Our team works together better with Trello!
March 21, 2016

Our team works together better with Trello!

Raylene Wall | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Trello

We organize the work being done by our service providers (contractors) with Trello. Trello allows us to share files and instructions with those working for us. We are able to have conversations about the work right on the Trello boards and cards. This is a lifesaver. It keeps all communications about projects in one place and easy to review by all involved. People can be easily added to and removed from cards. When someone is removed, their comments are left in tact, so we don't lose any information even when an individual is no longer actively participating in a project.
We also use Trello with a few of our social media clients to organize and share information for social media and marketing campaigns. Trello makes it easy to coordinate with multiple contributors on concurrent projects.

Pros

  • Trello is web-based. There's nothing to download or install. This makes it particularly easy for people across different organizations to access and use the program.
  • Trello can be set to send notifications when changes are made to lists, cards, or boards. This makes it easy to keep up with progress on the projects.
  • The user interface of Trello is easy to learn.
  • Organizing information is simple in Trello. The use of Boards with cards, and cards with lists, makes the information easy to access and keep tidy. This is one thing we quite appreciate about Trello. Organizing feels very intuitive with the system Trello employs.

Cons

  • Trello has the ability to modify formatting of information on the cards. However, it does not use a standard Visual (WYSIWYG) Editor. Rather, users must remember the shortcodes for each required format. This is not ideal.
  • Trello allows a user to reply to another user on a list, with the use of 'tagging'. Currently, the tagging only shows the usernames, which is fine. Tagging that would translate into a user's REAL NAME might be nicer and easy to understand - especially if usernames are quite different from real names.
  • Users can attach images to lists and cards on Trello. The images or other files are just attached to the card. It's not always clear what file is pertinent to which comments, though. If there were a way to attach an image as a comment or TO a comment, it would help the workflow.
  • We have been able to increase our workload and shorten our turn around time by adding team collaboration with Trello. Trello makes it easier to get the information to the people who need it so they can work on it when they have the opportunity. We spend less time waiting on each other for info.
  • Training new service providers/contractors is faster and easier. They can review information on a project all in one place on Trello and come up to speed faster.
  • Because of the nature of our work, we're often doing the same kinds of things multiple times for multiple clients. Trello allows us to keep the instructions for such activities in one place, available to anyone who needs them.
  • We've been able to duplicate our work much more. What could only have been done by one person before can now be completed by several because they are all following the same set of instructions that we've created in a Trello card.
Google Docs is ok for sharing items/documents/files with your team, but the interface is clunky to me. It's hard to know right off which things are connected to what project and to each other. Also, assigning tasks to team members is not possible directly (not that I know of).
Basecamp feels a lot BIGGER to me. Trello works well for my small business. Basecamp just feels like a more industrial / commercial option for larger organizations.
Trello is well-suited for:

  • Organizing a group of collaborators on a project
  • Organizing multiple stages of a larger project
  • Catch-all for brainstorming individually or as a group
  • Sharing to-do lists (with deadlines)
Specifically, we've used Trello successfully with:

  • Homeschooling curriculum coordination
  • Social media and marketing campaigns for clients
  • General workflow and to-do lists with service providers (contractors)
  • "Brain dump" - just getting a lot of information out of my brain and on to paper for use later

Trello Feature Ratings

Task Management
8
Scheduling
8
Workflow Automation
Not Rated
Team Collaboration
10
Support for Agile Methodology
Not Rated
Support for Waterfall Methodology
Not Rated
Document Management
9
Email integration
8
Mobile Access
9

Trello Implementation

For our small business, getting a few of us started well on Trello was the key, I think. As long as a couple of us were really comfortable with the interface, we could lead others and help them with any questions. From now on, anyone who works with us just naturally uses Trello for information sharing - it's just part of what we do.
Yes - Phase 1 - tried using Trello myself for personal organization.
Phase 2 - was invited by another organization that successfully used Trello for collaboration to shadow a few of their projects and see how they use the program.
Phase 3 - invited a trusted service provider to several projects on Trello to test the interface and be sure it was useable for more than just myself.
Phase 4 - began using Trello with a long-time and trusted client to collaborate on one specific project.
Phase 5 - added more contractors working with us to more projects on Trello.
Phase 6 - upscaled Trello use for first client to collaborate on all projects with that client.
Phase 7 - Trello is automatically implemented with new service providers and clients now at time work commences.
Change management was a small part of the implementation and was well-handled - Having an insider view into how another organization uses Trello was a HUGE help to seeing the possibilities of the program within our own organization. We're thankful that a colleague trusted us enough to let us see the inside workings of their Trello use (at least one component). As far as implementation within our own organization, it was important to give sufficient time using Trello before expecting it to be the primary interface for any project.
  • It took quite a bit of encouragement to get everyone to use Trello all the time for project management. They liked to revert back to group emails and Facebook group conversations.
  • Information being shared in multiple places not all ending up on Trello. Issue: effectively gathering project info into one place.
  • File sharing - not always being sure which file was meant for which comment on each board.

Using Trello

Trello is easy to sit down and use right away. The interface and the layout of Trello is very intuitive to me, and allows me and my team to access information quickly and efficiently. Being able to access the same format through my mobile devices is also valuable because there's no disconnect between 'regular' use and 'mobile' use - it's a seamless transition that allows me to work more efficiently.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • Adding files to cards on Trello is as easy as drag-n-drop or uploading via a few clicks.
  • Customizing boards on Trello is a nice touch. Creating a branded surface to work on with custom background image, or changing the colour of the background can give a project a totally different feel.
  • Organizing lists and cards is also as simple as dragging and dropping them to the order you want them in. This is particularly important when stages of a project are in flux. It's easy to create a user interface that allows collaborators to access the most important information easily.
  • Formatting text - shortcodes must be used instead of a WYSIWYG Visual editor.
Yes - The mobile interface looks just like the online interface. The only differences are scaling (as you'd hope on mobile) and collapsable checklists. Both of these things provide a cleaner user interface on mobile, keeping things the right size and only giving information if you need it. (The boards show only one list on the screen at a time, with easy swipe functionality to scroll through the other lists on the board. The checklist will expand if you need it by tapping on it, but it stays collapsed if you don't need it.) Using Trello on a mobile device is almost exactly like using Trello online. It's very use to use on mobile.

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