(4) Ways to Use Sticky Notes in the Workplace

Are you only using sticky notes to write yourself reminders that you stick around your computer monitor? You know, the notes you see every day yet still completely ignore because you end up looking passed them instead of at them? They tend to do better at becoming more of a colorful piece of office décor than they do at reminding you to do something. There's more to Post-it® notes than meets the eye.

Here are my top (4) ways to incorporate them into the workplace as a tool:

1) Need to collect feedback from a large group?

Try using Post-it® sticky notes to efficiently garner a lot of feedback from a group. Sometimes, asking for verbal feedback from a crowd can allow domineering participants to capitalize on the request, while some voices with valuable opinions can go unheard. Provide everyone a few post it notes and ask them to provide one positive and one constructive feedback on individual notes and then apply them to a dedicated spot on the wall. It may be helpful to instruct your group to discreetly write their name on the back of the note should they want to provide follow up clarification on what they wrote down. This approach to collecting feedback helps everyone feel they have judgement-free, equal voices about an idea that is presented.

2) Have a client who needs to prioritize requests?

Consider writing down all of the requests on individual sticky notes. These should be high level features, or deliverables that your client has asked for. Randomly place them in a circle on a wide open table or wall space. Give them a finite period of time (this does not have to be a hard and fast time constraint, but, there should be a sense of urgency) to prioritize the items from most to least (important, business value, or complex, etc.). Whatever the descriptor is, make sure it will be meaningful to you as a service provider and that you can take some type of clear action from the ranking they come up with. The flexibility of having the sticky notes will allow for your client to efficiently place items into perspective and change them up as you guide and counsel them through the debrief of the exercise.

3) Seeking a way to plan capacity for your team?

Or, do you need to track projects for your team without having to jump into a complicated computer program? Having visuals which are easily moved can save you some of the frustration that comes from complicated project management systems. While a low-fidelity approach has its obvious tradeoffs to its digital alternative, post it notes can be used as a way to slot different team members’ capacity or expected contributions on a project. You can create a simple calendar on a white board and allow a post it per person to show which days they will work on each project. It is a high level representation, but, helpful at a first pass to know who is spoken for and who isn’t.

4) Have to track a bunch of tasks across a team for a project?

Make a $2 Kanban board! A Kanban board is a simple and easy way to place tasked work items along a horizontal lane that belongs to a person. There can be multiple lanes and multiple checkpoints or statuses along the vertical columns. A simple Kanban would have columns of new, in progress, and finished. You can, of course, have more columns depending on what you need to track. The point is that you can see left to right movement which represents progress toward a completed task unit per contributing team member. Setting up a board is as simple as grabbing a piece of foam core board from the dollar store and drawing lanes using a permanent black marker . Make sure each "cell" of your board can minimally accommodate one sticky note.

Low cost with high ROI:

Considering a 90 pack of these sticky little wonders only cost $1 they can create an incredible bang for your buck when used beyond the little reminders to yourself. They also make great bookmarks and coasters if you are in a pinch. Get creative with how you use them!