Formatting Information

I love spreadsheets. On one of my first projects, I made the mistake of assuming everyone else did too. (Spoiler alert: They don't.) After weeks of sending weekly kickoffs and getting no response from team members, I began to unpack new ways of engaging people in difficult conversations regarding timelines and deliverables. I now enjoy a healthy set of formatting tricks to engage even the busiest of stakeholders, and the quietest of developers.

In this session, I will cover three broad topics:

• Successful Templates. Formatting tips and tricks for spreadsheets, emails, tickets.
• Choosing the Right Template. Learning how to predict which format will be most useful for any given situation.
• Picking the Right Time. Timing information delivery for maximum engagement (likely to include a bonus rant on why everyone hates Scrum's meeting-heavy schedule and what you can do about it).

By investing some time in formatting, you too can engage stakeholders and developers in conversation about things that really matter, when it matters.