Crowdsourcing is a testament to the power of collaboration. Hundreds and even thousands of individual efforts combine to create something world-changing. If you’re jumping into the chaotic world of crowdsourcing to fund your startup or passion project, you’ve got a lot of hectic days and coffee-fueled nights ahead. Running a successful campaign, standing out in a sea of creative projects, and coordinating all the moving pieces takes a lot of hard work. Use these tools and resources to stay on top of it all and start writing your own crowdfunding success story. Step 1: Choose Your Platform There are hundreds of crowdfunding sites to choose from. Discover the key differences, strengths, and drawbacks of each platform and pick the right one for your project. 26 Top Crowdfunding Sites by Niche: Consult this list of popular crowdfunding sites, sorted by project type, for crucial details on fees and platform restrictions. Inc.’s 22 Crowdfunding Sites (& How to Choose One) Infographic: Answer a series of yes or no questions to discover exactly which of the top 20+ platforms fits your needs CrowdsUnite.com: Read reviews of hundreds of crowdfunding platforms to learn from others’ experiences and find help choosing the best option for you. Step 2: Do Your Homework Polish your reading glasses, find a comfy chair, and read up on platform requirements, best practices, and words of wisdom from the crowdfunding community. 10 Essential Elements of a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign: Crowdfunding success doesn't come by accident. These 10 tips will help you create the strongest possible campaign. Kickstarter's Creator Handbook, Indiegogo's Playbook, and Kickstarter Blog's "Tips" page: Peruse these guides for platform-specific requirements, plus targeted advice for your project's niche — from games to gadgets and beyond. The Crowdfunding Bible: Learn what to expect from the process, read advice on building a team and community around your project, get planning tips, and more. Nathaniel Hansen's Crowdfunding Best Practices: Follow this pre-launch checklist to help you make the most of every opportunity and resource at your disposal. 5 Rookie Crowdsourcing Mistakes: Watch this webinar for the inside scoop on the "Green Bar Effect," proven marketing strategies, and avoiding common mistakes. Kickspy: Get an inside peek at today's top Kickstarter projects and research past projects similar to yours. Crowdsourcing & Crowdfunding LinkedIn Group: Join this active hive of over 26,000 crowdfunders, with dozens of new discussions each month. CrowdfundBeat and CrowdfundingForum.com: Catch up on the latest crowdsourcing news and trends. Step 3: Read the Fine Print Don’t get caught off guard by legalities. Cover all your bases and make sure you know exactly what you’re signing up for! Crowdfund Capital Advisors, Understanding Crowdfunding Taxes and Kickstarter & Taxes: Do crowdsourcing donations qualify as income or gifts? What can you deduct from your taxes? Give these guides to your accountant and be prepared come April 15. JOBS Act review: The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act makes it easier for small businesses and startups to raise capital. Get all the details you need on this important legislation — in plain English. Step 4: Set Your Budget Time to talk numbers. How much do you need to turn a profit? Can you afford to offer that awesome backer reward? Think Before You Kickstart's Budgeting Tool: Play around with different rewards ideas to see how each one affects your overall project costs and total budget. Rewards Pricing Template: Input details like materials and shipping costs to determine exactly how much each reward type will cost you and its impact on your bottom line. Important!: Your budget must include more than just your project costs. Don’t forget about pesky fees — like the percentage the platform will take as its cut, bank fees, state and federal taxes, payment processing charges, and all the miscellaneous costs incurred when setting your final fundraising goal. Step 5: Plan and Manage Your Work Buckle up! It’s time to put the pedal to the metal and make your project plans a reality. Project management tools like Wrike: Track every task, coordinate all the moving pieces, get help from your team, and adjust to any bumps in the road. Google Drive, Dropbox and Box: Store important project files in the cloud, where it's easy to share with your team and access them from anywhere. Step 6: Build Your Product Find creatives and craftsmen to help with everything from brainstorming the perfect product name, designing an eye-catching logo, and building a professional prototype. 99 Designs, CrowdSpring, & Elance: Submit a description of your needs and designers will pitch you their work. You pay for the submission you like best. Some crowdsourcing platforms require you to have a prototype in hand before accepting your campaign. When it’s time to create a physical mockup of your idea, here are a few options: Thomasnet.com: Find the parts you need, or hire a local prototype developer. Shapelock and Sugru: Shape your prototype by hand with moldable plastic or rubber. Ponoko: Upload your copyrighted design, get a quote, and they'll make one for you. Shapeways: Get a 3-D print of your product in one of 30+ materials. Step 7: Create a Killer Campaign Page Flex your creative muscles! Showcase your project (and your personality) with beautiful visuals, compelling text, and enticing rewards. Anatomy of a Greater Kickstarter Project Page: Read tips for creating an exceptional project profile that will get people talking, sharing, and reaching for their wallets. Video 101 from Vimeo: Follow these 3 steps to great video, from choosing a camera to editing and post-production. Stupeflix and Animoto: Cut a stunning video with these online editing tools. Free Music Archive, JewelBeat, Freesound.org: Add something special to your video with these free or low-cost music selections and sound effects. Fiverr.com: Hire voiceover talent, artists, musicians, translators & other creatives for just 5 bucks. LinkedIn ProFinder: Leverage the vast LinkedIn network to find quality independent and freelance professionals in a variety of fields, from graphic design and copywriting and web and product development. ODesk and Guru.com: Get creative and technical help from talented freelancers. Vimeo and YouTube: Use these popular hosting services to embed your finished video on your project website or profile. Slideshare: Stand out from the video crowd with a sleek slideshow. Pixlr and FotoFlexer: Beautify your photos with these easy-to-use editing programs. Step 8: Generate Buzz Spread the word about your project, attract more backers, and build momentum to power your campaign across the goal line. Crowdfunding Promotion Beginner's Guide: Find tips for writing a convincing pitch, harnessing the power of friends and family, and brainstorming great rewards. Hubbub's Tips to Make Your Project Stand Out: With over 150,000 projects launched on Kickstarter alone, these tips will help you get noticed. LaunchRock Platform for Launching Startups: Create "coming soon" pages, build anticipation for your product, accept pre-sales, and more. Wordpress and Blogger: Set up a product blog to chronicle your progress, share exciting news and achievements, and build a community around your brand. Or, use Paper.li to create and share an online newspaper with the latest details. MailChimp and Boomerang for Gmail: Send sleek email newsletters to your backers with the latest news, and optimize Gmail by scheduling outgoing messages when you're away from your desk. Hootsuite and Buffer: Schedule social media posts and manage all your social networks in one hub. Use Twilert to get real-time notifications when your brand, hashtag or keyword is mentioned on Twitter. Kicktraq: Review analytics for your Kickstarter project for insights on how your promotional efforts impact the number of backers, page activity, and dollars pledged. CrowdfundingPR.org: Send your press release to this list of blogs, publications, and influencers that cover the crowdfunding industry. Crowdfund Mafia and Seeding Factory: Call in the professionals for help with press releases, media distribution, email templates, and more. Step 9: Get Your Products Made & Rewards Fulfilled Congratulations! Your project reached its goal! But you can’t breathe easy just yet — it’s time to deliver the goods. US Domestic and International Shipping Rates: Check out this cheat sheet to calculate shipping costs down to the penny. ShipStation: Import your backers list, print labels in bulk, and schedule shipment with all the major carriers. ShipWire: Free up your garage by storing excess product in their warehouses, then let ShipWire automatically select the ideal carrier and route for each shipment. CustomInk, CafePress, and Zazzle: Print quality custom T-shirts. Tee Launch even ships directly to your backers. Thomasnet.com: Restock your manufacturing supplies, find local shops, download CAD models, and more. BackerKit: Manage and track each reward as it's delivered to your loyal backers. TaskRabbit and Zirtual: Hire a helping hand or personal assistant to cross daily tasks off your growing to-do list. Step 10: Keep Your Project Alive After the Campaign Clock Runs Out Your campaign may be wrapping up, but that doesn’t mean your project has to end. Create a place for new customers to find and buy your product, and for current backers to stay connected to your brand. Vendevor: Embed an online store that can accept credit card payments on any site — like your project blog or Facebook fan page — with a single line of code. Swish.com, Outgrow.me, and TinyLightBulbs.com: Continue selling your products after your crowdfunding campaign ends through these online shops. We applaud all the artists and innovators who build a collaborative community around their enterprise. And with these tools, you’ve got all the resources you need to successfully launch your own passion project. Have you ventured into the wild world of crowdfunding? What tools did you find useful during your crowdfunding campaign? We'd love to hear from you in the comments! Other articles you might like from Wrike: 10 Essential Elements of a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign 26 Top Crowdfunding Sites by Niche Image Credits: Crowdfunding by Rocío Lara. Some rights reserved.
According to Information Week, 87% of high-performing companies use a project management tool to complete daily work and and meet their business goals. But why? What are the benefits? What kinds of teams need project management software? And how do they go about choosing the right tool? Learn all the “how”s and “why”s in this infographic: Share this infographic on your own site with this embed code:
Startup success isn't just about the perfect product. Now the emphasis is on speed: faster ideation, faster iterations, faster time to market. Startups are even told to "fail fast." But where do successful startups invest their precious time? And what are the costliest time management mistakes? Here are the top 5 time wasters to avoid. Failed startups... Wait too long to pivot. Companies that change their roadmap to meet customer demand are 52% less likely to scale prematurely. (In other words, they don't scale up without making sure there's sufficient demand for their product.) Spend too much time on product development. Failed startups focus too much time on their baby (the product) and don't dedicate enough time to customer development or evaluating market demand. Don't dedicate time to valuable business connections. 16% of failed startups cite a lack of networking and significant business relationships as a direct contributor to their downfall. Waste time getting their product to market. Delays in launching a product, or waiting to launch in order to incorporate non-essential features, was the root cause of failure in 20% of startups. Spend too much time at the office. 12.5% of startups say grueling work hours and burnout ultimately led to business failure. Want to know the other fatal poisons for startups? Check out the complete infographic for details on costly money mistakes and prioritization disasters. Source: Focus Your turn: What do you think is the #1 factor in startup failure? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Let's play a game. Would you rather: A) Sit through an hour-long status meeting in a frigid conference room with no windows B) Pull out your own tooth with a rusty pair of pliers How many of you had to consider your actual preference for a moment? Ok, all joking aside, meetings may not be quite that bad. But sometimes it's close! With so much time spent — and often wasted — in business meetings, we looked to the experts for new tips on making meetings worthwhile. Share this infographic with your peers (or your boss... *cough cough*) on social media or using this embed code: Infographic brought to you by Wrike Say goodbye to bad meetings! Cut out needless meetings (and improve the ones you do have) with our infographic decision tree: Should We Have This Meeting?
In the last decade, Agile methodologies have been widely embraced by the software development and project management communities. Its iterative approach helps teams make direct progress toward an end goal, while allowing them the flexibility to adapt and refine their process as they go. Now, marketing teams are embracing the Agile pillars in order to thrive in a new era of customer engagement and expectations. Increasing demands on marketing departments require new approaches to marketing management and operations, and the benefits of Agile for marketers are clear: Agile marketing teams are more productive, more satisfied with how their teams manage work, and deliver better results faster. But marketers have their own unique challenges, and Agile’s principles must be adapted to suit their needs. Follow Wrike's Agile Marketing Manifesto to build a strong foundation for your marketing organization. Wrike's Agile Marketing Manifesto: The 4 Pillars of Agile Ongoing Customer Focus We anticipate changes in customer requirements and interests, and build processes that allow us to incorporate those changes even at later stages of the project. Clients and stakeholders are regularly involved throughout the project, from beginning to end. Collaboration & Communication Our team has open communication and is always aware of the status of work: what's been completed, what's in progress, and what's upcoming. Roles, responsibilities, and priorities are clear, and issues/roadblocks are quickly uncovered and addressed. Our team is self-organizing, setting its own goals and methods, without relying on upper management to dictate every step. Intentional Processes & Continuous Improvement We follow a clearly defined process, which is neither accidental nor ad hoc, and our process is sustainable and scalable within our organization. Our work processes are carefully designed to support agility, speed, and flexibility. We set aside time to reflect and improve our processes, removing any wasted steps to keep workflows efficient and proactively addressing any issues or bottlenecks. Results-Oriented Approach Instead of completing many different campaigns and initiatives, we prioritize efficiency, quality over quantity, and satisfying customer needs. We use the build-measure-learn feedback loop or similar approach, and focus on outcomes — not volume or other deceptive metrics — to ensure we're achieving strategic goals. Decisions are based on data, not opinions or habit. Quiz: What’s Your Team’s Agile Marketing Score? While the 4 pillars of Agile Marketing may sound simple, getting your team up to speed so you actually reap the benefits is tricky — and it’s tough to know whether you’re on the right track. Take our interactive self-assessment to evaluate your team’s agility and get some simple, practical tips for improvement.
The crowdfunding landscape has gotten pretty, well, crowded. It's not just Kickstarter anymore —when entrepreneurs and artists want to take their projects to the masses, they've got dozens of platforms to choose from. How can you tell which one suits your project best? We've broken down the best crowdfunding sites by industry and project type, and collected crucial details from the fine print to help you decide. Want a tool to help organize and manage your startup plans? Start your free Wrike trial today! Crowdfunding for Non-Profits, Charitable Causes, and Social Activists Causes.com Their cut: Nothing. Causes runs on ad revenue. A 4% transaction fee still applies. Perks: Free analytics to perfect your campaign along the way. Caveats: Must be a registered 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) to fundraise on Causes. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Keep what you raise. Crowdrise Their cut: Crowdrise takes 5%, plus 2.9% transaction fees. Perks: Donors don’t need to make an account in order to contribute to your campaign. Two campaign types: individual or non-profit. Caveats: Page design options for the free version are limited. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Keep what you raise. Fundly Their cut: Choose from three pricing tiers, depending on how many projects you want to run at once. The basic plan for a single project has no monthly fee, but Fundly takes a 4.9% cut for donations up to $50,000, plus 3% transaction fees. Perks: Helpful guides and tutorials are automatically sent to you at each step of your campaign. Caveats: Every project must have a video and a photo gallery. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Keep what you raise. StartSomeGood Their cut: 5% for a successful campaign, plus 3% transaction fees. Perks: A member of their team will be assigned to your campaign and act as your personal guide, providing advice and resources at each step. Caveats: Projects must have a positive social impact, and need to be approved before they’re posted to the site. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes. YouCaring Their cut: Nothing. YouCaring is supported entirely by donations, just like the campaigns it hosts. 3% transaction fees do apply. Perks: Funds are available in your account as soon as they’re donated. Caveats: Once you post an update, you can’t edit it. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Keep what you raise. Crowdfunding for Small Business Bolstr Their cut: Bolstr’s attorneys review each campaign before it’s launched, to protect both your business and potential investors. Legal fees range from $500-$1,000 (you can also use your own attorney). Other costs include a listing fee and regulatory filing fees. Perks: They help you raise funds from those most likely to continue supporting you after your campaign ends: your local community. Caveats: Not for struggling businesses. If your small business is thriving and you need funds to expand, Bolstr is for you. Must be incorporated (no sole proprietorships allowed) and pass their background checks. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes. Community Sourced Capital Their cut: A one-time $250 launch fee. Once your campaign is successful, you’ll be charged $100 per month until the principal amount on your loan is repaid. Perks: Your $250 launch fee covers tech support, marketing assistance, and administrative help. Caveats: This is a loan, not a donation. Pledges are set at a fixed amount of $50. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes. Fundable Their cut: $179/month. No fees are charged on the funds you raise, but transaction fees apply. Perks: Use their profile creation wizard to set up an attractive campaign page. Caveats: You can offer backers rewards or equity, but not both. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes. Funding Community Their cut: Successful campaigns are charged an origination fee of 2.5%. Perks: You’ll receive better loan rates than from banks or other traditional lending agencies. Caveats: Loans are limited to $10,000 and must be repaid within 9 months. Interest rates depend on the type of company and your credit score. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes. Localstake Their cut: Choose from three plans with varying support features and fees. For a business that has raised some funding but wants to access Localstake’s investor audience through their Boost plan, there is a one-time fee of $500, plus a fee of 3.75-7.5% for successful campaigns. Perks: With the Boost plan, you’ll get a dedicated advisor to help you run your campaign. Caveats: Must submit an application before your campaign is approved. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes. Crowdfunding for Creatives, Artists, and Filmmakers Pozible Their cut: Depends on how much you raise. For successful campaigns that raise up to $100,000, the fee is 5%, plus 2.4% transaction fees. Perks: Take advantage of their Ambassador Network, made up of successful project creators who offer expertise and advice. Caveats: Once your successful campaign ends, pledges made via credit card are not immediately transferred to your account (approximate delay of 7 days). All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes. Pubslush Their cut: 4% fee, plus 3.5% transaction fees. Perks: Join the Pubslush Prep program for helpful resources, and take advantage of market analytics. Caveats: Literary projects only. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes Seed & Spark Their cut: 5%. However, they give your backers the opportunity to add 5% to their pledge at checkout, so you get the full amount. (Seed & Spark says 90% of supporters choose to add that 5%.) Perks: Their CINEMA streaming video distribution platform is available for projects that are accepted on the site. Also, backers don’t need to create an account to support your project. Caveats: Each project is reviewed before being accepted by Seed & Spark. If your project isn’t accepted, they’ll give you some pointers to help you successfully resubmit. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? You must reach at least 80% of your goal. Slated Their cut: Nothing; filmmakers submit their projects for free. Investment agreements are made between individual users, without Slated's direct involvement. Perks: Access to the Slated community, which includes wealthy investors, plus sales agents and distributors. Caveats: Only the film's rights holder, or his/her designated representative, can start a campaign. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Keep what you raise. Sponsume Their cut: 5% of successful campaigns. Transaction fees are 3.4%, and are paid by backers. Perks: Once you’ve reached your minimum funding target, donations are immediately available in your account. No need to wait until your campaign expires. Caveats: Your project must be submitted and approved before it’s posted. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? If you choose to set a minimum fundraising target, then yes. If you choose the “Keep it All” campaign type, you set an “optimum” funding target and keep whatever you raise. Crowdfunding for Science & Tech Experiment Their cut: Successful projects are charged a 5% fee, plus a 3% transaction fee. Perks: Backers don’t have to sign up or become members in order to support campaigns. Caveats: Research and results are the rewards, not t-shirts and bumper stickers. Backers don’t receive any incentives from campaigns, other than the satisfaction of contributing to scientific progress. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes. Petridish Their cut: Unknown. Their site says they do charge a fee for their services, but does not specify the amount. Perks: Projects that don’t qualify for government funding, or whose needs surpass what’s usually covered through grants, can supplement their research funds through Petridish. Caveats: Petridish is currently in beta, so you’ll have to wait to submit until the site is accepting new projects. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes. TechnoFunding Their cut: Successful campaigns are charged 5%, plus transaction fees. Perks: Check out their TechnoFunding lessons for tips from successful projects. Caveats: Projects must adhere to TechnoFunding guidelines in order to be published to the site. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes. Crowdfunding for Startups Crowdfunder Their cut: Choose from two plans with varied features: $299/month and $999/month. Perks: Campaign plans include confidential document protection, investor analytics, live support, and access to their network of investors. Caveats: You’ll need certain documents in order to use their platform: a Term Sheet, Executive Summary, and an Investor Pitch Deck. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Keep what you raise. SeedInvest Their cut: $250 per month technology fee; 7.5% fee for successful campaigns; and up to $3,500 in due diligence, escrow, and legal fees for successful campaigns. Perks: Experience. The founders are investors themselves, and their support team has overseen billions in private investments. Caveats: Their vetting process is thorough, so make sure you've got a professional proposal and expect it to take some time before your project is approved or rejected. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes. SeedUps Their cut: 5% fee for successful campaigns. Perks: When the SeedUps team reviews your submission, they’ll give you suggestions for your campaign before setting up your live project page. Caveats: Fundraising range is between $25,000 - $500,000. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Keep what you raise. StartUpValley Their cut: 5% of successful campaigns. Perks: Check out their blog for tips on successful crowdfunding tips for startups. Caveats: Currently in beta. They’re an equity-only platform, so you must be willing to accept investments in exchange for a stake in your company. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes. For Miscellaneous Project Types Tilt Their cut: 2.5% for a successful campaign, plus 2.5% transaction fees. Perks: Flexible campaign options: Fundraise (hit a monetary goal); Sell something (sell a certain number of items); or Split an expense (attract a certain number of people to join the group). You can set your minimum goal, and also set a "dream goal." Caveats: Limited publicity makes it more difficult to get funding from complete strangers. Tilt's homepage doesn’t highlight current campaigns, so you’ll need to use your existing social networks to raise funds and help spread the word. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes. Indiegogo Their cut: Choose from two funding models: flexible or fixed. With flexible funding, if you reach your goal, Indiegogo takes 4%. If you don’t, the fee is 9%. With fixed funding, Indiegogo takes 4% from fully-funded campaigns, plus transaction fees. Perks: Use the campaigning section of the Indiegogo Playbook for tips on making your campaign a success. Caveats: Projects are promoted on the site based on their “Gogofactor,” which determines where your project ranks in search, and whether it’s featured by Indiegogo on their homepage, newsletter, or blog. Gogofactors are determined by how active your campaign is, so boost your rank by frequently updating and sharing your page, and by earning new backers. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Flexible Funding lets you keep what you earn, and Fixed Funding is all-or-nothing. Kickstarter Their cut: 5% of a successfully funded campaign, plus transaction fees between 3-5%. Perks: Easily the most well-known crowdfunding platform, with the widest audience. Caveats: Countless projects launch on the site every day, so standing out among the crowd can be more difficult. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Yes. RocketHub Their cut: 4% if you meet your fundraising goal (8% if you don’t), plus 4% transaction fees. Perks: Enroll in RocketHub’s Success School and get helpful hints at every stage of your campaign. Caveats: RocketHub pushes you to use your existing support network to help fund your campaign. Be prepared to ask your Facebook friends and Twitter followers for donations. All-or-nothing fundraising goals? Keep what you raise. Bonus Sites Since publishing this post, a few crowdfunding sites have reached out to us and asked to be included on this list. After reviewing the sites, here are the details on a few more worthy platforms: StayClassy (For Non-Profits, Charitable Causes, and Social Activists) Their cut: Varying subscription plans: $99/month with a 4% project fee, or $499/month with a 2% project fee, plus standard transaction fee of 2.2% + $0.30 per donation. Perks: Use the DonateDouble feature to take advantage of corporate donation-matching programs. Caveats: This site is meant for long-term fundraising, not time-sensitive or one-off projects All-or-nothing?: Keep what you raise. MoolaHoop (For Small Businesses) Their cut: 9% for successful projects, plus 2.6% + .30 per transaction Perks: MoolaHoop is a rewards-based platform, so there are no loans to repay. Caveats: This platform is exclusively for women entrepreneurs. All-or-nothing? Yes. But, you can set different milestones, detailing what you can accomplish at each amount. As long as you reach your first milestone, you're funded. PlumFund (For Gifts and Charitable Causes) Their cut: No platform fees. 2.8% or $0.30 processing fee for online credit/debit card payments. Perks: This "crowd gifting" platform has 10 years of success behind it. Caveats: Built for personal gifts and family support, not businesses. All-or-nothing? No. Thrinacia Reach (For Miscellaneous Projects) Their cut: No platform fees. Credit card processing fees apply through Stripe. Perks: Use the provided snippet of code to display a donation widget on your existing website, making it easy for visitors to contribute. Caveats: You must sign up with Stripe in order to create a campaign and receive funds. All-or-nothing? No. If you're looking for information on a specific platform that you don't see listed here, check out Crowdsourcing.org's Crowdfunding Directory, or search CrowdsUnite.com to read reviews of hundreds of platforms from experienced crowdfunders. Good luck finding the best crowdfunding site for your purposes! And if you're gearing up for your first ever campaign, be sure to read our post on the 10 Essential Elements of a Successful Campaign.
This is the second in a two-part series for our Ultimate Guide to Project Risk. Read Part 1: Assessing Risk first, then return here to continue. Once you’ve completed your risk assessment, you’re ready to create your risk management response plan (using appropriate risk management tools). Note that risk management isn't something you check off your project to-do list; it's an ongoing process. Here are the suggested steps on how to manage risk in a project: Step 1: Determine your "risk tolerance" How much risk can you take on before you consider abandoning the project? This is an essential conversation to have with your stakeholders. Their success is on the line, too. There are a lot of issues to discuss: do they want to be informed when risks happen? Or will it depend on the level of impact? If certain risks occur that could derail the project, do they want to be consulted first, or do you have the authority to act right away? Make sure everyone knows the plan of attack and agrees on the strategy. Stakeholder conflict is one risk you can counteract with open communication. Step 2: Decide which risks to manage Once you've determined the project's risk tolerance level, you can start to identify which risks are worth your time and attention. Even if a risk has a high probability of occurring, if its impact is small — say it would add $200 to your project costs and your budget is $50 million — you may choose to ignore it if counteracting the risk is an inefficient use of your time and resources. Use a risk matrix as a key tool for your risk register to identify which risks fall below your level of tolerance and which you need to plan for. Use your completed assessment to plot each risk on a quadrant: high probability and high impact risks to the upper right; low probability and low impact risks to the lower left. Risk Matrix template from The Program Manager's Blog Pay special attention to that upper-right quadrant. These are risks that are both high probability and high impact. They’re more likely to happen, and if they do, it could be game over for your project. In these instances, you’ll want to be proactive in lowering the probability that the risk will occur (if possible) or have a definite plan in place to counter its effects. Step 3: Identify project risk triggers What cues might indicate a particular risk is imminent? If someone in the office starts sneezing and coughing, that could be a "trigger" your team is about to get hit with the flu bug. Establish roles and responsibilities for monitoring triggers among your team, and determine what steps should be taken if one pops up. Step 4: Create an action plan What can be done to reduce the probability of a risk occurring or minimize its negative impact? (Can you provide Purell during flu season? Or spread important tasks among the team so progress can be made even if someone’s out for a few days?) If a risk occurs, what's the most effective response? What will your team do, and who's responsible for what? Make sure you've thought each piece through and everyone on your team knows the plan. Step 5: Evaluate After your project wraps up, step back and consider which parts of your strategy were successful. How effective were your triggers in forewarning risks? How effectively did you react to those triggers, and were you able to successfully prevent any risks from affecting the project outcomes? What could be done to improve for the next project? Start your projects risk-aware, not "risk-free" Discovery, ingenuity, ambition — all businesses and projects involve risk. You'll never be able to eliminate uncertainties, but having a plan in place can keep small problems from growing into full-blown catastrophes. And by acknowledging risk and keeping an eye out for it, you can recognize and jump on fortunate opportunities to deliver value beyond what’s expected. What are your best risk management tips? Share your wisdom in the comments section! Image credit: Viktor Hanacek.
CMOs are under tremendous pressure to deliver, and the challenge is proving difficult to face. According to The Wall Street Journal, average CMO tenure is currently just 42 months — down a full six months over the last two years. In the UK, the average tenure of CMOs is only 18 months. It's by far the shortest in the C-suite: CEOs average 7.2 years, for example, and CFOs 5.7 years.
Improved quality of work, faster time to release, better team morale and alignment — truly Agile marketing teams are at a distinct competitive advantage. But getting your co-workers up to speed with Agile team roles so you actually reap these benefits is tricky, and it can be difficult to know whether you’re on the right track. That’s why we created an interactive self-assessment that will help you evaluate your team’s agility and get some simple, practical tips for improvement. Will your marketing team make the grade? Click here to take our short self-assessment and find out! Brilliant Agile Marketing Teams Run on Wrike Wrike's new solution tailored for marketing teams includes Custom Request forms, proofing & approval, visual dashboards and real-time reports to help marketing teams exceed customer expectations and launch successful campaigns. Learn more about Wrike for Marketers, or try it free for 2 weeks.
Vacations, weddings, long weekends camping.... with so many wonderful distractions, the last thing you want is to be stuck under your office's fluorescent lights instead of gorgeous oceanside sunlight. Unfortunately, unless your managers are just as distracted as you are, you still need to get stuff done between June and August. So if you find yourself staring longingly out the window while you're at work, try a few of these tips to be productive during the week so you can kick back and fully enjoy the rest of these wonderful summer weekends. Want to share this infographic? Pin it for later, or embed it on your blog with this code: Infographic brought to you by Wrike Read More Productivity Tips Right Here! Check out Wrike's collection of strategies and tricks for self-motivation, prioritizing your to-do list, banishing procrastination, and getting more done in less time.
