XYRM Innovation: 16 Tools to Help Make Your Team More Efficient

16 Tools to Help Make Your Team More Efficient

<h3><a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=44189" rel="attachment wp-att-44189"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-44189" style="margin: 5px;" title="efficiency" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/efficiency-300x203.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="203" /></a>What office technology (hardware or software) have you recently adopted that is making your team more efficient?</h3>
The <a href="http://yec.co/" target="_blank">Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC)</a> is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched <a href="http://startupcollective.com/" target="_blank">StartupCollective</a>, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.
1. Github Issues
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43994" rel="attachment wp-att-43994"><img class="alignright wp-image-43994" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/jeff-epstein.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a>At Ambassador, we’re power users of <a href="https://github.com/features" target="_blank">Github issues</a> and use it as a project management tool. Since our code also lives in Github repositories, it’s really streamlined our product development. 
- <a href="https://twitter.com/jeff_epstein">Jeff Epstein</a>, <a href="https://getambassador.com">Ambassador</a>
2. Wedoist
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43993" rel="attachment wp-att-43993"><img class="alignright wp-image-43993" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Justin-Spring.png" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a><a href="https://wedoist.com/" target="_blank">WeDoIst</a> is a group to-do list with simple yet powerful technology for interacting with team members. We love it at BringShare. 
- <a href="https://twitter.com/justinspri">Justin Spring</a>, <a href="http://www.bringshare.com">BringShare, Inc.</a>
3. Uservoice 
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43992" rel="attachment wp-att-43992"><img class="alignright wp-image-43992" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Andrew-Thomas.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a><a href="https://www.uservoice.com/" target="_blank">Uservoice</a> has allowed us to completely streamline and manage our customer service. We now effectively manage customer service tickets, which has a huge impact on our customers. The reporting helps you determine the effectiveness of your support efforts both on the site and from your customer service team. It’s an invaluable tool. 
- <a href="http://www.google.com/recaptcha/mailhide/d?k=01gxmi6POU-Gj1GsTieGysfQ==&c=UMXPXkb37RmkgEyjzVO1xwkspKkxnN67rVuoVyLpNW4=">Andrew Thomas</a>, <a href="http://www.skybell.com">SkyBell Technologies, Inc.</a>
4. Smartsheet
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43991" rel="attachment wp-att-43991"><img class="alignright wp-image-43991" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Brittany-Hodak.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a><a href="http://www.smartsheet.com/" target="_blank">Smartsheet</a> is an amazing, collaborative spreadsheet tool that’s everything you wish Excel could be. It allows teams to create smart, intuitive workflow documents to track metrics in real time. We use it for everything from inventory management to PR tracking. There’s a 30 day free trial, so give it a try and discover a simpler way to work. 
- <a href="https://twitter.com/brittanyhodak">Brittany Hodak</a>, <a href="http://www.zinepak.com">ZinePak</a>
5. iDoneThis
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43990" rel="attachment wp-att-43990"><img class="alignright wp-image-43990" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Brett-Farmiloe.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a>Reply to an evening email reminder with what you did that day. The next day, get a digest with what everyone on the team got done. <a href="https://idonethis.com/">iDoneThis</a> is a great way to see daily progress. 
- <a href="https://brettfarmiloe.com/">Brett Farmiloe</a>, <a href="http://markitors.com">Digital Marketing Company</a>
6. Docusign
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43989" rel="attachment wp-att-43989"><img class="alignright wp-image-43989" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Marjorie-Adams.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a><a href="https://www.docusign.com/" target="_blank">Docusign</a> connects to our QuickBase CRM application, enabling our solutions’ consultants to get the paperwork necessary to provide services out to the customer at the point of sale instead of waiting for an administrator to get the information sent. It’s one less touch to get the customers ready for training! 
- <a href="https://twitter.com/aqbinc">Marjorie Adams</a>, <a href="http://www.aqb.com/">AQB</a>
7. HipChat
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43988" rel="attachment wp-att-43988"><img class="alignright wp-image-43988" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Kuty-Shalev.jpeg" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a>An office technology that keeps our team in constant communication and accountable is <a href="https://www.hipchat.com/" target="_blank">HipChat</a>. It’s a chat service that was built strictly for companies and teams to give them the power of group chat with the simplicity of IM. 
- <a href="https://twitter.com/kuty">Kuty Shalev</a>, <a href="http://www.clevertech.biz">Clevertech </a>
8. Basecamp
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43987" rel="attachment wp-att-43987"><img class="alignright wp-image-43987" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Raoul-Davis.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a><a href="https://basecamp.com/" target="_blank">Basecamp</a> is amazing because it allows you to assign task to people, keep notes and organize. Regardless of any emails I check or phone calls I make, I know the day was a success if I got through my Basecamp priority list. It is a nice way to center yourself. Remember, every CEO is busy. The best ones focus on profitable activities. 
- <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/Ceo_Branding">Raoul Davis</a>, <a href="http://www.ascendantstrategy.net/">Ascendant Group</a>
9. DropTask
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43974" rel="attachment wp-att-43974"><img class="alignright wp-image-43974" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/doreen-bloch.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a><a href="https://www.droptask.com/" target="_blank">DropTask</a> is a project management tool that we recently adopted at Poshly. We love how visual the tool is, making projects easier to scope and delegate. We can see what each team member is working on in relation to our own tasks, compare priority levels of tasks and add new tasks easily not just from a computer, but on mobile devices, too. 
- <a href="https://www.twitter.com/DoreenBloch">Doreen Bloch</a>, <a href="http://www.poshly.com">Poshly Inc.</a>
10. HubSpot
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43986" rel="attachment wp-att-43986"><img class="alignright wp-image-43986" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Bobby-Grajewski.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a>For our marketing needs, we recently adopted <a href="http://www.hubspot.com/" target="_blank">HubSpot</a>. It’s much more efficient for tracking and communicating with our customers and keeping them abreast of the latest happenings at Edison Nation Medical. It has taken on much of the heavy lifting for the day-to-day marketing minutiae, allowing my team to have more bandwidth to focus on overall strategy. 
- <a href="https://twitter.com/enmedical">Bobby Grajewski</a>, <a href="http://www.edisonnationmedical.com">Edison Nation Medical</a>
11. Tddium
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43985" rel="attachment wp-att-43985"><img class="alignright wp-image-43985" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Arian-Radmand.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a>I highly recommend every dev team set up a continuous integration server. Testing our platform for “robustness” is super important and is engrained in our engineering culture. <a href="https://www.tddium.com/" target="_blank">Tddium</a> is our safety net. It allows us to step on the gas and push out features rapidly without worrying about breaking existing functionality. 
- <a href="http://www.twitter.com/coachup">Arian Radmand</a>, <a href="http://www.coachup.com">CoachUp</a>
12. P2
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43984" rel="attachment wp-att-43984"><img class="alignright wp-image-43984" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Wade-Foster.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a>We use <a href="http://wordpress.org/themes/p2" target="_blank">P2</a> in place of internal email. Now all discussions are public, searchable and more organized. 
- <a href="https://www.twitter.com/wadefoster">Wade Foster</a>, <a href="http://www.zapier.com/">Zapier</a>
13. Evernote
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43983" rel="attachment wp-att-43983"><img class="alignright wp-image-43983" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Aman-Advani.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a>We’ve started using <a href="https://evernote.com/" target="_blank">Evernote</a> to discern between active and passive communication channels. Emails became overwhelming when every interesting article or vacation plan was blasted out. With Evernote, the receiver can choose when to take in the information. So for us, email is used primarily to share time-sensitive information. 
- <a href="https://twitter.com/MinistrySupply">Aman Advani</a>, <a href="http://www.ministryofsupply.com">Ministry of Supply</a>
14. Pivotal Tracker
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43982" rel="attachment wp-att-43982"><img class="alignright wp-image-43982" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Ty-Morse.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a>This <a href="http://www.pivotaltracker.com/" target="_blank">project management software</a> allows us to take ideas, projects and even client services from inspiration to delivery. We can break projects down into multiple components, assign tasks to teams and individuals, and track progress, movement, and even employee productivity. It’s fantastic! 
- <a href="https://twitter.com/songwhale">Ty Morse</a>, <a href="http://www.songwhale.com">Songwhale</a>
15. Quoteroller
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43976" rel="attachment wp-att-43976"><img class="alignright wp-image-43976" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/john-rampton.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a>I really like <a href="http://www.quoteroller.com/" target="_blank">this service</a>. It helps me keep track of quotes we have with clients. It tells me when they have seen, opened and viewed the email and when they have signed the contract so I can start billing them. It’s helped everyone in the company know where a client is in the process. 
- <a href="https://twitter.com/johnrampton">John Rampton</a>, <a href="http://www.adogy.com">Adogy</a>
16. Yammer
<a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/?attachment_id=43977" rel="attachment wp-att-43977"><img class="alignright wp-image-43977" src="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Maren-Hogan.png" alt="" width="90" height="90" /></a>Everyone inside and outside the office has gotten involved on <a href="https://www.yammer.com/" target="_blank">Yammer</a>. This social workplace tool has really helped to break down our silos. We can now share and collaborate in one place. We have a hashtag for each client and each project, so searching the stream is a breeze. Our social, content and design can all work together in a effortless way. 
- <a href="https://www.twitter.com/marenhogan">Maren Hogan</a>, <a href="http://www.redbranchmedia.com/">Red Branch Media</a>
The post <a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com/archive/2014/06/16-tools-to-help-make-your-team-more-efficient.html/">16 Tools to Help Make Your Team More Efficient</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.smallbiztechnology.com">SmallBizTechnology</a>.<div>
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Smallbiztechnologycom-SmbNewsAndInsight?a=-ZlVl0H72Ps:nTxtPNGpAtw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Smallbiztechnologycom-SmbNewsAndInsight?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Smallbiztechnologycom-SmbNewsAndInsight?a=-ZlVl0H72Ps:nTxtPNGpAtw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Smallbiztechnologycom-SmbNewsAndInsight?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Smallbiztechnologycom-SmbNewsAndInsight?a=-ZlVl0H72Ps:nTxtPNGpAtw:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Smallbiztechnologycom-SmbNewsAndInsight?i=-ZlVl0H72Ps:nTxtPNGpAtw:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Smallbiztechnologycom-SmbNewsAndInsight?a=-ZlVl0H72Ps:nTxtPNGpAtw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Smallbiztechnologycom-SmbNewsAndInsight?i=-ZlVl0H72Ps:nTxtPNGpAtw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="
0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Smallbiztechnologycom-SmbNewsAndInsight/~4/-ZlVl0H72Ps" height="1" width="1" />