There are so many options available to streamline your internal processes, so it’s important that you find the right set of tools to help your business succeed. Here are a few of Yellow Door’s favourites:
Asana
Asana is an extremely user-friendly project management tool centred around managing projects and facilitating team communication in one place. Tasks for each of your projects can be displayed in a few different formats and you can also view all of your tasks for various projects in one combined list, making it easy to glance at what you need to get done in a day or week. You can allocate due dates, and assign tasks to your teammates if need be, to further streamline project management processes.
My favourite thing about Asana, is that you can tick off your tasks as you finish them, changing them from being categorized as “incomplete” to “complete”, which allows you to see how many you manage to get through in a day and give you a small sense of accomplishment. If you’re interested in trying the app out, Asana offers a 30-day trial which is worth a try.
Harvest
Harvest is a web-based tool that manages invoicing, expense tracking, and time-based reporting. At Yellow Door, we primarily use it for its time tracking capabilities. It can be integrated in businesses of all sizes, is super easy to use and can be connected to other apps, like Asana, so that you never forget to track your time as you move from one project to the next. Read Debbie’s blog post about the benefits of tracking time for your business.
Harvest works really well, allowing you to set up your projects and sub-projects and start your timer, and then auto generates invoices, in as much or as little detail as you’d like, with the click of a button. It’s also great if you want to monitor where you may be spending a little too much time on a task than necessary. We love the design and user-friendly interface, with every button and feature exactly where you would expect it to be.
Slack
Slack is a meeting space, or a chatroom, used to keep in touch with your team without ever having to leave your desk. It’s a great way to collaborate and stay connected, even if you can’t all be in the same place at once (or when all working remotely due to the COVID-19 lockdown). It ultimately prevents losing conversations over email and text messaging, allowing you to communicate in large groups or via private direct messaging. It’s approachable and easy to use on computers as well as mobile devices, and not at all scary to those who aren’t particularly tech-savvy.
Slack might work for your team, or it might not, depending on your company’s culture and work-style, but if utilised correctly, it can really streamline your team’s communication processes. At Yellow Door, we predominantly use it to ask questions and keep everybody up to date with the latest developments and tasks.
It also allows for the sharing of written, image and video files, which is a great help when you require input or feedback from a colleague, or approval from your manager. Its built-in Google Calendar capabilities make setting up meetings and reminders a breeze, all in a fun communal space. Overall, we would highly recommend giving Slack a try – it has a free plan, so you are able to get the gist of the app before you decide if you’d like to commit!
Thanks to these apps, communication and time difficulties are no longer permanent struggles. Make the most of your day with a few small changes and begin boosting your productivity now.