This is something that maybe would apply more to studios where the editorial/mix computers are -not- completely offline. So, you know, not the ultra big leagues, I guess.

I'm at a studio that does a really wide variety of audio projects - post, video game recording, localization, commercial VO, etc. We've got a team of around 14 operators for record/edit/mix, a slightly smaller video team, and multiple project managers.

Communication can be difficult, especially when we frequently have to shuffle people around on different shows & keep track of up to 25 projects of varying scope and requirements. Right now it's a combination of email and iChat, but I'm noticing its inefficiency. Often, red flags will be buried in the dozens of emails sent out on a daily basis - there's a lot of noise. Information within chat is basically vapor since it's unsearchable and often not saved.

Not sure if anybody here is working/has worked in a similar environment, but if so, how was communication like this handled? I'm exploring other programs like Slack, but I can see where some of the flaws would be, and it's probably optimal for a large team working on a multi-faceted project (software/game development, for example), whereas for us, it's a medium team working on several projects at once.

Good and interesting question.
But I find it in the same problem area as resource planning solutions for situations like yours and mine.
We are inbetweenies...

The large corporate tools are to complex and really requiere project managers to run them, and the use of more home user based solutions is to limited.

Of course you could build something around email and automatic publishing on a webpage but it wouldn't be very easy to do a slick solution. At least not from a Non-programmer's point of view.

In general I find short but actual meetings (best in person) is the best still.

Have had similar problems.

I had to have an email etiquette meeting... Sometime OVER cc-ing is worse than not cc-ing because things get lost in the noise. Also terms like "tomorrow" without a date after it(especially in the subject) are dangerous because once the thread is 3 days old... when the heck was "tomorrow.

Also... Google cal as a place to store shared information was a life saver for some booking flubs we had. Have a text template that goes in every calendar entry that has all pertinent information. This way it's in a central place that everyone that needs to, has access to it.
Could be any software probly, but the main idea is... You add information to a central point that people refer to, instead of sharing with a team.

Shared Google Docs. Supervisor creates workflow. Editors and Mixers update Doc as tasks are completed. So far the best system I've used.

BASECAMP!

https://basecamp.com/

Can't say enough good things about it. You can bring clients into it, too. Keeps a clear record of all project communications. Super easy to use. Kind of like Facebook for work.

A zillion emails with too many Cc's is ridiculous... don't go there.

Trello is what we use. You can get it for free here https://trello.com/

Keeps everyone in the loop and is easy to use.

My intern last year turned me on to it.

Do a google search for CRM and you will find a bunch of options for efficiently managing your relationships with your clients and for project management. CRMs have been used for awhile in typical corporate business settings and now we are seeing more niche CRMs pop up. Pretty much all of them can be customized to fit the needs you describe.

The biggest thing about these programs is they demand upkeep and usage. It won't matter what you decide to use if the staff doesn't keep the system up to date. It is a fine line to walk between making a small time investment for boosted efficiency and just adding extra work that wastes more time.

You might watch some of the overview videos on Youtube for some of the CRMs to get some insight into workflows and how their feature set might help you. They all have free trial periods so then you could try out the ones that peak your interest.

I have personally used Insightly found it to work just fine. A larger broadcast facility I used to work at implemented Shotgun this year. My old boss tells me they are now consistently two weeks ahead on deadlines, where as before it was always up to the wire. Shotgun is used on a number films and video games and is really catered to the needs of digital production.

But like nathand mentioned, there have to be workflows in place and followed. You can do the same kind of stuff in google shared calendars and documents and if everyone uses it within the rules you setup, it will work effectively the same as a dedicated CRM program. So you might be able to get away without one.

Where I'm at right now they use a home-brewed project manager and there are a lot of holes in the system and because it uses documents and there's a lot of user entry there's tons of room for user error in labeling etc. So it is a trade off if not well-implemented.

Best of luck!

We've found that no matter what you use you still need someone whose job it is to keep an eye on what's being asked and how things are going re delivery dates. Businesses spend dillions of dollars on this kind of thing, for good reason.
But you still need a person minding the store and making sure everyone follows the rules and enters data the same way. On the biggest shows I've done the really good people who did this work were instant MVPs of the team--they kept everyone relatively unstressed, out of OT and got good work done on time. Management is a talent, like any other, not a lot of people have it.

p

I'll have to look into/look back into some of the solutions mentioned. Google drive/docs/calendar are used a lot right now, and this works fairly well for certain things. There is the issue of having things a bit too spread around, and in certain cases, it'd be nice to have hotlinking work a little bit better (example: a work order could have hotlink info to the detailed specifics of materials, etc), and just a few other things that I'm looking to improve upon.

I think Basecamp was explored before I came to the company, and for one reason or another they got rid of it. I think that it might come back to the issue of volume of projects - I've done Basecamp for a feature I worked on, and it was nice (almost seemed overkill at times), but maybe it gets out of hand with too many things going on.

Trello is definitely cool, I use it for my own self-management. I'd have to dig deeper on it to see what benefits it could offer for the studio situation.

And, the management side of it is definitely the key. My hope is to come up with a few possibilities and start to test them with smaller teams on select projects over the course of a few weeks, and then gauge the results to plan for a larger scale deploy. In the past, when Basecamp and Yammer were tried out (before I came here), I think the problem was that they didn't do a full switch-over - so now people had to manage their iChat, their Google docs, their email and also a fourth program, which kind of defeats the purpose.

Basecamp can be completely email-driven if you want to use it that way.

Take a look at Asana too, it is pretty good for online project management.
Sends updates to emails etc.

For most of the projects I work on the roles are very clearly defined. The supervisor spots the show and then sends me an email with all the notes that apply to me. I print them out and check them off as I deal with them. If there is something I'm am unclear about, I phone or email for clarification. Since usually there is just one dialog guy and one effects guy (that being me), the lines of communication are very simple. Talking about things is important in order to develop an initial concept, but nothing beats the real thing.

The best way for me to get clarification about anything is to send the supervisor a crashdown mix of each act or reel as I finish it and then have them listen and respond with specific notes based on what I have done. That way there is something real for them to deal with rather than just a verbal description, which can be subject to interpretation. I try to do this as early as possible in the process and if there is something that I am unclear about I send them an audio sketch of the concept before I've invested too much time in the details.

We use Dropbox to shuttle files back and forth.

If communication is the issue, I would also look into how your project organization structure is set up generally.
Are your project managers each assigned to unique projects, to areas of work (one games, one recording,...) or to the rooms? Are there enough of them? Do they all regularly update each other? Are they working with a centralized scheduling tool?
Is every of the engineers working on all projects, or are there teams for each? What is the workflow of communication in every team? Are they aligned? Are there unit leads that act as a single point of contact to the project management?

This questions lead to a lot more along similar lines. Work them out with to your boos / management and decide on action points.

Generally, in my experience, this is often more a problem of not properly worked out workflows or them being ignored/not enforced, than one of a lack of tools.

I like Podio so far...

We use a combination of tools. Google docs and calendar, and specific tasks brought into Omnifocus. It's a very deep GTD app, able to handle complex projects, so any task can be updated as needed. At first it might seem a bit complex, but as it can flag, defer, reorder tasks very easily, sort them by due date, project or perspective, it is perfectly fit into the sometimes chaos like always changing work.

I use StudioSuite Solo to control room and professional "usage". It is nice but it is quite slow and the network versions are very expansive. I prefer FarmersWife much more, but it is quite expansive to brazil reality

For communication i`m starting trying slack.

There is a nice spotting solution called Qwire. pretty smart. Online. One can use at the studio and then continue at home. Can Share has multiple users. It`s free.

I`m also starting to try one solution to project management because the overload of projects in the studio...

Well resuming:

Studio Suite to usage tracking
Slack to communication
Wrike to project management and a lot of admin tasks of the facility
Qwire to spotting.

well... there isn`t a one solution do all for our business... at my humble opinion.

I definitely agree - as with most everything else, it all depends, and is best approached using a small amount of tools. But, interested to see what everyone is doing. I've heard of Studio Suite, but I think that the cost + the general archaic nature of the product has put a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of my coworkers.

I'll have to check out Qwire & Wrike - sounds interesting.

Slack is great, I wish that we could utilize it...but because of the cost per user, I think there's an inverse bell curve for size of company and chances of a decent ROI. All the people that I know using it are in companies with 15 or fewer total users, or gigantic corporate entities.