As cheesy as it sounds I find that little in this world can replace a flowchart for sheer efficacy of thought. We've all seen the cute ones people put together as jokes (and if you haven't here is a blog listing some examples - google for more, they're great) but honestly a well put together flowchart can communicate a wealth of information quickly. I of course bring this up as I've spent the day making several flowcharts for new programs at work and I gotta say I may have accidentally made myself outdated as a case manager; a quick run through can build a case plan almost as well as I can (I work with homeless young adults to get off the streets).
If you ever have a need or want to embark on a flowchart journey, Gliffy is a great online builder but I caution that you remember this is all done on a sort of virtual desktop. There is no program to download and it's all saved to an online account. I forgot and almost redid work when I couldn't find the program I'd built previous charts on. Luckily I google well and unknowingly searched the same way twice then clicked the first link I saw. When I started working my cpu had saved the password - modern tech saves the day again.
After putting my job into those neat little boxes I began wondering what other day to day decisions are this mechanical. So far I've only started and will likely think more on this tonight as I lay waiting for sleep (the best thinkin is done there). If I come up with something interesting I'll let you know.
