Report on completed Trello cards

[Bob Mac Leod]

For 19 years I have used a CRM developed internally by my company that is specific for a product line that we use. It is incredibly fast and amazing and I love it passionately (that's saying a lot, I know). I have more than 1,000 contacts in this CRM including more than 400 that are currently active contacts.

The Task manager allows me to add future tasks, with a key filter being able to define the type of task (appointment, call, email, letter, thank you [to write], etc. +10). The Task view shows me all pending tasks, which usually hovers in the 5-10 outstanding. The History view gives me the exact same view as the Task view, only it displays the completed tasks. I can filter this in three primary ways:

• Date (several pre-sets or any custom-date range)
• Task Type (appointment, call, thank, etc.)
• Text filter (after the above two, I can further filter by any task found either in the task description OR the contents of the notes within any completed task).

Here is a screenshot of this history view, along with the lightning-fast text filter:

Over my 19 years of using this software, I have amassed more than 58,000 completed tasks, in addition to thousands more automated [passive] CRM actions (the history log automatically tracks any change made to a contact's contact information).

This is an incredible treasure trove of information. For example, I can export this completed task list to Excel and create quick charts of how many tasks I completed in a year, by task type, who completed it, etc.

This CRM is profoundly helpful for my customer work and I use it daily.

But for my personal productivity and now leadership of more than a dozen team members, I use Trello for all of the reasons everyone who uses Trello knows.

My problem in using it, though, is that when I Archive a Trello card, I feel like I am just dropping the completed index card into a bin of completed cards. Over the years I have archived hundreds of Trello cards. A decade from now that could be thousands. If I completed the same 58,000 tasks in Trello that I had in our software, instead of instant reporting, all I have is a pile of cards with only one way to find a historic card: Search. And the results are the cards themselves.

How can I create a history report (e.g., list form) of completed cards? This is the primary indicator of when a card has moved from my "Active" to "Completed" file. The ability to scroll through—or further filter—a completed list is a key tool in my long-term success.

[Robin Warren _Blue Cat Reports_ · Accepted solution]

Hey @Bob Mac Leod 

There are some ways you can work in Trello which would let you see your past completed cards

The main one would be to create a  new 'done' list periodically (every month?) and then move the old one to an archive board (just a standard Trello board you send all your completed cards to). In that way you have an archive of what was done and when (assuming you give your done lists useful titles like 'Done Nov 2021' etc.)

Or you could look at 3rd party power-ups like Blue Cat Reports which let you create reports on things like Completed cards (and a whole bunch of other stuff)

Hope that helps

Robin

[Bob Mac Leod]

Thank you for the helpful suggestions. Those are good ideas—I need to use Trello better (e.g., "Done" lists) to then produce better reporting. I tried Blue Cat Reports and see that it is only as good as the effort I did in advance. For example, I can produce a list of Archived cards... but it doesn't show the Archive date. So if I manage my completed cards better, then that report will work effectively.

[Pete]

Bob When you say task manager, is it a Power Up Or a extension of your contacts

Thanks

peter

[Bob Mac Leod]

In my corporate CRM, the contacts and the tasks are linked. When I am in the Contacts View and see all of my contacts, on any individual's contact card I can click on the tab for Tasks and see the future tasks for that one person, and History tab to see the completed tasks.

Or, I can select the Tasks View or History View and see all future tasks (few) and completed tasks (60,000+). It is in this History View that I can filter and search and export any/all completed tasks. This is very helpful for reporting. For example, there is a query someone wrote that will produce a chart of the number of every type of task (phone call, face-to-face appointment, thank you mailed, etc.). A report like this helps me see how I am doing this year compared to previous years—helps me analyze if I am putting my energy in the right place.

Because the History is linked to the specific contact for whom I did the action, I can drill down to that specific person and see all of my history. (I can also see groups; if it is a mass-mailing, for example, I can link one history action to all recipients of the mailing.)

For Trello, I am not seeking to link my completed tasks to any individual contact/person. I desire the reporting that [for example] tells me how many cards I closed/archived during a time period. 

[Mike Corbean]

@Bob Mac Leod , did you ever get a workable solution?
I have a similar desire...

[Bob Mac Leod]

No, I did not. I have just continued to use my 20-year-old CRM/task manager. I work in Trello to manage my email/task lists, but then keep a log of activities in the "old reliable".

[Mike Corbean]

without studying too deeply what you're looking to do, it sounds like some Butler automated reports will do the trick.  Did you look into that?
I'm wanting to accomplish something similar and it looks like Butler should do it.

I am, however, running into a small snag though w/ that solution.
I've posted it here if interested...

[Bob Mac Leod]

I did not try any of the external reporting tools. I only had limited time available to try this, and I am not committed enough to Trello to make it worth the effort to do that. I realize I am an outlier in that I like to know how many tasks I have completed, their results, etc. I love tracking stuff like that, just like I prefer organizing my files in a well-structured folder system vs. a "one basket for all" system that Google Drive offers our team. Thanks for thinking of me!

[Mike Corbean]

Yes, I'm the same way.

For what it's worth though, the solution I was referring to (Butler Automation) is not an external tool.
It is free and built into Trello as a native feature.
I think the name might have thrown you off but if you look somewhere near the top of your board, you should see a button w/ a lightning bolt icon that says "Automation".
That is Butler and it is worth its weight in gold for many Trello users...

[Bob Mac Leod]

That is good to know! I will look into it.