ActiveCollab

From mis[sing] information to information overload, frequent disputes, and the unnecessary back-and-forth ➡️ Poor communication can seriously impact the quality of your projects. You know that you have to: 🙂 Be specific about project requirements, task descriptions, everyone's responsibilities, and expectations. 🙂 Set up recurring meetings to discuss roadblocks, progress, and other updates. 🙂 Make sure your team feels confident to reach out individually, in case they need to. 🙂 Use a collaboration tool for instant messaging, task discussions, and notes. However, you can't always avoid a communication storm. It's bound to happen sooner or later. One day, someone might arrive annoyed, react inconsiderately, and boom! 💥 You're not anyone's babysitter. We're all expected to know how to behave, but, the truth is, we can't always be in control of our thoughts and feelings. These, they often drive our [re]actions. The key is to let people be themselves. If they come to work furious, they should feel comfortable saying "Hey guys, listen, I feel a bit off today, don't mind me, please." You need to encourage open communication and honesty among your team members. You need to help them learn how to better communicate. Think about these questions: 💡 Are there any internal or external resources they can use to brush up their people skills? 💡 Are there any internal procedures or guidelines on how to act in case if XYZ? 💡 Is there a place for feedback so you can detect roadblocks that often cause or result from poor communication? 💡 What's causing issues if they have the necessary tools and relevant project info? 💡 Do omissions happen on a collective or individual basis? 💡 Is it really about the project or about something bigger (toxic environment, for example)? Remember that we're all different and what works for some might not work for others. That's why it's so important to build an inclusive, supportive workplace. Finally, is someone's really pushing it, their behavior going against your company's values, and seriously damaging teamwork, it's totally fine to let them go. Remember, you're not anyone's babysitter.

Managers [usually] have more experience and knowledge of their industry. They can also be: 🌧️ lousy communicators, 🌧️ toxic, 🌧️ exhausted, 🌧️ all over the place. 😒 They can make mistakes and wrong conclusions. 😔 They can make you feel miserable. 😟 They can make you question yourself. And it doesn't even have to be justified! They can be totally wrong! That's why you need to talk to them. Honestly, assertively. For example, instead of: "I hate it when you boss me around like I don't know how to do my job," go with: "I appreciate your feedback, but would you mind explaining me your thoughts?" The first line might provoke a negative reaction, since you're using words like "hate", "boss around", "don't know", and you're directly linking them to your manager. They might feel attacked and hurt. The second line acknowledges them, shows you value their opinion, and would like to better understand them. Even if you don't really like your manager (this happens, we have to be realistic), such an approach is more likely to work if you want to avoid conflict, and that awful, gut-wrenching feeling toxic relationships cause. (If your relationship is more casual, you can simply ask: "Why is your way better than mine?", but be careful as this one might also trigger a poor response if someone's not in the mood.) Note: The same works the other way, sometimes your manager will be right, and you'll be wrong. There's no room for egos. The key is to communicate. To be respectful and tactical. At the end of the day, we're all human beings, and we can work things out if we find a way together.

Here we are, with another round of updates! Our Dev team spent most of December working on Calendar (it's getting better and better! 🥰), and they also polished up People Archive. That's not all! We added Task Report Presets✨ , a cool feature to help you create task reports more easily. If you want to find out more, check out the video below or head over to our blog for some light reading🥰 Let us know if you have some questions or comments🍪

The entire ActiveCollab team wishes you a very happy and productive 2025! ✨ We hope it brings you a lot of team wins, inspiring stories, and meaningful collaborations! More importantly, we hope your 2025 is filled with joy and people you love. Thank you for being part of our community! 💖

Now that 2024 is coming to a close, let's reflect on it a little. We're really thankful for everything it brought us: new team members, new users, new opportunities. Milestones, mistakes, progress. All of that helped us see more clearly, more sustainably. It made us even more excited about the future. 💫 How about you? What professional lessons, accomplishments, challenges marked your year? What are you looking forward to in 2025? We'd love to hear your story! Share it with us to help and inspire other people! ⭐

Carter from JUICE Creative Group initially used an all-in-one software solution for their daily work - project management, time tracking, team communication, billing, reporting, and whatnot. Unfortunately, his team hated this tool. It was impractical, confusing, and nerve-racking. So, Carter and his coworkers decided to shop around for an alternative. They tested out several tools, and were on the verge of giving up. Then, out of nowhere, they discovered ActiveCollab. Were they skeptical? Yes. Were they suspicious? Absolutely. Still, they decided to give ActiveCollab a go. Nothing to lose anyway. "Just in case, let's not expect too much," they agreed. And the rest is history. We'd like to thank everyone at JUICE for relying on ActiveCollab. We're super happy and proud that you chose us.

Working with other people can be so hard😭 No matter what, you'll always have low achievers, excessively fussy perfectionists, late bloomers or .. really unpleasant people. 😒 How do you deal with them? Our coworker, Lana, says: "For me, assertive communication, kindness, and understanding worked every time. You never know what goes on in the background, we're only human after all. Whatever it is, when your interlocutor feels safe to express or explain themselves, they'll do it, you'll get to work things out more easily. Sometimes, all you need is a little bit compassion, that's all." It makes sense, no? What's your experience?

If you often struggle with task prioritization and organization, the MoSCoW method might help you work more efficiently. Basically, you break down tasks as per their importance and value, so you can focus on those at the top of your list. To help you get started, here are 5 questions you should answer before categorizing your tasks: 1. What is the ultimate purpose of your project or initiative? 2. Who or what will experience the majority of the benefits of your project or initiative’s end goal? 3. Who are the relevant stakeholders that need to be included in the process? 4. What are the conditions (budget, timeframes, resources)? 5. What ranking criteria will you use to determine how you divide and allocate tasks or priorities into each of the four categories? Thanks to the method's simplicity, versatility, and flexibility, many project managers, designers, marketers, devs, and other busy people use this technique to manage priorities, set budgets and deadlines, coordinate [limited] resources, and more. However, it can still be a double-edged sword since it's based on an individual's reasoning (usually), so it might be better to double check with a coworker. 😊

Feel free to add more in the comments 🫠

Clients who 💥 make unreasonable requests, 💥 provide poor feedback, and 💥 expect you to deliver something outstanding are hidden gems💫 you can't avoid, no matter how much you want to. Look from the bright side: they'll train your nerves, but they'll also make you become more resilient, savvy, and resourceful. Don't let them take it too far, though. You absolutely need to set some boundaries.