If you’re in a brand new Young Women Presidency or just want to get things organized when it comes to Personal Progress for your Young Women Group, this no special software needed, shareable spreadsheet makes organizing, and tracking progress, a piece of cake.
I love a good list. The only thing better is a spreadsheet that is masterfully planned and that’s flexible enough to track anything and everything I could possibly want. Back when I was a Young Woman, my Personal Progress all came out of that large white book. I loved it, especially the vellum overlay of the temple that went over the next page with the picture of Christ. It’s tattered and torn, but I loved setting and working on goals – probably because it’s similar to my love of a good list and spreadsheet.
I can only imagine the headache that my Young Women leaders had when trying to keep track of Personal Progress. We had a fairly large Young Women group, and adding Personal Progress in on top of Mutual nights, and Girls Camp, and New Beginnings, and Evening in Excellence, and… well, you get the idea. I’m stressed just thinking about it. I know there are several ways that you can track Personal Progress online, but I wanted something that allowed you the awesomeness of that master spreadsheet that I mentioned above – the one that did everything, or at least had the potential to do so.
So I went back to my crazy business school days and created a fairly simple spreadsheet that should help conquer the management of all things Personal Progress for your group. I’d love to have you take a look, maybe copy and save the file to use for your own group and then let me know if there are changes or ideas that you’d like to see added.
Here’s a few reasons why this type of tracking rocks:
- there’s no special software needed. Yes, you might want to have a Gmail account (someone in your presidency will need one), but those are FREE and it seems like most people have access to one. If not, that’s not a problem, you’ll be able to access and edit the document as long as the sharing settings allow for you to do so.
- sort or organize how you want. You can add all of your girls, divide them by class, age, alphabetically, or where they are in earning their YW medallion.
- share with whomever you want. you can share this amongst the presidency members, and if you’re getting released soon (or when you do get released) you can simply share the document with those being put in, and remove yourself from the shared document and they’re set to move forward! (No scrambling to get things up to date before handing it over either – because you tracked as you went along!)
- there’s additional tracking items – when the girls last spoke in Sacrament meeting, if they’ve had a Personal Progress interview lately, when they interviewed for a limited use Temple Recommend, etc. You can actually add in additional things you want to track as well…
- it’s still secure information – not everyone can see it unless they’re invited. You can change the settings and invite additional people by clicking the “Share” button in the top right corner, but it also doesn’t require everyone to have a gmail account either, those that want to access with the link can, as long as the settings are set to that option (they currently are).
- it saves paper – making copies and changes and carrying it all around in a notebook can get a little cumbersome. (I also totally support that method, my life is mash up of online calendars and appointments synced between my desktop and my iPhone and also my paper planner that I absolutely adore and use constantly!
- access it anytime, anywhere – you can actually access it with your smartphone or your iPad, so you can pull it up during Presidency Meeting, or why you’re meeting with girls for their one-on-one interviews, or even when you’re waiting in the carpool line and need to get a little multi-tasking done!
How to Get Your Own Personal Progress Tracking Spreadsheet
So if you’re new to Google Drive, Gmail, or just hate dealing with technology… I got you covered. You’ll simply click on the link below and it will take you to the Young Women Personal Progress Tracker. Then follow the directions below to save your own copy and find out how to change the share settings and share it with your presidency members.
TAKE ME TO THE PERSONAL PROGRESS TRACKER
Please follow the directions below to save a copy of the Personal Progress Tracker before you make changes or add text so that everyone has access to a clean document.
TO SAVE A COPY OF THE FILE
- Once you’re in the document (and you’re logged into a gmail account), go to FILE.
- Select MAKE A COPY. A pop up will allow you to rename your copy and select where you want your file saved.
- Then select OK.
- Your COPY file will open in a new window. CLOSE out the original file and you’re all set to get working on editing your own version.
HOW TO SHARE YOUR FILE WITH OTHERS
- While in your document, SELECT the blue SHARE button in the top right corner.
- In the pop up, you can either type in email addresses, or get a shareable link in the top right corner (this is perfect if you’re sharing the link through another email, texting, or chatting online).
HOW TO CHANGE SHARE SETTINGS
- The PENCIL ICON on the drop down provides you with share settings. Select which one you want for those you’re adding emails for and then click done.
HOW TO LEAVE COMMENTS IN THE SPREADSHEET
- LEAVE A COMMENT for another presidency member or as a reminder for yourself by clicking on the spreadsheet cell in question.
- SELECT the grey COMMENT button in the top right corner and a pop up will appear so you can type your notes and then save. Cells that have a small yellow tab in the corner have comments. Simply click the hash and a pop up will appear displaying the commenter and the comment made.
I mentioned above the awesomeness of having digital files but that my own personal life is a mash up of digital and paper when it comes to organizing my life, business, and church calling. A master spreadsheet is awesome for giving a bird’s-eye-view of the girls’ progress, and is super handy when you’re trying to decide a Personal Progress mutual activity that will help the girls complete or being a needed Personal Progress goal. But there’s still a place for paper planning… and I find that’s when you’re in the mess of things and you need to hash it out on paper. If you’re looking for something that will help hash out a plan and get you and the girls excited and committed to Personal Progress Goals you may want to take a look at these Personal Progress Planner Cards. They fit perfectly in the new Personal Progress Manuals and its an easy way to get prepared to host Personal Progress Interviews and inspire the girls to get working on a new goal. If you want cards for Honor Bee as well as Personal Progress cards you can see the full kit here.
