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melodykrameron Checklistomania makes it easy to keep track of relative tasks

We actually have all of our checklists online: https://github.com/18F/onboarding-documents/blob/master/Chec...

so you can see exactly what's required. The checklist program has made it easier for new employees to keep track of the tasks (and is easier for many people to follow.)

melodykrameron Checklistomania makes it easy to keep track of relative tasks

I checked those - but really wanted the relative task functionality. That was the key feature that we needed (and that our users requested.)

melodykrameron Checklistomania makes it easy to keep track of relative tasks

You can see our negotiated ToS here: https://slack.com/terms-of-service/government

melodykrameron Checklistomania makes it easy to keep track of relative tasks

This is a great list. (I work at 18F.) Everything we do is available for anyone to fork, adapt, copy, use, etc. Someone could fork our code as a starting point and add the features you mention. I really like the idea of adding context for the tasks.

As the person who converted the tasks to JSON, I can say IT TOOK A LONG TIME. If there was a front end or an easier way to do this, it would be much easier to use. An editor would be my #1 feature request.

- We wanted everyone to see every checklist, but the idea of having checklists shared by a team would be REALLY USEFUL for us too. Think about a team who shares onboarding tasks for a user. I would love to add that functionality.

- If you feel comfortable, you could create these as issues in the repo so that we could share them and see if folks want to tackle them. We saw this as a first step to meet a need, and would love to see it improve.

- Mel

melodykrameron Checklistomania makes it easy to keep track of relative tasks

We're automating what we can - i.e. accounts and stuff.

But a lot of the tasks are training related i.e. "You have to learn about this or that."

You can see the work we've put into onboarding here: https://18f.gsa.gov/2015/12/01/how-we-dramatically-improved-...

The biggest efficiency, I think, is creating a Slackbot that trickles out a lot of this information to new hires: https://18f.gsa.gov/2015/12/15/how-bot-named-dolores-landing...

We've also rolled out a handbook and classes — the checklist is basically to make sure people have seen what they need to and so they're not overwhelmed the first day. (Something like learning how to travel is something you need to learn, but maybe not until week two...)

melodykrameron Checklistomania makes it easy to keep track of relative tasks

Yup. I worked with Tony on the tool. That's exactly what we had in mind. We didn't want people going through onboarding to be overwhelmed — and we also didn't want to have to manually date each task relative to their start date. i.e. If you do this on day on (April 22), then you must do this task three days later (April 25.) This tool simply lets you enter April 22 and then figures out what the next due date should be, based on the time length you specify.

melodykrameron 18F's New Year's resolution: Be even more open

How have you managed the community in the Slack room while keeping up with your own work?

melodykrameron 18F's New Year's resolution: Be even more open

They can find all of our repositories here: https://github.com/18F

And our blog, which details many of our projects, is here: https://18f.gsa.gov/blog/

We occasionally hold hackathons but the best way to get involved is through our repos! They can also fork/adapt any of the projects they see there.

melodykrameron 18F's New Year's resolution: Be even more open

Would love more feedback on how to do this! (I co-wrote that blog post.)

melodykrameron 18F launches cloud.gov

I work from my home outside of Chapel Hill, NC so my commute is from my bedroom to my home office. I'm in a t-shirt and yoga pants right now.

It's the best job I've had - I have autonomy, flexibility, and the ability to make an impact on a daily basis. It's really nice to think about how many people you reach on a daily basis. The problems you get to work on are challenging and complex - I'm learning new things every day.

I came from the journalism world, not a startup - so I can't speak to whether it's similar. I will say this: We have a "Yes, how can I help you do that?" philosophy, which I find refreshing and really delightful.

For example, right now I'm working on an onboarding Slack bot (code: https://github.com/18F/dolores-landingham-bot) that will help acclimate new employees to 18F. Got the idea. Threw it around. Everyone liked it. We're building it. And then we plan to write up how we did it, so others can use it too.

That's the best feeling - sharing what you learn, and not being afraid to go public with every bit. Happy to say more.

Mel (@mkramer on Twitter)