Why You Should Get Rid Of Email
Email is usually the cornerstone of business communication. When it first came out it made things possible that were never possible before: Fast long distance communication, instant file sharing, instant text exchange, and all of the things that made companies faster, more efficient. It was great. But that was then.
The problem with email is that it’s difficult to keep track of things. Project collaboration can easily result in one-hundred to two-hundred emails per day, thousands per week, and before you know it you’re spending three hours just looking for one attachment, you’re missing meetings, and you’re confused about the goals. Also, where is everyone on their project? Most of us don’t have the luxury to ask our co-workers twenty times per week for an update on their project status. Really, who wants to be that guy?
There’s a better way. Companies like ASANA (no, they’re not an affiliate) have made project collaboration, document sharing, and communication so organized and seamless that email for business is almost irrelevant. It seems archaic.
We use ASANA for our business and let’s just say that when we changed from email to ASANA we felt like we’d walked out of the dark ages and into the sun for the first time. It can do it all. It’s fast, organized, and you’ll never spend another hour looking for a document ever again.
The program has a section for group projects that can be used from everything to engineering to planning out an editorial calendar for your copy team. They have templates for meeting agendas so every meeting is organized and on task. During the meeting you can assign individuals a task with a click of a button. In one more second you can add a deadline.
Individuals can plan their day in two clicks by moving “upcoming tasks” to “today.” Here’s an image of a person’s individual tasks. Tasks can be moved up and down the list as necessary. Managers can easily “follow” their team’s tasks, receiving notifications anytime there is an update, comment, attached document, or when the task if checked off and finished.
Productivity soars when the company is no longer fragmented, when teammates can seamlessly communicate and work together to bring ideas to life. It’s especially ideal for small companies where there are usually less systems in place for project processes.
I have only one complaint: It needs some kind of instant messenger, like a Skype or Gmail integration. While you can leave a comment to ask team members questions and so on, it’s not immediate. Our company uses ASANA along with Skype. It works fine but it’s not ideal.
While I don’t have personal experience with other programs, there are others that are similar to ASANA. I’d love to hear what you have to say about other, similar products. Have you used them? What are your thoughts?
Images: ASANA.Com and Customersbank.com.
This is definitely something I need to consider doing because you are right email is confusing and things tend to get lost or put in the trash. I will have to check out Asana it sounds like it could be a great benefit for myself and business.
Definitely Elisha! Email can be tricky and super confusing. I’m glad we could help you come up with an easier solution for your biz. And remember, there are similar companies to Asana, although that’s the only one I’ve used thus far. You might want to peruse the web to find which company works best for you.
I agree Elisha, this is definitely something to look into and consider. It is true emails are always getting lost or misplaced. I am glad that I have come across this and will be looking into Asana for myself and business.