I have used Basecamp, Central Desktop, Zoho CRM/Project, MS Project, iphone task and time tracking applications, and complex Excel workbooks with hand pieced Gantt charts to manage interactive projects (not to mention all the ones I demo’d in between!) and for the cost I have not been as impressed as the one I came across today. Clocking IT has answered my jobbyjob needs.

This impressive project management tool offers all the needs of a web project manager… and all they ask for is a donation (YES! FREE –> but as your conscious I must say you best donate to them or Ann Richards will take your ass out).

I was able to set up six client projects with three users and numerous task and associated milestones with ease. Clocking IT’s intuitive interface left me with no question on how to set up my projects and offered me plenty of customizable fields to make the experience better suited for my team and field. They also offered a widget for my iGoogle page (yes, use it daily) and an easy way to sync up with iCal so I can have all the info I need on my iphone calender.

I am pretty thrilled. This month was going to be killer if we didn’t stay organized and on top of our task/time… Clocking IT is going to let us do it, and on our budget for web-based project management tool… cough, nothing, cough, so thank goodness it was free! (YES–> I am going to donate too).

From creative brainstorm meetings at interactive firms to co-op living meetings about weekly chores (and friendly issues ), here are some guidelines on how to host a successful group meeting.

Have a meeting champion.

• This person will run all the pre- through post-meeting necessities: creating meeting agenda, notifying attendees, scheduling, hosting meeting, keeping meeting on track, assigning duties (like a note-taker), publishing relevant info, etc.

Have an agenda.

• This gives you a structured outline for the meeting and sets group expectations.
• First item is always (1) welcome (call to order), “this is what we’re here to do”; second item is always (2) introductions (short and relevant… not necessary if group knows each other); third item is always (3) here is the agenda do we need to add anything.

Everyone creates and agrees on ground rules.

• Do you want mobile devices and laptops on or off? Do you want criticism allowed or an open embracing environment? Is there a moderator everyone should expect to keep meeting on track? Should a subject not be brought up because an hour long tirade always follows? One person speaks at a time? Is a high level of respect required?
• This is only something you have to do for new meetings, if this is a weekly “repeating” meeting the idea is you can reuse the guidelines setup for a meeting of that sort.

Document all comments and assignments where everyone can see them in “real” time… that’s live.

• Have a centralized screen (laptop, projector, tv, whiteboard) with a live feed from the “note-taker.” This works well with digital writeboards where multiple users can access content such as Basecamp or Google Wave.
• Always make sure to document who does what by when.

Designate a centralized place for all meeting-related communication accessible by all stakeholders.

• I especially like structured content management systems for this due to their searchability, version control, and team accessibility.

Reuse Agendas and Ground Rules

• Find what works for your specific group and allows meetings to be efficient as possible. Nothing needs to be rigid; all is adaptable!