SeaTable

We use SeaTable in different areas of our company and there are more and more on the way, it started with project management, which was then expanded to include a payment reminder system. The hourly lists of all employees are now recorded and the next step will be an automatic resource utilization analysis.

• It is a great time saver
• It replaced many hard to handle Excel files with one centralized, elegant tool
• It needs some adminstration when running on premise

NocoDB, Baserow and Budibase

We use it almost like a CRM where we can quickly see all of our candidates in one place and manage where they are in the process. We also use it for reporting when partnering with our clients to ensure that we are moving the candidates along efficiently. I have found the statistics portion of the product to also be very helpful and I love the ability to create different views to fit what we need to see at any given moment.

• Being accessible from anywhere with Internet connection.
• Creating different, customized views
• The easy ability to filter, sort, group, and hide columns has been very useful.

• Positive: Helps us organize our talent pipeline more effectively.
• Positive: ROI is awesome since we are able to fit it into our budget properly.
• Positive: Helps us to sustain the business by sharing candidate profiles with multiple clients.

Airtable

This is a growth-oriented and highly customisable data management solution. --- Two years ago, I found myself looking for a GDPR compliant solution for managing the data of our non-profit educational start-up. Before that, I had already used and built several no-code systems to manage our data (Excel, Smartsheet, Airtable, and the whole Google environment). SeaTable has served us well. --- With the help of SeaTable, you can organise complex information in various visually appealing ways. At first glance, it follows the traditional spreadsheet format: Each piece of data (by which I mean the additional data that is related to each record which - with its key position in the first column - serves as the key to all the rest of the data in that row) is initially displayed in a column. There are 25 column types available, laying good foundations for correct data entry by the whole team. --- The complexity of the information stored in each base can be managed by adding multi-level filters, grouping, sorting and selective hiding of columns plus colour coding. --- As you are in charge of the set-up, you can customise it to fit the existing company culture. --- The longer you work with SeaTable, the more uses you will find for it, in your business. SeaTable will gradually turn into a substitute for many of the tools you are already using. --- Examples: - Forms (All businesses need forms to collect information in a structured way. I have worked with GravityForms for many years, and have a high level of expectations in that area. SeaTable’s Form options are quite comparable, offering all the necessary options of adding conditionality, formatting, help text, default values, access permissions, notifications, optional deadline for submission, and much more.) - “Kanban” (Many small businesses start out with Trello and you will find your beloved Kanban view right there, in SeaTable.) - “Page Design” (Once you start with that, you will find more and more uses. A simple first use for a start-up would be the issuing of invoices based on data in your table. Also, product descriptions, proposals, reports and workflow descriptions or SOP’s.) - “Gallery” (Similar to Kanban. In contrast to Page Design, it can be deployed more readily to present product information (or social media content planning), both to your team and to customers. Especially useful when a picture of a product (or person) is to be featured prominently. - For presenting information about files, choose Kanban instead. --- Other useful plugins which impact the display of the information your bases hold: “Timeline”, “Calendar”, “Map”, “Deduplication” and “SQL Query”. ------ Notes on Project Management: I have used Monday.com, JIRA and Trello for project management in the past. With SeaTable, I feel that I am able to achieve a more user-friendly custom set-up for my team. (Just because something is specifically built for project management does not mean that it is better for project management!) --- Communication is a key feature of project management. SeaTable provides you with the topic-specific communication tool you need. Each record has a comment function. With the help of "timeline" or "calendar" view, you can manage scheduling. The addition of various fields/columns that you can later filter by (such as “completion status”, “urgency”,”priority”, “assigned to”) allows for easy monitoring of your projects. ----- Non-code-savvy users (like myself!) will, over time, discover delightful additional features. With SeaTable, you are truly empowered to build highly customised semi-automated workflows, and you can do that even on the Free Plan. Data processing operations can be added in various no-code ways, and can be set to deploy based on rules (or, even, on the push of a virtual button!). --- You can connect to one of the custom workflow builders like Make (formerly Integromat) or Zapier. - JavaScript and Python can be added directly or via import. These connection options are available in the Free and Plus subscription. - Check out the Enterprise subscription for the additional offering of built-in SeaTable automations.

• Positive: Savings in administrative staffing needs.
• Positive: Customisation allows for real-life workflow management
• Positive: Automation is a goal that SeaTable supports very well.
• Negative: Not many people are familiar with solutions like SeaTable. They are used to working with inflexible (and often not-fit for purpose) administrative systems. They are adept at finding ways to circumvent the issues by using secondary tools, or they wait passively for web developers to deliver the functionality they need. - It is quite difficult to convey the opportunities that SeaTable offers to people who have not used it before. SeaTable cannot be blamed for this, but it creates work in needing to convey this to the organisation's stakeholders. --- I would recommend one person to be assigned the role of SeaTable specialist in an organisation, so that any issues can be quickly resolved.

Microsoft Excel, Smartsheet, Airtable, Microsoft Access, Google Sheets, Google Forms and Gravity Forms

Moodle, WhatsApp, WordPress