"Selecting the right collaboration tools is important, but what's even more critical is figuring out how to leverage them to increase more transparency, accountability, and unity."
The Golden Age of SaaS
Zoom, Slack, Teams, Notion, P2, Google Meet, DropBox, OneDrive, Basecamp, Jira, ClickUp, Airtable and the list continues to grow without end. Our new digitally remote world is definitely not in short supply of tools to choose for communication, collaboration, file storage, project management, etc. Not to mention all of the software-as-a-service options that are specific to the finance and accounting industries. I often imagine what it would be like to go through this pandemic 10 years ago, or even 20 years ago. As much as I loved my old Blackberry back in the day, it definitely would not cut it in a post-Covid19 world. Thankfully, we have high-speed internet and the "cloud" empowering the amazing tools that allow us to "meet", communicate, and work remotely. That said, all of the choices for a company's tech-stack can be quite daunting. So where does one start? While the first step is realizing that selecting the right collaboration tools is important, what's even more critical is figuring out how to leverage them to increase more transparency, accountability, and unity.
More Transparency & Accountability
We spoke about socializing the work in Part 2 of our discussion on Remote Work. At the heart of this process is utilizing our tech-stack to not only support, but cultivate, more transparency and accountability between team members. As the saying goes "sunlight is the best disinfectant". And when your collaboration tools shine light on everything, it paves the way towards a refreshing landscape that brings everyone together.
At Anchored Global Office, we currently leverage Basecamp 3 as our tool of choice or source of "sunlight". Basecamp is a project management tool with built-in team chat and long-form discussions to keep everything about projects together in one place. It’s designed by a team that works remotely, so it's designed to make collaboration simpler for our teams in Los Angeles and Manila.
Your collaboration tools should help team members communicate in an organized fashion. No matter how good search functionality is developed, the "Accountant" in me finds "warm fuzzies" in being able to see conversations and discussions organized. One of the features within Basecamp is that every project has a dedicated long-form Message Board as well as a "Campfire Chat" tool. Therefore, with the Message Board, we capture defined topics such as client-specific information, meeting notes, etc., that everyone can not only search for, but easily reference. Meanwhile, the "Campfire Chat" is a space for team members and clients to engage in more casual and spontaneous conversation. This subtle nuance has a great impact in making sure messages avoid getting lost in a channel thread of messages.
Our projects are organized in Basecamp and centered around the To-Do Lists and Calendar Events. Being able to assign tasks to team members, check off work as it’s done, and keep a discussion going about our client work with comments on tasks definitely unlocks productivity for our Anchored teams. These features help us identify issues and provide feedback with great speed, thereby supporting one another better.
We also frequently avail of the notification functions for both assigned tasks and discussion updates. We've found that when you realize that someone else is counting on you, it is often easier to go the extra mile for one another.
"Sunlight is the best disinfectant". And when your collaboration tools shine light on everything, it paves the way towards a refreshing landscape that brings everyone together.
Team Resonance
So in this brave new world of remote work, the goal of team resonance always comes back to company culture, setting the right expectations, and collaboration tools completing the flywheel.
Having a culture that embraces agility and expects its team members to resonate with continuous learning and growth is critical to the successful adoption of your collaboration tools and, ultimately, your remote-work dynamics. Change will no doubt be bumpy and painful at times. What we try to emphasize within our teams is that it will take time for team members to find their groove with new software or methodology. We all have the understanding that it's okay to remind each other of best practices in utilizing a new software feature. Creating that sunlight that reassures each other that feedback and friendly reminders always come from a good place.
In this Golden Age of technology and innovation, your tech-stack will change frequently (we've changed our tech-stack twice and we haven't even reached our 2nd birthday). Without a doubt, the work will inevitably change as well. At Anchored, woven into our DNA is being able to evolve with innovation -- constantly searching for solutions that redefine work and unlock productivity for our teams and our clients.
And as we enjoy saying at the end of our Zoom/Teams meetings..."Happy Camping". 🏕
Written By
MICHAEL SUDJATI
CEO & Co-Founder of Anchored Global Office. Co-Founder of Grace Living.
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