Archive for the 'Downloadable' Category

My wife was messing around the other day with a sample of a five minute flowchart that I had printed out. She moved it around on the desktop and tried it in different formations. She came to one conclusion… “You need to make this into a weekly calendar,” she said with a smile.

I thought to myself… a weekly calendar….hmmmm… what would I need on a weekly calendar that would fit on a business card? I tried some different things and I realized that I would need to keep this simple to be effective. I currently use Outlook as my calendar of choice, so I wrote down the things I use it for.

I make notes of …

1. Appointments
2. Things To Do / Next Actions
3. Phone Calls I Need To Make
4. E-Mails I Need to Send

While Outlook works well for appointments, it’s clumsy for the other three on the list. Those are usually delegated to my daily goal sheet that sits by my computer. But creating a card based calendar would give me additional flexibility. I could easily take it with me in my pocket or wallet and I could easily display the cards on my desk in a plastic holder. My wife was on to something here.

With her feedback, we came up with a simple 5 day business card based calendar. We added color for additional versatility, and made them two sided for maximum information.

The front side of the card shows the day at the top and has three columns for appointments and to-do items. The alternating color rows make it easy to segregate information at a glance

The back side of the card has a place for phone calls and e-mails. You can put the cards in a card holder on your desk for instant reference and as a constant memory jogger.

The cards come in five different daily colors and two weeks of cards are printed on one sheet for added value. Since they are provided in Microsoft Word templates, it is easy to add text in MS Word or just print them out and use a fine tipped Sharpie. Both Word 2007 and 97-2003 versions are included.

Instructions for use:

• Download the Five Minute Calendar Template for MS Word
• Open the templates and modify as necessary
• Print out on Avery business card stock (10 Card)
• Print the back of the cards on the back of the same sheet
• Break cards apart
• Fill in a appointments and to-do items
• Fill in phone calls and e-mail sections
• Arrange as necessary on your desk
• For portability stack cards in order and clip together with mini clip
• Transport easily in pocket or purse

Enjoy your calendar!

You are out to lunch with your co-workers to plan out the new Thornton project. This is a very important task and the representatives from the Thornton company have related the importance of the short timeline for the assignment. You relate to your co-workers that the first draft is due by the end of next week.

You can tell they are anxious, but you tell them not to worry and pull a small stack of cards from your pocket. As you pass around the cards, the waiter brings your lunch. As you start to enjoy the wonderful salad, you realize you also need to get business done. You grab a business card sized project list card and a pen.

As you start to brainstorm the project, you write down the major items on your project list one by one on the cards. You then lay the cards out on the table in front of you. This is where it gets fun. You and your co-workers arrange the cards in order of completion, make notes, and write down who will be doing what.

You bring out a second stack of cards. This stack includes a …

1. Resource List
2. Department list
3. Document List
4. Crew List
5. Cost estimate
6. Three different timeline cards

As you continue to brainstorm, you make notes on the appropriate cards. Pretty soon you have a good list going. The little cards are great memory joggers and they are easy to pass around the table. You have your HR person fill out the department and crew lists, while your business services person makes a note of all the required documents and fill out the resources that will be needed.

As lunch is winding down you grab a 5 day timeline card and put one word in each box. You ask Sally to grab some highlighters out of her purse and you mark the important days with different colors. The colors help you organize the project by milestones that will need to be met.

Soon the waiter brings you the check, but in your short lunch period you were able to get a lot done. You have each one of your co-workers grab a to-do card and make a quick note of their tasks for the next week. This will give them an easy to use take away so they wont forget what they need to do.

You gather up the project and resource cards and clip them together with a mini clip. It won’t take you long when you get back to your desk, to transfer the information and get the project started. With the cards at hand the e-mails start flying and the appropriate people are able to get started on their individual projects.

The cards you used were part of a free download and the three 8.5 x 11 sheets easily printed out on Avery Blank Business Cards on your laser printer. A few minutes breaking them apart and you had a project planning kit that was small enough to fit in your pocket.

Here is how you can create a set for yourself…

• Download the Instant Project Planner for MS Word
• Open the template(s) and modify the text as necessary
• Print out on Avery business card stock (10 Card)
• Break cards apart
• Use the project list cards to outline your project tasks
• Arrange as necessary on your desk to set the proper order
• Use the resource project cards to fill in all the necessary resources that will be needed for the project
• Use the appropriate timeline card to set priorities
• Fill in the to-do cards for task management
• For portability stack cards in order and clip together with mini clip
• Transport easily in pocket or purse

Make your next project more enjoyable, download a set today. 

Other Project Planning Tools you may enjoy…

Five Minute Flowchart
Five Minute Organizer
Five Minute Motivators

Back in May of 2006 we published a little desktop utility called The Five minute Flowchart. This business card based printable sheet went on to become one of our most popular utilities and thousands of people have downloaded it.

I have been amazed at the uses people have found for it. From a handy planning utility for meetings to an employee workflow tool, these cards have found their way onto many desktops.

In the spirit of innovation I would like to introduce the 2008 Deluxe Version of the Five Minute Flowchart with five new pages of symbols, arrows, and callouts. With this new tool you can complete a very complex flowchart right on your desktop. It is easy to copy and paste the symbols you use often onto one sheet, or print out the whole set for an upcoming meeting.

This new set prints out in Microsoft Word and is compatible with Word 97 and up. You can easily add text while you are in Word or use a Sharpie to add text right on the desktop. You can also add color and texture for added emphasis.

Instructions:

• Download the Deluxe Five Minute Flowchart template
• Open in Microsoft Word
• Add text to the shapes or print blank
• Cut & paste shapes as needed
• Print out on Avery Business Card stock (10 card)
• Break cards apart
• Lay them out on your desk or table
• Create a great flowchart
• Modify as necessary

Options:

• Add color and texture to your shapes for added emphasis
• Add other shapes and lines from the auto shape menu in Word
• Print cards double sided for added versatility
• Take a picture of your final flowchart to transfer to Smartdraw or Visio

These cards are easy to carry around in your Walleteer for quick access at your next meeting. Have fun and go with the flow!

When you are thinking about goals or projects you want to accomplish, you may have many things on your mind. It’s great to write these down and organize them on paper so you can see a visual picture.

A helpful tool that I’ve found is a funnel list. It’s a very basic document but it works well to organize your thoughts and create a flow to complete your project or accomplish your goal.

The basic funnel list consists of three columns of boxes that funnel into one large box where you write your goal or project title. You can use the document in many different ways, but here are some suggested uses.

1. Vertical Column Flow Funnel: Use each column of boxes for a different thought flow. In the top box put your first item, followed by the box underneath with the next item in the flow. Follow this down to the goal box. Here is an example…

   

2. Horizontal Row of Ideas: Instead of using the vertical columns for your similar ideas, use the horizontal rows. This gives you five rows to work with and may work well for some projects. You can use a right to left flow if needed.
3. Random Boxes: Use all 15 boxes to capture ideas on your mind. Just put your random thoughts or ideas in the boxes. You may want to work from the top in a right to left fashion or work from the bottom up. This free flow mind map can be usefully for collecting all of your ideas in one place.

I’ve created a Basic Funnel List that you can print out using Microsoft Word. Just download the template and open in Word. You can fill in the boxes using Word or you can just print it blank and use a pen or fine tipped Sharpie to write in your information. I’ve included both Word 2007 and Word 97-2003 templates in the zip file.

I have found this to be a great tool when I’m brainstorming an idea. Since it is easy to add flow to the document it really helps to put the steps together to complete a project. It’s a simple way to funnel your ideas into useful action.

You can also use our Five Minute Flowchart to create a similar funnel list on your desktop with cards. Have Fun!

Do you struggle to make decisions? Do you need to consult others to finalize an idea? Here is an easy to use decision making kit that works well in small groups or at the lunch table. The kit consists of four printable sheets created in Microsoft Word. One sheet is printed on business card stock and the others on heavyweight paper.

This kit works easily to collect ideas and put them on paper right in front of you. The cards add flexibility and allow you to have other people fill them out. You can do it right at a table or have them take the cards with them and return at a later date.

Here is how it works…

Step One-Idea Collection: Print out the pro-con decision cards on Avery business card stock, break them apart, and pass them around the table to each person in your group. Give each person a pro card along with a con card. Hand everyone a fine point Sharpie and have them get ready to start writing.

Lay out your idea that you need a decision on in simple terms so everyone can understand it. Write it in a simple sentence on one of the idea cards and make sure everyone understands what is being presented.

Once everyone is clear on the concept, have each person come up with the pros and cons of the idea. There are four lines on each card for multiple items. Have everyone write the ideas on the respective cards and pass them to the moderator when everyone is done.

Step Two-Layout: When you are done, collect up the cards and lay them out on the decision layout sheet. This sheet is best printed on heavyweight paper. Put the decision idea card at the top and layout the pro and con cards on their respective sides.

Now it is easy to see at a glance everyone’s ideas in one place. You can quickly determine if an idea is popular or not by the amount of items on each side and the overlap and repetition of ideas.

Step Three-Discussion: This tool is a great conversation starter and really will help to brainstorm an idea. Look at the cards for the following…

• An Overlap of Ideas
• Any show stoppers. Items that must be overcome to move forward
• Costs or Expenses
• Offensive or Unpleasant Items

Use different color highlighters to mark different items… For example

• Use a Yellow highlighter for Good Ideas
• Use a Red highlighter for Expenses
• Use a Blue highlighter for Show Stoppers

Be sure to discuss each item. Once you are done you’ll have a collection of great ideas and maybe some items that need attention.

Step Four-Decision: If everyone is in agreement you can come to a final decision right in your meeting. If further things need to be worked out use the separate further discussion worksheet to write down further action items and compile a to-do action list.

This sheet offers a place to compile costs and also offers a point based grading system for those more complicated decisions. Best of all it has a Bottom Line that you can check YES or NO.

Optional-Comparison Decision Maker:

For comparing two items side by side, use the comparison decision maker sheet. Write the two items to compare on the item cards and put them on the decision A and B spots. Pass around pro and con cards and have people write down one item each on each card for each item to be decided on. When you are done, put the pro and con cards under each decision card.

You can quickly highlight different items and this sheet will give you a quick visual representation of the pro and con ideas being presented. There are two boxes at the bottom for notes or scores and best of all a place to put your decision.

Download and Printing Instructions:

Download the Pro-Con-Cards zip file
Unzip the file and open in Microsoft Word
Print the Pro-Con cards on Avery Business Card Stock
Print the other sheets on heavyweight paper
Break the cards apart
Take a Sharpie, highlighters, decision sheets, and your cards to your next meeting. Have Fun!

Related Projects:

Five Minute Motivators

Five Minute Organizer

Mind Map Your Stress

Sudden Mind Idea Mapper