#collaboration en

[azenblog-en]

Lean startup, The Dokker Recruit Example

Creating a startup means having an idea, a business model and the right people. Then, launching the product or service on the right market, and getting your model validated by potential users. This process is called Lean development. But sometimes (even often) it’s during this stage that you need to adjust what you’re doing to better meet the demand and adapt to your users needs.

This phase can be critical because it takes time to reposition yourself, enrich your product, and change your strategy or your business model. These are all questions that confront many entrepreneurs on a daily basis.

Change your Strategy

As you can imagine, changing your original plan is easier said than done. At the event “B2B Rocks”, Gautier Cassagnau explained how he had switched from Voisineo  (the facebook for neighbors) to Geolid, (a media agency that generates leads for artists and merchants). This strategy change really paid off in the end! Not only did it change the business model, but also the product. He went from a B2C model to a B2B model almost immediately. Today, Geolid has over 200 employees and announced 100 job openings for 2013-2014.

A change in strategy is an integral part of a startup’s development process. We must learn to question, and then listen to, the market demand so that we may offer a product or service that will be adopted by as many users as possible.

And believe me, the first time we planed the development of Azendoo, it wasn’t exactly the same as it is today. ;-)

Offer a New Service: The Dokker Example

A few months ago, I told you about Dokker, a startup from Bordeaux that developed an application for creating and sharing your portfolio on professional social networks to enrich your profile and improve your chance of getting hired. Well, not so long ago, the two founders, Frederic Chesnais and Hubert Ducrot, decided to take the company in a new direction and offer a completely new type of service, Dokker Recruit.

To hear more about their strategy change, I went to meet Frederic Ducrot, the CEO of Dokker.

Hey Frederic, Tell me about Dokker’s new service

Well, since the end of March, we offer a recruitment management service called "Recruit". The service is aimed at SMEs and allows them to use an innovative “web 2.0 solution" to replace the management of applications by email and Excel. Like Azendoo, we believe that email is inefficient and goes against what collaborative work should be. This is especially true for medium-sized companies that have neither the budget nor the time to upgrade to an HR solution provided by a major market publisher.

Why did you change your strategy?

We don’t see this as an actual strategy change, but as an extension of our existing service. We reused the majority of our existing technological building blocks to build Dokker Recruit. On the other hand, Dokker.com was created to give candidates an advantage on the web, and Dokker Recruit is the other side of this proposal, the recruiter side.

Can you explain how your repositioning took place?

It was very fast actually. We developed the major functions for Dokker Recruit during the holidays last Christmas. The development began in late January, and thanks to our agile technology, we were able to have some customers test the application in February. When it was all said and done, we used feedback from more than 50 recruiters. Fortunately, we were very "lean" in our approach.

What does this means for your new offer?

Well, the targeted commercial user has changed. We went from a B2C model to a pure B2B model. This means using "classic" commercial techniques to inform potential users, while still focusing on our social network marketing presence.

What state of mind are you in today?

We are in a totally exciting phase where the first customers are registering and giving us their feedback. Today, we have a wide range of companies such as Internet companies, consulting firms, advertising agencies and even law firms that are registered and use our product to manage their recruitment.  

  We look forward to launching Dokker Recruit in English (in a few weeks) in order to tackle the international market.

So I tried Dokker Recruit when we wanted to recruit a web design intern. The platform is easy to use and allowed me to put our offer up online in minutes.

Once the offer is published on the platform, it’s relayed through several sites specialized in employment and job openings. Dokker Recruit then collects the profiles of all the candidates who applied to our opening. No need to follow the results of each individual site. Plus, I have access to all the information I need on one single platform.

Personally, I love this service! Their new offer is really complete and powerful, and I urge you to try it.

And thanks to the code AZE-DOK-0413 you can even have a 60-day free trial!

The Dokker guys at Web2Connect 2012 :-)

[azenblog-en]

Azendoo has some new features!

You might have noticed that this month we've introduced a few changes to your Azendoo homepage!  Thanks to your awesome feedback, we decided to make a few additions to the application so that you can work smarter and not harder. Don’t worry, we didn’t take it personally, and thanks to you, our teamwork solution rocks that much more!

Ok, so what’s changed? Well, a lot, but we don’t consider them changes per say… they’re more like improvements.  So here’s the gist:

1) Messages

The first thing you may have noticed is that your messages can be longer! That’s right, the 280-character limit has been removed. Many of you made it quite clear that this limitation was… well… a limitation. So it’s gone! Now, your long messages have a “Read More” button that allows you to see the whole story… that is, if you want to.

Have you ever misspelled something in a message, replied to the wrong post, or realized that what you wrote was ridiculously wrong? Yea, me too… So we decided that a “delete” option should be added to avoid any teasing from your co-workers. Now you can delete that ugly post and pretend like it never happened… if you’re fast enough.

2) Tasks

We are crazy about tasks! That’s why we have made a few changes to your task window. Several of you have informed us that the task window was “cluttered”, so we made it simpler while keeping all the same functions. You can still find everything you need; they’re just displayed differently so that you can focus on what’s important right away.

Description Box

One of the more obvious changes is with the Description Box. Instead of having the box permanently open at the bottom of the window, we added a button at the top that you can click on to add a description to the task.

Repeating Tasks

This one is entirely based on user feedback, and you guys were totally spot on! A Repeating Task is something that you have to do every day, every other day, every week, every month, every year… you get the idea. Simply click on “set to repeat” in the task window and choose when you want the task to repeat itself. Creating tasks couldn’t be easier, and now you only have to create them once!

Work planned-on date

The day that you’re planning to work on your task is important. That’s why we wanted to give you total freedom to choose any particular day. All you have to do is click on the “See More” arrow at the bottom of the “Work planned-on” menu to have a full calendar of days to choose from!

Completed Task Notification

In addition to all the sweet stuff tasks already do for you, we’ve added one more. From this point on, when you assign a task, and your co-worker checks it off (completes it), you’ll receive a notification in your “Task Notification” menu at the top of your home screen. Now, you’ll stay informed on everything that’s getting done around you. Personally, I LOVE this function. I no longer have to ask my co-workers if they’ve finished what needed them to get done. Plus, I can click on the completed task notification and see the attached documents right away. Talk about getting shit done!

3) Workspaces

If you use Azendoo like we do, you might have Freemuim Workspaces (free) and Premium Workspace (paid) on the same home screen. Now, you can tell the difference by simply looking at them. Freemium Workspaces are identified by a blue circle next to the title, where as Premium Workspaces have a blue star. This way, you can see right away which ones you are using the most and make any necessary adjustments so that you only pay for what you need!

4) Enriched Profile Page

Last but not least, a new function that’s is hot off the press! Have you ever wondered what one of your teammates has to do, has done or is doing? Really… me too! Now you can get the scoop with one simple click of your mouse. Go to the Profile Page of the person that you want to check out (spy on), and you can see their tasks, messages and documents all in the same place. Just one more thing Azendoo does to keep you informed. Check out the FAQ. 

Anything we forgot? Anything that you think should be changed or added? Let us know at [email protected], we’re addicted to your feedback!

[azenblog-en]

Samuel R. Syrop, Co-Founder of Quick Brown Fox, sharing his feedback on Azendoo

So Samuel, what is Quick Brown Fox ?

We are a story development company located in Hollywood. Currently, we are working with several superbly creative and intelligent writers to craft powerful and meaningful stories for the silver screen.

What were you looking for when you tried Azendoo?

  We do not lock our writers in a room and command them to pump out a script. Instead, we prefer intense collaboration throughout every step of the process. When envisioning an original story and developing a creative and expressive script, it is vital to have clear and organized communication.  We knew from the start that email wasn't going to work for us and that we needed something that would help us organize our research and feedback on new drafts and ideas. We wanted something to bring the group together while we are physically apart and luckily we discovered Azendoo.

Did you have any difficulties getting your team on Azendoo?

  It took some time for everyone to acclimate to Azendoo instead of email but since the train got rolling we've yet to experience any slowing.  The more we use it the more effective it becomes.

What is your favorite feature?

  Seven Samurai !

But seriously, I’d have to say the Evernote integration is may favorite feature.

What improvements would you suggest for the application?

  I think it could be nice for users to customize their projects with their own backgrounds and fonts. A way to color code posts and subjects would also be great.

Who would you recommend the application to?

  I would recommend Azendoo to any team that has a need to collaborate. Any company that is tired of searching through sprawling and mislabeled emails now has a great a solution to turn to.  We subscribe to the philosophy that poor communication merely is a lack of communication.  Azendoo helps us maintain a higher level of organization throughout our process so that everyone's voice now travels farther than it used to.

[azenblog-en]

What’s the best way to work as a team and manage a project?

Project management and business organization can be a touchy subject. Every team and every manager has their own methods and their own vision of how to do things. Although some methods like Gantt Charts and PERT have been scientifically proven effective (notice that we use the word scientifically here because it hasn’t done anything for us) people still use their old tools, and haven’t even thought about trying something that can be adapted to their unique needs and methods.

Project management is defined as the discipline of planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals, and a project is considered a set of actions taken in response to an identified need for a business or organization. Therefore, it goes without saying that your project management will make or break the outcome of your project… who woulda figured?

Project management aims to meet organization and strategic planning challenges no matter what sector of activity the company is in. A team can only be as productive as the tools that it uses. Thus, it’s important to have adaptive applications for communication and organization in order for everyone to stay in sync and for the project to advance as smoothly as possible.

Ask yourself which tools you use to manage your projects:

- For Communicating: email, phone, chat ...?

- For Synchronization: meetings, skype…?

- For Organization: personal apps, agendas, to-do lists…?

- For Brainstorming: post-its, email…?

The list can go on and on...

I have a question: Is there ONE tool that would facilitate your project management? A tool that would allow you to focus on your goals and not waste time getting organized and in sync? A tool that could replace the “I” that everyone thinks is in “Team”? A tool that would make collaboration and communication easy?

Before you answer the question, I’d like for you to rethink what you really use and what you really need? This process is where a collaborative work solution is truly defined, because we all need it. A real work platform allows you to manage every aspect of your project, from brainstorming to the launch party.

We made an infographic that’ll give you an overview of some concrete situations, and the benefits of using such a solution; Azendoo.

And you, what tools do you use to organize your projects?