Tools¶

Our technological tools play a key role in our workflow and the success of our efforts.

Discord as a virtual office¶

Imagine that no matter where you are in the world, simply by reaching for your computer, you can pop into the office of any member of your team to have coffee, brainstorm, and even coordinate highly complex operations. The ability to always be available in this virtual office allows anyone on your team to find you, meet with you, or ask a quick question without the hassle of scheduling or long back-and-forths via email or Slack.

With the ability to turn on the camera and see each other, we generate empathy, build relationships, and can engage in (sometimes heated) discussion. We improve our creative process and can give faster clearer feedback and generally improve coordination.

Discord also allows us to share our screens, which means that we can collaborate on the same document as a team, just as if we were in the same place, and it allows us to hone in together on the specific issues that need addressing.

Thanks to Discord, we can all work in the same office, no matter where each team member lives.

Communication tools¶

• Slack: for written internal communication one-on-one, for coordination within specific squads/guilds/tribes, or even to send important messages to the whole team.

• Email: for external communication, also used to make summaries/minutes of conversations. As a general rule, someone should be responsible for noting the key points after each meeting outlining next steps, deadlines, and any agreements/decisions. These shared records ensure that everyone is on the same page and allow the group to pick up right where they left off for the next meeting.

• Whatsapp/Telegram: we do not use these for day-to-day work. These are tools for those working with the broader Reserve community as well as those coordinating with outside groups. It's always a good idea to make sure that the group has a descriptive title.

Calendars¶

• Google Calendar: we keep our calendars updated so that we can easily schedule shared meetings or be able to judge whether it's ok to interrupt with a quick question (this includes making note of out-of-office hours).

By default, team members are expected to be available for collaboration unless otherwise booked or out-of-office; calendars should be configured to clearly indicate each person's working hours and availability.

Caution: do not over-calendarize. Especially with tasks that require a high degree of concentration like engineering or protocol development, you may want to simply set up a time for Deep Work.

Other tools¶

• Notion: the most important tool, for capturing shared knowledge within the project
• Figjam: a repository for important documents
• G-suite: google docs and sheets
• Loom: for creating short videos that demonstrate or explain something

Specific tribes, guilds, and team members may also use additional tools for their work: Airtable, Hubspot, Asana, Zapier, etc.

We rely heavily on technological tools as a way to work smarter, not harder.