This is a Guest Post by Scott Magdelein. He blogs over at ReadScott.com.
Churches have increasingly complicated needs for inner-office communication, collaboration, etc. (Sorry, Thom.) You need the right tools to handle it all, and there’s no shortage of tools out there.
Of course, one tool rises to the top for it’s flexibility and ease-of-use; Backpack from 37Signals.
Tech savvy churches have been using Backpack for staff communication, collaboration, and organization for a couple years, but it’s suitable for non-techie church staffs as well.
It’s original purpose was to serve as an online information organizer, but over the past few years it’s evolved into an effective intranet with tools that work perfect for teams.
Here’s a breakdown of those tools and how they might help your staff be more effective:
- Messaging – Messaging can be utilized within the application or via email, fitting anyone’s regular communication flow. When you create a new message, it’s like starting a topic that allows discussion on that topic. It’s perfect for keeping discussions focused.
- Pages – Pages are the main tool for containing information. They’re also the perfect place for project collaboration among private teams because of the content types and sharing options.
- Calendar – Having a strong, sharable calendar is vital for a church staff. The Backpack calendar is simple to use and completely sharable. It even has nifty import and export options for events and appointments.
- Reminders – Reminders can be set for yourself or for other team members. Have a worship leader who always forgets to turn off the lights after practice? Set a reminder that will automatically send him an SMS with a short message during rehearsal.
- Writeboards – Need to have your staff proofread bulletin copy or blog content before posting? Writeboards are designed just for that purpose with multi-user editing and version control (keeps track of changes and who made them).
- Journal – Having your team regularly update the journal will tell you exactly what’s being accomplished, where your people are spending their time, and what changes might need to be made in daily scheduling.
Backpack might not be the total package for team collaboration or project management since it doesn’t have traditional tools like Gannt Charts or advanced task lists (although pages allow for basic list creation), but for the purposes listed above (and more with a little creative implementation of the tools) Backpack is a useful and inexpensive solution.
This tour is incredibly useful. Have you used or experimented with Backpack? Got a review?
erik says
Coming from using both Backpack and Action Method, Action Method takes the cake hands down. It's UI and functionality are way easy to understand and did i say that the design is great!
human3rror says
whoa. i gotta check that out… thanks!
Andrew Minchew says
we have been using basecamp (another 37signals product) for a couple months to coordinate our services for a couple months. it seems to be working well, particularly for the purposes of keeping staff members and volunteers on the same page.
Scott says
Good news! There IS a free version. Check this out. http://signup.37signals.com/backpack/free/signup…
I'm watching out for you!
human3rror says
puaha. thanks dude.
Graham Brenna says
Looks like this might be worth looking into! Thanks!