The Kanban method started out as a just in time manufacturing process developed by Toyota. Inspiration come from an unlikely source. They looked at Supermarkets and how they stock inventory. Today, the method is a valuable project management tool – and not just for car manufactures or software developers. It is also know as an agile project management tool.
The physical or virtual board shows most commonly three sections:

• To Do
• In Progress
• Done

The method (Japanese: kanban = visual sign) provides full visibility for each team member on the project progress.

Kanban board benefits

Kanban boards are transparent and communicate team capacity in real time. Every team member is supposed to have access to the board to see and track the progress. This improves collaboration, efficiency and helps to meet the team goals. The board itself can be adapted to better fit the requirements for any team. Especially a physical board is very adaptable. All you need is a white board, a pen and index cards. Virtual boards are great for teams that do not work in the same location. Most tools offer solutions to adapt the board to your needs.

For example adding the responsible team member makes it easier to allocate tasks. Also new sections can easily be added to the workflow. Other ideas that might work for you:

• Add a brief description of the job
• Indicate how long the job will take
• Show various deadlines
• Include expected or upcoming tasks in the workflow
• Allocate tasks for new jobs
• Highlight urgent tasks
• Use different shapes and colours for your cards

Do you need help with project management?

Prisma is your guide for tackling challenging financial communication projects. Our dedicated Prisma Project Manager provides you with regular status update on your annual report or shareholder mailing. Just ask and contact us.

What do Donkeys, Jude Law, not being important and the 10×6 Female founders event (by Paperjam + Delano Business Club) have in common? 10 female founders had six minutes each to share their stories. Among them was Prisma’s CEO Carole Miltgen!

I can relate to the previous German chancellor, Mrs Merkel, who once said in an interview -I draw a distinction between those who fought all their life for women’s rights and people like me who merely had to find their way to contribute. My importance to women came automatically by simply being a woman and being powerful.- This is exactly how I feel. 

Carole Miltgen

Did you miss the event?

Carole Miltgen talked about her thoughts on company culture and creating a company of trust where everyone is their own entrepreneur. Don’t worry if you have missed it.

Watch her speech here.

When you found a company in 2006 and your client is Lehman Brothers, you have sleepless nights in 2008, worrying how to pay your team..

Carole Miltgen

Read the interview with Carole Miltgen: It is my job to create a culture of trust

Our CEO, Carole Miltgen, joined the 10×6 Female Founders event. 10 women had only six minutes to share their experience on entrepreneurship, founding companies and the challenges along the way.

What does Jude Law have to do with all of this? Listen to the Carole Miltgen’s talk at the 10×6 Female Founders event here.

Paperjam conducted an interview with the Prisma CEO:

What has fascinated you about your field and how has this passion been the catalyst for the creation of your company?

Carole Miltgen. – “I want to be the master of my destiny as I do despise any kind of dependence. After what felt like the end of my world, I didn’t know what direction to take, so I decided to go straight ahead, take my destiny in my own hands and work at my rhythm, creating a company that I would have liked to work for when I was young.

What has been the most valuable lesson you’ve learned during your entrepreneurial journey and how has it shaped your approach to professional challenges?

“Oh, there are so many. If I had to pick just one, I’d say it is consistency. Enthusiasm fluctuates – consistent actions accumulate! This is valid for all aspects in life, not only work life. Whether you want to learn the piano, win a sports competition or run a company. If you rely on your motivation, some days will simply be difficult. If, however, one consistently does a good job, at one’s best ability, one will be successful, because a bad day does not mean a bad life.

How would you describe your leadership style and how do you think it contributes to your company’s culture and success?

“ ‘Be the least important person in the company!’ I always considered it my job to create a culture of trust in which this is possible, and I’m happy to see that I have achieved this. My goal has always been to share all my knowledge and slowly let go of the day-to-day activities. I have provided a full toolbox to my team members, enabling them to be their own entrepreneur of their own project in a safe environment. This said, I will always have their back, as ‘being the least important person in the company’ does not mean dropping anyone in the thick of it, but rather trusting and appreciating their own way of handling their work. Mind you, if Prisma was a country, they could hold a coup against me and gain total power if they wanted to, LOL…”

Learn more:

Read the full Paperjam article

10×6 Female Founders

Get your thinking cap on, it’s World Idea Day! As project managers, advisors and chaos detanglers, we need to quickly find ideas in stressful situations.

• Here are our tips on how to generate new ideas:
• Practice makes perfect – exercise your creative muscle daily.
• Try to have as many dumb, unpractical, expensive and dangerous ideas as possible. You might find a good one by accident along the way.
• Take a walk during lunch break.
• Always challenge your first idea.
• Design a workspace that will inspire you every day.

Ask a stupid question day

On 28 September was Ask a stupid question day:

It is the day to be curious. Spoiler Alert: There are no stupid questions! There are naive questions, tedious questions, ill-phrased questions, questions put after inadequate self-criticism. But every question is just asking to understand the world a bit better.

Would you like to know more about financial document production or investor communication? Ask us.

Our day-to-day is full of decision making. As experienced project managers, we need to concentrate on tasks that have the biggest impact on the project outcome. This is when time-management tools come in handy. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th president of the United States with a good sense for time management. His well-known matrix (or Eisenhower method) gives you a clear overview of important/ urgent tasks.

How does the Eisenhower method work?

The Eisenhower matrix has 4 categories, and you will need to determine how urgent or important each task is:

1. urgent and important:

These tasks require immediate action and have a direct impact on short-term goals.

2. important – not urgent:

Do not neglect your long-term goals in this category. These tasks may become urgent in the future.

3. urgent – not important:

Don’t get easily distracted by minor tasks that seem urgent. Especially, if they do not contribute directly to your goals. Minimise your time spent on these tasks or delegate them.

4. not urgent – not important:

Ask yourself: Are these tasks worth your time or can they be ignored? Whatever the answer, don’t spend so much thought and time on minor to-dos.

What does this mean?

The Eisenhower method helps you to efficiently rank your tasks. Concentrate first on category 1 tasks (urgent and important) and check in regularly with category 2 tasks (important – not urgent).

Short-term and long-term goals sorted out: The Eisenhower matrix helps you keep an overview of all your key objectives. By using the method, you will learn how to prioritise your time.

Just one more tip: Be honest on what “important” means. Urgent is usually easy to determine. However, perfectionists tend to classify everything as important and forget to delegate.

Trust us! We know a thing or two (and probably more) about scheduling large projects (Financial reports, prospectus updates, etc.). Explore our services here.

The Prisma team has developed many growth strategies over many years of project management experience. Today we share our focus tips and how to become a great team.

The Prisma focus tips

Do you have problems keeping your focus? Here our tips on how to stay focused.

• Book a time slot for your task
• Disable notifications on your phone and for emails
• Get enough sleep
• Take small breaks for your eyes
• Time your ability to focus to develop better schedules

A good environment is key

• When one task is done, get in a little exercise
• Communicate to your team that you need to concentrate on a task
• Try meditation before starting your workday
• Plan more time for a task to get into the flow
• Eat healthy snacks

How to be teamtastic?

Great teams are not a given. They are formed over time and with good communication. Remember:

• Together is better than alone
• Empower each other
• Active listeners only
• Remember that motivation grows in good environments

Team up with Prisma for your financial document production! Contact us.

Growth is not always straight forward. Our Prisma Growth Strategies for August show you: how to take action and how Personas can help you. And despite all the growing and expanding your comfort zone, never forget to treat yourself.

Action plan

An action plan is more than a simple to-do list. You start by noting your short-, medium- and long-term objectives.

Break down all actions that are necessary to achieve your goals. The smaller the better.

Remember to use SMART goals: Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based.

Personas

Imagine your ideal client. How does your client, let’s call her Paula, start her day?

What are Paula’s challenges, desires and worries? Paula wants to impress her boss and colleagues by doing a great job. What can you provide to support her?

Once you figure out how to help Paula, you can apply it to all your clients. Personas are popular Marketing techniques. However, having a Persona helps putting the client first regardless of your own department.

Treat yourself

Some days all you need is discipline. Other days you need more to get the job done. Does a big reward motivate you to reach an ambitious goal? Do you ever reward yourself for completing a small milestone? Or just for making it through a tough day? Sometimes it is just as healthy to treat yourself for no reason at all.

Our reward it to see you grow. Plan some rest and time for rewards in your action plan. Until next month for another round of Prisma Growth Strategies.

Growing takes time, energy and also rest. Find here our Prisma Growth Strategies for the month of July with our take on timeboxing, vision boards and leadership skills.

Timeboxing

Project management is all about time management. Have you heard about timeboxing to plan your time more efficiently?

• Set your time “budget” for each sub-activity
• You can spend less time, but should never spend more time than allocated
• Plan nothing else during the task
• Inform everyone that you should not be disturbed

Learning how to use your time effectively can a big step in your career and personal life.

Vision boards

Visualising your goals, dreams and desires might help you reach them faster. What better way to do this than vision boards.

Pictures, keywords and affirmations: there are no rules for your personal board. You can create a collage only containing pictures.

What else to include? How about: motivational quotes, meaningful tokens, a draft version of your book cover or company logo.

Prisma Tip: Create a digital vision board to be used as a screen saver or on your desktop.

Leadership

The perfect leader is creative, flexible, empathic and inspirational. A strategic thinker. A great communicator. And a Motivation Speaker. Focused, knowledgeable and organised. The leader listens actively, while noticing the small things and seeing the big picture.

Does this sound like a lot to you too?

Prisma Tip: Take it step by step. It is a process to become great at anything. This includes leaders.

As always, we love to see you grow.

We love to see you grow. Below you will find our Prisma Growth Strategies for the months of April and May:

SQ3R method – Prisma Growth Strategies

Have you heard of the SQ3R method?

This reading method improves your ability to understand any text. Helpful for students and professionals alike

• Survey: Scan the text.
• Question: Ask yourself questions about the text.
• 3Rs: Read the text again and note down additional questions. Recite the text in our own words. Review your notes and questions. 

Bullet Journaling

Do you BoJo? – Bullet Journaling is an effective tool for our private and professional lives. You can also do a lot more than simply noting down to-dos.  

• You can build good habits. Just fill in the habit tracker every time once a task is successfully completed
• Check in on your mental health with a mood tracker. 
• A future log keeps all your events, meetings and important dates in one place. 

Activity Log

Do you know how you spend your time? After keeping an activity log for a few days, you will! Side effects may be improved time management skills. 

You can also track how energised you were throughout the day. Afterwards, you are a better judge of your own energy and/ will know when to do which task. 

Stay tuned for more growth strategies by Prisma!

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken” (Oscar Wilde)

It is always better to live your life in your own way even if it is not perfect, instead of worrying about the expectations that others have of you.

For us at Prisma this means providing high-quality services, and being a trustworthy partner for all our financial communication needs.

We value respect, flexibility, integrity and reliability.