It took me a while to get here, and it has only been a week since I can say that besides 3 weekly Production Meetings, and the necessary face time between employees as well as clients, I fulfilled my goal of running Geyrhalter Design by simply opening my browser. I used to rely on lots of programs to handle the different operational tasks at hand, but now I just have tabs in my browser and I can start conducting all aspects of my business from virtually anywhere. As finding the right way of working did not come overnight for us, and I am very happy with the results, I want to share the way I run my company via a browser with you. Maybe you can benefit from some pieces, or the entire workflow.

1. E-Mail & Calendar

We use Zimbra, an open source  E-Mail and Calendar solution that let’s us easily sync to our iPhones, which allows me to stay up to date on meetings and e-mails, even while being on the road. I can make appointments and write e-mails from wherever I am and my calendar and Inbox will always look identical, may it be on my phone or my laptop, saving plenty of time in itself.

2. Project Management

Geyrhalter Design relies on Basecamp to be the hub for all our projects, internal as well as client projects. We create timelines, keep deadlines (‘Milestones’) and exchange project specific information as well as files. We even use it to house internal company information such as a contact database, printer trouble shooting tips and log in information that might otherwise be a big pain to search through your inbox once needed.

3. Daily Tasks & Productivity Overview

This was the last piece of our internal process to take online. Until last week we used a large white board in a central agency space that gave us a 2 week overview of each employee’s tasks on any given day. It meant that everybody had to physically stop by and take a look before diving into a project to ensure nothing has changed on their schedule. It also meant that the Project Manager had to update the board throughout the day to ensure that it was up to date before leaving for the day. For myself it meant that I could only get an overview on how booked the agency is, or who was working on a certain client task by stepping into a different room. Obviously, this has been a far from ideal situation, begging for the perfect online solution, yet to be resolved. As they say, if it does not exist, go ahead and create it. And so we ventured out to develop it ourselves just last week and now the site is fully functional, enabling the team to view their daily tasks online. It also enables the Project Manager and any other Admins to move items, make items ‘hot’ (which means they are hard same-day deadlines corresponding with our ‘Milestones’ in Basecamp) and highlight vacation days. Most of all, it enables anyone on the team to get a virtual overview of their tasks and the overall 2-week in advance agency booking. We might think about offering this tool to the public in the future if there is a demand for it.

4. Cash Flow/Bookkeeping

Keeping a small size agency running means projecting cash flow and staying on top of the company’s billing on a daily basis. It takes smart planning and reporting. Pulse is the online app that enables me to do just that, and there is nothing more soothing (or, hopefully not, worrisome) to accurately predict the income and expenses for months to come. We have now been using Pulse for one year – looking back at how I was keeping GD in good financial spirits prior to using Pulse remains a big question mark.

5. Invoicing

We use Freshbooks to create, send and follow up on invoices. It gives our clients many payment options, and it provides us with a simple overview. Unless you have an accounting firm handling your invoices, using this system also takes the awkwardness out of the financial part of the client interactions, which really shouldn’t happen.

6. Storing thoughts that add to your weight

These could also be seen as small tasks, random thoughts or scribbles, which if not written down, will create that constant buzz in your brain and create that heavy weight you so often feel on your shoulders unless thoughts are filed away until you need them again. I use Things for this. I have my own daily tasks, since as the CEO I have plenty of smaller items to check off any given hour and I am not partaking in our open Schedule software. This helps me keep track of my thoughts. Everything from my daily, weekly and monthly to-do’s all the way to keeping track of places to visit, wines to try, dates when subscriptions run out and gifts to give once the holidays come around. It is all in one place, accessibly from anywhere I am with an internet connection. I literally plug all of these thoughts into ‘Things’, while I work or during play (via the syncing iPhone App). It does not happen anymore that I run out of an idea for a place to eat while being in a particular part of town, or a DVD to stream on Netflix on a chill evening (yes, I do have a list for that). I can not even tell you how much it helps me feel relaxed, organized and free to do the things that I want to, or have to do any given point in time, and not worry about where I read or heard about something and then figure out how to locate it.

This is how I run Geyrhalter Design, and a bit of my personal life, in a nutshell, through 5 tabs in my browser, and ‘Things’ launched. It took us a while to get here and I am thrilled about how easy it made life at GD; but there are always ways to improve and sync these steps and I would love to hear your thoughts and learn about your own personal solutions to streamline and stay organized.