top of page
  • Writer's pictureMerrill B. Lamont III

Invest in Yourself for Free: Trello, Zoom, Slack

Yo, Scrum Masters! Practice your remote facilitation on free tools. Like Trello, Zoom, and Slack. Get an account. The free tier. Know the UI. Be aware of the capabilities. Become a master administrator. For both the web & mobile experiences. Per tool, spend one hour.


First 30 minutes, go full Magellan. Do all the clicks & drags & swipes. Methodically comb through every nook 'n' cranny of the experience. You know MS Word? It's like clicking all the buttons in the ribbons, or selecting every menu item. Nook 'n' crannies. All of 'em.


Second 30 minutes, be boring. Look at all the checkboxes on the configuration / administration underbelly of the app. You know MS Word? It's like going through every tab of "Preferences...". Checkboxes. All of 'em.


Oh no! Need more time? Take two hours per app. Really give it a good scrubbin'. Just wash hour hands afterwards. Sing the Happy Birthday song. Twice.


Oh no! Need even more time? Want to explore edge cases of your app's usage? Fine. Three hours per app. Don't skimp on the soap.


But wait! Where will you find the time to do these now nine hours? Well, you're not commuting anymore. That's 30 minutes on either side of your working time. You're welcome. Also, wake up an hour earlier. It's not like you're partying the night before. You're welcome. Also also, you don't have to skill up like this in a day. Take the week. Include the weekend. You're welcome welcome.


In one week, you can master these tools for yourself, BE the person to help others. I know. You're not running a meeting. It doesn't feel like you're remotely facilitating. But these are tools for easing (that's the 'facilitating' bit) interactions between folks. And these folks are so not physically (that's the 'remotely' bit) close to each other.


You've got time. Invest in yourself. For Free. And know how to wash your hands.

27 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All
bottom of page