Onboarding task tracking and internal directory - best tools?

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Lisa Anne Logan

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Aug 30, 2014, 9:44:16 PM8/30/14
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Such a fun project for a Saturday night, right?!

Trying to solve 2 problems for my coworking space.

Problem #1:
I need some sort of member management tool to track the ~50 tasks I do for each new resident's onboarding and later offboarding. The spreadsheet I've kept to date for this is now just too unwieldy. 

Problem #2:
I'd love some sort of internal directory, where people could create profiles (which company they're with, role, personal interests, photos, etc.). Just something light to facilitate more interaction between people sharing a space but not actual work projects. 

Solutions:
I've heard of Simper (just requested an invite) and Parklet (appears to be good). Is there anything else I should consider to tackle one or both of these problems? What about any more robust membership management tools (integrating billing, etc.)?

Thanks all,
LA

Lisa Anne Logan
Director of Marketing and Operations
Hattery




Jerome Chang

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Aug 30, 2014, 11:08:22 PM8/30/14
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Try any of these for managing billing, memberships, etc:
DeskTime
Happy Desk
Nexudus
LiquidSpace
Front Desk
Cobot
I believe DeskTime and Happy Desk have the most obvious member directory feature with profiles, for interaction.
LiquidSpace has profiles, but the interaction is limited to providing comments/reviews on a space, vs. interacting w/ fellow "LiquidSpace-rs".

If you use HighriseHQ as your CRM for both prospects, and current/former members, you can use WeLoveHighrise to run templates of onboarding/offboarding tasks.

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Adrian Palacios

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Aug 31, 2014, 12:54:55 PM8/31/14
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TFTM Jerome!

Lisa, I don't like to do a lot marketing here but Nexudus seems to be a very good fit for what you are describing. So, apologies...

The tasks system allows to create groups and a sequence of tasks to be performed for a member. You can create as many of these workflows as you want and trigger them automatically when a member signs up or cancels a membership. You can also start one ore more sequences of tasks based on the specific memberships people sign up to. For example, if you had a 24/7 access membership you can tell Nexudus to add the "Set up Access Card" task for any member registering in those; but skip that step for memberships who don't need it.

More details here.

The members directory is also at the core of Nexudus. Members can manage their full profile online (as well as any other contact and billing details), link it to different social networks and upload some basic media, such as images and videos about their work. There is a tag system which you can use to browse the directory and the search uses some semantics to try to get the best match based on the words you type and the content published by each member.

More details here.

You also talked about communication and interaction between members. The community board, which is also linked to the directory, allows members to start conversation threads (similar to Google groups) and post replies to different topics. There is a like, follow, mute and mention system, which makes sure people are no bombarded by content which is not relevant to them. You can also create moderated groups and a members can start private conversation rooms which are ideal for internal discussions or for members to direct message other members, without actually having to share their emails to start with.

More details here.

Hope that helps :) 

Jacob Sayles

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Aug 31, 2014, 2:50:59 PM8/31/14
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We use Nadine for this and loosely call it "member management". We have a list of onboarding and exit tasks that get triggered when a member signs up or leaves. It also emails the team when someone signs in for the day and there are tasks to be done. I call that the AutoNag. :)
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Jacob

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Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation
http://www.officenomads.com(206) 323-6500

Lisa Anne Logan

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Sep 30, 2014, 3:17:31 PM9/30/14
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Thanks to Jerome, Adrian, and Jacob for your suggestions! I thought I'd follow up and share with the group what ended up being our tool of choice: Parklet.

I looked at Simpler.co, Cobot, Nexudus, Mobilize.is, Dovetail.io, Memberful, and probably others I can't recall right now. We already have great tools to manage the prospective leads cycle, internal chatter, billing, and conference room booking. In the end, I didn't want a tool that replaced all those tools - while that seems a nice and streamlined ideal, I'm too invested in my other services and like them too much to consolidate at this time. If I were just starting out, I'd likely choose a more full-service or coworking-specific solve as some of these promise, but this is where we are today. It might also be important to note that we only offer dedicated desks, so it's a consistent group of people with comparatively low turnover, I have specific billing requirements (ACH only, no credit card), and other parameters that made the robust feature set of these tools a less-aligned fit for us in the end.

Parklet turned out to be a beautifully-designed solve for the last two issues I was needing tools for - onboarding and directory - that felt visually similar to our aesthetic, had good customization options, and a helpful product team behind it. 

If you're interested in checking it out, please tell Greg Smith I sent you: gr...@parklet.co

Thanks!
Lisa Anne

General Manager
Hattery
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