Optimize IS

For our first ever Partner Summit in NY, we decided to do something different. We hosted a partner + services team panel led by Optimize IS and Kara Blumberg, VP of Professional Services. We wanted to share our internal learnings and best practices. This is because we truly believe we are one team with our partners. We also wanted the #1 reviewed partner Optimize IS to share why they were so successful. All in the spirit of helping the partner community level up. The best part? They were HAPPY to do it. That says a lot about this partner community. Here are the 5 key principles they shared that has helped them: 📈 Grow from 1 person to a team of 33 in two years  💻 Complete 700+ Airtable projects 🤝 Work with 40+ enterprise clients, many of which are the largest companies in their respective industries! ⭐️ Garner 118 five star reviews on the partner directory Principles #1 - Do things that don’t scale to scale They do this to maintain an incredibly high quality bar. For example, despite rapidly scaling the team and customers, Charlie still listens to customer gong calls to learn about what’s working and what isn’t. He always finds a way to make time for this. One of his habits is to listen to them when he’s on the treadmill! Now he's building an app built on Airtable that helps with sentiment analysis of these calls to help scale the process. Principle #2: Focus on the customer One of the questions they got from the partner community was around how they price their service offerings and how they structure it. Their answer: it depends based on the customer journey. For some customers, a sprint model that’s iterative could make the most sense as they’re figuring it out as they go, while other customers might want a discrete project build with incredibly detailed specs, specific timelines and a budget in mind. Principle #3 - It's easier to do the hard work when you find joy in what you do When Ben Green first helped me build an app - you could tell he truly enjoyed it because his face would light up when we made breakthroughs together. Charles Melendez and Ben enjoy solving complex challenges with Airtable. And because they embrace the process, it shows up in their work and their culture. Principle #4 - They lean in with Airtable on tough situations. Instead of pointing fingers, they take on extreme responsibility and focus on solving the issue. This builds a huge amount of trust quickly. We know that if we're working on a high stakes engagement, we can count of them. For example, one client had a 4 week timeline. Optimize IS started the work ASAP and on weekends to meet the timeline! Principle #5 - They're cofounders that bring complementary skills to the table. Ben is the demand generation guru. Charlie is the operational expert. Combining the two = Hockey stick growth. 🏒 Their success has been incredible to see... And it's no surprise - they won the "Airtable Partner of the Year" award!

Are repetitive tasks slowing you down? Learn how to streamline your project management by setting up repeatable task systems in Airtable 📊 👉 Watch our Co-founder, Ben Green, walk you through the process: https://buff.ly/3BRGTny Got questions or specific Airtable features you want to explore? Drop them in the comments! #Airtable #Productivity #Automation #WorkflowEfficiency

⚡Stop the juggling, it’s a workflow, not a circus! Most people know Airtable as a substitute for Google Sheets for its database functionalities, but they do not know that it can double down as an excellent Project Management tool and replace at least a dozen apps and platforms with the right integrations. Stay with me to learn how we help hundreds of businesses integrate everything in Airtable and stop the juggling between Apps and platforms. 10 ways Airtable saves time and resources in Project Management 1. Project/Task Management: -Create custom views, dashboards, and tables -Helps bring together all project-related information -Allows switching between grid, calendar, kanban, and gallery views 2. Recurring Tasks: -Recurring tasks are automatically generated at specified intervals -Reduces the need for manual input 3. Task Templates: -Task templates can be duplicated and customized for different projects -Templates can include pre-set fields, descriptions, and dependencies -Ensuring consistency across projects 4. Dependencies within Tasks: -Allows you to link tasks together (create a critical path) -Creating dependencies that ensure certain tasks cannot begin until others are completed 5. Subtasks: -Helps break down complex tasks -Allows the creation of subtasks within main tasks, which can be linked and tracked separately 6. Notifications on Tasks: -Customizable notifications for task assignments, approaching deadlines, and overdue tasks  -Can be sent via email, Slack, or within Airtable itself 7.  Resource Utilization Based on Tasks: -Enables businesses to track resource allocation across tasks -Allows managers to see which resources are assigned to which tasks and available capacity 8. Automated Project Summaries Weekly -Airtable can generate and send project summaries to stakeholders every week, using predefined templates and data from your project management base. 9. Advanced Customization and Integration -Allows businesses to tailor project management workflows to their specific needs -Customizations can include intricate formulas, linked databases, and specialized views that integrate directly with the project management features listed above. 10. Integrations that Enhance Project Management -Ability to integrate with other tools like Google Sheets, Slack, Zoom, Calendly, any CRM, and Order/Shipment tracking further enhances its project management capabilities -Allows businesses to centralize data, automate repetitive tasks, and streamline communication, resulting in significant time and resource savings In short, with Airtable you can overcome the challenges of traditional PM tools. By consolidating many use cases into a single platform, you simplify your workflows. Airtable’s ability to integrate with other tools further increases its value. Put simply, it stops the juggling between apps, helps your business save time and money, and lets you focus on growth.

We're #hiring a new Account Manager. Know anyone who may be interested?

Project management just got a whole lot easier with Airtable! 🚀 Are you struggling with: ❌ Missed deadlines due to ineffective resource allocation? ❌ Lack of visibility into team availability? ❌ Keeping clients and team members on the same page? Say goodbye to these headaches! With Airtable, project managers can now: ✅ Manage everything in one centralized place ✅ Maintain clear communication with the team and vendors ✅ Forecast project delivery and allocate resources effectively 🎥 Want to see Airtable in action for project management? Our Director of Client Experience, Kelly Williams, recently teamed up with our Co-Founder, Benjamin Green, to share insights on: - Key elements to track in a project lifecycle - Utilizing Airtable for complex projects and programs - Tips for keeping everything aligned Curious to learn more? Let us know in the comments if you want access to the video on our new channel! P.S. We also have some template Project Management Airtable bases with resource allocation, approvals, and recurring task functionality. Drop a comment if you want access to the base too.

Ever feel like your SOPs do not match what is happening in real life? Maybe you have some status options that you used two years ago? Or some old Airtable views that are collecting dust. Ben, was discussing with Kelly, our Director of Clients Experience. They realized that some of our SOPs are represented differently from what they are. Here are two examples: - 𝗦𝗢𝗣 𝘃𝘀. 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲: A written SOP shows how a process should be done, not how it was actually done. The SOP painted a brighter picture than reality. - 𝗗𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀: Sometimes, we have numbers on dashboards that we know are off, but we accept the difference without updating them. We couldn’t quite put a name to this concept, but then our Director of Ops, Sebastian, shared this article: https://lnkd.in/gr-aPPYJ It connected the dots!  A map represents a territory, but territories change. Your map may be outdated! This concept is very important because it encourages you to stay adaptable, question assumptions, and continuously validate your plans against real-world data. In Airtable, Heaven would look like a map (“SOP”) being automatically updated via the changes you make in Airtable… This was a product idea for Airtable: “Reverse AI Cobuilder”… Take an Airtable App and tell me about the business & processes. Back to the team, we are now highlighting areas of our SOPs that need updating. Do you have any ‘maps’ that do not match reality? How did you handle it? Share it in the comments.

Do you use Airtable for Project Management but wish there was a way to create repeating tasks? Or you wish there was an easier way to remember to do things like: Quarterly reports? Weekly messages? Daily check-ins? This was a problem for us as we were migrating from Asana. In Asana, recurring tasks are super easy and native. In Airtable, this feature is not native. This week, our Co-Founder, Benjamin Green, made two videos on how to make it work. One is a simple way. One is a more robust but complex way. We ended up going with the simple way. How did we do it? - One formula - One automation With a simple Airtable setup, you can ensure you do not miss routine key deadlines. Would you like to get your hands on the two videos OR a copy of the base? Leave a comment below if so!

Is it fall yet? 🍂 We asked Airtable AI to write a poem about this season of Airtable. Here it is: In the crisp air of autumn, we build with delight, Airtable's magic, turning data into light. From August to October, as leaves start to fall, Our team, though global, feels the season's call. Records and data, neatly aligned, Automation flows, perfectly timed. Interfaces crafted with care and precision, API calls and integrations, our shared vision. Apps that connect us, no matter the place, In the Midwest HQ, a chill we embrace. Dipping into the 70s, spooky vibes in the air, Halloween approaches, with creativity to spare. In Airtable's realm, we gather and create, Building together, it's never too late. Autumn's here, with its golden hue, A season of building, for me and for you. feat. Gus the Ghost

Airtable's AI Cobuilder increases the SPEED of creating new bases by 40% but will save 60% of ALL Airtable configuration time in the future. Today, with a simple prompt, you can generate an app with forms, user interfaces, and proper relational data structures. Optimize IS has been using Cobuilder since it launched in beta in early May 2024 AI Accelerators, where Optimize IS was able to get the behind-the-scenes scoop. Our co-founder, Ben Green, has used the AI Cobuilder since launch to create 20+ bases with the team and for clients. Soon, you will inject your data into the Cobuilder prompt, whether from CSVs or existing databases. Picture this: "Build me a financial dashboard" or "Create a resource allocation timeline interface" on top of your existing base. The potential is enormous. Right now, AI Cobuilder saves us time when we start a new base. It reduces the time spent by 40% on tedious tasks like creating initial tables, interface pages, forms, and detail pages. Of course, there are tweaks (deleting unnecessary things, adding workflow-specific actions), but the majority of setting up initial pages is done! In the future, it will save even more time by automating these tasks on top of existing bases. We have heard others talk about AI Cobuilder analyzing their bases and suggesting improvements. Imagine automations being created, automations being optimized for efficiency, or database structures being normalized. Seeing how much AI can take on is impressive, from designing tables to setting up the initial interface and detail pages. We are super excited to see where Airtable takes this technology. #AICobuilder #AIBuilding #AI #Airtable