How to Use Trello

Different Features of Trello

Trello has become one of the most popular (and free!) workflow or task management apps that are used in the freelancing world. Whether you are a writer, graphic designer, or programmer, you will probably come into contact with Trello at some point in your freelancing career.

What Trello Looks Like

Think of sticky notes. Now, think of each sticky note representing a job. The job could be an article that you have been assigned to write about Jewish burial shrouds. It could be the menu you need to design for an Italian restaurant. Whatever the job is, everything you need to know about it is held on a single sticky note.

As you complete work on the job, you move the sticky note across a whiteboard that has pre-assigned column names. After you write the article about Jewish burial shrouds, you move your sticky note to the column titled “to edit.”  When the editor finishes looking at the piece, he or she moves the sticky note to the next column called “write a meta description.” Once that has been completed, the next person moves the sticky note to the column called “add to WordPress.”

Once you have completed each step in the process, that sticky note can be tucked away in a secure location to review (should you need to) at a later date.

This, my freelancing friends, is Trello. But instead of actual sticky notes that lose their “stick” and fall to the ground, Trello uses virtual notes.

One tricky part about using Trello is that the vocabulary may be a little confusing.

Trello vocabulary

Board – A Trello board usually represents your client. For example, if you have three clients who use Trello, you will have access to three Trello boards. Some clients will give you access to only parts of the board that pertains to your work. Others will allow you to see the entire process, including everyone else’s contribution. 

Card – Think of a card as a giant sticky note that shows the name of your specific job.

Card back – The card back, which can be accessed by clicking on the card, gives the details of your job. This card back can be huge and include anything you would ever need for the job.

How to indicate that a job is complete

The card back can include a check-list of steps that you need to take to complete the assignment. It can consist of helpful links or attachments. It can include written instructions from your clients. Most importantly, it can also include due dates.

As you complete tasks for a specific job, you can click items off the check-list. Once the entire project is complete, you can hand off the project to the next person in the project by clicking and dragging the project the card to the next column.

Communication within Trello

Trello not only serves as a task management software, but it also serves as a communication tool. There are a couple of advantages to communicating through Trello.

You can turn off the notifications for the project whenever you wish.

Are you overwhelmed by notifications and emails at work? If you have a job that requires a lot of concentration, and your phone or computer constantly dings with texts, calls, emails, and notifications, you will appreciate this feature.

Once you have finished your part of the job, you can click the “watch” button on the lower right side of the card back. This way, the work can continue on its merry way, but you don’t have to be continuously alerted to the changes. Others can still message you directly regarding the project, which leads me to my only complaint about Trello . . .

You can send messages to specific people on your Trello board.

All you need to do to send a message to people on Trello is to type @trello user name. The person you sent the message to will be alerted through Trello notifications and email.

The only annoying thing about this feature is that communication via Trello is a little clunky. It takes a little while to figure out the flow of conversation. If someone sends a direct message to you through Trello, you receive a notification that “Susan Smith mentioned you on the card Jewish Burial Shroud on XWY Content Products.” Under all that text is the actual message.

Also, the most current message appears on top, which is the opposite of what you would see on a standard text.

Final notes

Trello is a great tool to use for task management, whether you are in charge of a project or a worker bee.

This article was originally posted at Freelancing buzz!

from Freelancing Buzz https://freelancingbuzz.com/how-to-use-trello/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-use-trello
via https://freelancingbuzz.com