How to Use Wrike for Professional Services Performance for Project Budget Management
Project budget management is important for professional services teams. Knowing how to calculate project cost and maximize project management efficiency is key for firms looking to boost profit margins.
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How Wrike + Salesforce Helps Departments Work Together: Q&A With Axiometrics
Ever wonder how different departments within a company can work together smoothly, like a well-oiled machine? A management tool like Wrike can team up with a customer-focused platform like Salesforce to help departments work better together. This coupling means every detail about projects is stored in one easy-to-access place, avoiding confusion. It helps teams plan their work efficiently, ensuring everyone knows what they're doing and when. Most importantly, it improves how the company serves its customers and smoothes out team collaboration, strengthening working relationships. Axiometrics is the leader in apartment and student housing market research, providing market intelligence and trends analysis to developers, investors, owners, managers, and others. Founded in 1995, the company has experienced explosive growth in revenue, job creation, and innovation over the past five years. We spoke to the Analytics team about how they use Wrike to align teams that use Salesforce to manage accounts. See how they are able to archive all their data in one place and prevent requests from falling through the cracks: 1. Tell us about your team. The Axiometrics Analytics team is comprised of seven real estate economists and analysts, who crunch apartment and student housing market data, economic indicators, and demographics to uncover trends in the marketplace and forecast future trends. Analytics works closely with Axiometrics’ Sales and Account Management teams to provide custom analysis and studies for clients, and with the Marketing team to produce blogs, newsletters, and videos, including our weekly bylined blog on Forbes. 2. What were the goals that led you to connect Wrike with Salesforce? Sales and Account Management used Salesforce for project management, while Analytics and Marketing used another project management solution that did not integrate well with Salesforce. Therefore, we had no efficient, digital way to track the status of requests. We wanted to find a web-based tool that would integrate with Salesforce so all parties involved could view the status and progress on Sales and Account Management-related projects, such as Feasibility Studies, quarterly company-specific trends analysis, and simple client requests for data drill-down. We also wanted to find a solution that would allow for messaging within the software, for more efficient tracking of what has been requested and any questions/answers concerning a particular project. 3. How has Wrike + Salesforce helped your team reach its goals? Now, all requests are in one place for easier reference. Since Sales and Account Management can see Wrike updates in Salesforce, Analytics is able to plan its schedule better, and communication is more efficient. Sales is able to create tasks, which are immediately visible to Analytics, and Analytics is able to assign and schedule the tasks so that deadlines are met. And though it is not a part of the Salesforce integration, Wrike has been vital in reaching a goal set by our Marketing Content Manager to streamline the production schedule of our newsletters. 4. What improvements have you seen since implementing Wrike + Salesforce? There is much better follow-through on all projects. There is less frustration, in that everything is on the calendar. There were times in the past when an email or in-person request fell through the cracks because people didn’t put it on their to-do lists; that doesn’t happen anymore. The Wrike-Salesforce integration has also helped the Sales and Account Management teams with the client renewal process and with customer service. The representatives are able to update clients on the status of their requests within a couple of clicks and assure them that their needs will be filled in a timely and efficient manner. That enhances client satisfaction. 5. How has Wrike + Salesforce affected how you work with other teams/departments? The integration has made Analytics’ collaborations with Sales and Account Management seamless and smooth. Instead of relying on emails or instant messages that could get lost in the shuffle, or brief in-person visits in which information could get misunderstood, everything is in one place, improving team collaboration with Wrike and Salesforce. This has allowed us to better assist these other departments and made the working relationship even better than it was before. Wrike's app integrations enhance productivity and collaboration Wrike offers a multitude of app integrations that enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and foster collaboration among teams. These integrations allow users to connect Wrike with their favorite tools, creating a seamless and efficient work environment. Communication integrations Wrike integrates with popular communication tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Gmail. These integrations allow users to transform conversations into actionable tasks directly within their communication platform. For example, with the Slack integration, you can create, assign, and complete tasks in Wrike without leaving your Slack workspace. This ensures that important tasks don't get lost in the shuffle of everyday communication. File management integrations Wrike seamlessly integrates with file management systems like Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, and Box. These integrations make it easy to attach files to tasks, share documents with team members, and keep all project-related files organized and accessible. With these integrations, users can collaborate on documents in real-time, ensuring everyone is working from the most current version. CRM and sales integrations For sales and customer relationship management, Wrike offers integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Marketo. These integrations allow teams to sync their sales and project management data, ensuring everyone has the most up-to-date information. With the Salesforce integration, for instance, teams can track project progress alongside sales data, aligning efforts and improving efficiency. Development and IT integrations Wrike also integrates with development tools like Jira, GitHub, and Bitbucket. These integrations help development teams synchronize their coding tasks with the larger project plan. For example, the Jira integration allows teams to link their Jira issues to Wrike tasks, ensuring that both technical and non-technical team members stay on the same page. Time tracking and finance integrations For time tracking and financial management, Wrike integrates with tools like Toggl, Harvest, and QuickBooks. These integrations help teams track time spent on tasks, manage budgets, and invoice clients efficiently.Wrike's app integrations create a more connected, collaborative, and efficient workspace. By integrating with a wide range of tools, Wrike ensures that teams can customize their work environment to fit their unique needs and workflows. How do you use Wrike’s app integrations to align your teams? Share your strategies in the comments. Join teams like Axiometrics and align your teams using Wrike and Salesforce today.
3 Work Dinosaurs: Prehistoric Tools That Should Be Extinct
Your workplace has dinosaurs — those outdated work tools or processes that used to be able to handle the job but are no longer viable in this day and age of increased connection and collaboration. It's time to update your jurassic methods, or else get ready for extinction.
How Professional Services Teams Are Breaking the Customer Churn Cycle (Infographic)
We surveyed over 1,000 professional services teams to learn about the top challenges they face around client retention, resource management, collaboration, technology, project processes, and more.
7 Keys to Project Stakeholder Management from the #PMChat Community
Two Wrikers helped host a #PMChat discussion on Twitter last Friday, where a community of project managers comes together once a week to discuss and share knowledge on various topics related to project management. Our team asked everyone to share advice on best practices and common roadblocks in a challenging project management area: stakeholder management. Experienced project managers from around the world shared their wisdom with us, and now we've collected their thoughts here for you. Implement their advice and improve stakeholder management for your next project. 7 Important Lessons in Project Stakeholder Management You can read many of the best tweets from the #PMChat on stakeholder management here, but if you don't have time to scroll through them all, we've summarized the key takeaways below. 1. Different project stakeholders to keep on your radar Your project stakeholders include EVERYONE who has an interest in the project outcome, including team members, sponsors, and end users. The stakeholders most often neglected: people impacted by your project. This includes (but is not limited to) customers, employees not on the project team, contractors, suppliers, unions, shareholders, financiers, government, special interest groups, community, the general public, and future generations. Keep a close eye on stakeholders who approve deliverables, and those who can stop or pull funding from your project. And their influencers. Suggestion to keep them all straight: identify and rank your stakeholders according to their level of influence and how much they will be impacted by the outcome. 2. Tips to motivate and lead project members who don't report to you Highlight the purpose of your project at the very beginning. Seek project stakeholders' input in the early planning stages. Find out what they think is important. Get them to buy in early. Take advice seriously to make sure everyone feels respected. Treat others the way they want to be treated, not the way you'd want to be treated. Praise when someone has improved and made a difference in the project. Give credit where credit is due. Good project managers need to be behavioral scientists; learn what makes people tick and use it to motivate them! Bribe them with candy. ;) 3. Getting stakeholders to dedicate time to your project Build a good relationship with stakeholders before you need it. When the time to make requests comes, have a one-on-one conversation (in person ideally). Talk with key stakeholders early to understand their perspective. Make the project about the customer and the business, not you or the individual stakeholder. Clearly outline the project outcome, everyone's roles on the road to project success, and the benefits for their party. Ensure they've bought in to your project by highlighting shared objectives and how your visions align. Ask the most reliable people (and main stakeholders) for a short period of time, rather than asking more people for more time. Give reasonable time estimates, so they know exactly what they are getting themselves into. Respect that they have other priorities, and learn how your project can fit into that bigger picture. 4. Keep project sponsors engaged Meet your project sponsors in person, show your passion for success, and be the enthusiastic cheerleader for your project. Set clear expectations and build a sponsor roadmap with each project sponsor. Include what they should do with the project team, managers, etc. Get them actively involved in the project and its outcome. Give consistent updates, with real numbers and results, geared toward their interests in the project. When there is good news or press, point the spotlight at your champions, instead of at yourself. 5. Ways to manage and avoid negative scope creep Make your project plans clear and accessible. When new requests come in, highlight the impact of those requests on your project schedule. Have your stakeholders share their project goals with each other. Bring everyone together to discuss competing or creeping requests. As a project manager, your role is to unify and clarify. Get everyone to sign off on the project plan. Once in the beginning with your project charter, and throughout the project when requirements change. Write your initial project plan in terms of problems being tackled (and what is not being tackled), instead of just stating what work is being done. Invest in expectations management, requirements management, and — most importantly — change management. 6. Proactively identifying and preventing potential issues Study proper risk management: imagine worst-case scenarios and their solutions. Provide risk management workshops, lessons learned, and historical data if possible. Solicit feedback on potential issues from current team members, and people who have worked on similar projects. Trust your gut. If something feels off, investigate and act immediately. 7. Best ways to communicate with stakeholders during the project Early and often! Informally, as well as formal status updates. Repeat your reports and communicate even if you have "nothing new" to say. Communicate with people in the way that best suits their style, not your style: face-to-face and phone calls, or virtually communicate through email, weekly reports, monthly bulletins. Don't assume everyone wants to communicate in the same way. Tailor reports to suit the project stakeholders' interests. When they give feedback, listen to what they have to say. Avoid status update meetings that waste everyone's time. Bring the group together to discuss the project, and "don't be lame." More Advice on Stakeholder Management What did you learn about project stakeholder management from our #PMChat? What did everyone fail to mention? Share more advice in the comments below, so everyone can learn from your expertise. If you're interested in reading the entire #PMChat on stakeholder management, funny asides and all, we organized the great stakeholder management insights and advice from project managers for your easy reading on Storify. Related Reads: 4 Strategies for Dealing with Difficult Stakeholders Why You Need to Record Your Project Management Lessons Learned 23 Project Management Books for All Experience Levels
Online Project Management Courses for Beginners
With the global economy navigating a new normal, businesses around the world need project managers who can think strategically and execute successfully. As a result, the project management field is growing quickly, with increased demand and rising salaries drawing more people to the profession. If you’re interested in breaking into project management, you’re probably asking a number of questions: How do I get started? Is there a simple guide on how to become a project manager? Do I need a project management certification? What kind? Where can I learn how to become a certified project manager? What can I do with a project management certification? Where can I learn the essentials of project management to start leading projects and gain valuable experience? What is the best project management certification for me? These five project management courses online are great options for beginners, all offered by reputable Project Management Institute-registered education providers. Get the knowledge you need to be confident in your new role, whether it be an IT project manager or a digital project manager, with one of these convenient online courses. You'll also find great preparation material for certifications, including the Project Management Professional certification and much more. These courses would also be great for an assistant project manager working toward being a fully-fledged project manager. What to expect from project management courses online Project management courses cover all the things you need to know to successfully pitch, plan, and carry out a project. Whether you’re a complete beginner or you find yourself knee-deep in a project you need help with, these flexible project management courses are available 24/7. The majority of online project management courses are self-paced, meaning you can participate in the lessons whenever you have time for them. The format typically includes on-demand video, downloadable worksheets, and access to one or more teachers who can help mentor you or answer questions along the way. If you meet for live classes, they’ll likely be virtual and take no more than one to two sessions per week. On average, project management courses last from four to six weeks, assuming you move through at least half a module per week. Students who take project management courses may be working full-time, raising a family, or going to school for another degree. Whatever the situation, there’s a project management course for your needs and level of experience. When you sign up for a project management course, the provider will likely give you required reading materials, worksheets, and message board access to connect with other students. For the most part, all you need is an internet connection and a computer. If your course includes an exam, you may need to coordinate a test date and time with the school. Learn creative skills, upgrade your project management resume, and network with experienced professionals through any of the courses we’ve highlighted below. Can you get free project management courses online? While there aren’t many free project management courses, there are plenty of free educational resources immediately available to you. For example, Wrike offers the Project Management Guide. It’s a comprehensive survival manual for everyone, from professional project managers with years of experience to people suddenly asked to take on their first project. Our guide includes all the basics, must-know methodologies, lifecycle management tips, software tools, and techniques for managing teams you’ll ever need. One key thing to know about free project management courses: they provide great information, but they may lack hands-on exercises and mentorship opportunities. But the biggest and most important difference is certification. Whether it’s an official certification from an accredited school or a validation from an established program, an exam is typically a feature that paid classes offer that free ones do not. Project management courses for beginners: 1. Project Management Basics - An Official PMI Online Course Provider: Project Management InstituteCost: $400Duration: On-DemandWhat you'll learn: This 23-hour education series covers the foundational concepts of project management, including key terminology, an explanation of the project lifecycle, project constraints, a three-hour practice exam, an introduction to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK), and prep for the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) exam. 2. Project Management FundamentalsProvider: Ed2GoCost: $149Duration: On-demand course accessible for six weeksAccreditation: PMI Registered Education ProviderWhat you'll learn: Get an introduction to essential project management techniques and the PMBoK, and prepare for the Project Management Professional (PMP certification) and CAPM certification exams. Participants will learn how to prepare for, plan, and complete a project successfully, from holding an effective project kickoff meeting to risk management and quality assurance.3. Improving Your Project Management Skills: The Basics for Succes Provider: American Managers' AssociationCost: $2,445Duration: Three DaysAccreditation: PMI Registered Education ProviderWhat you’ll learn: This hands-on project management workshop covers project management techniques, tools, and best practices. Get a comprehensive overview of core project management concepts and terminology, from Work Breakdown Structures, Gantt charts, determining critical path, estimating project timelines, managing stakeholders, and defining project scope, schedule, budget, and risk. 4. Successful Project ManagementProvider: SkillPathCost: $199 for a yearly membershipDuration: Six self-paced modulesAccreditation: PMI Registered Education ProviderWhat you’ll learn: This course is designed for beginner and accidental project managers trying to manage projects on top of their regular job responsibilities. Learn how to initiate, manage, and execute any project using one of the many project management styles taught in this class. Resources for new project managers Find introductions to core project management concepts, terminology, tools, and processes with our project management advice. And if you have any books, courses, or other resources you found helpful as a new project manager, share them with us in the comments below! Read Next:23 Project Management Books for All Experience Levels20 Online Training Resources for Project ManagersThe Ultimate Guide to Project ManagementThe Project Manager Shortage is Coming: 3 Ways to Prepare
Involving Clients in Projects: A Step-by-Step Guide
Both you and your customers hope you do the right thing for moving a project forward. However, the views on what exactly that right thing is might be different on both sides. In the worst case scenario, mismatched expectations get your client frustrated. And you don't want that to happen, do you? In order to eliminate such risk and make sure you and your clients are on the same page, it makes sense to actively involve them in the projects from the very start, using client communication tools to ensure a smooth lifecycle. Want to know how? Check out these tips from today's podcast with Meredith Eisenberg, where she shares her business secrets and one-fits-all approach to involving customers in projects. The founder of "Tame the Internet Monster," she helps small companies leverage the power of online marketing. And one of the main things that make her business a success is the tight, productive relationship established with customers. Meredith's ideas make a neat step-by-step guide that will be helpful for a business of any kind: 1. Let your customers understand your plans "I always start my customers' onboarding with online Gantt chart and share it on my screen with them to discuss everything in great detail. "The main goal, at this point, is to show that their huge projects consist of a number of tiny little steps. I make them understand that it is something like eating an elephant one bite at a time. This transparency in plans helps to establish trustful relationships from the very beginning." 2. Build communication around the tool your customers already use "I never force anyone to change the way they work with information. Instead, I take them from where they are. I have some customers heavily in Google Docs. Some keep everything in their iCalendar, and others rely only on emails. And that's fine, since my project management system supports integration with any of these. "It's fabulous – regardless of how my customers work with information, I still have everything in one centralized place. I can easily see all tasks for all projects, and plan the workload for my team." 3. Fine-tune the scope of involvement "All my clients are different, and I have different relationships with each of them. Some people love having full control over tasks and people, and want to participate in allocating resources and managing the workload. In this case, I create an account in Wrike for them and give them full access to everything they want! "Others don't want to go into project management at all, and just check their Google Calendar once in a while. But if they want to get the list of tasks for next month in an Excel table, with Wrike, I can easily give it to them. "People in general don't want to learn new tools, and they greatly appreciate when they are kept updated in the way they are used to. With its integration capabilities, and with no additional effort, Wrike helps us make customers much happier! Each customer has exactly as much of involvement as they would like to have." 4. Keep completed projects as templates "To set up a new project, I just pull down different elements I had in projects with other customers and put them into a new plan. This way, I have my tasks and check lists ready in several minutes! "The system's ability to copy folders with sets of to-do's makes this very easy and quick. I'm able to impress my customers with my efficiency from the first few minutes!" These four simple tricks help Meredith involve her customers in projects and make interactions easy and enjoyable for both sides. Clients get as much involvement as they are ready to take, and they work with the information exactly the way they are used to. This helps avoid misunderstandings and, eventually, make customers feel happy. By the way, Meredith, the brave Monster Tamer, became our first customer to be featured in a videocast! Check it out to find out more about Meredith's business:
Key to Adopting New Project Management Software from Day 1
Yet Adrian McDonagh, Managing Director at the U.K.’s leading Internet recruitment service, EasyWebRecruitment.com, was able to find a solution that was thoroughly adopted by his team of 15 people from the first day of use. Does he know some kind of secret? Well, this secret is simple: successful adoption is not about the tool. It’s about your team being able to use it. Adrian knows that when you look for a new software solution, it’s important to pick an application, which ties in with the technologies your employees already use and love. This lets you sneak the new system into your team members' hands while providing a familiar interface. So if you don’t want to put additional training pressure on your staff, find a system that fits the existing workflows and integrates with apps that your team members already know. This was exactly what Adrian did when he offered Wrike to his team to use for project and task management. “Our major challenge with all the project management systems was adoption. The team was already working very hard, and we did not want to add something to their day that would take a lot of time and training to get to grips with, or add to their administrative burden. It was completely different with Wrike. I was pleased to see that, once I showed the team how simple Wrike was, even the more skeptical members of the team were quickly convinced, ” says Adrian. What became the key to 100% Wrike adoption by the EasyWebRecruitment team? Read the whole interview with the company’s managing director to find out.
How to Improve Your Collaborative Project Management
There are three main factors that determine the success of a new project or campaign: Excellent top-down and bottom-up communication, so everyone is on the same page with progress, challenges, and achievements; Organized and collaborative project management to make sure all work is completed on time and within budget; Collaboration between team members and across departments to bring in more ideas and breed innovation. But it's a mistake to think about these critical success factors for project management separately in today's innovative work environment. You can improve in all three areas by focusing on just one aspect of work: your collaborative project management. Refining this will enable everyone from the CEO on down to communicate with colleagues, manage projects and ideas, actively work together on tasks, and get work done efficiently. The best way to improve your collaborative project management is to bring your team out of the dark ages of back-and-forth email conversations and introduce a software specifically made to do the job. The Keys to Effective Collaborative Project Management Whether you decide to continue using your old methods, or you're looking for a new collaborative project management tool, here are a few things to consider: 1. You need a tool that updates in real time Some cloud-based and online software allow your team to share and monitor updates in real time; as soon as a change is made, that change is visible to everyone. That means your team will never accidentally work with outdated information (e.g. spreadsheets), so collaboration can move forward smoothly and efficiently. 2. Colleagues need to be able to work at the same time Live collaboration is the new hallmark of the best teamwork. One of the first popular tools of this type was Google Docs — one person updates the online document, and another person can edit simultaneously or simply watch the process as it's happening. Wrike is a collaborative project management tool that provides the same real-time collaboration capabilities on tasks and projects. 3. You can discuss work right where its being done Instead of keeping conversations in one tool (e.g. chat tools) and your actual work in another, you should find one tool that allows you to hold conversations right where work is being done. This way, if you bring someone new into your project or you need to pass off work, you can also give them insight into past decision-making and project-related conversations. They'll be able to get up to speed immediately, without you taking time out of your day to walk them through every project detail. 4. You need a consolidated place to store & manage all work-related information It's common these days to keep information saved in many different places, such as email inboxes, cloud file storage systems, and on the hard drives of personal computers. That makes it nearly impossible to ensure your entire team is working with the latest information. If you want to improve your collaborative project management, you need to find one place to store everything related to work — all your one-off tasks, long-term projects, files, conversations, meeting notes, and reports. Doing this gives your people immediate, always-available access to the information they need, without having to hunt through multiple tools. 5. You should be able to change project details & let the team know immediately Every team will need to change project details or priorities at one point or another. Your process or tool should allow you to update work and let your team know immediately, so that everyone is always working on the most important projects with the most accurate information. 6. You should be able to see what's coming next Effective project management software allows you to plan for future tasks and projects using scheduling, Gantt charts, task dependencies, and more. You'll be able to logically organize your tasks and projects, set up workflows to move work from beginning to end, monitor progress to make sure nothing falls behind, and check in with colleagues to see if they need help. As one project is ending, your team can immediately start on the next priority work. Free Collaborative Project Management Tool If you've decided to implement a collaborative project management software, try Wrike absolutely free for 2 weeks, and then upgrade or stay free. Invite your team to Wrike, complete a short project together using the tool, and see how we can help your team work better.
Product Management 101: How to Become a Product Manager
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Product managers are technical people, so there’s no need to involve them in business, marketing, or sales decisions. Product managers spend all their time writing requirements. Creating a roadmap is just a matter of sprinkling some features on a timeline and adding a few dates. Product managers are all former engineers. It’s time to debunk some product management myths! What is a product manager, really? What are their responsibilities? Do you have what it takes to succeed in the field? Learn all about product management in this crash course introduction. What Does a Product Manager Do, Exactly? The product management field deals with planning, forecasting, producing, and marketing a product or product line at all stages of the product lifecycle. Product managers are responsible for product strategy, developing the product roadmap, and defining features. Boil it down, and a product manager defines the why, what, when, and how of the product. And to do it, PMs spend a lot of time working with other people, from colleagues to customers. Product managers work closely with anyone from engineering to finance to marketing, depending on the current stage of the product lifecycle. For instance, PMs collaborate with designers and engineers in the prototyping and testing stages to decide which features are critical, and which are less important to a product’s success. During the product launch, however, a PM will work more closely with marketing and sales teams to build product awareness and determine how best to reach and persuade potential customers. Product managers are the ultimate problem solvers, designing and refining solutions to their customers' most pressing needs and wants. They’re critical to an organization’s success, merging business savvy, technological know-how, and marketing magic to develop and launch innovative products. Product Manager Salary & Responsibilities Product managers are in high demand at every level, from entry-level Associate Product Managers to Chief Product Officers. A product manager’s role and responsibilities can vary widely based on the position and level of seniority, as you can see in these typical product manager job descriptions: Chief Product Officer: Responsible for all product-related activities, including product conception and development, production, and possibly marketing. This executive-level position typically reports directly to the CEO. VP of Product Management: Leads, defines, and communicates product strategy in line with long-term business goals, owns the product management roadmap, manages the product lifecycle from concept to phasing out, develops budgets, and defines pricing and competitive positioning. Director of Product Management: Plans and assigns workloads of product managers, manages existing product lines to increase profitability, establishes metrics to measure and improve effectiveness, and conducts market research to identify new opportunities. Product Manager: Develops products by conducting market research and product manager analytics, determining requirements and specifications, setting production schedules, and developing marketing strategies. Associate Product Manager: Works closely with product managers, designers, marketing managers, analysts, engineers, and testers to develop products from conception to launch. The average salary for product managers is currently around $100,000 annually, but can be as high as $1M+ for a Chief Product Officer. How To Become a Product Manager Successful product managers have mastered a mix of technical knowledge and business education. As such, a degree in computer science or engineering and previous technical experience is often desired, and/or an MBA or other business degree. Required skills and qualifications go beyond diplomas and certifications, however. Because they serve as a liaison between so many different teams and departments, product managers need to be excellent communicators. They also need to be technically adept, so they can interact with the development team but also speak clearly with customers and stakeholders. They need to be big-picture thinkers, capable of balancing customer expectations with business needs and budget and setting clear priorities. Best Books & Blogs for Product Management Beginners If you want to get a more in-depth look into product management, picking up a few books is a great way to deepen your understanding of the field. Check out these 8 helpful blogs and books to learn what it takes to succeed as a product manager. Product LogicDan SchmidtWritten by the VP of Product at MDsave, this blog covers a myriad of product management topics and techniques, from superforecasting to the product triangle model. Product Management SchoolAn encyclopedic guide to software product management, this site covers all sorts of FAQs, from product management skills to tools and resources. Product Management for DummiesBrian Lawley & Pamela SchureThis comprehensive reference offers easy-to-understand explanations of the essentials of product management, from defining the product life cycle and creating a winning product strategy, to gathering and analyzing customer feedback. The Product Manager’s Survival Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Succeed as a Product ManagerSteven HainesFollow this book’s blueprint for graduating from novice to confident product manager. Start by understanding the keys to success, then learn how to become a product expert and customer advocate, effectively manage your teams to increase productivity, and further your career. The Product Manager’s Desk Reference (2nd Edition)Steven HainesA companion resource to The Product Manager’s Survival Guide, keep this all-in-one reference on your desk to quickly look up product management strategies, processes, tools, and templates. Haines doesn’t stop at logistics — he also covers the soft skills you’ll need to lead your team to success, collaborate with other departments and teams, and communicate with stakeholders. The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and ExpandedDonald NormanEver pushed a door handle instead of pulled? Or examined a new device from every angle, baffled by how to turn the thing on? Cognitive scientist Donald Norman argues that design isn’t just looks meant to catch a customer’s attention; it’s the key to why some products satisfy customers and earn their loyalty while others flop. He’ll remind you not to get caught up in slick technology and forget that your main job is to solve human problems. Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming ProductsNir EyalUse behavioral psychology to hook customers and keep them coming back — without resorting to expensive and aggressive advertising. Learn how to create “viral loops” so users instinctively reach for your product, build customer engagement, and develop products people love. This Is Product Management PodcastMike FishbeinListen to this popular podcast to get practical insights every week from the brightest minds in product management. More Product Management Resources: How 5 Product Managers Got Their Start Capterra's Best Product Management Software 2017 20 Must-Read Books for Product Managers & Product Marketers Creative Problem Solving for Product Developers (Infographic) A Day in the Life of a Software Product Manager Are You a Product Manager? How did you get your start? What common product management myths or misconceptions do you think need busting? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. Sources: Wikipedia.org, Aha.io, Quora.com
Raising the Security Bar in Collaborative Work Management
Hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear about a new security breach. 2018 saw a total of 1,244 reported data breaches in the U.S., according to a recent report by nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center and security and privacy services firm CyberScout. While this number was down from 2017’s all-time high of more than 1,600 breaches, the number of compromised records exposing sensitive, personally identifiable information (PII) skyrocketed by 126%. This doesn’t even include the 1.26 billion non-sensitive records that were also exposed. As more data is created and business increasingly plays out in the online digital space, data breaches will only get more severe. Balancing security and flexibility in the cloud In an effort to maintain control and avoid these data disasters, some enterprises are still often reluctant to adopt third-party cloud applications, opting for on-premises solutions instead. As a result, they’re missing out on rapid, innovative cloud solutions to challenges like scalability, software updates, mobile connectivity, etc. In an age of mobile devices, remote workers, always-on customers, and lightning-speed innovation, cloud software is no longer optional if you want to remain competitive — even for the most conservative enterprises and industries. And while fast-paced, adaptable SMBs usually have far less stringent security requirements compared to enterprises, companies of all sizes should be equally concerned with today’s heightened security risks. The good news is that security and flexibility don’t have to be at odds with one another. Once companies accept that maintaining security is a constant and ever-evolving practice, they can take the steps necessary to protect their data, guard against the risks of today, and anticipate the threats of tomorrow. This point of view is why Wrike has always been at the forefront of collaborative work management security. Data protection has continued to be a core priority for us as we continue to grow our enterprise customer base and expand into new markets and industry verticals. Securing the collaborative work management space More than 250,000 organizations have adopted a collaborative work management solution. And while many vendors’ focus has been on solving problems like low productivity, poor collaboration, and broken workflows, addressing security needs that are unique to the enterprise — like considering how data is managed at scale — should also be a primary goal. Wrike refuses to merely meet the industry-standard minimum requirements for security in the enterprise. Security has always been one of our core pillars, and we’ve continuously pushed ourselves to solve more than just collaboration or work management challenges. Bare minimums won’t fly in the enterprise, nor are they good enough for being the digital workplace that companies trust with their invaluable data. We understand the best collaborative work management solutions solve for convenience and transparency in addition to control and security. Our customers want to be transparent and collaborative, while also being protected, whether that is from external or internal threats, accidental or malicious. That’s why we strive to keep this dichotomy in mind when developing new features or products for the Wrike platform, including the features I’m excited to announce today. Introducing Wrike’s new enterprise-grade security features The Wrike security strategy includes a comprehensive approach across five categories: physical, network, system, application, and people. Our latest platform security features include: Wrike Lock is an add-on feature that allows customers to own and manage the keys to their encrypted Wrike data, giving them data access control and audit capabilities even though their data is in the cloud. CASB integration support allows customers to use the CASB offering of their choice to enforce enterprise security policies on their Wrike data, enabling them to easily spot unusual user activity and better protect data stored in the cloud. Customized Access Roles better ensure privacy and content integrity by enabling customers to create roles with unique permission sets in order to satisfy varied access and sharing requirements. Access Reports enable customers to quickly and easily see which users have access to folders, projects, and tasks, as well as any tasks with attachments that external guest users have been invited to review. Selective sharing allows customers to make it so that folders and projects do not follow the default of inheriting sharing settings from parent folders or projects, giving greater access control over specific subfolders and subprojects. The new sharing interface makes it easier and more intuitive for users to modify sharing settings, better enabling and encouraging them to take greater control of access to work in Wrike. The new antivirus feature will scan files for viruses prior to being uploaded to Wrike, which will enhance the security of users’ devices by mitigating the risk of uploading or downloading infected files from Wrike. This feature will be available in 2H 2019. Wrike has also just completed the ISO 27001:2013 certification from BSI (British Standards Institution). The ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification demonstrates that Wrike has a complete end-to-end security framework and a risk-based approach to managing information security, and illustrates Wrike’s commitment to a mature and robust security strategy. ISO/IEC 27001 is the most highly regarded and only internationally recognized standard for the establishment and certification of an information security management system (ISMS). It provides a set of requirements for an ISMS, establishing a systematic, risk-management-based approach to people, processes, and IT systems in order to protect sensitive company information. Raising the bar In today’s digital world, the moment you believe you’re secure is the moment you open yourself to an attack or breach. This is true regardless of your company’s size. Wrike’s ISO certification, Wrike Lock add-on, and all of our new and upcoming security features demonstrate our commitment to making Wrike the most secure collaborative work management platform on the market. As security threats evolve and the stakes get higher with every breach, Wrike will continue to invest in the security of our services and push the industry standard for collaborative work management. To learn more about Wrike’s Security practices, please visit our security page. And for more information about today’s announcement, read our press release.