<aside> 💡 **Why are we outlining our core habits? ****We want to align everyone in the team and provide the minimum knowledge necessary for anyone in the team to add value to the company. By writing out our company’s core habits, we aim to clarify how everyone should operate within the team.

</aside>

Getting Things Done

Getting Things Done (GTD) is a time-management method described in a book of the same title by productivity consultant David Allen. The GTD method rests on moving planned tasks and projects out of the mind by recording them externally and then breaking them into actionable work items. This allows one to focus attention on taking action on tasks instead of on recalling them.

Allen uses the analogy of RAM and hard drives. People have a max. Storage space (RAM) that allows them to store information in their minds. The GTD method encourages people to move things out of their RAM and into a trusted hard drive. If you don't trust the storage device, you won't take the tasks out of your mind. Having a trusted storage device lets you throw tasks out of your mind because the system will return them to you when they become relevant again.

Within our team, we put this method to practice primarily through Asana. We want to improve what we do daily because we value excellence, which can be achieved by executing and GTD. Ideas cannot add value if they remain and are not implemented. By breaking down our ideas into actionable tasks using Asana, we are able and responsible for organizing ourselves so we can get things done. Here are some practical Asana guidelines that we use to implement the GTD method within our company:

• Every task has a single assignee responsible for completing that task, making it impossible for things to fall through the cracks because “it wasn’t clear who owns this” (this is what areas of responsibility are).
• When we complete a task or add a comment to a task with multiple followers, everyone is informed and stays up to date.
• Start with action verbs in task titles. You cannot “do” a project, but you can “Improve X” or “Research Y”.
• Use the description field to describe the end in mind (i.e. what does the finished state look like?).
• Use the comments section to make SMART comments on completing the task with the next actions (NA).

SMART methodology/goals

Applying the SMART methodology to your goals significantly increases understanding and clarity. This ensures qualitative and efficient outcomes and async communication, especially when assigning tasks to other team members. SMART stands for:

Specific—For the goal to be effective, you should focus on clearly defining what you want to achieve. This helps ensure that the goal is understandable and actionable. Here’s how to refine the specificity of a goal:

1. Define the Outcome: Specify exactly what the business seeks to accomplish. Use precise, unambiguous language to describe the intended result. For example, rather than saying "improve customer service," specify "reduce customer service response times from 24 hours to 1 hour."
2. Detail the Measures: Establish clear, quantifiable metrics to gauge progress and success. Specify numbers, percentages, or other measurable criteria. For instance, rather than aiming to "increase sales," target to "increase sales by 15% over the next quarter."
3. Use Action Verbs: Start goals with verbs that indicate clear action, making the steps needed for achievement explicit. Words like "launch," "reduce," "expand," and "develop" are effective.

Measurable – quantify outcome to track progress.

1. What is the exact (quantified) outcome of this goal?
2. What is my indicator of progress?

Example: The goal is for the marketing team to increase the number of monthly interactions on Publitas's social media platforms by 50% by creating interactive and interesting content specific to the target groups based on the platform (LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook).

Achievable – ask yourself if what you want to achieve is reasonable.

1. Is this goal achievable considering current resources?
2. Is the person you assign this task/goal to capable of achieving the desired outcome?

Example: The goal is for the marketing team to increase the number of monthly interactions on Publitas's social media platforms by 15% by creating interactive and interesting content specific to the target groups based on the platform (LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook).

Relevant  – purpose of the goal.

1. Why is it important to achieve this goal?
2. Add background/trigger to the description, elaborating on its purpose and why it is important to work on!

Example:

• Add to the bottom of the description*

1. Background: To increase brand awareness.
2. Trigger: This is initiated because evidence was found that our social media are not as much interacted with as compared to other companies at a similar stage >>link to the previous task/Slack threat/data<<

Time-bound – specify when the outcome can or should be achieved.

1. Does the goal have a hard deadline?
2. What is the timeframe for achieving this goal?

Example: To increase brand awareness and ultimately maximize profit through sales, the marketing team will increase the number of monthly interactions on Publitas's social media platforms by 15% by creating interactive and interesting content specific to the target groups based on the platform (LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook) before December 2025.