December 10, 2013 The new Basecamp
Basecamp recently had an overhaul and was reorganized to provide a fresh new interface and some helpful new features. Let's highlight some differences before we transition in 2014!
This is Part One in a series about Managing Communication. In coming weeks, we'll talk about tools and tactics that we recommend for communicating as a team and communicating online.
One of the essential tools that Fishhook has always used, and loved, is Basecamp - a collection of online tools to help communicate within your team and with a client. Basecamp helps track progress, manage deadlines, and make sure each project is getting done on time and on budget.
Basecamp recently had an overhaul and was reorganized to provide a fresh new interface and some helpful new features. Before we begin transitioning to this new version of Basecamp in 2014, I wanted to highlight some of the differences from Basecamp "Classic" - and some of my favorite features in this new release.
The Dashboard
When you first log in to your Basecamp account Dashboard, you will be presented with a quick glance at all of your open projects and the people with whom you'll be working on them. This looks a little different than the Basecamp Classic dashboard, but still lets you quickly get to a specific project, see an overview of everything that's happening, or drill down to just those things that concern you.
Project Overview
From the Dashboard, you can quickly select the project you're working on to see everyone's activity and assignments - from Messages and To-Dos to upcoming Events. Like Classic, the project overview screen still shows all of this project information together on the same screen, but it's now grouped by activity instead of just by date. To me, this feels more focused and easier to digest.
Assign Tasks and Set Deadlines
Every project is made up of hundreds (maybe thousands!) of tasks that need to be completed by someone, and finished on schedule. Basecamp makes it exceptionally easy to organize Task Lists, add To-Dos, and assign them to the person responsible. On the receiving end, this feature is extremely helpful to quickly jump into a project and see what needs to be done.
Email Notifications
Almost every action in Basecamp allows you to notify the people who are involved, from To-Do assignments to Due Dates to direct email messages (now grouped and referred to collectively as Discussions). As always, clients and team members can simply reply directly from their email to add their own comments, or log in to view the entire conversation.
Personalized Pages
This is one of my favorite new features: the "Me" page! It can be overwhelming at the 50,000 foot view, so the Me page lets me zoom in to just the tasks that are assigned to me and the discussions that I'm a part of. Another helpful "at-a-glance" feature is the "Catch Up" link on every Project - a daily digest of everything that's taken place since you last logged in.
Calendar
The new Calendar page shows all Events (formerly referred to as Milestones) and To-Dos with deadlines coming up in the next 6 weeks. You can quickly jump to a monthly view anywhere in the next 2 years, and you can also filter the calendar to show only specific Projects.
The new Basecamp is a fresh take on what is already an excellent program. We use this tool to collaborate, to keep track, to start well and finish strong. What tools do you use to stay organized and communicate with your team?
One more tip: Basecamp offers an in-depth Help page with videos and walk-throughs for many areas on the site. Check it out here: https://basecamp.com/help