Asana and Project Management

Welcome to the Leading Lane podcast for Real Estate Pros by Real Estate Pros, with your hosts, Ashley Frederick and Steven Burch. If you're looking for an honest, authentic, and raw perspective, you found it. All right, we're back today, and we're going to talk about an app that I had never heard of until the famous Steven Burch told me about it. And I think that if people aren't using it or something like this, this would be fantastic. And I'd love to hear a little bit about how you use it. And I can definitely tell you how we've been using it and how it's changed what we do every day. Yeah. So Asana is what she's referring to, really, any project management tool that is out there. There's Trello, there's Monday dot com. I mean, I'm sure there's just more and more and more. And I've always kind of dabbled in some of this, but I never actually truly stuck with it until we started growing and needing to delegate and making sure that things are getting done. And again, I don't like to micromanage, so I want to make sure. I'm going to just assume that it's going to get done. And there's been times that project is lingering out there and it was, you know, the ball was dropped. So how to find a solution for it, uh, ended up with Asana. And essentially it's the task management system that you can pretty much organize whatever way your brain works. Uh, for me, I'm a checklist person, so I like to be able to see exactly what I have. Um, and you can then put, you know, different projects and you. You can really change and, you know, customize this however it makes sense. So I'm going to give you an example of kind of not kind of how we. How we use it and how truly clicked for our team to start using it more. Once upon a time, we. I hosted a client appreciation event at a conference, and my team, Kim and Shani and Skye, you. You were there. You. You know this, right? Um, you know, we were going to have cocktails, have everybody over for happy hour, and it was like, probably 20 minutes before the event is supposed to start. There's a bag of limes and a bag of lemons, and that's great that we need that, but how in the hell are we going to cut it? And all of the faces, like, they all three just stop and like, oh, my God, like, I mean, they had everything else on point. They did fantastic because I said, I'M not doing a thing. You guys need to set it up. And for 20 minutes they were running around trying to figure out, like, what do we do? What's going on? And really what they did is took the limes downstairs to the bar, to the hotel bar and said, hey, can we trade you? And I think they gave them 20 bucks and they took away the lemons and limes from the bar and replenished them. So they found a solution. They made it on time, but it was just a funny and fun to watch them, you know, process through what they. They missed one little step out of the whole thing, and it was almost like the world was going to end for them. So now on our asana board for events that we host, there is a task for the different supplies that we need to purchase and making sure that there is a knife there to cut the lemons and limes. So each time that we do an event and there's something that pops off or it doesn't go quite right, we make sure that we go back to our asana board and in our debrief and see where can we make this a little bit more efficient or do we miss something that we need to add, you know, for supplies or whatever else. So then the next time we know that we're not going to run into that same issue. So it's forever living and evolving and it's. Yeah. Since then, my staff has, and team has open or taken it with open arms for sure. So tell me a little bit more about how you actually use it for an event. So let's say that you're going to have an event six months from now. Explain to me how, how it works for you. So we have, we set up a timeline. So we work each year, we do a business retreat, and so we will identify like we're going to host a business after hours. And Skye is really the one that keeps us on top of all of this. I believe it's. Yeah. Three months before any event, she will go in and she will open up our template for events, pull everybody in, invite everybody into just that project. So that business after hours project. So we're all in the same board and then it. We break it down of what all needs to be done, who needs to create the, the images, who needs to start doing promo stuff. What do we need to order? Right. Like it lists every single thing down and then as it goes through, we have it broken out to where three months prior, two months prior, one month prior. And then three weeks, two weeks, one week and then day of. And then a debrief. Right. So we categorize everything and when it needs to be done so that we know that we are all working on the same page and going in the same direction. So. Yeah. And I think the one key part of that, too, is the ability to assign a task to someone. So if it's Kim that's supposed to be getting the lemons, or Shawnee that's supposed to be getting the knife, it's all in someone else's task list. So they know that they're the one that's responsible. So if you show up and there wasn't a knife, we know whose fault it was. Absolutely. It creates accountability. Correct. Like. And it creates an accountability that nobody has to necessarily point fingers at, because we all established that these are our duties and who is responsible. So, you know, and you have to take ownership and what, you know, you didn't accomplish. So, yeah, that has been absolutely amazing to be able to do that. I had a really hard time in leadership of being able to say, here's the directive that I want very clearly of what I want. And then this is the due date that I want it back by. Right. So now that the asana forces me to choose the due date, who it goes to, if there's any additional notes, any subtasks, anything else that are in there. Um, you know, you throw everything in there. Well, and how great for. Then the next year, you're not reinventing the wheel. You just recreate the event and update it to what that event looks like. Right. Like, I used to do all the grand openings and pretty much all the company events, because I may have a control issue, but I've gotten. I've worked through that. Um, I may have high, high expectations. I know, but I mean, I now I can put it into black and white and they know, clearly know what those expectations are. In our last grand opening for the Office that we just went into a new territory, I didn't even do a single thing right, like, for this grand opening, nothing at all. I had no clue what was going on. It was the first time that we all collectively made it a challenge. Like, Stephen's not touching anything. Let's. Let's show him that, you know, that they can actually do it. So I was hosting my business or my broker fast track retreat, you know, for those three days. And so I was not even focused on this event at all. And so once it actually started, I had to turn over and just hope and I knew I had confidence in my staff. That they had everything together and it went off without a hitch. Like. Yeah, I was going to say, you would have thought that it was, you know, just like clockwork, everything that happened. Absolutely. And that's the goal. Like, we know that it's going to be repetition. We know that we're going to do events, we know that we. What we're really wanting. And for me, at the very beginning, it was hard to get that information and expectations out of my brain and again, articulate it to them. So this is just a tool that was able to help me keep myself on. On track and make sure that I'm telling them and it's clear to them. Yeah. So the two main areas I think that I use it are our Wham, which was also a fantastic idea from you. So that's our weekly. What is weekly accountability meeting. And then I use it personally. But as far as the weekly accountability meeting, that is between the admin, myself and the office manager. And what we were finding is that time is valuable and sometimes I get bogged down by lots of questions. And what we decided really was that a lot of those questions could wait until the Wham. So every Monday we sit down and go over any questions that, you know, didn't need immediate attention or things that come up in that week. You know, maybe there was a really good legal hotline article that came out and I want to talk about it on Monday, because on Monday then we also plan our office meeting, which is on Tuesday. So we have a Wham project in Asana for every Monday that we work and the three of us have access to it and we can just keep on adding to it for that next one. So, you know, today there something popped up and I was like, oh, we should talk about that next week. So I didn't have to tell anybody and have to bother anybody. I just put it in there so that when we get together on Monday, we already know that we're talking about it. Same thing. Then on vice versa, if something came up that the girls wanted to talk to me about, didn't need immediate attention, they put it in there so that we know that we're talking about it on Monday. So I think it helped everyone in that it wasn't this, like, sense of, like, Ashley always has to be in the know or I need to tell Ashley this or I need to tell her that, or even for me, for the girls, like, I need to make sure they remember to do this or we have this event coming up. So we sit in the meeting and then while we're actually at the meeting. Anything that comes up, Jessica loves to assign things to me. So, you know, I come back from the meeting and there's four things in my to do calendar. But that's great. But right. We. We left that meeting with. Whoever's taking care of this is already decided. If it's not getting done, we know whose responsibility it was, but I think it just makes everyone more accountable because, I mean, we're weakly accountable, but we're looking forward to that day. We know the expectations of the day. We know that we're planning for closings. You know, if maybe they heard something in passing from an agent, you know, they want to make sure that I heard it or if they heard it incorrectly. So that's been definitely a game changer for us because having the three of us on the same page on a regular basis helps the whole office and all agents really helps to structure our office meetings, which we strongly tend or strongly suggest for our agents to attend. We cover a lot of data and that information. But, you know, then that allows Rachel to prep the agenda the day before because we talked about everything or know maybe something just came up even when we were talking. Like, you know, that should probably be an office discussion, not just a, you know, small group discussion. And then we've started using it for events, too. And I think it's just good because then you remember these things, like, oh, like, who got the forks and knives? Like. Or did somebody pick up ice? Right. Like, there's just little things, and as we continue to do them, more and more they get added in so that we don't forget tape or, you know, those little things. So that's probably been, as far as an office, a really big change for us. But for me personally, I like to use it. And that's because I feel like I'm going 100 miles an hour and somebody will call or text or send an email. And I see it, but I don't necessarily can't get to it right away. So I. I just, you know, it's an app on your computer. It ties to your phone. So it's on my phone. So I literally just open it up and be, you know, call Steven back. Call this listing. Remember to set up showing. Right. So that while we're out and about, I don't, you know, I don't want to do the stickies everywhere anymore. I hate forgetting about things. Like, I think I told you a couple weeks ago, I literally forgot a listing appointment. Like, I didn't write it down anywhere Actually, I wrote it down on the wrong day and thank God she was extremely kind and was like, oh, we're all human, we make mistakes. But right, like had I wrote it down the minute she called and I would have put it in there and what made a difference. And then now I use it where I can star my Gmail and then it pops over to my asana. So if there's an email that I read it, need to come back to it, I can just star it and then it actually goes into my to do list so that when I look at the asana again, I'm like, oh, yep, I need to respond to that email. It's just been so helpful, even personally, to be honest. Like, we have rentals, right? So I have a rental project. So if I needed to do something at one of the rentals, I throw in those daily tasks. Even this, this morning, like I needed to prep a CMA and you know, put it in there. So I think we're all busy and I think it's so easy to get distracted with phone calls and text messages and client calls and people showing up that if you have a really easy app that, you know, right before you start, you know, get in your car and someone called, you can just put it in your app so you can take care of it when you get back. So it has definitely kept me more organized. And you know, I like to not have to do lists. So I like to, I like to push the little button and then the little unicorns fly across the screen. It's like the best feeling ever. And you know, in there you can put reoccurring events too. Right? Like so, you know, for, for me when I was selling, I always reached out to all of my sellers every Monday to able to give them an update. Well, you know, I, I train my agents to go ahead and put in here seller's information, phone number, address, all of this fun stuff. Put it reoccurring for when you're going to be contacting them, if you made a commitment or at least when I was, you know, at that listing appointment, I made a commitment to communicate to them and provide them feedback. Right. So I don't want to forget and not fulfill what I have already agreed to. So anything that I say, like if it's going to be reoccurring, like it will go into asana to keep me on top of my stuff. I was going to ask you when, when you have your staff and your team on this, how did that help with your got a minute meetings and Emails drastically reduced. Yeah, yeah. I think that it, it's because I think sometimes, right. I, you could see it as like I'm hard to catch. Right. I'm going here, going there. So I think for staff maybe it was a little bit more of a reassurance that even if I'm not in right now, they can put it in the Wham so that they know that it's there and sometimes they'll put something in and like you'll see it get added if you have your, you know, specific notifications on it and every now and then I'll be like that one. Maybe you shouldn't wait until but right. The fact that they are aware that it's something that like we need to talk about. But I think that it gave them more confidence too. I guess that's what I was looking for too. Is that giving them more confidence to answer questions or to be able to just think on their own that you know, maybe if, if I don't really need to, you know, actually doesn't need to know about it for a week, can I just take care of it now? Is that a question that I can answer? But I think even in our weekly accountability meetings, having those discussions, like, you know what, like next time you don't have to like that doesn't come from me. Like I'm confident in your decision, your ability to make that decision. So I think that's helped too just as far as their own self confidence in their roles. Absolutely. You're, you're creating critical thinking people, right. Like you need to be able to provide them with a resource that they can go to and like if you don't answer everything, you know, if one day you decided like you're no longer going to have these got it minute meetings face to face interactions and you don't have a system of where you're going to be able to track all of these questions and tasks and everything else. Like they're going to be so freaking confused on what to do because you're no longer there. You're like you're lord life support now you're going to be able to provide them with a tool, a resource that they can go to and start tracking these different things that they need to accomplish. Right. And that frees up so much of your time on being available to the things that you need to be doing. You only need to be focusing on the things that make you money. Right. Or that only you can do the ordering supplies and all this other stuff. Like yeah, it's important for Office for operations. But I don't need to be doing it. That's why you are there. So always having, you know, trying to coach up for critical thinking and making sure that you can empower your people. And the, the other part of this too, that I want to say that in, in our office, we, we kind of struggled with. One person would ask me one question, and they may not really love that answer, and then they would go to Ryan and ask the question. But it seemed that that question may have. The words may have changed, you know, just a wee bit. A little bit. Just a little bit. And then they would get a different answer and then they would be like, oh, my God, I'm so confused. You guys aren't on the same page. Well, no. In reality, you didn't ask the same question. Right. Like, it's two totally different questions. So now we are able to then again, document these type of questions. We can make sure we're on the same page. And since it is in black and white, it's easier to be able to identify exactly where the. The hiccup was if there were truly a miscommunication or understanding. But at the end of the day, like, I don't care how you get to the end. The end of the result, like, as long as you get there. Right. So the, the nuts and bolts of it all, I don't need to be into. I want to be able to make sure that, you know, that this is what needs to be done. So. Yeah. Yeah. I think that I've even noticed that staff have now, like, they're using it on. On their own too. Right. So I may or may not be a control freak and giving up some things was difficult too. Right. And I'm. I'm putting a responsibility on someone else. But, you know, that helps with asana, and that's one that I still see. So it's like recurring is like running payroll. Right. I gave that up to someone, but now I see, like, they check it off when it's done. Right. Or even yearly things. So insurance, rent, you know, whatever that might be. There's a category for that. But like, Rachel, I really appreciate, has created a separate Facebook post project. And so anytime we, you know, maybe see a funny TikTok that we're going to try to replicate or it's somebody's birthday coming up or somebody's anniversary, she has it all in asana or it's, you know, National Cupcake Day or whatever it might be, she has like all of that in her asana to remember Right. Because we forget. But if you have it there and she's made it, I don't need to see those things. But it keeps her accountable for the items she's supposed to be taking care of. Well, and what happens is, you know, you have your projects and you know, your rentals that you have and then your own stuff and then office things, transaction things. Now, like you can go to your inbox or your to do and all of the different items that you have will be listed out there in order of the due date. Right. Like, so now you don't have to go, oh, well, where's this list at? Where did I find. You know, put this at it already organizes it and like meshes everything together so you, you don't have to go to each individual project. You can just look at your own to do. And it's already listed out there. So it keeps you on track in the timeline that you're, you're trying to accomplish these different projects. Yeah. The one I've really liked lately is, you know, because we're kind of a weather dependent area as far as real estate's concerned. And so, you know, December and January can be super busy getting prepped for spring sellers. So I just made a seller, upcoming seller project list, and they're all in there so that I don't forget that their plan was, you know, April. I mean, we might have met in January, but either that or, you know, just to open it up and if someone says, I have a buyer looking for something, like, oh, yep, like I will have something that matches that March 1st. So that has been really helpful for me. Or even maybe buyers that, you know, are maybe six months out, I have a little buyer thing and following up with them. So I think it's just been great. And I think that a lot of people struggle with the stickies and the forgetting things. So this is a really simple app that you can put on your phone, you can have staff use, that could really help you kind of fine tune your day and make sure you don't forget things. Like, we're all capable of doing. Well, let's, let's also talk about this. Like, I mean, Jess is gonna be having her baby here soon, right? So I mean, like, legitimately, I'm on her phone right now and I hope to God her water doesn't break while that happens. That would be a great story. I'm here for it. But like, okay, so she's gonna be out, so her tasks aren't going to be completed because obviously, you know, she may be having a newborn that she has to pay attention to. But, like, that doesn't mean that everything has to stop at the office right now. You can see and you have her tasks that you can easily shift and delegate to other people or you can pick up whatever it needs to be. So not only when somebody's out of the office, but when you start scaling and growing, you no longer have to think, like, what do I have to train this person? Because you should already have everything. Every single thing that you need to be doing that is repetition, that you can say, let me just move that on over to them. And now here is their. Their workload. So it's great to be able to offload that in that manner of the hierarchy as well, too, for growth and scaling. Well, I think one thing we talked about, which I think we're still implementing, is for agents to be able to have their dates and deadlines from their contract pulled into their asana. So, right, you could pull up your asana and then you see that the home inspection contingency is due in five days for this property loan commitment is due for this property and 10 days. So that's, I think, a value add that we can add to our agents is they open this, you know, program and, like, it's an inside look at what their transactions are like right now. So how fantastic to, you know, remind the lender or the other agent that these things are coming up, right? Like, you no longer have to be that PI investigator of, like, what do I need to do today? Like, and then have decision, you know, paralysis and then just, like, shut down. Like, you just schedule your future self, like, what you need to be doing in the. The best version of what you're supposed to be doing and showing up that day. And now when you show up, you no longer have to worry, like, you know, instead of, like, me sometimes, like, you know, twiddle my thumbs, like, I don't have anything to do, but you now have a clear directive of exactly what needs to be done based off of what you're trying to accomplish in the big picture. Yeah, I think even right for the, for the podcast, it's been fantastic. We use it as a shared as far as upcoming, you know, topics. And even when things come up, like, oh, man, that would be a fantastic topic, I can throw it in there, who our guests are and we can assign them or if I need help with something, you know, assign it ahead of time. And it just makes, I think, flow. And because not all communication is going to be, like, on the phone or whatnot. So. Right. This helps that communication line be open because we can, can all see the same thing. Absolutely. Um, the, the person Austin with the best regards is who really like. And if. Austin, if you're listening, I always say this, that you are the most organized, efficient person that I've ever met in my entire freaking life. And I think I'm pretty efficient, but you put me to shame. Um, but he did a, an asana training with my team and one of the things that when he first was training me on, I thought it was absolutely freaking ridiculous that I implement now is a someday maybe waiting category. Right. Like, I don't know if anybody else has this issue of waking up at 2 o' clock in the morning and I have this idea or did I remember to do this type of thing. I would throw it into my someday maybe waiting, like just brain dump, write it out and I, I'm done with it. Right. Like, I don't have to do anything with it. At least I got the idea out of my head. And then when we are looking to go to different projects or staff needs to, you know, pick up something else, we go to our someday maybe waiting category and see what are we, what are we queuing up here to be able to start implementing into our business to make us more efficient or effective or you know, support whatever it may be. And sometimes like those ideas never move, but at least it's documented there and if someday maybe like happens, like can go back to it and I don't have to keep it all in my head and like get out of there,. Keep you up at night, then. Yeah, no, like I already have so much, too much going on up there. I don't need, I don't need that. So. Yeah. Any other last little tips that you have for people on asana? I think just, you know, to give it a try or that or another app and I think that it could really make you more efficient every day. Yeah. Having that sharing capability is absolutely amazing for, for you and your spouse or, you know, kiddos, whatever else it may be. So we appreciate you guys tuning in and listening and hopefully you got a little bit of value today and make sure you tune into the next time. I think it's going to be a fantastic topic, so don't want to miss out on it. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please like subscribe and share with others. Stay connected. For more genuine insights and strategies to boost your real estate career on Facebook or check out our website. We'll see you next time.