When Slack, the popular internal business communication app, was down for four hours on June 27, Twitter lit up like a Christmas tree with white-collar frustrations.
Such is the 21st century workplace. As companies increasingly outsource talent and allow more employees to work remotely, the concept of “work” is becoming more associated with a series of tasks and less connected to a physical office space.
This decentralization of the workplace has some Baton Rouge CEOs implementing more communication and project management applications, such as Slack, Basecamp and Skype for Business, as Business Report details in its recent feature. Each app serves a different function for local businesses.
Slack: Communicating culture
John Snow clearly remembers June 27—specifically, the Slack outage that lasted from 8 a.m. until noon. Laughing, the Emergent Method partner says one of his employees who regularly works off-site came into the company’s downtown Baton Rouge office saying she didn’t know how to function without the app.
Despite the tight quarters and small staff, Snow says he wanted to find a way to sift through emails and organize internal communications. Slack’s direct and group messaging concepts initially appealed to him as an alternative to email. However, as the company grew to more than 50 employees—all working consulting gigs at different sites throughout the city, state and country—the platform became an avenue for the office to stay connected.
Each week, 9 million people are active on Slack, according to data from May 2018, with 43% of Fortune 500 companies listed as paying for the app.
Basecamp: Breaking it down
Rep Cap CEO Mary Ellen Slayter can barely remember a world where she didn’t know about the project management app Basecamp. She started using Basecamp the same day she launched the Baton Rouge content marketing agency in 2011. With different to-do lists organized within different project boards and direct messaging, Basecamp serves many functions for Rep Cap.
“I always knew that I wanted the company to be decentralized,” Slayter says. “Essentially, Basecamp is our office.”
Skype for Business: Always Evolving
People who work for Mo Vij, founder and CEO of General Informatics, can either step into the conference room for a meeting or just click a button from their desktop computer, laptop or cell phone and tune in from home.
General Informatics has used Skype for Business since it was first called Microsoft Lync five years ago.
Vij says his 60-plus employees—10 of whom live outside the U.S.—appreciate Skype for Business’ screen-sharing and video chat features, which allows them to feel more synched to the company.
Read the full story on how area firms are embracing communications apps.
