Clinked Blog | Teamwork & Productivity Insights

If Lord Of The Rings used an Online Collaboration Software

Written by Clinked Team | 25-Feb-2021 14:00:00

Here at Clinked, we love a trilogy of epic high-fantasy films. But last time we were sitting through an eleven-hour marathon of the extended editions of LOTR, it got us thinking. What if Frodo and his friends had used an online collaboration software like Clinked throughout their adventure? Their endeavours would have been so much easier. They would have cut time and costs, saving all of us from the unbearable suspense and compulsive popcorn munching. With this in mind, we’ve decided to rewrite the story a little bit, so next time Frodo needs to save the Middle Earth, he can do it with more peace of mind. Here's how it could go:

 

Scene 1 -  Choosing the right online collaboration software and inviting the team to join the adventure

Gandalf signs up to Clinked. He quickly brands his account and sets up a group, "Fellowship of the Ring", there is no time to spare - the ring must be taken back to Mount Doom! He sends an email invite to all the fellowship members - Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn and the rest. Meanwhile, the friendly Clinked team reaches out to make sure everyone is comfortable using the online collaboration software. After all, it’s quite an innovation for the people of Middle Earth and Gandalf knows adoption is key to succeed! As everyone creates their profiles, Gandalf also reminds them to download the mobile app, so the fellowship members can stay in touch at any time.

 

Scene 2 - Sharing knowledge & strategies

Gandalf starts uploading content on Clinked. He creates a few folders to structure his thoughts, including "Plan to defeat the Dark Lord" and "Itinerary and route for Frodo's quest" where he synchronizes documents from his Google Drive and invites Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn to collaborate and share ideas. On the Group Home Page, he includes links to documents as well as forms for the Hobbits to easily request extra portions of Elf bread - he knows how big their appetite is. Frodo and a few others decide to follow Gandalf's activity so they immediately know when he creates pages and when they should contribute. Gollum tries to give them the route to the great spider Shelob, but someone picks him up on it and restores the previous version of the document in just a few clicks. That was close! Just happy that this online collaboration software means he can follow the ring from the comfort of his cave and doesn’t have to walk with Frodo, Gollum lets them have the route through the secret pass instead.

 

Scene 3 - Assigning out tasks and working through the plan

It is now time for Gandalf to break down the project and to start assigning tasks, the first and most urgent one being for Frodo "Get ring back to Mount Doom". Well aware of the negative impact the ring has on living beings, he also sets up a handy reminder to keep him focused on the task. He also creates an event "Kick off of Fellowship (zoom details in invite)". Everyone gets updates via email - so convenient.

 

Scene 4 - Clinked makes it easy! 

Frodo gets underway. He lets Gandalf know of his progress by updating tasks status and gives regular updates to the team through the chat feature “Crossed path with the Black Riders again 😩  luckily we found a place to hide and they have now left - we are back on our way towards Mount Doom”. The rest of the team can see his updates and comment on them with helpful tips.

 

Scene 5 - Just another battle when you’re so well prepared

Raising an army for the epic battle of Gondor is a cinch. Forget mountaintop signal beacons, all Aragorn has to do is invite Denthor and the leader of the undead army of oath breakers to a new group by email. "Aragorn has invited you to join the group 'Gondor Orc Fodder'". They immediately accept the invite, and Aragorn creates the event "Battle of Gondor". He can see who is attending, some people comment to say they may be a little late, and he creates some new forum-style discussions about battle tactics and supplies. Once an agreement is reached on the battle plan, everyone signs it online through an integration with DocuSign. 

 

Scene 6 - Marking tasks as complete and making the best out out of their online collaboration software

Frodo gets the ring to Mount Doom. He is tempted by the ring, and since Gollum isn't there to bite his finger off, it seems all is lost. Then he decides to get some advice by giving a new status update - "seriously tempted by the ring!" Gandalf has selected to follow his activity by email, so he immediately sees his update and comments on it with helpful advice "No, throw it into the fire!" Frodo remembers himself and throws the ring in the fire, defeating the forces of evil quickly and efficiently thanks to Clinked.

 

Could your team also benefit from an online collaboration software? 

Online collaboration softwares like Clinked allow teams to work more efficiently - whether it is with their clients, partners, or internally. 

Centralising all important information, documents, tasks and events under one application, Clinked makes it easy to collaborate and creates a one-stop-shop for efficient project and partners management. Our out-of-the-box solution that can be set up in minutes - no help from IT required, so you can focus on getting things done - like saving the Middle Earth or delighting your clients.

Want to learn more about Clinked? Take our free quiz to see if you could benefit from better collaboration tools:

Alternatively get in touch with one of our product experts to see how our technology can help you better work with clients, partners and more.