Have you been following our Project Management Basics series? In our Quick Start-Guide to Methodologies, we cover various project management approaches. We've also distilled the essentials and created an infographic that's easy to reference and share with colleagues. Without further ado, here's the infographic to help you run your team and improve your project management experience: Embed the infographic on your site using this code: Wrike Social Project Management Software For more on project management methodologies and other PM basics, check out our Ultimate Guide to Project Management.
Your workdays revolve around your task list. You keep it organized, sorted, updated, and schedule your time around it. You relish the simple satisfaction of checking items off, one by one. That's why we’re making a few great updates to Wrike's task list to make it even easier to organize and manage your work. Now you can quickly edit important task details right from the task list, without needing to open the task. You can: Set the due date (or change the date) by clicking the calendar icon View the task’s subtasks by clicking the subtasks icon Right-click on the task to assign, reassign, or change task status Click on the task's folder tags to go to that folder Expand or collapse the task groups "Today", "Tomorrow", and "Later" to see exactly what you need and focus on high-priority assignments. Your team can quickly organize their tasks and see essential information in one easy view. Tell us what you think about the new task list features in the comments!
Marketing operations is a hot topic, especially for businesses looking to stretch their marketing dollars farther. And yet misunderstandings abound concerning what marketing ops teams do and how they do it. So, we're tackling 5 common misconceptions surrounding marketing operations to set the record straight. First things first: what exactly do marketing operations teams do? They work to increase the efficiency and agility of the marketing department, aligning marketing efforts with both overarching business strategy and other departments (like sales and IT). Marketing ops manages strategic planning, budgeting, MRM marketing, process development, professional development, and marketing technology/data in order to measure and improve marketing performance and identify best practices. Myth 1: Marketing Ops' main goal is to justify marketing efforts. Fact: Marketing ops teams are objective. They don’t have quotas, so they can look at campaign results objectively to measure performance and attribute credit impartially. Their main goal isn’t to prove the ROI of marketing efforts, but rather to boost ROI through improved processes, analytics, etc. Myth 2: Marketing Operations is part of demand generation, and Marketing Operations managers come from traditional marketing roles. Fact: Marketing Operations teams are completely independent from other marketing departments, and marketers aren’t necessarily the ones filling marketing ops roles; they’re coming from finance, IT, sales ops, and other analytical, process-oriented positions. Myth 3: Marketing Ops is all about technology and data — automating processes, analyzing results, and crunching numbers. Fact: Gathering data isn’t enough, good marketing ops means interpreting it, understanding the business' objectives and how the marketing organization fits into the larger organization, and driving change within the organization. Marketing operations teams need to consider first and foremost the customer experience; only then can they determine how to tailor the marketing approach to improve that experience and boost engagement. Myth 4: Revenue generation is the realm of Sales Ops. Fact: Good Marketing Ops teams consider their marketing organization's process and strategy by considering this question: how does it contribute to revenue generation? At the Marketing Operations Executive Summit, they shared that "Marketing is now the strategy arm that is leading, and sales is following.” Marketing ops and Sales ops teams need to be closely aligned when it comes to revenue generation, not participate in hand-offs or operate independently. Myth 5: Your company needs a full-fledged Marketing Operations department in order to have effective marketing operations. Fact: You can improve your company's marketing operations right now, with the resources you already have. This article gives tips on identifying someone within your current marketing team who would be a good fit for taking on some marketing operations/marketing technologist responsibilities. And this article covers 6 ways your current marketing leaders can improve your marketing operations processes without hiring a marketing ops role (or spending any money at all). Learn About Marketing Operations Facts and Figures Find out which skills are most desired among marketing operations managers, the top challenge facing today's marketing departments, and how high-performing companies are boosting marketing revenue contribution by 69% in this overview of current marketing operations statistics. Sources: Marketo blog, Venturebeat, Wikipedia, Allocadia.com
When we need the answer to a quick question like, "What time is it in Beijing?" we immediately jump on Google or ask Siri. We’ve grown accustomed to having answers and resources instantly available. But as efficient and effective as these tools are, Siri can’t tell you when that new gadget you’ve had your eye on is likely to go on sale, and Googling can only get you so far when it comes to finding the word that’s been stuck on the tip of your tongue. That’s where these handy online shortcuts come in. Save money, time, and effort with this list of convenient web tools. Money-Saving Tools Camelizer Chrome Extension - Displays the pricing history of an item and lets you set up notification alerts for when the price drops. Honey Chrome Extension - Automatically searches for and applies coupon codes for you during checkout. 10-minute mail - Set up a temporary email address to receive discount code emails, and the address will self-destruct after 10 minutes. FaxZero - If you need to send the occasional fax, use this site to upload documents straight from your computer and send them within the US and Canada for free. Productivity Boosters StayFocusd Chrome Extension - Set limits for the amount of time you can spend on distracting websites you specify. AutoPatchWork - Load websites with multiple pages as a single continuous page, so there's no need to click “Next." OneTab Chrome Extension - Suddenly find yourself with a zillion tabs open? Click this browser extension to consolidate them all into a single list. Restore them individually or all at once. SleepyTi.me - Calculate exactly when you should go to bed based on natural sleep cycles so you wake up refreshed. OhDon’tForget - Send yourself text message reminders for important or time-sensitive tasks. Unrollme - Unsubscribe from unwanted emails en masse, then combine what you want to keep into a single daily digest email. WhichDateWorks.com - Planning a meeting or event? Quickly find a date/time that works for everyone. Dictation.io - Online voice recognition and dictation software in your web browser. TabCloud Chrome Extension - Save your current browser tabs and open them at a later date, on any computer. AvoidHumans.com - Find a quiet public space to get out of the office, without getting stuck in a noisy crowd. Flux - Combat eye strain and get your brain ready to sleep by customizing the brightness and hue of your computer screen. MailboxMap.com - Quickly locate the closest USPS mailbox. Klip.me - Send any article you find on the web directly to your Kindle to read later. Ctrql.rss - Search engine for RSS feeds. ManualsLib.com - Lost the manual to a malfunctioning device? Look it up in this database of pdf manuals for all sorts of products. iReader - Removes ads and displays articles in one continuous page, with clean formatting. LastPass - Save your usernames and passwords to LastPass, and access them wherever you need to. Creative Timesavers WhatTheFont - Find the name of the font used in a particular image. Mondrian.io - Create vector drawings right in your browser window. MyScriptFont.com - Create a vector font from your own handwriting. Popcorn Maker - Add interactive elements to videos like maps, links, pop-ups, Tweets, and images. Adobe Kuler - Find complementary color palettes. TipofMyTongue - Pinpoint that elusive word stuck on the tip of your brain. Rhymer.com - Find the perfect word with this online rhyming dictionary. Expresso-App.org - Analyze your writing to find areas for improvement. XMind - Organize your thoughts, brainstorm new ideas, and visualize complex relationships with this mind mapping tool. Script Timer - Find out exactly how long it will take to read your written script. Quick Tools for Everyday Tasks Scr.im - Converts your email address into a short, custom URL you can share on public sites without getting picked up by spam bots and email harvesters. ShareLinkGenerator.com - Create Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn, and Pinterest share links that work anywhere — even in emails. qClock - Find the local time of any city by hovering over it on Google Maps. Chrome Currency Converter - Automatically convert prices displayed on the web to your selected currency, using current exchange rates. Random.org - Choose a random number, flip a coin, etc. Date to Date Calculator - Find out exactly how many days, hours, minutes, or seconds have passed between two events. iRuler - Automatically reads the dimensions of your display to show an accurate ruler. How Secure Is My Password? - Find out exactly how long it would take to hack your password with this secure website. Strong Password Generator - Spits out a random, strong password to protect your online accounts, along with a mnemonic device to help you remember. FreeWifiFinder - Find the closest free WiFi hotspot based on your current location. CopyPasteCharacter.com - Copy special characters & symbols that don’t appear on your keyboard. DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com - Is that website down for everyone or just you? Jotti.org - Scan suspicious files or attachments for viruses or malware. PrintWhatYouLike.com - Print web pages without ads or other clutter. Lazarus Form Recovery - Autosaves everything you type so you can easily recover from timeouts, crashes, and network errors. Google Voice Extension - Send and receive texts, calls, and voicemails on your computer. DisposableWebpage.com - Create a temporary web page that will automatically self-destruct. Just for Fun NowIKnow - Emails you an interesting story or tidbit every day to keep life (and your daily conversations) interesting. DailyLit - Want to read more books, but can’t find the time? Select a book on DailyLit and it’ll send you bite-sized snippets via email or RSS every day until you finish. UnplugtheTV - Presents short YouTube videos that entertain and educate so you can learn something new while you scarf down dinner. The Nicest Place on the Internet - Bad day? Check out the nicest place on the internet for a quick mood booster. Memrise - Learn new skills in small, bite-sized pieces during quick breaks or while waiting in line. Skyscanner - Want to get away for the weekend, but unsure where to go? Check out the "Cheap Flights" widget to browse available flights by price. What are your favorite apps? Share your favorite free online apps in the comments below! Let us know what we're missing.
You know all about Pomodoro, GTD, and 80/20 — and you're either a huge fan, or they've left you cold. Here are a few new productivity and task management techniques to help you be super productive without burning out. 1. Jerry Seinfeld's "Don't Break the Chain" Yep, that Jerry Seinfeld. Turns out, he's been sitting on a secret to daily productivity for years, and recently it's attracted a lot of attention. Here's how it works: You'll need a red marker and a calendar to display in a prominent spot. Pick a routine task, a significant goal, or a skill you'd like to improve. It could be anything, from "Exercise" or "Learn Mandarin" to "Improve Customer Retention by 10%." Every day you work towards that goal or complete that task, put a big, fat X on your calendar. Pretty soon you'll have a chain of Xs. Now... don't break the chain. It's that simple! You can use this technique to track more than one goal or habit, but be judicious when choosing them. If you try and juggle too many, your chains will inevitably get broken and the whole thing will fall apart. Try to choose one or two big goals to build your chains on. Consistent, daily progress can have a big impact! Use this approach to: Develop a new habit, make steady progress on a big project, and give yourself an extra push of motivation to get things done — even when you don't feel like it. Is it time to improve your productivity? Don't procrastinate any longer — start your free Wrike trial today! 2. Jay Shirley's "Must, Should, Want" method Jay Shirley, creator of a habit-building application called The Daily Practice, developed this approach to make his days both productive and enjoyable. Here's how it works: First thing in the morning when you create your to-do list, start with these three entries: 1. I must ______________ (a high-priority task that will have an immediate impact) 2. I should ____________ (a task that will contribute to your long-term goals) 3. I want ______________ (something you genuinely want to do) With this approach, every day you're working on something that will benefit you in the short-term, as well as lay the groundwork for long-term goals. And the "I want" task helps maintain your sanity by building in a little time for something you're passionate about. The next day, perhaps over your first cup of coffee, review your tasks and evaluate the results. Did you accomplish what you wanted to? Are you happy with the outcome? Building in a night of rest between working on tasks and reviewing them refreshes your brain and gives you a little bit of distance. After you've reviewed yesterday's progress, start creating your "Must, Should, Want" list for today. Use this approach to: Avoid burnout and stop dreading your to-do list. Plus, doing something you enjoy each and every day is good for your health, and helps make your productivity sustainable. 3. Marc Andreessen's Anti-ToDo List Do you ever look at your to-do list at the end of a busy day and think, "I didn't get anything done today"? It's pretty disheartening. But more than that, it's just not true. Odds are you actually did a lot of work — it's just not reflected in your to-do list. Still, that feeling of disappointment can take a heavy toll on your motivation. Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape, started incorporating an "Anti-ToDo List" into his daily habits to measure his productivity. Here's how it works: Every time you do something useful during the day, write it down. That's it. Your to-do list is a standard you'll never live up to consistently, and your Anti-ToDo list is daily deserved rewards. You shouldn't wait until a project is finished to celebrate what you've accomplished or savor your progress. It's amazing how feeling productive can help keep your productivity high! So next time you reflect on a hectic day and wonder, "What did I actually accomplish today?" just pull out your Anti-ToDo list and give yourself a pat on the back. Use this approach to: Gain incentive and motivation from your daily accomplishments, measure incremental progress, and get a clearer picture of how your working hours are actually spent. 4. Sam Carpenter's "Biological Prime Time" How many cups of coffee do you need to make it through your day? Is there a certain time in the afternoon when you feel completely wiped out? In his book Game the System, Sam Carpenter zeroes in on what he calls his "biological prime time," or the key windows of time where he's at his most productive. Here's how it works: You'll need to start paying attention to three things: your productivity, focus, and motivation. Every hour or two, rate each on a scale from 1-10. After a week or so you can create a simple graph and start noticing some trends. Whenever your productivity, focus and motivation align at a high point, you've found a "biological prime time." Image credit: Chris Bailey By pinpointing these sweet spots, you can schedule your most important tasks or meetings for those times. That way, you're at your best during crucial moments and can channel those windows of focused productivity into high-priority projects. Use this approach to: Discover links between your diet, sleeping habits, and work environment to tweak your daily habits and increase productivity. Share your personal productivity strategies: do you "eat the frog"? Follow the 2-minute rule? Track your to-dos using pen and paper, or prefer a task management software? We'd love to hear! And if you're interested in productivity habits for your entire team, download our eBook for concrete advice on transforming your team into a high performance unit: 5 Strategies for Forming Team Productivity Habits. Sources: Lifehacker, JayShirley.com, iDoneThis.com, AYearofProductivity.com
As a creative professional, you're always looking for new ways to bring your designs to life. Add-ons offer more tools, effects, and workflows to help you do more with your Adobe Creative Cloud apps. While there are countless plugins and add-ons available for Adobe applications, we asked our own design team to share some of their favorites. These 11 add-ons will save you time and effort on your designs — and add some cool new visual styles to your arsenal. 1. Dragstrip Illustrator Brush Kit - RetroSupply Co. Price: $15 Give your vectors the look of hand-painted brush strokes with this add-on. Includes 26 illustrator brushes, including TIFF versions, painterly and splatter texture overlays, and two examples of professional quality reference art so you can see exactly how to use the brushes for best results. 2. Handmade Linocut Brushes - Guerillacraft Price: $8 35 lino cut brushes and 12 vector textures to give your work a handmade, hand-printed look, along with a set of brushes to create a unique woodcut effect. 3. Vintage Comic Press - AI Actions Price: $19 Inspired by comics from the 1950s, this add-on uses yellow, magenta, and cyan overlays to produce an authentic vintage look in vector format. Also includes halftone variations, 3D shadows, text outlines, coloring tips and cheat sheets. 4. PosterPress for Illustrator - Ian Barnard Price: $16 Give your designs the look of beautiful vintage travel posters with this add-on. You’ll also get 18 vector textures, a visual font list plus links to download them, and 13 beautiful photographs to use in your work. 5. Gold Rush for Illustrator - Studio Denmark Price: $18 All the metallic, glitter, and foil effects you could possibly want, in every shade of gold, rose gold, black, silver and copper. Over 200 swatches that include crumpled foil, gold leaf, metallic paint, textures, glitter, confetti, and geometric patterns. 6. Watercolor Fantasies Quick Styles - Creators Couture Price: $18 140 raster pattern swatches, each with a light and intense style variation. Apply it with a click and it pulls your current vector color as the base color, then adjust the style via the appearance panel. 7. 300+ Real Markers for Illustrator - Hejbrush.com Price: $9 Realistic marker brushes—over 300 actual markers scanned in 2400 dpi, cleaned and sharpened, then taken back to original size at 300 dpi. 8. VectorScribe - Astute Graphics Price: $78 Edit vector paths with precision, create dynamic shapes and corners, convert and delete points, extend and trim paths, and more. Included is a smart remove brush tool to remove excess points, a path extend tool, dynamic corners and shapes tools, a PathScribe tool to edit vector paths, the dynamic measure tool for quick and accurate measurements, and a protractor tool. 9. Magic Exporter - Kodlian.com Price: $25 Export objects from your AI docs to PNGs for all devices and screens. The add-on exports objects separately, so you can export artwork with a graphic layout behind it, and you can export designs scaled precisely for various devices and screen sizes. 10. CADtools 10 for Illustrator - Hot Door Price: $349 Easily draw, edit, and dimension vector your artwork with these 87 tools and 12 panels. Hundreds of editable symbols for architecture, people, and landscapes that automatically scale to the target layer, plus a built-in dashboard to control CAD features in Illustrator. 11. Wrike Adobe Creative Cloud Add-In - Wrike Price: Free Trial Attach previews of your work to Wrike, update and track file versions, update task status, and quickly find instructions, creative briefs, and feedback comments without leaving Illustrator. More Tools and Resources for Creative Professionals Whether you’re a novice designer or have years of experience under your belt, there are always new shortcuts and techniques to learn. Check out our list of free online training resources for Adobe Creative Cloud to sharpen your existing skills or learn the ins and outs of a new tool. Then see how Wrike's solution for marketing and creative teams can streamline administrative tasks and free your time to focus on creative work.
Lean methodology started out as a way to make manufacturing more efficient by finding and getting rid of waste, reducing costs, and delivering products faster. Its main focus is on value, which is essentially anything the customer would want enough to pay for. Value is always defined by the customer. So that means no guessing what the customer wants or making blind assumptions. Lean projects need open conversations with customers and stakeholders. Begin your lean processes by hitting 'play' on the video below. You'll learn 3 simple tips for eliminating the biggest source of waste: rework. Then keep reading for easy fixes to the 7 other most common forms of waste for knowledge workers: How to Eliminate the Most Common Wastes for Knowledge Workers 1. Failure to share knowledge. Too often knowledge and experience is wasted because it isn't captured or shared. Other people can't learn from what stays trapped in your head. So start a knowledge base that everyone can access and contribute to. Common questions will get answered, and your team will be able to find the answers they need as soon as they need them. 2. Duplicate efforts. Nothing is more frustrating — or more wasteful — than realizing you've spent time and effort doing the same work as a colleague. Make your teamwork transparent with a task board, or a quick weekly standup where everyone shares what they're working on. When everyone knows exactly what they're responsible for — and what their teammates are doing — these types of mistakes don't happen. 3. Unproductive meetings. For most knowledge workers, meetings equal wasted time. You follow an agenda, but don't actually accomplish anything. Skip the status updates, and only hold meetings when there's a specific goal or task your team needs to complete together. 4. Flawed Processes. When was the last time you asked "Why?" Why are we doing this? Why are we going about it this way? Most teams just keep doing the things the way they've been done, simply because they've always been done that way. Hold a retrospective after each project to discuss what went well, what you ultimately achieved, and how the process could be improved. 5. Ineffective communication. Vague expectations, fuzzy deadlines, and unclear responsibilities lead to mistakes, wasted efforts, and missed goals. Improve communications by learning to listen. Pay attention to what the other person means, not just the words they're using, and always confirm you're on the same page. 6. Delays. Knowledge workers are pretty familiar with waiting: waiting for approval, waiting through rounds of revisions, waiting for documents to be shuttled back and forth, or for the information they need to proceed. Standardize processes wherever possible, and trim where you can. Every step in the process should add value. If it doesn't, cut it. 7. Errors. Mistakes happen, it's just a basic fact of life. But mistakes can be costly, and as customers have more options and the field of competition grows, expectations get higher and higher. Eliminate common errors by taking some simple steps. Automate where you can by using spell check or a bug tracker. Make sure everything gets at least two sets of eyes during revisions. Or release to an internal sandbox or staging server to catch errors before you deliver to the customer. Best Tools for Workplace Efficiency Now that you've got the right mindsets and processes in place, discover a few new tools to help your team up their game. Check out this list of 25 online tools to help you run your business.
Good product development is crucial to your company's success, whether it's a small business startup or a huge corporation. Product delays or failures can mean falling behind competitors, or (worst case scenario) a failed launch. When developing your next product, look to the Wright brothers for Lean project management lessons to help your project soar. Want to share this image on your site? Use the embed code below: Wrike Social Collaboration Software We've got more fun infographics on the way, so stop by the blog again soon. Or better yet, subscribe! Author Bio: Emily Bonnie is a Content Marketing Manager at Wrike. Her brain is stuffed with obscure grammar rules, Star Wars trivia, and her grandmother’s pie recipes. Twitter | LinkedIn
With the start of fall and a new football season, we can't help but notice the similarities between kicking off football and kicking off new projects. The contracts have been signed, hands shaken, and you’re now officially hired to lead a new project. Get ready to roll up your sleeves — now the real work begins! Similarly to football, the success of a good project is determined by a productive kickoff meeting. Setting the right tone from the get-go can make or break your project. So time to huddle up and go for a touchdown by following our 10-step project kickoff checklist. Go team, go! Want to improve collaboration on your team? Start a 2 week trial of Wrike today! You can share this infographic on your site with this copy-and-paste embed code: Infographic brought to you by Wrike Read Next: How to Combat the 4 Main Sources of Scope Creep The 3-Step Guide to Choosing the Right Project Management Methodology 6 Steps to a Foolproof Project Plan
Planning and overseeing a project so that it’s completed on time, within budget, and meets expectations is not an easy feat. The best project managers know how to balance stakeholder communications with preventing scope creep, watch out for risk, and clarify roles, responsibilities, and priorities within their team, all while upholding the principles of project management. Steal some of the secrets to their success by using these 10 best practices in project management. 1. Communicate with stakeholders early and often This includes everyone who has an interest in the project’s outcome: team members, sponsors, and end users. Meet in person, if possible, to demonstrate your enthusiasm for the project’s success, set clear expectations, including each stakeholder’s role. Also, provide consistent updates, with real numbers and results, to keep stakeholders engaged. 2. Engage project sponsors Having good project sponsors is the #1 predictor of project success, and yet fewer than 2 out of 3 projects have actively engaged sponsors. A project sponsor’s job is to monitor progress, help resolve issues, and champion the project to other executives — as well as understand the big picture of how the project fits into larger business goals. Essentially, they’re the link between the project manager and higher-ups. Hold regular check-ins with your sponsor to discuss project goals and required resources, and use this Project Sponsorship Checklist to guide discussions and clarify expectations. 3. Manage both risk and opportunity Spend some time imagining worst-case scenarios and their solutions, as well as how you might prevent them from happening. Then talk with your team to get their input, and become aware of any known issues that will definitely affect your project. Just remember that not all uncertainties are bad: don't forget to keep an eye out for opportunities as well, so you can deliver value beyond what's expected. (Learn how to conduct a thorough risk assessment here, and create your own risk management response plan here) 4. Create a detailed work plan, including scope, schedule, and budget Write your project plan in terms of goals and problems being addressed (and what isn’t being addressed), instead of just listing tasks to be completed. This will help focus your work and protect against scope creep. Then prioritize project goals, identify deliverables, and estimate task duration to define your schedule and dependencies. 5. Host a project kickoff meeting Your project kickoff meeting sets the tone for your entire project. Do it right, and your team hits the ground motivated, energized, and focused. So take the opportunity to establish a common goal, clarify roles and responsibilities, define how you’ll measure success, review risks, decide how you’ll communicate, and choose your project management methodology and tools. Be thorough, but try to keep the kickoff meeting as short and straightforward as possible. 6. Document everything Documenting every step of your project is the key to ensuring you not only stay on top of what’s happening, but that you have all the data you need to analyze performance, make better decisions, and learn from your experiences. If a deadline slips, you’ll be able to determine why it happened, and how to improve your work process to prevent it from happening again. 7. Schedule regular check ins with your team When you're managing a project, staying in sync with your team is a must. A short weekly or even daily standup with your project team is a sure-fire way to align on top priorities, get fast feedback, and help clear any roadblocks or bottlenecks holding your team back. The key is to keep things short and focused: what got done yesterday? What’s everyone working on today? Who’s stuck and what can we do about it? 8. Ask for feedback As Cornelius Fichtner says, the P in PM stands just as much for People as for Projects. Good leaders understand that nobody’s perfect, and that we all have areas where we can improve. Asking for feedback from your team is one of the most powerful ways you can grow as a project manager and increase your chance for success. 9. Manage scope creep When new requests start coming in, communicate the impact of those requests on the project’s schedule and budget and know how to calculate earned value. If different stakeholders have competing or conflicting requests, bring everyone together to discuss and clarify goals so you can move forward with everyone on board. This concept can be confused with gold plating. However, gold plating and scope creep in project management can both have a detrimental impact on performance. 10. Hold a project retrospective Even once the final deliverable is submitted, your project isn’t complete until you’ve held a retrospective and recorded lessons learned. Take the time to review what went well and identify best practices for future use, as well as discuss what could have gone better to determine how to help work get done more smoothly the next time around. With these project management principles in hand, you’ll be able to deliver successful projects in any industry — from marketing to IT to construction and beyond. Additional Best Practices for Project Managers: Portfolio Project Management Best Practices IT Project Management Best Practices IT Resource Management Best Practices Get More Project Management Best Practices, Tools, & Advice Check out our Ultimate Guide to Project Management for a crash course on all things PM. You'll find everything from glossaries of terms and implementation tips for popular methodologies, to useful templates and step-by-step tutorials to develop your project management approach.
Marketers have to be master jugglers. They need to keep an eye on dozens of different tasks, instantly shifting their attention as opportunities arise and priorities change. With new projects and campaigns constantly being added to the mix, soon they're scrambling to keep everything in the air. Marketing teams need tools to help untangle the mess of tasks and timelines, coordinate multiple teams and initiatives, and fine-tune teamwork for future campaign success. Let's take a look at how the marketing team at (fictitious) company ACMEsoft masters their workflow with Wrike's latest Enterprise features. ACMEsoft’s software development team has pulled more than a few all-nighters to get their product ready in time for launch. Now, they’re passing the torch to the marketing department to prepare for the promotional push. To generate buzz around the product and company, the marketing team is planning a full-on media blitz. But with so many tasks to juggle, schedules to wrangle, and feature details to remember, they're discovering it’s only too easy for things to start spinning out of control. Create a Project Command Center Meet Sarah, the Head of Marketing at ACMEsoft. In order to get a handle on this huge marketing project, she creates a new, custom Dashboard specifically for the upcoming product launch. She includes: A Baseline Chart widget so she can check actual progress against planned deadlines. A widget based on her “Written Content” folder that includes press releases, website copy, company blog posts and social media, so key messaging is consistent and easily accessible. A widget of the "Media" folder with a full schedule of upcoming interviews and opportunities. A widget based on the software team's Product Development folder with the latest product details and release updates. Sarah then shares her project dashboard with the rest of her team. Everyone sees the same view of exactly which tasks need to be prioritized, and they can access critical information from wherever they happen to be. And since everyone can see who’s assigned to specific tasks, they'll know exactly where to go with questions to get timely answers. Customize the Workspace Now that her team has their project command center, Sarah customizes her reports page to monitor key statistics. She removes widgets she doesn’t use to get an uncluttered view of the information she actually cares about. And she adds a new chart: Tasks by Users. Now she can see each team member’s workload and productivity and can balance assignments to make sure no one’s overwhelmed or in danger of missing deadlines. Finally, Sarah spruces up her team’s workspace by adding the ACMEsoft logo. With the team spending so much time both on developing the product and on the marketing launch, she wants to remind her colleagues of the company’s incredible progress and bring that sense of pride and team identity directly into their workspace. Sarah got her team together to manage the perfect media blitz. Learn more about how Wrike's new Enterprise features can help you build your own team or project command center.
