The topmost layer of the hierarchy is Work. The recording feature is especially great for user interviews because we can then upload the recording to a service like Rev and get a transcript back. We use it for calls with clients or for when we conduct user interviews. Like much of the world right now, we use Zoom as well. That’s where ad hoc audio or video calls through Slack’s built-in functionality can quickly help clarify a problem or solution. However, sometimes it’s too time-consuming or cumbersome to type out our thoughts. Of course, Slack is a text-based tool, so intonation is inevitably lost, which can lead to misunderstandings. Plus, by the mere fact that the work always surrounded us, it was easy for all of us to stay aligned on the look and feel and messaging of a campaign. Those of us who were free participated in these daily group critiques. Every day around 4pm, the executive creative director walked around to each board and reviewed the work. Everyone tacked up their work-even digital work-on these boards. Tall eight-foot Gatorfoam boards stood along the perimeter of the room. When I worked at Apple, almost all ~50 of us in the Graphic Design Group occupied one large open room in a nondescript building a couple of blocks from 1 Infinite Loop. I try to encourage everyone to use less direct messaging and to keep everything in the public channels so that anyone can follow along and interject or help if applicable. We don’t use email for any internal discussions. In our Slack workspace, we have channels for each active project, and each of those channels is integrated with Asana and Figma (more below) so that we can monitor updates. SlackĪrguably Slack is the essential tool in our stack. ![]() ![]() Think of the Communication layer as the bridge between how the work should be done, and what is getting done. CommunicationĬommunication is core to how businesses and teams operate. Whichever you choose, be sure it can help you implement your company’s best practices. The PM software space is pretty crowded, so there is a lot to choose from. Other popular project management tools like Basecamp, ClickUp, Airtable, and Wrike could work as well. So when there’s an update to a task, a message can be sent to the associated project’s Slack channel. We also appreciate Asana’s integrations with Harvest (our time tracking software) and Slack. ![]() We also try to keep all client feedback within Asana so that it can remain the single source of truth, keeping us organized. Thus we’re putting into practice how we should be executing these projects. One of the best things about Asana is its project templates that allow us to create the standard set of tasks for every type of project we take on, from branding to websites to apps. AsanaĮvery project in our agency is managed via Asana. It should also encompass how work should be done, by using the company’s best practices and standard operating procedures. Project management should be more than deadlines and milestones. The next layer in the hierarchy is Project Management. Other products that could work as knowledge bases are Notion, Quip, and Confluence. Additionally, each of our projects has its own mini-KBs. In our agency knowledge base, we have pages on file organization, design resources, default WordPress configurations, brief templates, and more. Wong.Digital’s file organization guidelines in a Dropbox Paper doc Second, and unlike Google Docs, we can reference our other Paper docs easily by just typing a “+” and then mentioning another document, thus building out a company wiki. First of all, it is already included in our Dropbox Business plan. Dropbox Paperįor our knowledge base at Wong.Digital, we use Dropbox Paper. This is the institutional knowledge of the company, such as standard operating procedures and best practices. The foundation of our Hierarchy of Information Work pyramid is Knowledge Base. Hierarchy of Information Work Knowledge Base We’ll start from the bottom of the hierarchy. And while I am mostly focusing on what we use, I’ll also try to highlight other possible alternatives. ![]() One thing to notice is that all the tools we list below are cloud-based, as desktop file-based applications are, in my opinion, counterproductive to modern collaborative workflows. Now that we have a framework of how modern information work gets done, let’s see what tools we’ve put into place that enable our distributed remote team to collaborate effectively. ?Part Three: Our Remote Collaboration Toolset
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