Which platforms are indispensable for home-based working? And how can you maintain effective communication away from the office?
James Lynn, co-founder, Currensea
“Communication is key when WFH, especially at a scale-up. Every morning we have a 15-minute Zoom call to quick-start the day. We use Slack to keep the conversation moving and offer support.”
Deirdre McGettrick, founder, ufurnish
“Basecamp has been our go–to platform for instant team messages but with additional functionality such as project folders, assignable to–do lists and integration of key team documents.”
Lee Wrall, founder, Everything Tech
“Microsoft Teams (below) has proven really popular because of its versatility. It’s enabled people to communicate and collaborate where they are. It has a familiar interface.”
Nicola Collister, founder, Custerian
“Cloud-based apps mean everyone can have a ‘Martini experience’ – any time, any place! Platforms like Workplace by Facebook help build mini virtual communities and don’t need to be trained out.”
Ranald Young, director, PMAlife
“Everyone joins a weekly informal update meeting where THEY update the team on projects, achievements and struggles. This format encourages mutual advice between colleagues.”
Sarah McDowell, owner, The Leader Centre
“Good communication is vital: managers should ask their teams what they want to know; and teams should also ask their managers what they want to hear.”
Nick Morgan, founder, Time + Space
“We use Miro (below) to share workshop boards, Loom to record and share instruction videos, Trello for project management and Google Drive for admin. When we ‘jump on a Zoom’ there’s a clear agenda.”
Tim Ternent, MD, Incentive Manager
“Back-to-back Zoom networking sessions can really take it out of us. Cloud-based administrative tools can give businesses headspace to focus on the most important activity: building relationships.”
Dave Brereton, director, MysonPages
“Microsoft Teams has been a revelation. We run an IT helpdesk and have portals and systems for everything, but nothing to replicate informal chatter around the desk. It’s filled the gap perfectly.”
Lorna Davidson, founder, redwigwam
“Good communication is key. I often joke that I can tell someone’s mood by the way they walk into the office, and you just don’t get that over Zoom. We use a mix of Teams, Zoom and WhatsApp.”
Andy Kent, CEO and founder, Angel Solutions
“Slack (below) has been indispensable. With some fantastic add-ons and integration work from our staff, we have kept communication effective and driven the business forward in spite of COVID.”
Frazer Durris, CEO, Businesswise Solutions
“Google Hangouts instant messaging is fantastic for check–ins, simple questions that need an answer or communicating with a group. You can do what you need to do without creating email traffic.”
Nick Irving, partner, Howgate Sable
“Our business is people so visual platforms are indispensable. Zoom, Teams and Cisco Webex have all been great: we can handle significant numbers of critical external meetings.”
Chi-chi Ekweozor, founder, Assenty
“We run live events via Zoom, remotely plan and run sprints through JIRA and use its integration to keep each other updated on tasks via Slack. We’ve also used our own polling software to engage our virtual event audiences to great effect!”