Amidst these uncertain times, we at Animikii wanted to let you know that our thoughts are with you, your families, and your businesses during this turbulent time. It’s important to ensure we take care of ourselves, our families, our Elders, and ensure critical services continue to be available to those that need them.

To do our part to empower those who are adjusting to remote work, we’d like to share Animikii’s productivity ecosystem. We’ve built Animikii to be remote-friendly, this means that our Thunderbirds can work from home with little impact on Animikii’s operations. We’re very privileged to be able to do this, and while it’s not always easy, there’s no shortage of more technical guides, policies, and advice to remote work. 

Animikii’s Digital Tool Box

Here’s a glimpse of the software tools that enable our remote work at Animikii.

Documents and Cloud Storage

• G Suite — G Suite’s strength is its ability to provide a quick and easy way to collaborate in real-time from a distance as the documents themselves all live on Google’s secure servers. This service requires only a Google account and provides access to documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and more.  
• Dropbox — Dropbox can sync between multiple devices so you always have access to your files no matter which device you are using. This is great when you are working with large files, or files that need to be on your local computer, but you still want to keep them in the cloud.

Day-to-Day Communication

• Slack — Slack is intuitive to those who are used to instant messaging services and supports GIFs and Emojis which are key to nuanced virtual communication and keeping spirits high. Slack offers its basic service for free, but in this time of crisis, they are also offering significant discounts to nonprofits worth considering.
• Status Hero — Acting as our daily, virtual “stand up” meeting, Status Hero gives us all a quick and transparent way to check-in to see what each other are up to and share our goals for the day. 
• Bonusly — Allows team members to recognize each other's efforts by giving small bonuses, aligned with our values. Bonuses can be exchanged for rewards or donations to worthy causes, including the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 fund.

Teleconferences, Remote Meetings, and Virtual Training Sessions

• Zoom — It’s a simple, reliable, and easy-to-use way to meet in a virtual space that’s like a virtual boardroom.
• UberConference — We use this to meet with multiple clients or partners who are connecting via different locations as it gives them the option to connect with us via their phone or computer. Like Zoom, it also has screen sharing options that work great for training sessions or collaborating with clients or partners.
• Grasshopper — Each of our team members is assigned a phone extension linked to our 800 number for inbound and outbound calls. It gives you features of a business phone system on your desktop or existing cell phone – no need to have two separate phones.

Project Management and Governance

• ClickUp — This acts as the central hub for all of our project management activities. It’s a very customizable space to delegate tasks and keep projects on track among remote teams.
• GlassFrog — This tool manages Holacracy, a self-management framework that we’re testing out via our Social Impact operations. Unlike ClickUp, it’s not very customizable but it’s very good at streamlining transparent governance. Here’s an example from the organization that develops and promotes Holacracy.

Collaborative Brainstorming

• Miro — This is a virtual whiteboard that is great for brainstorming and collaborating on complicated ideas.
• Whimsical — This is a great tool for drafting flowcharts, wireframes, and mindmaps. It’s quick and easy-to-use, and like Miro it can be used by multiple people at once to share ideas and illustrate complicated concepts.

Time Tracking

• Harvest — We track the time we spend on projects so we can budget, plan, and review our work. This is vital to any social enterprise such as ours that needs to balance how much we make with how much we give back.

HR & Payroll

• Humi — There are many administrative tasks that occur to ensure that employee’s rights are respected, they can take time off, and they can navigate their health insurance and benefits. Humi is a simple hub for all of these things and it’s great for small teams such as ours.
• Payment Evolution — This offers a simple way to ensure everyone is paid the right amount and on time. They also have advice for employers who are responding to the dramatic shifts in their workplaces.

Security

• 1Password — None of the services mentioned above work without good passwords and security practices. 1Password is useful because you just have to remember one master password and it does the rest. Account details can then be shared among your team in ways that are safe and secure.

Web-based Solutions Bring Us Together

These programs are all web-based. That means that you don’t need any specific computer to access them; anything with an internet connection and a web browser should work. The downside of this approach is these tools require consistent internet access for them to work well. If you work in places where you don't always have access to the internet then you’ll need to supplement or replace these services with local software such as Microsoft Office 2016 or LibreOffice.

This list isn’t meant to be an endorsement or recommendation of one set of software over another. Every organization has different cultures, requirements, and resources. The tech world is in a constant state of flux so digital agencies like Animikii are always on the lookout for better ways to work. These are just a few of the tools we think you might appreciate as you shift to working from home.

While it’s better to look ahead and plan your digital transformation, in times of crisis we are forced to respond to the situation at hand so we can get back to work. This is easier said than done, so if you are unsure about how you will get your business or organization working online, we can assist you in setting up the tools needed to make this transition. Feel free to contact us for a free consultation. All you may need is a recommendation of certain software to solve your problem, maybe something more, but we’re always happy to assist.