Do The Do: Projects, Tasks, Teams, Done Right
So, we’re all about simplicity, mobility, and productivity at Heroik, and so I must recommend this cool tool, with a great name and a go with you anywhere attitude. It’s called Do. If you want to save yourself some reading: Bottom Line: your team and/or biz should definitely Do the Do.
What is Do?
Do is a FREE (as in Braveheart FREEEDOOOMM! Free) online collaboration tool that can integrate with Google Apps. It also features mobile versions for the iPhone and Android. Do is based on the ManyMoon project (Google Apps users know what this is) but Do has a better work flow and functionality.
What Can I do With Do?
- Work on shared or private tasks, projects and notes
- Activity feeds and comments to track progress
- Real-time notifications
- Mobile – work from anywhere (phone, tablet or computer)
- Works with Google Apps – attach a Google Doc to your tasks, create a task from Gmail and login with your Google account
- Attach documents to tasks.
- Also works with SalesForce
What’s in a name?
Do entertains and motivates teams in it’s name alone. I didn’t have to lobby for buy-in. It was a snap to deploy and get the team to use the app. They were excited just by the name- and implications for office humor. It made it okay in the office/emails/conversations to say things like “Do me”,( meaning assign a task or share a project) or “I’ll Do you later about that”. Don’t underestimate the value here. There are plenty of great collaboration apps out there, perhaps better ones but if you’ve ever had to rally a team around a new tool or software, you know it can be challenging.
Mobile Version -that’s actually almost as useful as the desktop version.
I love that the iPhone version synchronizes with the web- So I can use it offline. That’s important. The interface and experience is extremely natural. The current iOS version of Do lacks the ability to create sections in projects, but aside from that, it is an amazing app. I am a critical power-user and user-centric app advocate and developer. I love this app.
Our Experience:
When I was fishing for an app to address this challenge, I knew in order for it to be successful, it had to fit the Heroik Lifestyle, always on the go, available anywhere and incredibly versatile. Everyone on the Heroik Team wears multiple hats, cowls and capes. Collaborating via email and chat alone make it easy for tasks to get neglected and slip through the cracks. Do has increased our productivity by capturing and sharing important ideas, tasks, and decreased stress and anxiety by giving the team a centralized platform synched to mobile counter-parts, we never run out of things to Do.
Sanity Boost
The collaborative nature of do makes it easy to unplug when it’s time to take a break. The thoughts, tasks, projects, etc. are stored appropriately with teams, meaning there is no reason to juggle all the tasks in your RAM/head alone. In my experience, when only one person is aware/juggling all the key components of projects, strategies and efforts, that person likely to be the first to burn out; making constant changes by being out of synch with the rest of the team. Leaders, managers are crippled by a lack of awareness and communication. Do helps to establish an environment where teams can become aware of the bigger picture. It’s still important to deploy best practices and integrate Do with your mantras and culture, but the app is a powerful tool .
Note: Do is owned by Salesforce which I call out as an almost knock against it. Freemium Pricing model to be imposed soon but, for now, Do the Do.
