Basecamp Slows Me Down!!

This weeks reading covered collaborative software, but I decided to comment on the software that I have personally used which is called Basecamp. In the article Teamwork, Supercharged by BusinessWeek it is touted the latest online program that will change the way people do business including getting rid of e-mail. The article claims that, "'It's 300% more work' for his firm and clients to manage projects without the new technologies".

I have tried Basecamp and disagree with this article. I had to use Basecamp for a project to conference since we were unable to meet in person. What should have been an hour meeting in person became a 3-hour on-line meeting in which I was tied to my computer.

People wanted to sound intelligent and would ask questions just to ask them, so I would end up typing the same answer 3 different times throughout the session. Also not everyone was as responsive as they should have been and I had the sneaking suspicion that they were not fully engaged in the meeting and thought they could get away with it since we could not see him. Incorporating phone calls into the conference is helpful as many businesses are more likely to use this method.

I still feel that phone calls, e-mail, and in-person meetings are the better way to go for the future over an online only format of communication. Companies should set the standard that they put people first instead of opting to use this cold, slow collaborative network. People need contact with other people and the exceptions to this rule are strange indeed and I feel sorry for them.