Zane Safrit, CEO of Conference Calls Unlimited, says Basecamp is simple, easy to use, and "invaluable for our collaboration with internal and external audiences."."
Honestly, I find the term collaboration...over-hyped these days.
So, let me be clear: Basecamp from 37Signals was THE tool that brought our company closer, weeded out hidden agendas, kept us focused on what's best for the company, inspired more ideas and solutions from everyone, leveled the playing field for discussions and decisions, reduced email overload, saved time and lets us manage a host (many) of projects nearly seamlessly.
It was the tool that tore down any silo-mentality, eliminated passive-aggressive patterns or persons, and...smoothed the interactions, the communication, with each person in the company.
It's not perfect, our company. But our ability to move forward on new products or services, websites or announcements, ideas or problems needing solutions, is greatly enhanced with Basecamp.
Granted, Basecamp is a tool. It's how we used the tool that made the difference.
We had the intent. And Basecamp allowed us to make it a reality.
And some of these benefits weren't reached without a few hiccups, bumps, learning experiences...along the way. But with a tool like basecamp, these side-effects are minimized. And the pace of progress on projects big and small has only grown.
Collaboration is considered, and is, a huge challenge in large organizations.
But the impact of collaboration or communication within a smaller organization is incorrectly minimized. Here's why: EVERY communication is magnified in a small organization. There's nowhere to hide. You see everyone every day. If I'm having problems communicating with my IT Manager, I need to solve it immediately as I interact with him throughout the day, every day. And that includes emails, IMs, in-person, meetings on other topics, water-cooler chats, etc. And he, everyone else. It's not like I'll see him on our monthly meetings and then he returns to his building and I to mine until the next 45 minute session next month. A tool like Basecamp keeps all the communication out in the open, on a level playing field.
What works? Basecamp works.
Thanks for the kind words, Zane.
Also of note: The "Our Story" page at Conference Calls Unlimited tells how the company focuses on employees and customers instead of advertising.
A few years ago we stopped throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars a year away on advertising. No more pay-per-click ad programs; no more display ads; no more newsletter sponsorship; we'd add no more clutter to your desk with annoying direct mail pieces. We stopped all that.Instead, we took that same budget and directed it towards our prospects and customers. And this is the company we created and want to share with you.
Do you use a 37signals product in an interesting or noteworthy way? Let us know.
