Channel Overview

The Simpletivity YouTube Channel is owned and managed by Scott Friesen who is an advocate of productivity. He helps people become more productive and efficient in the midst of their busy schedules by speaking and training various groups. Moreover, he also does Trello consulting to teams who want to master using this productivity software. And when he is not doing that, he uses the Simpletivity YouTube Channel to provide helpful videos on technology apps, productivity tips, and time management ideas. The channel is beneficial to business owners, entrepreneurs, and professionals who want to be more productive and get the most out of their day. Simpletivity has been creating videos on YouTube since August 17, 2015, and has more than 5 million views.

Description of Videos

The Simpletivity YouTube Channel has more than 200 videos that cover virtually all topics under the sun in relation to productivity. The topics range from serious project management issues and using Pm software to tricks in starting one’s day right. There […]

Project management is a fast-growing industry that involves the work and cooperation of people from everywhere. Because of this, the remote work set-up has grown more popular where teams are composed of people from all over the world. Though team members and their project managers are separated by thousands of miles, they are still able to collaborate and deliver quality output.

What is a remote team?

A remote team is also called a virtual team which is composed of a small number of people whose skills complement each other. From the term itself, they are not located in a commonplace but are distributed in different places. This team works on common projects and has aimed to deliver quality output in a timely manner.

More specifically, a remote team’s members are not co-located but they work directly for their manager who makes sure they deliver defined work.

In order for remote teams to succeed, they need to overcome the challenges of distance and time difference. The manager needs to be sure that […]

The world’s technology is fast-growing and ever-changing. Gone are the days of antenna TV after it was replaced by cable and satellite. Today, fewer people watch TV as they instead go to YouTube and other online streaming sites. Even the radio is out and in came the podcast.

The podcast is also commonly known as ‘on-demand internet radio talks’ and was coined by combining the words ‘pod’ and ‘broadcast’. Pod means the portable device called the iPod and broadcast means something similar to a radio broadcast. Podcasts are audio recordings of a host and a guest speaker conversing with each other. It could also be a monologue of a single person sharing his thoughts on a particular subject or topic. The topics are so varied that it can be about anything from marketing and business to yoga, travel, and project management.

Podcasts about project management have been around for quite some time now and offer insightful tips for succeeding in the industry. These are especially important to project managers […]

Work is part of life and we all know how indispensable it is to one’s survival and success. As the need to work is constant, people also have to be constantly motivated. Unfortunately, motivation is something that is not constant and it doesn’t come easy. Oftentimes, people don’t stay motivated that long and feel worn out and too tired to continue to work. As a result, they become unproductive and, in some cases, even lose their job.

Types of motivation

Everyone knows that motivation is a driving force for a person to do something or behave in a particular way. However, there are many types of motivation and it is important to identify them to understand it more clearly. There are basically two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

• Intrinsic motivation. This type of motivation refers to all the things that can motivate a person based on internal rewards. This includes all motivational drivers such as self-improvement, the joy of learning, and self-actualization. People are intrinsically motivated because […]
  

It is inarguable that a project management team’s success is the result of the concerted efforts of its members. However, one fact that cannot be overlooked is the role of the team’s leader in driving his members to work. His leadership skills can make or break a team, and motivate or discourage them. It is important, therefore, for leaders to have the right skills for project management to bring the team to success.

What are the necessary leadership skills for project management?

Basically, most leadership skills apply across all industries and fields. Project management leadership skills don’t have to be singled out. Here are some of the necessary ones.

1. Good communication. Communication is important in every aspect of life. At work, it involves meeting and interacting with different types of people from different backgrounds. This makes it important for leaders to be able to articulate information in a clear, understandable, and complete way. Good communication skills set visions, goals, and expectations clear between all parties. Equally important is the […]
   

There are many different project management methodologies that teams use for their projects. One of them is the scrum methodology, which involves incremental and iterative practices. The term originated in the game of Rugby where a scrum refers to the cluster of players that try to get the ball. In project management, it is the short meetings held every few weeks that lead to a project’s completion. Using this methodology, organizations deliver output more frequently, compared to the more traditional waterfall-style approach. This means that the output is not given in one instance but progresses through a series of iterations which are called sprints.  Each sprint lasts from one to two weeks. It is at the end of each sprint where the team submits a deliverable product increment.

The Roles in Scrum methodology

A scrum project involves three roles which are the Product Owner, Scrum Master, and the Scrum Team.

The Product Owner represents the interests of the customers and decides on the next tasks of the team. This person […]

Risks are inherent in every situation and are defined in different ways, depending on the field or industry they occur in. The most common definition of this would be that risks are undesirable outcomes or uncertainty. A risk is an uncertain event that will have an effect on how objectives will be achieved. It also refers to the possibility that projects will not be achieved because of unexpected occurrences. Similarly, it could also mean that projects will not be achieved because something necessary did not happen.

Risks are more highly possible if the following situations are present:

• The team’s project technology is new
• The organization and its members’ experience and exposure to similar projects is low
• The time between planning the project and actually starting it is longer than usual
• The length of time to finish the project is long

Risk management process is important

Since risks are inherent in every situation, risk management should be implemented by all teams to mitigate and manage risks. Having the right risk management […]

Work productivity is very important. It is always a must for every employee to make each minute of paid time worthwhile. After all, each minute of every hour is being paid for, so employers naturally want to get their money’s worth. However, this has become more elusive these days because of so many distractions, even while people are in the office. It is ironic to know that this is happening even with the advancement of technology and the invention of tools to make work easier. Shallow work, or the distracted and on-and-off multitasking activities of workers, is what they call it. From the name itself, it results in a completed day of work with not much achievement. Sadly, it has become the norm for many workers.

Introducing deep work

Deep work was coined by Georgetown University associate professor of Computer Science and self-help author, Cal Newport. He refers to it as a person’s ability to work without distraction or interruption and being in a state of concentration. Doing […]

Remote work is definitely one of the fastest rising trends in the area of employment. It is preferred by some workers because it gives them more time to focus on their work, rather than on getting dressed and commuting. In fact, a 2015 Gallup poll revealed that 37% of the labor force in the US works remotely and that number is steadily rising. People who work remotely adopt a working style that doesn’t confine them within the walls of a traditional office. This means that they perform their jobs anywhere and it doesn’t even have to be specific.

The remote work scale

In order to understand how remote work works, it is important to get to know the remote work scale which ranges from ‘not remote’ to ‘fully distributed’.

1. In-office (not remote)

At this end of the scale is the most common work set-up which is in-office where an entire team of workers is situated in one office. It doesn’t offer flexibility in the hours that workers spend in the […]

Project management is done through different methods and one of them is agile methodology. In this methodology, project management teams break up a project into stages called sprints and collaborate with their stakeholders. This is done to improve the outcome of the project and come up with the desired result. The agile methodology starts with the client explaining the end product they want and the problems that it will solve. Then, the team begins their work, following the process of planning, executing, and evaluating.

The agile methodology works under its four main values:

• Choose interactions and individuals over tools and processes
• Accept change more than sticking to a plan
• Work together with customers more than discussing a contract
• Use software more than documentation

This methodology is not only used in project management but also in marketing, education, software development, and construction.

What are the principles of agile methodology?

Every project is unique and calls for different approaches. This is why agile methodology provides users with its 12 guiding principles […]