What goes where
Folder: client or product. List: sprint or queue. Tag: urgent, billable, external dependency. The same card sits in all three; you do not need a “copy over there” button. Using a folder as a sprint, a list as a client, a tag as a status — all three break the cut. Status is a column. Client is a folder. Sprint is a list. Urgent is a tag. Write those sentences on the wall.
Nobody uses forty tags. In Ontra, limit tags at the project. Reports earn their keep from a few cross-cuts such as “billable”. Archive unused tags; you do not have to delete them. Opening a new tag called “urgent2” is a lack of discipline. Unwind tag inflation once a quarter. Three live cross-cuts are enough: billable, external dependency, tech debt.
- Limit tags at the project
- A folder is a client or a product
- A list is a sprint or a queue
- Keep a few cross-cuts such as billable
- The task is not cloned; three cuts sit on one card
The cost of a cloned task
“Let’s put this work on both the sprint list and the client folder” births two cards. The next day one is done and the other stays open. The report counts effort twice or not at all. Ontra does not want a clone. There is one card; folder, list, and tag stick to it. A view is a lens. A clone is a second database.
Tell a new team on day one
The first hour of setup should spend itself on these three sentences. Otherwise everyone invents their own cut within a week. In an agency the folder is a brand. In software the folder is a module. In the field the folder is a region or a client site. A list is flow everywhere. A tag is a cross-cut everywhere. That is all. Saved views handle the rest.
Teach the three sentences in the first hour
A folder is a client or a product. A list is a sprint or a queue. A tag is urgent, billable, external dependency. The same card sits in all three; there is no copy button. Using a folder as a sprint, a list as a client, a tag as a status breaks the cut. Status is a column. Write these sentences on the wall. Otherwise everyone invents their own cut in a week. Agency folder is a brand. Software folder is a module. Field folder is a region or a site.
“Put it on both the sprint list and the client folder” births two cards. One finishes, the other stays open. The report counts effort twice or not at all. Ontra does not want a clone. A view is a lens. A clone is a second database. Nobody uses forty tags. Limit them at the project. Three live cross-cuts are enough: billable, external dependency, tech debt. “Urgent2” is a lack of discipline. Archive quarterly; you do not have to delete.
Saved views handle the rest. “This client’s late billables” is a lens, not a new cut. Tell a new team these three sentences on day one. The first hour of setup should spend itself here. Otherwise the tool is right, the vocabulary is wrong, and the report lies again.
Three sentences that break the cut, and the right ones
Wrong: using a folder as a sprint, a list as a client, a tag as a status. Right: folder is client or product, list is sprint or queue, tag is urgent billable external dependency. The same card sits in all three. There is no copy button. Agency folder is brand, software folder is module, field folder is region or site. Teach these sentences in the first hour. Otherwise everyone invents their own cut in a week.
Put it here and there births two cards. One finishes the other stays open. The report counts twice or not at all. Ontra does not want a clone. A view is a lens. A clone is a second database. Nobody uses forty tags. Three cuts are enough: billable external dependency tech debt. Urgent2 is a lack of discipline. Archive quarterly.
Saved views handle the rest. This client’s late billables is a lens not a new cut. If the tool is right and the vocabulary is wrong the report lies again.
Three sentences on the wall. Say no to the first copy request. Bind the card do not clone it. That no is the structural form of one record.
Unwind tag inflation
Archive unused tags; you do not have to delete them. Reports earn their keep from three live cross-cuts. Opening a new tag called “urgent2” is a lack of discipline.
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