Review of 2011

I started blogging at the end of 2008, so 2011 was my third full year of blogging. So I thought it might be a good time to review briefly my blog activity and life in general.

The number of blog posts I wrote in 2011 was 84, which is slightly down on the 113 posts I wrote in 2010. However, most of the drop is accounted for by the elimination of the weekly reviews, which I started at the start of 2010 and then abandoned. I have settled into a steady rhythm of roughly 2 posts a week and a reasonably stable set of topics involving mainly technology and gadgets.

I am happy with the tone of the blog and the level of interest it generates. The one thing that surprises me is how little I blog about IBM or the products that I work on. I think that the reason for this is not that I don't have anything to say about IBM products, but it is because I need to think more carefully before expressing an opinion about IBM products. For example, I spent almost 3 months working on a recent article for Developerworks while a typical blog post is written is less than a half an hour. I may increase the work related content on my blog, but it will probably involve mainly short posts pointing at more substantial articles that already exist elsewhere on the web.

In terms of life changes, the biggest change in 2011 was my decision to move from a people management role to an individual contributor role. As I blogged recently, I am still struggling to settle in to the changed role, but I am still happy that I took this brave decision. I think that it will the end of 2012 before I will be totally clear on how I feel about the change.


Getting Things Done (GTD) was one of the main topics in my blog for 2010, but it is not mentioned at all in 2011. This is mainly because I have stopped implementing the GTD methodology.  My decision to abandon GTD is because my work now involves a smaller set of substantial tasks to complete as compared to my former role as a manager which involved tracking many different tasks each of which involved less work from me directly.

A simple way to be reminded of things you need to do

Some people are very effective at using a methodology like GTD to track what are the most important things to do each day. However, the rest of us tend to simply focus our attention on the most recently arrived emails in our inbox. Luckily there is a really useful service called NudgeMail that I recently discovered which will send you email reminders on a scheduled date.

This free service is amazingly easy to use. For example if you wanted to be reminded that you should return your library books next Saturday you simply send an email with the subject "Return library books" to "Saturday@nudgemail.com" and next Saturday you will receive a copy of your email sent back to you. You don't even need to sign up because the one piece of personal information they need is your email address and this can be retrieved from your first email. They accept a wide variety of formats to specify the reminder date and time - they will send you a full list of acceptable formats in response to your first email.

I have no association with the people behind the service, but if you try the service I know you will find it useful. Maybe your first email can be emailing "tomorrow@nudgemail.com" with a subject line of "leave a commend on Brian's blog thanking him for recommending Nudgemail to me" :-)

A temporary gap in weekly reviews

At the start of this year I started publishing regular weekly reviews on my blog each weekend as part of an effort to become better at implementing the GTD methodology for task management. Nobody has been more suprised than me to find that I have perservered with this discipline and only very rarely missed a week.

I do find that the discipline of writing a weekly review has helped me focus on what are the important tasks I want to complete each week. However, there is a lot of work involved and I am wondering if I get adequate return on my investment of effort.

I am about to go off on a few weeks holidays. I don't think I want to manage my holiday time in a GTD way :-) and in any case I possibly won't have adequate internet access to update my blog. Therefore I will take a break from my weekly review for August and then reflect upon whether or not to start up again in September.

Weekly report for the week ending July 18th

Last week I said I would:

1. Get approval confirmed for open positions in Sametime team (still awaiting approval)
   
2. Attend next meeting of the sub-group on IT infrastructure  in Education (meeting was cancelled, but I submitted my input via email)
   
3. Get approval for 2010 promotion candidates (several meetings, but still no approval)
   
4. Complete draft articles on my blog (done - wrote a long article about history of smasher)
   

Next Week I will do the following actions:

1. Get approval confirmed for open positions in Sametime team.
2. Get approval for 2010 promotion candidates
3. Write articles on my blog
4. Decide on next technical project to tackle
   

Weekly report for the two weeks eneding July 11th

I missed last week's weekly review  due to some

Last week I said I would:

1. Help with the Sametime 8.5.1 project - especially with Linux client testing and resolving proxy issues (done - this project is not yet gold but the development work is completed)
   
2. Get approval confirmed for open positions in Sametime team (not yet)
   
3. Give presentations to 2 groups of lab visitors. (done)
   
4. Collate results of Profiles usage survey (done - but not sure how/if it is going to be published)
   
5. Conclude 2010 promotion review process for the more senior bands (still awaiting to hear if proposed promotions list is approved)
   
6. Complete draft articles on my blog(one done more to go)
   

Next Week I will do the following actions:

1. Get approval confirmed for open positions in Sametime team.
2. Attend next meeting of the sub-group on IT infrastructure in Education
   
3. Get approval for 2010 promotion candidates
4. Complete draft articles on my blog

Weekly report for the week eneding June 27th

Last week I said I would:

1. Help with the Sametime 8.5.1 project - especially with Linux client testing (done but ongoing)
   
2. Collate results of Profiles usage survey (not done yet)
   
3. Communicate decision on the IBM 2.0 book to those involved (done)
   
4. Conclude  2010 promotion review process for the more senior bands (not done yet)
   
5. Write more materials for my blog (done - several articles partly written and saved as draft)
   

Next Week I will do the following actions:

1. Help with the Sametime 8.5.1 project - especially with Linux client testing and resolving proxy issues
2. Get approval confirmed for open positions in Sametime team.
3. Give presentations to 2 groups of lab visitors.
   
4. Collate results of Profiles usage survey
   
5. Conclude  2010 promotion review process for the more senior bands.
6. Complete draft articles on my blog
   

Weekly report for the week ending 20th of June

Last week I said I would:

1. Help with the Sametime 8.5.1 project - especially with Linux client testing (done but ongoing)
   
2. Help Gabriela draft the paper for the Blogtalk conference (done but paper not yet submitted)
   
3. Communicate decision on the IBM 2.0 book to those involved (not done)
   
4. Do second pass of the salary review plan (done - awaiting approval)
   
5. Continue the 2010 promotion review process for the more senior bands (done - but no formal decision yet)
   

Next Week I will do the following actions:

1. Help with the Sametime 8.5.1 project - especially with Linux client testing and resolving proxy issues
   
2. Collate results of Profiles usage survey
   
3. Communicate decision on the IBM 2.0 book to those involved
   
4. Conclude  2010 promotion review process for the more senior bands.
5. Write more materials for my blog - likely topics include
   
   • Review of IT in education in Irish Schools
   • The story of how I became known as "Mr Smasher"
   • Growth in usage of Linux desktops in IBM
     

Weekly report for the week ending 13th of June

Last week I said I would:

1. Help with the Sametime 8.5.1 project - especially with Linux client testing (done, but ongoing)
   
2. Blog internally about experiences using Sametime AV technologies for the  All Hands meeting (done)
   
3. Decide next steps with the IBM 2.0 book project (done - will formally communicate this next week)
   
4. Continue the salary review process (first pass done - second pass due next week)
   
5. Continue the 2010 promotion review process for the more senior bands (ongoing)
   

Next Week I will do the following actions:

1. Help with the Sametime 8.5.1 project - especially with Linux client testing
   
2. Help Gabriela draft the paper for the Blogtalk conference
3. Communicate decision on the IBM 2.0 book to those involved
   
4. Do second pass of the salary review plan
   
5. Continuethe 2010 promotion review process for the more senior bands.

Weekly report for the week ending 6th of June

Last week I said I would:

1. Help with the Sametime 8.5.1 project - especially with Linux client testing (done - but ongoing to next week as well)
   
2. Blog internally about experiences using Sametime AV technologies for the All Hands meeting (not done)
   
3. Help Gabriela to revise the sample chapter for the IBM 2.0 book project. (not really done
   
4. Start the salary review process (done)
   
5. Start the 2010 promotion review process for the more senior bands (done but ongoing)
   

Next Week I will do the following actions:

1. Help with the Sametime 8.5.1 project - especially with Linux client testing
   
2. Blog internally about experiences using Sametime AV technologies for the All Hands meeting
   
3. Decide next steps with the IBM 2.0 book project.
4. Continue the salary review process
   
5. Continue the 2010 promotion review process for the more senior bands.

Weekly report for the week ending 30th of May

Last week I said I would:

1. Get agreement on a more detailed schedule for the cross product integration plans (done)
   
2. Help run the SWG Ireland All-hands meeting through the new Sametime Meeting
   Room with AV support to showcase the use of our own technology. (done)
   
3. Help Gabriela to revise the sample chapter for the IBM 2.0 book project (not really done - Gabriela wants to do this draft herself)
   
4. Announce that we will drop the proposal for Ireland/China exchange program (done)
   
5. Complete first pass of the 2010 promotion review process for the more junior
   bands (done - but with minimal involvement from me personally)
   

Next Week I will do the following actions:

1. Help with the Sametime 8.5.1 project - especially with Linux cleint testing
   
2. Blog internally about experiences using Sametime AV technologies for the All Hands meeting
   
3. Help Gabriela to revise the sample chapter for the IBM 2.0 book project.
4. Start the salary review process
   
5. Start the 2010 promotion review process for the more senior bands.

Weekly report for the week ending 23rd of May

Last week I said I would:

1. Get agreement on a more detailed schedule for the cross product integration plans (not done - there was a change in management team in the other group and so the other manager needed some more time to familiarise herself with the detail of the project before committing)
   
2. Revise the sample chapter for the IBM 2.0 book project. By the middle of the next week I hope to have an updated version ready for review within the team so that we can send to Springer ahead of our commitment at the end of May. (partly done - I have exchanged emails with Gabriela about the changes, but we agreed that she will do the physical typing so I need to wait for her)
   
3. Make a final attempt to agree next steps for Ireland/China exchange program - or else get agreement to drop the proposal (made attempt but not a positive response)
   
4. Start work on the 2010 promotion review process (done - process is under way)
   

Next Week I will do the following actions:

1. Get agreement on a more detailed schedule for the cross product integration plans
2. Help run the SWG Ireland All-hands meeting through the new Sametime Meeting Room with AV support to showcase the use of our own technology.
   
3. Help Gabriela to revise the sample chapter for the IBM 2.0 book project.
4. Announce that we will drop the proposal for Ireland/China exchange program.
   
5. Complete first pass of the 2010 promotion review process for the more junior bands.
   

Weekly report for the week ending 16th of May

Last week I said I would:

1. Get schedule commitments on the cross product integration plans (done - high level commitments received but will need to transform these into a more detailed schedule).
   
2. Revise the sample chapter for the IBM 2.0 book project. This week I hope to have an updated version ready for review within the team so that we can send to Springer ahead of our commitment at the end of May. (partly done - reviewed all existing content and agreed what changes need to be made - but a substantial amount of work still required to implement these changes)
   
3. Make a final attempt to agree next steps for Ireland/China exchange program - or else get agreement to drop the proposal (sent some emails, but still no clear agreement)
   
4. Update the work information on my CV (done)
   

Next Week I will do the following actions:

1. Get agreement on a more detailed schedule for the cross product integration plans
   
2. Revise the sample chapter for the IBM 2.0 book project. By the middle of the next week I hope to have an updated version ready for review within the team so that we can send to Springer ahead of our commitment at the end of May.
3. Make a final attempt to agree next steps for Ireland/China exchange program - or else get agreement to drop the proposal
4. Start work on the 2010 promotion review process
   

Weekly report for the week ending 9th of May

Last week I said I would:

1. Get everyone to commit to the latest version of the plan for Portal and MashupMaker to move to the latest Sametime API (not done - got commitment on the technical details of what we will do, but yet to get agreement on the schedule for the work)
   
2. Help with testing of the latest Sametime Beta candidate especially focusing on Linux readiness (done - I expect that the Beta will ship shortly with AV support on Linux for the first time which is a major achievement)
   
3. Restart work on the IBM 2.0 book project (done - revised the stories to go with the sample chapter)
4. Agree next steps for Ireland/China exchange program (not done - still awaiting a response to my email)
   
5. Update the work information on my CV (not done)
   

Next Week I will do the
following actions:

1. Get schedule commitments on the cross product integration plans
   
2. Revise the sample chapter for the IBM 2.0 book project. This week I hope to have an updated version ready for review within the team so that we can send to Springer ahead of our commitment at the end of May.
3. Make a final attempt to agree next steps for Ireland/China exchange program - or else get agreement to drop the proposal
   
4. Update the work information on my CV
   

Weekly report for the 2 weeks ending 2nd of May

I am still operating below par due to my slowly recovering ribs (it turns out that I had three broken ribs instead of just one that they originally thought) so I decided to skip last weeks weekly review and instead review 2 weeks in one.

Last week I said I would:

1. Finalize the plans for Portal and MashupMaker to move to the latest Sametime API (I thought that this was done, but the plan turned out to be flawed and so we had to revise it. The plan has now been revised, but I a still need to get people to commit to the new plan)
   
2. Start getting feedback on my picture of the Sametime programming methods (I have completed an accurate picture of the current toolkits. I also started about how we might change the model, but I am putting this on hold because people are too occupied with the upcoming Beta to devote time to strategic reviews)
   
3. Write blog post about using Notes as a GTD tracking system (done)
4. Agree evaluation method for Ireland/China exchange program (stalled)
   
5. Update my CV (almost done)
   I migrated my CV from my old site to pages on my blog and I updated all sections except work information. I am struggling to write it up in  way that is detailed enough to be useful, but still does not become out of date as soon as my project responsibility changes (since this happens frequently)
   

Next Week I will do the following actions:

1. Get everyone to commit to the latest version of the plan for Portal and MashupMaker to move to the latest Sametime API
   
2. Help with testing of the latest Sametime Beta candidate especially focusing on Linux readiness
3. Restart work on the IBM 2.0 book project (Springer have expressed interest in the proposal, but they want to see a draft chapter revised to meet their requirements - this will be a major focus for the next month)
4. Agree next steps for Ireland/China exchange program
   
5. Update the work information on my CV
   

Using Notes to manage my Tasks in a GTD way

Since the start of the year, I have been trying out a number of different tools for implementing Getting Things Done (GTD). For the last month or so, I have reverted to using Lotus Notes as a task tracking tool. I have been using the standard Notes email database design and did not use any special tools.

In order to ensure I was following GTD best practices, I read a document from David Allen's company which gives very practical advice on how to use Notes for GTD style task tracking. This guide is quite useful - as a long time Lotus Notes user I already knew most of the tips and tricks, but a new user of Lotus Notes would really benefit from reading this guide. Unfortunately it was written for an older version of Lotus Notes and so it does not mention any of the newer features such as follow-up flags or  the ability to drag emails from your inbox onto your ToDo list to convert them into ToDo items.

While I followed most of the instructions in the guide, I deviated from the official advice in a number of ways:

• David Allen is quite adamant that it is important to distinguish between appointments which have a specific date and time and tasks which don't. However, I like to see at a glance what I need to do next. Therefore I ignored David's advice and configured Notes to show a all incomplete ToDos to on my calendar. I used the following guidelines when deciding which date to assign to tasks:
  
  • By default tasks go into today's list. By looking at a combination of my appointments and ToDo items for a particular day, I can quickly see when I am over booked. For example, if I have only two or three appointments on a day I can expect to get quite a few ToDo items completed, but if I have seven or eight meetings on a particular day I know it is pointless to expect to expect many ToDos to get done in the short gaps between them.
  • Whenever I see a day that is overbooked, Notes allows me to easily change its assigned date by using drag-and-drop to place it on a date with fewer appointments. This automatically updates the start date field for this ToDo without needing me to touch the keyboard.
    
  • By default ToDo items don't have a due date. If something really needs to be done by a particular date I will give a due date of the day before, then Notes will automatically put a red indicator beside it on my calendar after the due date is passed so that I can see it is more urgent.
    
  • I tend to put the less important ToDos on  Friday. This means that they don't clutter up my list of things that I need to do on a particular day, but at the same time I can easily see them if I have some free time and am looking for something to do.
    
  • I put most personal ToDos on Saturday unless they are something which can only be done on a week day (e.g. ring insurance companies to get a quote).
    
  • I put things that fit into the "Someday/Maybe" category onto new years eve. When it comes to the end of the year and I am making new years resolutions I can decide if I want to move these onto the active list or leave them on the "Someday/Maybe" list for next year.
    
  • David Allen recommends creating ToDo entries with an agenda for anyone with whom you will need to meet with regularly e.g. your boss. If I have a scheduled 1-on-1 with somebody I normally place the Agenda entry on the date of our next 1-on-1. If I don't have a scheduled 1-on-1 meeting with this person I move the agenda out some number fo days in the future which reflects my feeling for the urgency of the items on the agenda. If something on the agenda is really urgent I might even place a due date on it to remind me that I need to meet the person in question.
    
• I followed David Allen's instructions on setting up categories for my ToDo items, but I must admit that I did use categories for all of my ToDo items. I find that I tend to have around 30-50 items and so I find it relatively easy to scan through them even if they are not all properly categorised. Therefore the small amount of time required to assign a category to a ToDo item is wasted time for me. I have heard David say that most busy professionals should expect to have about 150-200 outstanding things listed in their task management system. I am not sure if this means that I am not very busy or if it means that I don't capture all of my possible ToDos in a tracking system (I suspect the later).
  
• I delete ToDos as soon as I complete them rather than marking them complete. I do this partly because I want to save space on my limited email quota and partly because I find that completed ToDos tend to clutter up some of the Notes views. However, I do realise that this means I won't be able to properly do reviews of what I was spending my time on - I might  change this policy in the future.
• David Allen's guide gives no mention of the use of Follow-Up flags (probably because they were not contained in the version of Notes that was available when he wrote his guide). This feature allows you to place a flag on an email indicating that you need to take some action on it - then you can safely move it out of your inbox safe in the knowledge that you won't forget it. In general these flags are very simple to use, but I would love to hear some expert advice on how/if these flagged emails should be managed in conjunction with my ToDos
  

In general I find that Notes is very efficient and easy to use. Since I already use Notes for email and managing my calendar, it is very efficient for me not to have to switch to a different tool for managing my tasks. As a result, I think that this will be my task tracking system for the foreseeable future.

I have heard people speak highly of the eProductivity template which makes it even easier to use Notes in a GTD compatible way. It probably is very good, but I find that the standard Notes template works fine for me. In addition I believe that IBM won't pay the cost of the template and I don't think that I want to pay this out of my own pocket.

Weekly Report for the week ending 18th of April

I had an accident this week and injured my ribs. Therefore I was acting on limited capacity. I am surprised that I actually managed to achieve almost as many goals as normal.

Last week I said I would:

1. Assist in running OSS Bar Camp (done - but I missed the camp itself due to injury)
   
2. Finalize the plans for Portal to move to the latest Sametime API (almost done)
   
3. Begin planning work on Sametime/MashupMaker integration (almost done)
   
4. Start work on building a picture outlining the different methods for extending Sametime so that we can gain agreement on which are strategically preferred and which should be deprecated. (started)
   
5. Write blog post about using Notes as a GTD tracking system (not done)
   

Next Week I will do the following actions:

1. Finalize the plans for Portal and MashupMaker to move to the latest Sametime API
   
2. Start getting feedback on my picture of the Sametime programming methods
   
3. Write blog post about using Notes as a GTD tracking system
4. Agree evaluation method for Ireland/China exchange program
   
5. Update my CV
   

Weekly Report for the 2 weeks ending 12th of April

Due to the Easter holidays and some personal vacation, I decided to merge 2 weekly revies into one:

Last week I said I would:

1. Plan a communications meeting for my newly enlarged team (done)
   
2. Get get PBC goals agreed for all of my team (done)
   
3. Help make plans for OSS Bar Camp (done)
   
4. Finalize the plans for Portal to move to the latest Sametime API and finalise technical direction for Mashup Maker integration (plans for Portal almost finalised but not much progress on Mashup maker)
   
5. Try to get a clear plan on Lotus Connections about how the two products can work together better (clear plan for Connections 3.0 - deferred discussion longer term plans)
   
6. Help with testing ST 8.5.1 on Linux - particularly Pulse Audio support (done)
   
7. Set up Sametime 8.5.1 build environment on my PC so that I can learn more about Sametime internals (done)
   
8. Write a Q1 review on my blog (done)
   
9. Continue using Notes as a GTD tracking system (done - but not yet blogged about)

In addition I attended a number of events which occupied much of my time:

1. Attended IEEE conference on Transforming Engineering Education
2. Hosted a visit from my boss (who is based in US and had never before met me or any of my team in person).
3. Attended IBM Academy of Technology conference on mobile collaboration
4. Atten
   

Next Week I will to the following actions:

1. Assist in running OSS Bar Camp
   
2. Finalize the plans for Portal to move to the latest Sametime API
   
3. Begin planning work on Sametime/MashupMaker integration
4. Start work on building a picture outlining the different methods for extending Sametime so that we can gain agreement on which are strategically preferred and which shoudl be deprecated.
   
5. Write blog post about using Notes as a GTD tracking system
   

GTD Q1 Review

I have now been doing weekly reviews on my blog for 3 months and so I thought it might be time to asses who effective these have been.

• The once thing that surprised me is to see that I have kept it up - this is surprising becuase I am not necessarily very good at persisting at things.
• I also see that I have mixed results about getting my weekly goals achieved. However, I think that the potential for public embarrassment of having to write on my blog has often spurred me to complete some of my week goals that might otherwise have slipped. For example, I notice that sometimes I have a goal "blog about x" and the blog post about x is posted shortly before my weekly review. On the other hand, there have been situations where I have written "not done" beside an action item a few weeks in a row and this has forced me to be more realistic about the chances of completing this action item and I move it to the "Someday/Maybe" list.
  
• I only include things worthy of mention in my weekly ToDo list in my weekly review. Many tasks repetitive but time consuming tasks are ignored when writing my weekly review. I think this makes sense, but sometimes I am disappointed when I see how few items of note I have actually achieved in a week.
  
• Being a manager means that many of the things I do must be kept confidential - it is not just my privacy, but the privacy of others must be respected. However, whenever I have anything major to do, I normally find that I can write something on my weekly review blog post that makes sense to me and doesn't compromise the privacy of the people involved.
• I don't think my weekly review blog posts make for interesting reading, but quite a few people have commented directly to me that they have read the posts and they have offered encouragement in my GTD quest. (I am not sure why people are so reluctant to post a comment to the blog).
• I don't think I have yet hit upon the correct mixture of tools and process that make GTD work effectively for me, but I  think I am getting closer. I will probably settle upon using Lotus Notes, but with some adaption to make it easier for me.
  

In summary, I think I will keep up the week reviews (at least for now). I am really looking forward to attending the seminar that David Allen and Erik Mack holding next week for IBM employees. I think this seminar will be really relevant to my personal circumstances. In addition I think it is great to connect with other IBM employees who are also struggling with implement the methodology in a way that works for them.

Weekly Report for the week ending 28th of March

Last week I said I would:

1. Plan a communications meeting for my newly enlarged team (planning started - but it won't happen until week after next)
   
2. Help all of my team get PBC goals written up (partly done - mine are agreed, but many of my team have not yet finalised theirs)
   
3. Finalize the plans for Portal and Mashup Maker to move to the latest Sametime API (Portal plan nearly finalised, but Mashup maker not yet)
   
4. Try to get a clear plan on Lotus Connections about how the two products can work together better (no real progress)
   
5. Help with testing ST 8.5.1 on Linux - particularly Pulse Audio support (done - but ongoing)
   
6. Discuss with Sametime team the possibility of changing the Sametime Linux kit build process and install process to match what has been requested by the Open Client team. (put this action on holdm because bigger issues to be solved)
   
7. Continue using Notes as a GTD tracking system (done)
   
8. Blog about using BlueTwitSidebar (done)

Next Week I will to the following actions:

1. Plan a communications meeting for my newly enlarged team (the following week)
2. Write report on HR investigation
   
3. Get get PBC goals agreed for all of my team.
4. Help make plans for OSS Bar Camp
   
5. Finalize the plans for Portal to move to the latest Sametime API and finalise technical direction for Mashup Maker integration
   
6. Try to get a clear plan on Lotus Connections about how the two products can work together better.
   
7. Help with testing ST 8.5.1 on Linux - particularly Pulse Audio support
8. Set up Sametime 8.5.1 build environment on my PC so that I can learn more about Sametime internals
   
9. Write a Q1 review on my blog
   
10. Continue using Notes as a GTD tracking system (and write blog post about my experiences)
    

Weekly Report for the week ending 21st of March

Last week I said I would:

1. Meet with the remaining people affected by the org changes (almost done - met with all but 1 of my new direct reports)
   
2. Plan a communications meeting for my newly enlarged team (not done yet)
   
3. Help present to a visiting executive who is starting a new project in the Dublin lab (done)
   
4. Finalize the plans for Portal and Mashup Maker to move to the latest Sametime API (Not done. The technical direction and who will do the work has been clarified, but still not clear on when the work will be done)
   
5. Continue high level discussions with Lotus Connections about how the two products can work together better. (meeting held - but no plan yet)
   
6. Help with testing ST 8.5.1 on Linux - particularly Pulse Audio support (done - but have not yet got a stable enough build to roll out to a wider Beta)
   
7. Discuss with Sametime team the possibility of changing the Sametime Linux kit build process and install process to match what has been requested by the Open Client team. (discussion held - but no decision yet on future plans)
   
8. Blog about my experiences of using Remember the Milk  and then switch back to using Notes ToDos with following the advice from David Allen's guide(done)

In addition I did the following thinks not on my list:

1. Created PBC goals and shared them via IBM internal blog.
2. Started using BlueTwitSidebar (which is only available inside IBM) - I will write up my experiences soon
   

Next Week I will to the following actions:

1. Plan a communications meeting for my newly enlarged team
2. Help all of my team get PBC goals written up.
   
3. Finalize the plans for Portal and Mashup Maker to move to the latest Sametime API.
   
4. Try to get a clear plan on Lotus Connections about how the two products can work together better.
   
5. Help with testing ST 8.5.1 on Linux - particularly Pulse Audio support
   
6. Discuss with Sametime team the possibility of changing the Sametime Linux kit build process and install process to match what has been requested by the Open Client team. (discussion held - but no decision yet on future plans)
   
7. Continue using Notes as a GTD tracking system (but will wait a further week before blogging about experience)
   
8. Blog about using BlueTwitSidebar