Nine days to lodge, and the reports are everywhere.

The problem

A development application depends on consultants' reports that arrive in separate emails and council notes that sit in a PDF. With the lodgement date close, you need to see who still owes what without opening every thread.

In the video: “Nine days to lodge the DA. Consultants in separate emails, council's notes in a PDF.”

How PlexiDesk handles it

In PlexiDesk, the DA package gets one desk. A desk is one canvas for one piece of work, and the video tours three of its widgets:

1. Who owes what

   In the video: “Every report, who owes it, and what's late.”

   A Table widget tracks every report, who owes it and when it is due, and can show the same rows as a list, cards, Kanban lanes, a calendar or a timeline.

2. What council said

   In the video: “What council asked, and how you're answering.”

   A Page widget sets out what council asked and how you are answering each point.

3. The materials

   In the video: “The brick and timber council wants to see.”

   The material samples sit on the desk as pictures in a File or link widget, next to the documents they belong with.

When something else comes up

In the video: “Then another client wants a childcare centre downstairs. Switch desks. The DA stays where you left it.”

The other job gets a desk of its own, so switching does not mean packing anything away. In the video, “Juniper Street DA package” stays exactly as it was while “Marlow Lane variation” is open. Open desks sit side by side as tabs in the open items strip, a click apart, and Resume writes a short note on where a desk stands for when you come back to it.

One desk per job, everything in view, like a pin-up wall.

Try it

Try an architect deskThe interactive demo builds a ready-made desk for this kind of work in your browser. Nothing to install.

Or set up the desk yourself from a template: each one lists the widgets it needs and how to set it up in PlexiDesk.

• Desk template

  Project status report desk: the weekly RAG update, drawn from the schedule

  A weekly status report that reads its evidence from the schedule on the same desk, so the RAG colour has visible numbers behind it and a client can watch a live view.

Related reading

• Blog

  Keep clients updated without writing another status email

  Give clients a window instead of a report: when to use a live view, a snapshot or a copy they can use, and what to keep off a client-facing desk.

• Blog

  A simple system for organising project files, notes and links

  One home per project, two levels of folders and a habit for finishing: a system for project files, notes and links that works with any tools.