Dear Basecamp,

The day has finally come. We both knew it would, and it’s been real, but it’s time for us to move on. We’d say that it’s not you, it’s us, but, well… it actually is you. We’ve been holding this in for a while, but it’s time to share our feelings and tell you the truth. There’s someone else. Well, make that two.

The Heartbreaking Backstory

Here at PRPL we like to keep things fresh. One, so we don’t get stale or bored (you know us millennials), and two—most importantly—because we’re always learning and growing. Recently we made the decision to make a significant change that affects every project and person daily.

So what is it? (Cue drumroll.) A new project management platform and new project management style. We’re moving from Basecamp to a package of tools: Confluence (KAHN-fluence) and JIRA. With that change comes a significant shift in how we get stuff done. So yeah, it’s kind of a big deal.

For the past several years, we’ve been using 37 Signals’ Basecamp platform to manage projects, timelines, and client communication. It sufficed for a long while, but it’s come time to move on. Like that one phase we all went through in high school.

Not only have we grown in number as a company, but we’ve also grown in scale and caliber of client, forcing us to completely re-evaluate how we manage projects. Basecamp is extremely limiting and can become quite a jumbled mess, so in order to stay sane, we needed a more robust tool.

“But you said you’re using Confluence and JIRA. That’s two.” And that’s correct. Let me explain.

The Dynamic Duo

Confluence and JIRA are separate platforms created by Atlassian, with different capabilities but designed to integrate seamlessly with one another. The former is used for communication, documentation, and asset management, while the latter is strictly for task management.

Confluence is our middle ground between the internal team and clients, where the latter have read-only access (no touchy!). This provides our partners full transparency on a project with the ability to review documents and messages as necessary, but limits them from jumping into anything they’re not supposed to. It’s as much for their benefit as it is ours.

On the other hand, JIRA is for our team exclusively. It houses all tasks, allows resources to manage their own responsibilities, and provides a visual snapshot of the life of a project. Together, the two are a match made in project-management heaven.

Our new friends with benefits

Just some of the attributes we’re stoked about in the new platforms:

Project Manager sanity
- Custom Organization: Customizable and extravagant structure. One size doesn’t have to fit all.
- Visibility: Project status, indication of priority, and responsible parties, all in front of you.
- Accountability: Everyone sees who’s doing what and when. Micromanaging was never enjoyable for anyone.
Resource sanity
- Less confusion about asset and info whereabouts and digging through miles of chains of messages. Just let them design or code!
- Full clarity about what’s on each resource’s plate.
- Ability to indicate estimates of time or level of effort.
Productivity
- Burndown charts and tracking of due dates
- Ways to discuss and understand what’s truly feasible
- Easier communication and collaboration, allowing the entire team to accomplish more, more efficiently
Client Satisfaction
- Clear visibility into the project, which allows for full transparency about project status and, ultimately, fulfillment!

We were experiencing some real pain points that led us to these new tools and management style. Here’s how Confluence and JIRA have helped solve them.

JIRA, Confluence, Atlassian, benefits, basecamp, pros and cons

Don’t go chasin’ waterfalls

While Basecamp doesn’t require one project management style over the other, it certainly lends itself to the Waterfall style of managing projects. Basically, Step 1, then 2, then 3 – little flexibility, greater risk, little ability to work on tasks in chunks, or at least little ability to do so without challenges. With the conversion to Confluence and JIRA – which are structured for an Agile method – we’re transitioning accordingly. Agile requires continuous planning, development, review, efficiency, transparency, communication, and knocking out chunks of work at a time. More on the difference between the two styles can be found here.

Waterfall is a thing of the past for us. Why? Because more and more of our clients have business needs and timelines that call for us to break down their goals into digestible segments. That enables us to do the work faster and better. They see results sooner, and we can function at a much higher rate of productivity. It’s a win-win.

Getting through the growing pains

The key to making this transition successful has been everyone’s commitment to this new style together, and gobs (and gobs) of communication and flexibility. An agency-wide training was held in which our fearless leaders explained the whys and hows, and here we are. The Producer team continues to meet weekly to discuss what works, what doesn’t, new tricks we’ve learned, and thoughts on overall process. It’s a work in progress, but one that has already been worthwhile both internally, and for our clients.

The difference between Basecamp and Confluence/JIRA is stark – like going from peddling a tricycle to riding a motorcycle. Or like the difference in your mental health before and after those amazing Ikea storage units graced your apartment. You get the picture. It sounds a little scary, but with some practice and dedication, you’re much more successful (and cooler!) in the life of project management and development. It’s not just about moving up to play with the big boys, but about adopting a method of managing our work in a way that’s actually more efficient and effective.

There. Now it’s all out in the open. We can’t say we didn’t have some good times together, but we’re just not the same person we were at the start of our relationship, and you are. So maybe it is us after all. Awkward.

Anyway, we wish you the best.

Sincerely,
Moving on

Breaking Up With Basecamp

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