kanban board can be very simple or very elaborate. Once you visualize your process, then you can visualize the current work that you and your team are doing.
- Use Colors. Use post-its in different colors for different types of projects. Or, if you decide to use this tool for personal life projects, consider using different colors for different kinds of activities (orange for the projects you wish to complete at home, yellow for your children’s requests, and so on).
- Limit WIP (Work in Progress). It’s important to reduce WIP to a minimum to encourage yourself and your team to complete work at hand first before taking up new work. Work currently in progress must be completed and marked done. This creates capacity in the system, so that you can focus on new tasks. Limiting WIP helps you finish what they are doing already before taking up new stuff. This practice is also useful because it communicates to the customer and other stakeholders that there is limited capacity to do work, and they need to plan carefully what work they ask you or your team to do.
- Manage Flow.. A Kanban system helps you manage flow by highlighting the various phases of the workflow and the status of work in every single phase. Based on how well you defined the workflow and set the limits to WIP, you will observe either a smooth flow of processes or work piling up as a bottleneck forms and starts to hold up capacity. Kanban helps you analyze the system and adjust their work accordingly to improve flow. In this way, you will manage to reduce the time it takes to complete each task. By improving flow, your delivery of work becomes smoother and more predictable, making it easier to communicate to your customer when you will manage to get any work done. You will also automatically increase your reliability to your customers’ eyes.
- Make Process Policies Explicit. Visualize explicitly your policies, process rules or guidelines for how you do your work. In this way, you create common ground for all those involved in the process to understand how to work in the system. The various policies can be at the board level or at a “swim lane” level or for each column. Examples of explicit policies are: what defines a task complete, what describes individual “swim lanes” or columns, who pulls when, etc.
- Implement Feedback Loops. This practice is an essential part of any good system. Kanban encourages and helps you implement different types of feedback loops. If you want to deliver the right work in the shortest possible time, it’s crucial to get feedback early, especially if you ended up on the wrong track.
- Improve Collaboratively, Evolve Experimentally (using the scientific method). The Kanban Method helps you implement small changes and improve gradually in a way that is sustainable for you and your team. It encourages you to form a hypothesis, test it and make changes according to the results you obtain. In a few words, it aims at tackling issues through a scientific method. As an individual or team who aims at being agile, it’s fundamental that you evaluate your process continuously and improve as much as needed.
Notable tools
This is a list of tools that implement the Kanban method. You can test some of them for free.
- Asana, with boards.
- Azure DevOps Server, an integrated ALM-platform for managing work in and across multiple teams.
- CA Technologies Rally, provides teams with the option of managing pull-based, lean software development projects.
- Unicom Focal Point, a portfolio management and product management tool.
- Jira (software), provides kanban boards.
- Microsoft Planner, a planning application available on the Microsoft Office 365 platform.
- Pivotal Tracker provides kanban boards.
- Projektron BCS, project management tool, provides kanban boards for tickets and tasks.
- Trello, cards-based project management.
- Tuleap, an agile open source tool for development teams: customize board columns, set WIP (Work In Progress), connect board with Issue Trackers, Git, Documents.
- Twproject (formerly Teamwork), project and groupware management tool.
- Wrike, an Agile Collaborative Work Management Platform.
Reflection
Think of three ways a Kanban board could facilitate your own professional and/or private life. When you come up with ideas, try to be very specific. They have to reflect what you do and how you operate on your daily routine.
If you haven’t tried Trello yet, try navigating it and setting up your own account.
Resources
If you want to learn more about Kanban:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanban_(development)
If you want to learn more about Kanban implementations and Kanban boards:
https://www.digite.com/kanban/what-is-kanban/
If you want to know why you should use Kanban in marketing https://business901.com/blog1/why-you-should-use-kanban-in-marketing/
If you think your lack of digital competencies is affecting your productivity: https://globalpeopletransitions.com/lack-of-digital-competence-affecting-your-productivity-heres-how-you-escape-that-rut/
If you’re curious to know more about the benefits of handwriting: https://www.fastcompany.com/90389979/5-times-when-using-paper-and-a-pen-is-better-than-using-an-app
References
Piper, J. (2018). Focus in the age of distraction: 35 tips to focus more and work less. Panoma Press, St. Albans.
Schwartz J. et al. (2018, Aug. 4), ‘The overwhelmed employee: Simplify the work environment.’ Deloitte University Press. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/human-capital-trends/2014/hc-trends-2014-overwhelmed-employee.html#:~:text=The%20overwhelmed%20employee%20Simplify%20the%20work%20environment&text=Too%20much%20access%20to%20information,us%20into%20%E2%80%9Coverwhelmed%E2%80%9D%20employees.&text=Sixty%2Dfive%20percent%20of%20executives,ready%E2%80%9D%20to%20deal%20with%20it.
Productivity Makeover with Graham Allcott (Podcast): https://www.sundaebean.com/2019/12/02/152-productivity-makeoverwith-graham-allcott/
If you’re curious to know more about the benefits of handwriting: https://www.fastcompany.com/90389979/5-times-when-using-paper-and-a-pen-is-better-than-using-an-app
References
Piper, J. (2018). Focus in the age of distraction: 35 tips to focus more and work less. Panoma Press, St. Albans.
Schwartz J. et al. (2018, Aug. 4), ‘The overwhelmed employee: Simplify the work environment.’ Deloitte University Press.
