At Flatsourcing we <3 Basecamp. We’ve been using it for more than 3 years, and though we have migrated to more granular ticketing systems for development, we still host a lot of business & big picture conversations in Basecamp. It is the tool we use to run our business internally and externally, serving at once as a CRM & project management tool.

Over the years, we’ve learned a lot about Basecamp and how to use it effectively. I’ll share some lessons below:

• One of the rules that we enforce is no project related discussion outside of Basecamp via email. This leads to confusion. I’ve seen a bit of this already. Even if you have a question for just one person, ask it in Basecamp, that way everyone can see and weigh in.
• Email is bad. It’s inefficient, gets lost, is not very searchable, and not threaded. Most of all its cluttered up with all your other stuff. Keep the conversation in Basecamp.
• If you have a phone call with anyone and that info is relevant to others on the project, post a quick note in Basecamp.

For the first year we used Basecamp, we stuck only to the messaging functions. 37 Signals has made some very subtle but important improvements to the other functions that make them very usable. If you haven’t checked them out, consider using:

• To Do lists – For assigning tasks, and keeping to-do’s organized and able to be checked off, utilize this functionality.
• Milestones – Milestones help us work towards timeline-based goals. To-do lists can be attached to a Milestone, so you can list out what needs to be done to hit a milestone. Cool.
• Threaded comments on Milestones & To-Do’s – You’ll note when you mouse over next to a milestone or to-do there is a little thought bubble that pops up. This opens up a message thread related to that, and so its a great place to have a discussion that is specifically related to a Milestone or To-Do.
• Files – If someone needs to know that a file has been uploaded, I always find it better practice to upload this in a message rather than just on the file tab. That way you can write a quick note about what they are there for. It’s easy to attach as many files as you want at the bottom of a message.
• Writeboards – Writeboards offer wiki-style editing and revisioning for collaborating on documents. We use them to capture workflow documentation and content creation.
• Email Notifications – the question of who to check off at the bottom of a message. My personal preference is I like to be subscribed to these, so I can keep up on things. Also, some people respond directly to the emails, which is great, and Basecamp handles well. I’d recommend including anyone who might need to know what you are asking or discussing, even if you’re not directly asking them. That way people have a reminder landing in their inbox and can keep abreast of things.
• Formatting – Basecamp uses something called Textile markup. It’s easy to learn and you can get a tutorial here or you can install a firefox plugin that adds some formatting functionality directly to Basecamp called Basecode.

I hope this is a helpful tutorial on how we use Basecamp at Flatsourcing. If you have any further questions, don’t hestistate to ask me in the comments or get in touch.