Embedded Files
Note taking apps are exploding onto the tech scene. What is the hype about, can they be helpful at work? Or is this something utterly incompatible with our environment and best left alone? And what does this tell us about non-Google apps in a Google Workspace environment?
I read a lot of tech news and have found that I have not ventured very far in my own use recently. Reading about startups reaching astronomical valuations, one goal is to just try some of their wares. Roam Research has recently been valued at 400% of Notion, a more famous competitor in a market I didn't knew existed.
Like so, just infinite. And searchable. And with backlinks. The coffee, you gotta make yourself.
What Roam Research does
What Roam Research does
Roam Research is an oddly named note taking application, competing with others (Obsidian, Remem, Notion, Workflowy etc.) to displace grandparents such as Evernote or Microsoft OneNote. The two I know well (Workflowy and Roam) are best described as bullet points on steroids. In short, Roam Research:
Lets you write as much as you like, indented as much as you like.
Lets you "zoom in" on every bullet point - it will appear as a blank page. When you zoom out, you see all you wrote as part of the whole. It is becomes comparable to a mind-map in that.
Allows you make links out of words or phrase - like Wikipedia. Crucially, that page will have a link back, a citation. You will create a dense network of ideas and concepts.
Those are the basics, there is a ton of additional things that complicates things or keeps it simple, as much as you like. I recommend you watch a video if you are curious - it is a very strange, but very useful tool. (All videos about it are very long - it takes a while but is worth it, you will see.)
Immediate use cases
Immediate use cases
Having a text-based tool that is always in the background and allows you to link and look up everything (writing a life-log or a personal Wikipedia) can be very valuable - for example:
Roam Research at its simplest. "Fat" bullet points are collapsed. A powerful tool, but the right tool for us?
To do management
To do management
Tools like Roam can be used to manage your todos, projects and whatever level you would like to plan your level.
Personal knowledge management
Personal knowledge management
Roam's initial value proposition - taking notes and linking everything.
This will potentially make you a more attentive reader. I have experienced it - even watching YouTube tutorials and taking notes while doing it elevates my understanding. I can only imagine the value of years of curated and linked books and articles.
CRM and meeting minutes
CRM and meeting minutes
You could annotate all your interactions during your day. Who you meet, what you talk about, what would be interesting. Schedule follow-ups, link to other conversations and projects.
By note taking, you can train yourself to be a better conversationalist. Remembering principles, listening more, focussing on next actions and reflecting on the most important thing said in this interaction.
The problems with using Roam at work
The problems with using Roam at work
Using Roam has been extremely tempting, but ultimately, I will not use it. Here is why:
Roam is a third party tool and PwC does not have confidentiality agreements with it. That means, I cannot put in anything confidential. This takes away 90% of the value of a Personal Knowledge Management tool.
Google Workspace integration
Google Workspace integration
Particularly, doc links. All my documents are on Drive (I switch laptops with zero downtime), and document previews in Google Docs have become a very important feature. Unformatted URLs look all the same and while you can rename them (like the links on this blog), I quickly got tired of extra typing.
What about your favorite third party tool?
What about your favorite third party tool?
I got this question a lot when we talked about Task management in Google Workspace. Many of you reached out and said you would really like to use this or that tool - in many cases, a big problem was the inability to input confidential data and to include Google Workspace files.
Confidential data: Absolutely do not include that anywhere outside of company-approved systems. Even inside the borders, use Google Workspace to share wisely and to restrict access rights. Bear in mind what happens when your third party application gets exposed: All its content may be put online, with your name attached to it, or you may be blackmailed.
Links to Google Workspace files: These are not confidential. You can include them where you want - no hacker (who does not happen to work with you and who you shared the file with) can access the content behind it.
That said - I have not yet decided where I end up with the tool. I have no private knowledge management tool nor did I knew I needed one - but I learned it is valuable. For work and especially meetings, I will try to replicate this experiment in Docs. Maybe an upcoming post...!
Thank you for reading, and please hit the comments big time. I can't wait to hear from you on this.
#strategyPublished 2021-01-28 by Holger Matthies.Modified 2021-01-28 by Holger Matthies.Written listening to Avicii - Sunset Jesus
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