Whether you’re talking about a shop of 10 or a global corporation, business success relies on teams working effectively and efficiently.
But every team faces challenges that can get in the way of it functioning at its full potential. Think scheduling conflicts, miscommunications and project bottlenecks. At Media Salad, every aspect of our work depends on close collaboration with clients and co-workers who are located across the country and, at times, around the world. Fortunately, we’ve found some great (and budget-friendly) project management tools to help make our work as seamless as possible and keep our work on track. Here are a few of our favorites:
Trello
Trello is a project management platform that can work for a team of just about any size, from families to Fortune 500 companies. Use Trello for everything from creating a new website to planning an event. The platform allows for input from every team member at every step of the process. Third-party apps can be integrated into Trello boards, so calendars, documents, mockups and rough drafts are all shared and edited in one single place, eliminating confusion, extra work and overlapping emails. Trello also offers a mobile app, so collaborators can access and edit easily, from the beginning of the project to the end.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is an online workspace that connects people from all over the world using Skype Room conferencing. Teams seamlessly integrates other Office 365 tools, such as Word, PowerPoint and SharePoint — allowing for presentations to be handled with ease, no matter where team members are located. Third-party app integration creates easy access to all the tools teams might need, while built-in features, such as group chat and note-taking, assure that every team member is getting the information they need efficiently. Meeting capabilities accommodate everything from simple, two-way web conferences to live events streamed to the public.
Box
Media Salad has found Box, a productivity platform that emphasizes accessibility from any device, to be one of the most effective ways to communicate with clients. Box is a shared online workspace that streamlines the process of sharing notes, files or anything else a team may need to access. With a simple link, your Box can be shared with anyone, making it an ideal way to interact with clients in particular. Box can work across the entirety of a company or organization, meaning even complex processes that might involve multiple teams can be further simplified, all on a platform that is both easily accessible and secure.
Slack
Used by organizations, including NASA and eBay, Slack uses “channels” to organize teams by the tasks they’re assigned. A multitude of apps are seamlessly integrated onto Slack’s platform — meaning less searching and more productive work. Not only does Slack allow group messaging, but calls and web conferencing are also available from the platform. Slack is committed to helping maximize a team’s potential by saving and indexing past messages from all channels, giving all collaborators access to the collective knowledge of the company. The more Slack is used, the more information is stored, saving every member from doing unnecessary work.
Basecamp
One of the biggest roadblocks for productive teamwork stems from information being scattered over too many resources: emails, chat threads, Word docs and more. By combining all the tools teams might need into a single platform, Basecamp is a tool that can take the effort out of finding information you already have, allowing you to focus on your team’s business goals, whether you are developing software or planning marketing campaigns. Through Basecamp, a team can assign to-do lists, create master schedules, store pertinent documents and files and much more. Team members even can host group chats and send check-in questions, so everyone can see what’s completed and what’s coming up soon.
These are just some of the tools Media Salad uses — and shows our clients how to use to make their organizations run more smoothly. To learn about other ways Media Salad supports business needs, please contact us.