Tools we use

One of the great things about using the interweb a lot means we come across all sorts of useful tools which help us get things done and manage our projects effectively. Some of these tools we use pretty much every day and most of them we'd have a hard time doing without. Here's a list of just some of them.

• Project management - Basecamp
• Task management - Remember The Milk
• Accounting - FreeAgentCentral
• Web analytics - Google
• Email & calendar - Google Apps
• Email campaigns & newsletters - epMailer
• Chat - Skype
• Mobile communication - iPhone
• Website content management - Expression Engine, WordPress
• Server monitoring - Pingdom
• Hosting - OpenMind Hosting
• Ideas, concepts, thoughts - pen and paper

One of the things about most of these little beauties is that you do need to put the time in to get the best out. Luckily we've already done that for you so we will be publishing an occasional series of three tips on using these services to help you do just that.

Three tips on Basecamp

Basecamp is a web based project management tool which you pay a monthly subscription to use (there is also a free service for just one project). We use it for managing all of our website projects as it creates a central space where all communication around the project can live. Here are our three tips;

1. Get your project team members buy-in to Basecamp by a bit of hand holding at the start rather than just expecting them to login and find their way around. We've found that this approach improves the adoption of the system by the team.
2. Give as many people as possible access to the project area to improve the opportunity for collaboration but be quite specific about what you need feedback on and when you need it. We've found that collaborating doesn't come naturally to some people so they do need 'prescription' initially.
3. Assess your needs for a project management tool, if you are looking for something with a lot of detail such as scheduling, dependencies and time management then Basecamp might not be right for you. We've found it the loose flexibility to be just right for our agile approach to web development.

Categories: Online tools

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