Learning Center: Lean and Kanban
Cherry-picking Tickets Hurts Your Clients
Allowing your team to cherry-pick tickets or tasks on their list hurts your clients, and you may not even realize this is going on. We know this kind of issue by experience, and that's one of the reasons why we've created TopLeft. What is cherry-picking?...
Why Technicians Use TopLeft
Nobody said engineering at an MSP was easy. As if the day-to-day responsibility of handling helpdesk tickets and projects was not enough, technicians and engineers who use ConnectWise or Autotask also have to struggle with the lack of visibility and control over their...
Are you feeling micromanaged? Here is why- and what to do about it
Are you an engineer or a technician working for an MSP? And are you feeling micromanaged? Technician micromanagement at MSPs doesn’t get enough coverage, even though it cripples teamwork and performance. Managers and dispatchers are valuable members of a team....
3 Tips for improving project visibility
If you feel that you are answering the same basic questions over and over, your team members aren’t engaging with projects. If there is confusion about deadlines, deliverables, and workflow, you, as a project manager, need to give your team the gift of project...
How to bring your project visibility to the next level?
As a project manager, you know how important project visibility is. You are always working with many projects simultaneously and are full of information that probably no one else has. To achieve high-level project visibility, you must be able to track your work in one...
New Subscription Plan, Pricing, and Licensing
TopLeft is excited to announce a new subscription plan for those who need the visibility offered by Kanban boards but don't need to accelerate technician's day-to-day work. It's offered at half the price of the full TopLeft subscription plan. We're also simplifying...
New Features- Edit Tickets and Automatically Rank Cards
We want you to be able to work faster and more confidently in your MSP, so we're adding a couple of exciting capabilities to TopLeft. Work faster- edit tickets in TopLeft We always want managers and engineers to be able to work faster. Now you can edit general ticket...
Need to see your Autotask PSA data in Trello? Try this Kanban board instead
Many people use Trello to manage their work. It excels in areas as varied as managing tasks in small-to-medium size projects to personal to-do lists. MSPs love Trello, but those who also use Autotask PSA end up with a problem- they need to either duplicate a lot of...
How good is your multitasking? Try this simple game to find out
In the modern world, multitasking is common and everyone thinks they're good at it. You're able to frequently switch between a variety of tasks without getting distracted or slowing down, right? Not so fast. In reality, multitasking has a huge negative impact on your...
Are you making use of both key types of Kanban boards?
The simplest possible Kanban board has columns for Todo, Doing, and Done. This basic layout is used as an example wherever Kanban techniques are taught. It's an example of a general board, one that tracks any type of work. Did you know there's a different type of...
Knock Out Waste in Your MSP- the 7 Kanban Wastes
Get ready to knock out waste in your MSP! For a long time manufacturers using Kanban have used the 7 Kanban Wastes to identify and eliminate waste in their processes. Did you know MSPs can use the same framework to eliminate waste in their processes? Waste is the...
Project Management with Kanban- for MSPs
Ever been frustrated with project management in ConnectWise or Autotask? Yeah- we were too. We built some simple methods and tools you can use to take back control of project work- so you can complete projects more quickly, reduce stress in your engineering team, and...
MS Planner doesn’t work with ConnectWise, but this Kanban board does
More and more project-focused MSPs are using Microsoft Planner. Planner is a visual tool for arranging work items in columns, showing how work is progressing through a pipeline of work in the team. It's a form of Kanban board and very similar to Trello. MSPs love...
Service Delivery webinar- How one MSP stopped wasting time managing service delivery
https://youtu.be/CJObz3qERSk Click here for the slides You can rescue service delivery at your MSP- relieving overworked dispatchers, guiding unfocused engineers, and saving neglected customers. As an MSP, you need efficient dispatch and engineer workflows. Structured...
Project boards available in TopLeft Kanban
TopLeft is very pleased to announce Kanban boards for projects. Now you can visualize your projects (not just project tickets and tasks) as they progress through your team workflows! What project boards are useful for: Getting an overview of all your projects, whether...
Make your MSP’s PSA project module usable with this tool – Webinar July 30
https://youtu.be/UAeIdcQDsrU As an MSP, have you avoided using the project management module in your PSA because it makes things harder, not easier? Many MSPs avoid managing projects in ConnectWise or Autotask because they make it hard to plan, assign, and monitor...
How Much Neglect is OK? Tips for MSP Service Managers
Neglected tickets can be a major problem for MSPs. Tickets that sit without any work being done are frustrating for both your customers and your team. We've already mentioned some causes of neglected work and how it impacts MSPs. So you want to address neglected work...
Neglected Tickets Impact Your MSP Customers and Team in These 5 Ways
All MSPs suffer from neglected work from time to time. At some MSPs it's temporary and quickly brought under control. At some MSPs it's endemic- there's always numerous tickets that haven't had any work done recently, even though there's nothing blocking the ticket...
3 Problems That Cause Neglected Tickets in MSPs
One challenge faced by every MSP is ensuring that service and project tickets are started, worked, and completed in a reasonable amount of time. Some MSPs have mastered this; others not so much. It's common for MSPs to have a lot of neglected tickets- tickets that...
MSP Project Management with Kanban – Webinar June 30
https://youtu.be/aDEyQJZNbBI What's the worst part about managing projects in ConnectWise or Autotask? Is it the lack of visibility into a project's tasks as they progress through the project workflow? The inability to manage your whole portfolio of projects? Or the...
Accelerate MSP Service Delivery with Kanban Boards for Dispatchers & Engineers – Webinar May 2020
https://youtu.be/ROGgczK3mbQ This webinar was hosted on May 27, 2020. Learn how you can rescue service delivery at your MSP- relieving overworked dispatchers, guiding unfocused engineers, and saving neglected customers. As an MSP, you need efficient dispatch and...
MSP Project Management with Kanban – Webinar
Where’s the Recording? Missed the webinar or want to review again? The recording is available online. What's the worst part about managing projects in ConnectWise or Autotask? Is it the lack of visibility into a project's tasks? The inability to manage your...
Getting Ready to Accelerate Out of The Hairpin Curve
Business won't be the same even when the crisis is over. Wim Kerkhoff, founder of TopLeft and the MSP Kerkhoff Technologies, shares thoughts on remote work and four things you can do to prepare your MSP to be better than ever during the Covid-19 crisis and after it...
Economic Storm Business Survival Guide
Our good friend, entrepreneur and business coach Manuel Palachuk, is delivering a webinar on March 31 to help you understand the economic implications of what’s happening- and how to survive it. There is an immense amount of uncertainty to navigate in this economic...
Remote Work Partner Roundtable
Wim Kerkhoff- CEO and founder of Kerkhoff Technologies, a Vancouver MSP, and TopLeft Kanban Boards for MSPs I’m setting up our first Partner Roundtable session. Primary goal is to brainstorm how we can best support our MSPs’ service/project engineers that are now...