Recording yourself is the “Yuka” of process improvement
Accountability means to say what you do, do what you say.
- Pearl Zhu
My lovely neighbour and friendie, Kate, put me on to an app, and I can’t decide whether I am grateful or irritated. Kate and I often chat about cooking and food - we love to try new things and entertain with family and friends. We are also quite focused on healthy foods and, for the most part, cook from the ground up. Neither of us buys much processed or packaged food, but when we do, it’s a curiosity of how bad they actually are.
Well, that darn Kate told me about an app, Yuka. When you scan a barcode, it rates the health and environmental impacts of food and cosmetic products for the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ out of 100, along with suggesting better product choices.
I love that it makes me accountable.
I pretty much already know if something is good or bad for me, but a girl can dream that Miss Vicki’s Chips aren’t terrible, can’t she? To be fair, the ratings in our kitchen are going pretty well, so Yuka is an app that’s kind of fun because it reinforces my mostly good choices.
I hate that it makes me accountable.
I don’t use that many personal care products—no face makeup; eyeliner and mascara are my only cosmetics. But I do, of course, use deodorant (you’re welcome), moisturizer, shampoo, sunscreen, and the like. Well, High Holy Hannah, this is where things really fell apart.
Every single product was bad. Not medium, not sort of bad; they were all bad-bad.
I knew what was bad all along, but now Yuka is staring me in the face with the ugly red dot clearly telling me, “Things have got to change around here.” Will I change things, or will I just feel bad about using Pond’s moisturizer? I’m not sure yet, but I feel more accountable, and every morning, I consider moving to better products.*
Recording yourself while doing work and tasks is the “Yuka” of process improvement.
I love recording myself while doing things.
I hate the sound of my voice and seeing my mug in the videos.**
Recording videos is where you can really shake out the flaws and notice the improvements you can implement. Watching a recording of how you work or present yourself holds you accountable for the good, bad, and ugly of your work and communication.
Most of us think of recording videos to get messages across. Yes, videos are fabulous for communicating clearly and asynchronously. They can be more efficient and succinct than emails or phone calls, and they add tremendous value to our written workflows.
But they are incredible for process improvement and accountability.
Get used to recording yourself when:
Building new workflows
Crafting new processes
Working on new client files
When you have issues with any of these
Set up a routine of returning to the ones you have recorded and re-record them to gauge improvements (yay, us) and what still needs tweaking.
Video recording apps:
Ease yourself in, including using what you may already have in your app stack.
No extra subscriptions are needed, but they tend to be clunky and have limited features for specifically self-recording and storing.
Google Meet
Microsoft Teams
Zoom
I use Loom.
Simple to set up, transcripts are pretty good, love the folder system, easy to record using the Chrome extension, seamless to share
Here is a comparison from Zapier of recording apps.
Security note:
If you are sharing sensitive information videos, send a link rather than emailing the video itself.
Password-protect your videos, especially if they show client data.
We all have apps that we love-hate. Some, we love the features, but perhaps we don’t gel with the UX/UI. Others, we view the price as an expense rather than an investment. And a few are a necessary evil of the work we do, and there aren’t better options.
But love-hating them for creating accountability is a good thing, even if it doesn’t spur you to action in the short term. Everyone needs help with change management for long-run benefits, and no matter how much you hate recording yourself, get into the habit of creating process accountability videos.
Kellie :-}
*After the original posting of this article, I received an email from Wirecutter on the best facial moisturizers and cleansers and their #1 pick for each aligned with a 100/100 scores from Yuka! So I ditched the Pond’s immediately. Go me!
**Jason Staats says everyone thinks…
“5️⃣ You look awful on camera
Truth: Despite your insecurities, you look great on video.
Solution: Focus on the value you're providing the viewer rather than trivial imperfections.
6️⃣ Your voice is annoying
Truth: Everyone thinks their voice sounds annoying the first time they hear it. That's how you sound, accept it.
Solution: Focus on helping people with your message rather than your perceived flaws.”
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