At our December monthly meeting, Joe Hale demonstrated Trello, a web-based productivity system based on the supply-chain management concept of *kanban*. A Trello board is made of "lists" of self-contained "cards." Each card should have all of the information needed to take action, such as to-do checklists, photos, links to documentation, etc. The state of the card is indicated by the name of its list ("Ideas", "Active", "Need Help", etc). The "goal" is for the cards to move from left to right as ideas progress from vague concepts to completed projects.
[caption id="attachment_1706" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Trello at a
glance: here's some of our ideas and active projects.[/caption]
It's important for all of us to know what projects are underway at Interlock. Many of us have particular skills or equipment that could help a project move along, or we might simply be interested in learning more by collaborating. While it's great to get together and talk about plans in person each month, it's impossible to get all of us together at the same time with any regularity, and sometimes inspiration hits at weird times. Having an easy mechanism to jot down ideas, track the progress of projects, and collaborate with others is helping us be more effective and creative already, and the detailed records of a project evolving should help us blog with more regularly!
Please feel free to browse our public projects board to see what we're up to between our monthly meetings. If you're an Interlock member and would like access, create a Trello account and then let Joe or another board member know your username.