About WF Integrator Job Status System.™
We create software and websites and needed a way to keep track of all the jobs from start to finish.
After speaking to a number of business friends, we decided to make a workflow that was not time consuming to set up and so expensive to use.
Our job flow process needed help.
Like most business owners, we started out keeping lists on paper of our projects and jobs. That got pretty cumbersome and a lot got missed — especially making sure we got paid.
Our team looked though a lot of job tracking software but there was nothing we could find that was reasonably priced and had all of the key features any good business would want. There were very expensive models but they did not set up the software – they charged you to turn it on and then directed us to videos and manuals.
We wondered what the average business used. Turns out they had to not only learn their business but the business of how to set up a workflow. Bizarre! We also realized the expensive solutions just raised our break even line more than they increased our profit line.
As a software company, surely we cold come up with a good solution. Not so fast! A lot of moving parts and important details were needed without overwhelming the users. Our road was a long a torturous journey.
The road to our job project software.
First try:
Spread sheet job flow with Excel and saved to Microsoft Sharepoint.
Drawbacks:
1] Our people could not access it or they forgot to mark off stuff.
2] The next person started the part of the job with important parts not being completed.
3] Needed a full-time person just to make sure everything was taken care and a backup person.
Second try:
We experimented with the white board with dry erase markers to track things.
Drawbacks:
1] Board smears .
2] Had to erase job info to rewrite in new area of progress.
3] Dates and info space very limited.
Post-its in different colors for each job stuck on the white board solved these 3 problems. However, the post-its got long, some fell off, and only accessible if you were in the Job Tracking room. It was not a very convenient way to check job progress.
Can you tell we wasted a lot of time and really got FRUSTRATED?
We don’t want to waste your time with the third and fourth tries since they were existing job tracking software that we wasted a lot of time and money setting up only to find out the software did not do what we wanted. They may work for you so we are not going to talk bad about them.
Fifth, try: We are a tech company but using old ideas. The administrators realized it was time to turn it over to the young fresh hi tech gurus on staff.
They came up with a Scrum board.
Drawbacks:
1] Scrums need a lot of preparation (meaning a lot of time) and organization (also read as a lot time).
2] Not visual or easy to see an entire job’s status.
3] Not easy to track a number of jobs.
Scrums are all about the process. Yes, sounds like Nick Saban would love Scrums. Our users needed something that allows us to see the overall projects status and then some details.
WF integrator Job Status System™
Our team of software and job tracking “experts” set up a top 10 list of what was needed in a job management workflow.
- It should have a customizable template that follows our business model.
- Simple to teach
- Easy to use
- Make sure the big things don’t get forgotten with an overdue notification.
- Not allow a task to be completed until all the smaller tasks are checked off.
- Notify those involved of the status, problems, approaching deadline, and overdue tasks.
- Have an area to upload files and photos.
- Job discussion or communication area.
- Automatically remind customers to pay their bill.
- Limit areas based on who needs to sees what part of a job that concerns them.