Recently, I was listening to my wife vent about a baby shower she’s planning. There were too many people weighing in. Side conversations were happening in group chats she wasn’t included in. She was “taking point” on the planning, but the chaos of everyone contributing in their own way — across texts, emails, phone calls, Zooms — made the whole thing feel like herding cats.
Of course, I tried to be supportive (and not say out loud what I was thinking, which was: “It’s a baby shower — how complicated does this need to be?”). But the more I listened, the more I realized how familiar the situation felt. Not because I’m planning a party, but because I’ve lived this kind of chaos in a professional setting — and I think most of us have.
Whether it’s a baby shower or a financial system implementation, anytime multiple people are involved in a project without a centralized tool or process, it starts to fall apart. Ideas and feedback get lost in scattered channels. Tasks don’t get tracked. Communication is fragmented and hard to follow. People feel overwhelmed — or worse, left out.
That’s why we’ve decided to double down on Basecamp as our central hub for project management at SullTech.
And by “central,” I don’t just mean “one of the tools we use.” I mean: everything happens in Basecamp.
This is more than a tagline — it’s a culture-setting principle. One that Basecamp (the company) has preached for years, and one we’re adopting deliberately. It’s not a reflection of where things naturally end up; it’s a directive about where things must begin and live if we want to work well together.
Why Does This Matter?
As a remote-first team working on complex, detail-heavy projects with non-profits, we know how easy it is for communication and coordination to spiral. So instead of juggling Slack threads, Teams messages, random emails, shared Google Docs, and Zoom calls with notes that never get shared — we’re taking a stand.
From now on:
- Chats happen in the Campfire of the relevant Basecamp project — so everyone can see them, follow along, and contribute.
- Updates and announcements go on the Message Board — where they won’t get buried or missed.
- To-do items get tracked using the actual To-dos — not in someone’s notebook or inbox.
- Meetings are reflected in the Schedule, and the notes live in Basecamp, too.
- Even those “quick emails” between two people? We’ll drop them into the project where the rest of the team can benefit from the transparency.
This isn’t about rigidity — it’s about clarity. It’s about making sure everyone knows where to find what they need. It’s about reducing cognitive load, cutting down on unnecessary meetings, and freeing people up to focus on their actual work.
The Tool Is Only As Good As the Culture
There are plenty of project management tools out there — Asana, Monday, ClickUp, Trello, you name it. We’ve chosen Basecamp because it fits our size, our pace, and our desire for a calm, organized workplace.
But more important than what we’re using is how we’re using it. Tools don’t make teams productive — culture does. And our culture says: we protect our time, we minimize chaos, and we use simple, clear systems that work for everyone.
This transition to Basecamp-as-source-of-truth isn’t just about being more efficient. It’s about creating the kind of environment we believe in: one where work doesn’t require herculean effort just to stay coordinated. Where people can unplug and catch up easily. Where we don’t need to scroll back through six different chat apps to remember who said what and where that task ended up.
At SullTech, we aim to do deep, focused work — and that requires deep, focused communication.
So, if you’re ever wondering where something lives, the answer should be simple:
It lives in Basecamp.