Using Slack - and specifically Slack’s external communication function, Slack Connect - the company was able to work seamlessly with Daasity throughout this spike in product orders, switching from cluttered inboxes and long email threads to real-time messaging in Slack channels.

“It’s so convenient and easy to communicate and collaborate with our external partners in one place with Slack Connect. Conversations are really easy to lose track of if you’re moving to and from different platforms, and Slack solves this for us,” says Smith.

“It’s an easy way for us to bring people into the business, especially if they need to work with lots of different people in our teams. It’s like bringing someone into an office and introducing them to everyone. And it’s a platform we know how to navigate. So, there’s zero ramp up required when we bring someone new into the business.”

Tracking real-time data with Daasity in this way allowed the Who Gives A Crap team to quickly pivot to setting up an email waitlist while they restocked, to avoid disappointing new customers around the world. Smith says meeting this demand was made easier because the team was already distributed and global.

“Before the pandemic hit, we had moved beyond having to look at our metrics and inventory on an hourly basis. Then, we went right back to a world where we were watching numbers all the time. It helped that our team was already comfortable being remote and distributed. So, we felt like we’d done all the training and it wasn’t a drill anymore. This was for real.”

Who Gives A Crap treats Slack as its virtual office.

“Name any topic or conversation and there will be a home in Slack where that conversation lives. This includes formal communication, updates on changes happening in the business, as well as collaboration and projects,” she says.

Slack Connect also supports fast-paced collaboration. Smith says it also helps improve access to people in the business and helps team members prioritise how they spend their time.

Says Smith: “We encourage our team to update their status so that people can see what they’re doing, so it empowers people to take time out if they need to.”

Sending a positive message

Smith says Who Gives A Crap, whose products are made from bamboo or 100 per cent recycled fibres, also played an important role at the height of pandemic buying, helping to get the message out that there was plenty of toilet paper for all.

“We took the opportunity to spread some joy, positivity and kindness at a stressful time.”

Nevertheless, longer-term supply chain issues remain a challenge.

“We are dealing with the same challenges everyone is dealing with right now. But we let our customers know what’s happening, so they trust us. This means we are supported to focus on finding long-term solutions,” says Smith.

Right now, the Who Gives a Crap team remains focused on converting as many people as possible to more eco-friendly and purposeful consumption, and focusing on meeting its long-term objective of giving everyone in the world access to good sanitation.

“We want to make it easy for people to make great decisions about how they spend their money.”