At Proof, we use many online tools in our daily work. If you take a look at our Playbook, you’ll learn that we strive to be a “no email” company, and rely on tools like Slack and Basecamp to communicate internally and with our clients.
These tools — among a myriad of others — help the Proof team stay organized with daily tasks, documents, and communication. And as the project manager, I eat, drink and sleep organization.
In the past, we used Basecamp 2 for all client communication, but recently switched to the shiny and new Basecamp 3. I’m currently learning, and loving, a lot of the new and updated features:
Planning
We aim to plan and communicate with our clients seamlessly. Basecamp 3 provides some nifty features that help with internal communication and inspiration. But they also help us organize lists for project deliverables for everyone involved.
Currently, we’re using the new calendar feature — in conjunction with the always-handy Google Calendar — to create a series of notifications and keep all needs and responsibilities for Proof-related events.
Accountability
The message board feature helps me keep our clients’ weekly tasks and needs organized and available to the creative team at all times.
We’re also using the ever-nifty automatic check-ins to ensure that I’m always in the know of who’s doing what and what folks need from me. We set up a check-in that is sent out each Monday morning to have everyone detail their weekly priorities and due dates. There’s also a daily recap that goes out at 5 p.m. every day. Everybody fills it out to share what they worked on and completed for the day.
Fun
We also set up a check-in for every other Monday to ask what interesting things folks have recently been reading. This could include books on hand lettering or articles that relate to design, branding, or content strategy. It’s not, however, limited only to the work we do at Proof. I recently shared an article from The Atlantic about how sneakers and politics are not mutually exclusive.
At the end of the day, you need to use the tools that work best for you. For us, we’ve found a great one in Basecamp 3 and I’ve just scratched the surface on what it can do. I’m excited to see what innovative and functional features they come up with next!