How Technology Affects Project Management
It was not that long ago that a printed-out Project Charter would be the start of project approval. The key stakeholders would physically sign the document, which would be passed in the internal mail between parties, finally returning to the project manager to update the version control for the document to version 1.0. She would then file it away for safe-keeping and proof that the initiation phase was over and that the real work could begin. Does that sound like your workplace now? Most project sponsors would now expect the entire approvals process to be done by email. That is not to say that you can skip getting formal project approval. Instead, the way you go about securing sponsor sign off is different, due to the technology available to you – and them – in the workplace. No longer do project managers have a filing cabinet of original functional specs and documents signed off in ink. They are more likely to hot desk with limited storage space for project files. Documentation is stored electronically on a central shared server, with scanned copies of any documentation that has been signed. Copies of approval emails are stored with the rest of the project documents on the server. This is now the accepted ways of working, even in industries like financial services which typically take a while to catch up. The Google Generation This approach to handling documentation has evolved due to the availability of technology of work, and an evolution of the way in which we use it. This has given risen to the ‘Google generation’. You probably fall into this category. It is not to do with age. It is a distinction based on the adoption of new technology. If you want information, you can go to Google (or your favourite search engine), type your question and get a relevant response in a fraction of a second. The Google search engine has changed the way project stakeholders expect to get information. In other words, if you need to find something out, you expect to be able to do so quickly and conveniently. It is no longer necessary to trawl through encyclopædias or take a trip to the library to do research. If you don’t know the answer, you can Google the question on your computer or mobile phone. This phenomena has contributed the rise of cheating in pub quizzes, but it has also made project management more difficult. In the past – and it wasn’t that long ago – the monthly steering group report would be an adequate representation of the project status. It was acknowledged that it was not a real-time project position, but it was accurate enough for the purposes of judging progress against milestones and budget. This data would be sufficient for steering group, and if anyone else wanted a formal project status report, the latest steering group report could be handed over as a snapshot in time. Most of the time, people were happy with this level of detail, even though implicitly they knew it could no longer be true. Only in an emergency would any one ask to see anything more up to date. Project info at your fingertips Today, project stakeholders have different expectations about project information, because they can get other information at the click of button. You want to know the weather in Bangalore? Google it. You want real-time stock prices on the FTSE? Google it. You want up to date project status reports. Here’s last month’s steering group report, precisely 19 days out of date. This lack of real-time data is no longer acceptable to project stakeholders who can get everything else in a fraction of a second. Sixteen per cent of the workforce is what research group IDG calls ‘hyperconnected’. These people have “fully embraced the brave new world… They liberally use technology devices and applications for both personal and business use.” IDG also estimates that the amount of workers falling into this category could soon be up to 40%. The fact that people are connected at work and at home has a knock-on impact on the way in which we provide project data. Now project stakeholders expect real-time, up to date status reports. Or at least, they expect you to give them that information whenever they ask for it, by return of email. Project managers now have to deal with those raised expectations and always be on top of project status in case anyone asks. And I think we should be. Project managers who don’t know what is going on — and are not able to communicate it — aren’t serving the needs of the project team or the wider stakeholder community. Of course, accurate and timely information works both ways, and we need it from sponsors too. So how have you adapted your project management practices to the evolving needs of your hyperconnected stakeholders? About the Author Elizabeth Harrin has ten years of experience managing projects. She’s a member of PMI’s New Media Council, and she writes about projects on her award-winning blog A Girl’s Guide to Project Management. She’s also the author of Project Management in the Real World, a case-study based book that tells you what you really need to know to succeed in project management.
Personality in a Cup: How Philz Coffee Scales Quality Through Consistency
We sat down with the Director of Coffee and Sustainability at Philz to discuss how Philz has scaled a business nationwide while preserving that shop-around-the-corner brand their consumers know and love.
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"Be Innovative, Yet Familiar" – the topic of my presentation at the upcoming Web 2.0 Expo SF
What we are facing today is that people, who made Facebook and Twitter an integral part of their personal life, are still often reluctant to use Web 2.0 tools at work. My presentation will explain how vendors should approach Web 2.0 solutions, so that business users can quickly adopt them from day one. The point of focus there is recognizing the existing user behaviors and fitting into their current workflows. There are many examples in the industry where this worked well, and there are also examples where great ideas that didn’t follow this simple rule stumbled along the way. We’ve followed this approach at Wrike, our project management software, and it proved to be very effective, so I wanted to share it with my peers. Wrike is now used by thousands of corporate and SMB teams worldwide. We took on a very complex problem (everyone who tried to implement Microsoft Project Server in their organization knows what I’m talking about) and came up with an elegant solution that people love and instantly adopt. A big part of it was relying on existing behaviors, like sending e-mail, which is the backbone of the majority of online project communications today. So we zealously focused on closing the gap between e-mail and project management. During my presentation, I plan to share how this was done and other examples of making an app that’s comfortable to use, instead of trying to revolutionize people’s working experience in one big leap. As you probably know, Web 2.0 Expo is the biggest industry event that showcases the latest Web 2.0 business models, development paradigms, products and design strategies for the creators of the next-generation Web. This is where industry leaders share new ideas, experiences, case studies, techniques and tactics to reshape reality by means of technology. I hope to see you at the conference. Are there any particular questions you think I should cover in my talk? Go ahead and post them in the comments.
The Big Mobile News Is Coming Up!
This surprise is going to be BIG! It’s really hard to hold the news, but here’s what we are happy to share right now: Wrike project management software is going mobile with the upcoming release of iPhone, iPad and BlackBerry apps! Just imagine yourself in a café or an airport lounge with real-time access to your projects and tasks directly from your favorite mobile device. Isn’t it great to find out that soon you’ll be able to stay connected to your team wherever you are? We’ll make sure to make mobile project management easy for you with Wrike’s shiny and handy new mobile apps. We’ll keep you posted on the news, so stay tuned!
3 Game-Changing Trends of the Modern Office
Going Paperless An office free of paper is a happy one indeed for several reasons. From an organizational standpoint, electronic copies are much easier to document and store. Keeping files organized in folders or by project in project management software allows you to always know where to find what you’re looking for. Isn’t it handy to have access to a document in the context of a particular assignment? No more sifting through stacks of papers or file folders, and, what’s no less important – no post-it notes covering your computer monitor or the walls of your office. Last, but not least, a paperless office is not only about your comfort and productivity. It’s also green! I once had a very stylish coworker who was in the habit of printing out emails. Our boss was very eco-conscious, so she sent out an office-wide email that stated “Printing emails went out of style with the fanny pack!” The email included a really funny picture of people wearing fanny packs. The entire office got a laugh out of the image, but more importantly, my coworker stopped unnecessarily printing out emails. Using Social Media Building a business takes time, but with the recent penetration of the web into our work and the popularity of social media, the process can go easier and quicker. Social media are a useful channel for informing your customers of what’s happening with the company and sector. Interaction is key for social media to be a success. Customers want to know there’s someone behind the face of the company. By engaging customers online, providing company transparency and asking for questions and feedback, a company’s reputation will start to build online. Social media also helps companies collect information about what their customers want and build their businesses. The t-shirt company Threadless is a great example of how a Facebook profile can be maximized. Customers can buy t-shirts straight from the Facebook page. They can also comment on items and share those comments on their own Facebook walls. This approach has led Threadless to gain over 100,000 fans. Taking Advantage of Mobile Apps Another driving force that impacts modern office is the popularity of smartphones and tablets. People are constantly on the go, so they’ve become reliant on getting information from their mobile devices. When you have leveraged a mobile app that lets you keep up with work, things can continue moving along even when your employee is, say, stuck in traffic jam, or in a working from home office. Apps can be a huge help when other technologies fail you. My husband and I were on vacation this summer when he got a panicked call from one of his employees. The power went out at his job due to a thunderstorm and his staff was about to be visited by an important vendor. My husband was able to share all of the information his staff needed without leaving the Jacuzzi! No longer are we glued to pen-and-paper ways of communication. Technology is making an office portable, with the traditional four walls and a desk being replaced by smartphones and electronic communication. The entire landscape of the “office” is changing before our eyes, and a remote work policy for your company could be the way forward. Bring your office into the modern age. Create a paperless work environment to declutter your work space and help the environment. Take full advantage of social media instead of using it only to chat with old high school friends. Use mobile apps to connect with your customers and coworkers anywhere at any time. These small adjustments can help adapt your business to meet the current trends and keep you from being left behind.This article was provided by Erin Palmer on behalf of Villanova University’s online programs. As you take your office to the web consider taking your education online as well. Villanova offers a wide range of programs and prep courses online.
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How to Build a Culture of Sharing in Distributed Project Teams, and More Questions from PMI Dallas Chapter Dinner
After the short holiday break, the new year quickly gained momentum. The first event on my 2013 speaking calendar was the dinner meeting at PMI Dallas Chapter. The topic of remote collaboration and its efficiency brought up a great discussion. The engagement of the audience is a clear sign of how many project managers face the challenge of dealing with mobile workforce today. And the trend will only expand: as Wrike’s survey revealed, every fourth worker foresees his or her office going virtual in the near future. Of the numerous post-presentation questions, there were a couple that were especially interesting, and I’d like to share some takeaway notes with you. One of the efficiency tips that I talked about during the session was the importance of remote work monitoring and sharing within a distributed team. According to our survey respondents, bad visibility into colleagues’ actions is one of the biggest problems in remote collaboration. Learning to share tasks, ideas, file and other work-related info is critical to making the workflow transparent to the team. The audience asked how to build up that culture of sharing. The word “culture” here implies that it’s not a rapid shift to make. One of the working tools is leadership by your own example. Say, when you assign a task or finalize an important document, make sure that your workers are aware of it and can easily check it out. Then, when you have some “champions” on the team who follow your example, you can use some peer pressure, too. As with many other changes, you can slice the big change into smaller steps that are easy to reach. You can approach it from two dimensions: horizontally (begin with a part of the team and then step-by-step roll it out to the rest of the employees) or vertically (in this case, the idea is to start by sharing a certain type of item, and then add more of them to the mix.) For example, it won’t be too much trouble for your team to exchange important documents they worked on before your weekly meeting. Adopted gradually, this practice should develop into people’s working habit that will naturally solve the challenge of poor visibility and siloed project data. Another remarkable question was asked about granular workload management. I spoke about the convenience of splitting work into smaller, tangible deliverables, instead of big tasks where a worker reports on what percent has been completed. One of the attendees asked how to make it work if you need to report on the progress to your customer? Once again, visibility is the key word for answering this question. Here’s a simple, real-life example. Imagine you’re having your house remodeled, and you want to check on the progress. “50% completed” doesn’t give you, the customer, any insight into what’s really happening. Is the bedroom ready, and can you bring the furniture in, or was it the kitchen, or is it just an abstract number, and none of the rooms are actually finished? So the point is to bring your customer in and give him or her more visibility. With smaller tasks, tracking progress (for managers, stakeholders and customers) and reporting (for workers) becomes easier. When the team reports on a more granular level, you don’t need to run meetings so often (which isn’t that easy for a virtual team!) to clear up the details. If you don’t want to overwhelm your customer with too many updates, or don’t want to share some operational details, then you can share the major milestones with him or her. One of the positive aspects of giving customers visibility into your projects is the opportunity to get earlier feedback from them and to make sure you’re moving in the right direction. One of the greatest things about conferences and other professional get-togethers is hearing first-hand what challenges fellow project managers currently face and seeking for efficient solutions to them. So I’m looking forward to the upcoming events on the calendar. This week, it’s IBM Connect in Orlando. In February, I’ll be speaking about remote collaboration at PMI Los Angeles Chapter dinner meeting. In April, you can meet me in PMI Chicago Chapter and at Stanford’s Strategic Execution Conference in Silicon Valley, where I’ll discuss how to make open innovation work in project management. Hope to see you there!
11 Quora Questions on Team, Product, and Project Management to Put on Your Must-Read List
In addition to learning from your own experience, it’s often useful to know how other professionals in your field coped with particular management questions and challenges. That’s when Quora, the popular Q&A service, comes in handy. From its massive knowledge base, we made a selection of threads with the most stirring and insightful discussions on project, product and team management. Check them out – maybe you’ll find the answer to the question that stole your sleep! And don’t be too shy to contribute your own thoughts and earn some karma points from the fellow Quorians ;-) 1. What are common mistakes that new or inexperienced managers make? Doing your homework about others’ mistakes might save you from bigger or smaller failures in your own experience. Read this thread to know what organizational, communicative and other traps a beginner manager needs to avoid, such as, for example, taking the credit and forwarding the blame. Some of the answers might interest management pros, as well. 2. What questions should one ask oneself on a regular basis to make one's product better? When you’re working hard to improve your product, adjusting your course could be easier if you had some check list at hand. Discover what questions and check points product managers came up with to create a precise product development compass. 3. What is the single most important aspect in creating and managing a high-performing team? The biggest number of votes here belongs to Dave Carvajal, a popular business consultant and advisor to top VC firms, who said that the only way to get people to do something well is to get them to want to do it. Check out the thread for more details on how to make it happen, as well as some other interesting opinions. 4. What should a product management team do to share best practices and learn? As one of the commenters mentions, sharing best practices is something that any team larger than two people should be concerned about. See which of the suggested conventional and creative methods of knowledge exchange would work best for your team. 5. What are the best ways to get a stagnated project going again? Suggested solutions range from just re-naming the project to completely abandoning it. But, as product management veteran Cliff Gilley emphasized, the first thing you have to do is figure out why the project got stagnated in the first place. What’s your remedy against project stagnation? 6. How long is your backlog? It’s a touchy question for all of us involved in product development. As you can learn from the commenters’ experience, prioritization is not enough to keep your backlog under control. Peek in the thread for more solutions. 7. What are the three qualities you liked most about the best manager you ever had? At first glance, this thread might seem like a Hall of Honor for people’s favorite bosses. But if you look closer, you may see it as a source of some tips on earning your team’s love and respect. After all, we bet most managers, secretly or not, long for their team’s appreciation. 8. What are some good tips for 1:1's with your employees? One-on-one meetings with your employees are not just helpful for resolving work issues. Apart from that, they might be a good way to increase your employee’s engagement. The thread revolves around various ideas on making such meetings work best for both parties. 9. How can I delegate efficiently? Delegation is one of the most important (if not mission-critical) skills for a manager. However, according to our recent survey on working habits, more than 50% of managers either have trouble sharing work or prefer doing everything by themselves. If this seems to be the case for you, too, don’t miss this thread. 10. How can you run a great meeting? 37 answers – looks like there are plenty of examples and recommendations to learn from! For instance, one of the tips from the top-rated answer is to start every meeting by tackling short and easy topics. 11. What are some creative ways to recognize employee performance? Sometimes just saying “thank you” is not enough, and giving a cash bonus might be beyond your authority. But as you can see from Quorians’ answers here, you just need some imagination to come up with cool new ways to appreciate your workers. And as a bonus… Of course, Quora isn’t only about work. It has lots of threads that are just fun to read while you’re having your morning coffee. For example, here’s a discussion that made us smile: What does it feel like to be a project manager on the Death Star construction site? Did you come across any other inspiring threads or feel like an important management aspect got left out? Don’t hesitate to add to the list!
The Unexpected Benefits of Shaking Up Your Work Routine
Can a routine ever get in your own way? Can you fall into the trap of doing things just for the sake of doing them—whether they benefit you or not? Well, to put it simply, yes. And when it happens, your routine isn’t doing you any favors. Here's why we lean on these predictable systems, plus the unexpected positive effects of shaking things up.
Dos and Don'ts of the Startup Pitch: Expert Advice from 5 Famous Investors
Entrepreneurs are generally confident people, and yet most confess to experiencing tremendous anxiety when it comes to pitching investors. Standing in front of a group of people who can make or break your company and asking them to invest money in your business is an intimidating prospect. How do you start your deck? How long should you present? What kinds of details do you need to include? How do you make a good impression? Well, who better to give advice than the very people you'll be pitching? These 5 serial entrepreneurs and veteran investors outline what you should and shouldn't do when pitching your business: Chris Sacca, veteran VC DO talk about why you are uniquely qualified to follow through on your business idea. What experience or expertise do you have that gives you an advantage over everyone else? What sets you apart from your competitors? DO instill FOMO: "fear of missing out." Most investors have passed up an opportunity that later went on to be profitable, so make them worry they’ll regret it if they pass you up. DO talk endgame. Investors want to know what your plan is for acquisition, ideally in 3-5 years’ time. Give an example of a company that would consider your business an attractive acquisition. DON'T ramble. Keep your pitch short, simple, and specific. You should have a 2-minute version of your pitch that conveys your basic business model, your "unfair advantage," and an exact funding target. You're not trying to raise "between $1.5 - 2 million." You're raising “$1.8 million.” Brian Cohen, Chairman of The New York Angels DO talk about your financial plan. What's your main revenue stream? Discuss why the problem you've identified is profitable, why your solution is viable, and how you're going to make money. DO discuss the market trends that are driving your product. Investors are curious people and want to stay on top of the latest, so satisfy that curiosity and make a good impression by teaching them something new. DON'T be vague when discussing how the investment will be spent. What are you raising money to do, exactly? And why now? Chance Barnett, CEO of Crowdfunder DO find someone in your network who can introduce you to investors (ideally someone with a strong reputation). Send whomever you’re asking to make the introduction a short email blurb with suggested language and a link to your online profile, so they can easily forward it along. DON'T present a series of bullet points. Tell a story instead. Barnett advises all pitches follow this general format: “There is a huge opportunity to do X as a giant business. We’ve cracked the code, and this is how my company is doing it and will dominate this market. Here’s who myself and my team are, and why we’re the only people to back in this space. It’s working, and now we need money for X and Y to grow.” Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder and venture capitalist DO research the investors you're pitching. What businesses have they backed in the past? If you know what they’re interested in, you can tailor your presentation to give them the info they want. DO remember it’s more important for the right people to say yes than for everyone to say yes. Investors can offer more than just money — they can be valuable advisors too. So pay attention to potential investors who are asking interesting questions and are excited about your product, market, and the problem you’re trying to solve. DO show, don’t tell. Instead of saying you understand your customers needs, provide quotes from credible customers. Avoid superfluous adjectives and adverbs like “very.” Hoffman says these words act like a poker tell, signifying points you’re most nervous or unsure about, and that he's more likely to ask probing questions about those key points. So be specific and straightforward. DON’T shy away from areas that are problematic or risky to your business. Just because you don’t address them, doesn’t mean investors won’t see them. And by showing you've already identified and understand potential concerns, you’re building confidence instead of instilling doubt. DON'T end with a generic "Q&A" slide. End with your most important slide, something that you want on screen while you’re answering questions that will linger in investors minds long after the meeting’s over. David Rose, serial entrepreneur & angel investor DO keep it short. Angel pitches should be 15 mins; VC meetings less than half an hour. DO show your integrity, passion, and conviction to succeed no matter what. Investors are backing YOU first and foremost. DO prepare a handout with more detailed information on your business. Just remember: your presentation is not your handout. Your handout should stand alone without you, and give investors the chance to deep dive into what you’ve presented. DON’T read your speech or stare at the screen. You’re trying to connect with investors, not your PowerPoint slides. So make eye contact, pay attention to your body language, and follow good presentation practices. Are you ready for your pitch? Follow these tips to ace your pitch and impress investors. And remember, VCs and angels aren't the only source of startup funding. Check out this infographic for 5 other ways to raise money for your business. Sources: Ted.com, ReidHoffman.org, Forbes.com, Business News Daily, This American Life
Wrike as Marketing Project Management Software
We prepared a video in which our users, Philip and Laura, tell you how Wrike helps them with their marketing project management. Additionally, you will learn how to: create tasks attach files to tasks set the due date of tasks add folders organize tasks in folders delegate tasks to your associates give the responsible party 24/7 access to tasks be notified about changes in tasks and, finally, how to get control and a unique visibility of operations Watch the full-sized video: How a manager plans a Product Launch in Wrike Feel free to ask questions and make comments. We’ll be happy to give you additional details about how you can benefit from Wrike.
New Integration with IBM Connections Presented at IBM Connect in Orlando
This week, the Wrike team is taking part in IBM Connect conference that is held January 27-31 in Orlando, FL, under the motto “Get social. Do business.” We’re proud to let you know about the main reason we’re there: we’ve announced our integration with IBM Connections, the leading social software platform for businesses. This morning, our CEO showcased the new integration at the keynote session of the conference in front of 4,000+ attendees.This week, the Wrike team is taking part in IBM Connect conference that is held January 27-31 in Orlando, FL, under the motto “Get social. Do business.” We’re proud to let you know about the main reason we’re there: We’ve announced our integration with IBM Connections, the leading social software platform for businesses. This morning, our CEO showcased the new integration at the keynote session of the conference in front of 4,000+ attendees. Here's Andrew’s first-hand comment about the exciting news right from the event floor: “The distributed workforce is quickly expanding, so mobility is a No. 1 priority for CIOs these days. One of the core ideas behind our integration with IBM Connections is to make the management of mobile workers better, while making them more productive.” “Making work management software inherently social brings a wealth of benefits, from smooth collaboration to real-time visibility, into the work status. Embraced by Connections, the OpenSocial standard glues enterprise social platforms together, providing a fluid user experience and adding to our connected work graph vision.” So, how exactly does the integration work, and what does it bring to mobile workers? Wrike’s extensive task management features are provided as an embedded experience right in the IBM Connections interface. This will help employees get a clear overview of their responsibilities, focus on the priorities and distribute their efforts between assignments. With Wrike’s real-time project updates embedded right into the newsfeed, visibility into work progress is increased for the whole team. So even if colleagues are working from different offices, cities or countries, they will be able to keep up with the progress, while the management gets a clear picture of the current work status across all projects. Wrike’s Gantt chart, workload view and other features for project management also are accessible in IBM Connections. They will help managers and teams accurately plan and execute those plans, whether they are small task lists or large-scale projects.
Get More Done With Our Updates to Wrike for Microsoft Teams
Along with Microsoft’s announcement of updates to Teams, we’re happy to also announce that we’ve added more capabilities to our integration, expanding your access to and making it easier for you to collaborate on Wrike tasks, right in Teams.
How are Mobile Devices Affecting Work Productivity? (Work Management Roundup)
Welcome back to the weekly Work Management Roundup, where we bring you the latest and greatest reads from around the web in an effort to help you work smarter, not longer. This week, we kick things off with productivity, mobile devices, and team dynamics. Read on! Released: 2016 Mobile Productivity Report (Wrike): Did you know? 44% of workers use their mobile device for work more than 20 times a day. This and more stats regarding how mobile devices affect work productivity are in our 2016 Mobile Productivity Report. Read it! 9 Unexpected Ways to Ramp Up Marketing Productivity (Jeff Bullas): Not just for marketing, by the way. This list of 9 life hacks backed by scientific studies can help you get more done in less time. 5 Things You Should Never Assume About Your Teammates (Todoist): Five hard-learned lessons on what assumptions you should never make regarding your teammates. We especially like #1: Don't assume they use the same tools as you do. Wow, How, Now: Writing a Killer Sales Pitch (Wrike): An effective sales-pitch email is really half of a deal. The goal is to explain why your client needs your product and why he needs it right now. Using three words, “WOW, HOW, NOW,” can make your sales pitch a winner. The Fragmentation Problem (BCS.org): With so many communication options, today's workers are faced with a fragmented workplace where they have to deal with emails chats, document revisions, and more — all living in different systems. 21 Experts Share Growth Strategy Tips for Scaling Up Your Business (Indigenous.io): A group of startup leaders were asked " What advice would you give someone trying to grow and scale his business?" The quotes are gold. More Work Management Reads Think About This: The Difference Between Content Curation and Content Creation (Crate) Help Your Team Manage Stress, Anxiety, and Burnout (Harvard Business Review) How To Save Yourself From Bad Startup Ideas That Look Good (Medium) Go Try This: How to Work With Difficult People [Infographic] (Hubspot) What are the most effective and proven time management techniques? CEO Brian de Haaff's answer (Quora) 15 Uses for Binder Clips in This Four Minute Video (Quartz) A Little Known Hack from Japan to Get Your Notebook/Journal Organized (Highfive) Browse The Work Management Roundup on Flipboard If you use Flipboard on your mobile device, you can check out these links via The Work Management Roundup magazine. View my Flipboard Magazine.
How to Communicate Like Super Bowl Champions
"Concentrate on what will produce results rather than on the results; the process rather than the prize."— Bill Walsh, three time Super Bowl-winning head coach It's Super Bowl season! Time to get out the chips, grab the remote, plop on the couch, and watch some excellent... team communication? Yes, you heard me right. It takes two great teams to make it to the Super Bowl but it takes only one team with excellent communication to win that Lombardi Trophy. Follow these steps to get your team communicating like Super Bowl champions: 1. Understand the Objective In football, the head coach runs communication on the field. He's responsible for explaining the objectives, standards, and expectations of the game. He needs to encourage and inspire as well as discipline and instruct. It's up to the head coach to organize and create a vision for his team to execute. Just as in football, a successful project team needs a leader who can provide a vision and set expectations for the project. As important as it is for the team leader to clearly communicate objectives and expectations, it's just as important for the team to effectively listen. Team players also need to communicate their own feelings and concerns to their team leader so everyone is on the same page. 2. Set a Strategy Developing a strategy is the first step to achieving the team's objective. In football, the head coach and assistant coaches evaluate the competition along with their own team's strengths before coming up with a strategy. Once a plan is in place, it's shared with the team. If there's an injured player, the coach needs to factor that into the plan by moving positions around. Just like football, it's important for team leaders to evaluate their resources before they design the playbook. For example, if a team member has a prior commitment on the day of a presentation, they must communicate that to their team leader. The team leader then needs to factor that into their strategy by shifting the presentation date or choosing a new presenter, and communicating the change to the necessary people. Without this upfront communication, the whole strategy will be ineffective. Having a client communication plan in place is also crucial, to ensure that, once your team are on the same page, that this can be effectively relayed to the customer, and vice versa. 3. Run the Play With the plan set — it's now time to execute. In football, there are several key players involved in running a winning play. Let's look at a common running play: a draw. This play is designed to trick the defense into thinking the offense is about to run a pass play by having the offensive linemen act as if they're going to protect the quarterback in the pocket. Instead, the quarterback drops back, turns, and hands the ball to his running back. Although it sounds straightforward, this play often falls apart due to poor communication. If the running back isn't aware of the play, he won't be ready to receive the hand-off from the quarterback. The important tip here is to make sure that everyone is on the same page. The team needs to not only work together, but also understand the game plan and what their role entails. One way to ensure this accountability is to assign a particular task to each individual and come up with a deadline for when each task needs to be completed. Then, host regular progress meetings to make sure everyone is on track and answer any questions they may have. It's important to maintain communication throughout the entire project. Any gaps in communication could result in someone dropping the ball. 4. Evaluate the Strategy At this point, the question is simple: are we moving forward? In football, moving the ball ten yards forward results in a first down. First down keeps the team on the field, as long as they keep moving forward and achieving first downs. Penalties and incomplete throws are examples of instances where the team loses yards. When this occurs, the strategy needs to change. The head coach will look at where the problems occurred and think of a different plan. This is also a time when the coach will evaluate his team and see what changes he needs to make in the lineup. When evaluating a project strategy, it's important to not only look at the plan but also the team players. Is someone slacking on a particular task? Maybe they don't have as much experience, so it takes them longer to complete their task than the rest of the team? These types of observations should be made as early as possible in order to fine-tune the project plan and responsibilities. 5. Touchdown! Woo hoo! By this point, the vision and goals shared in the beginning have been executed and achieved through effective communication and teamwork. It's important to remember exactly what worked and what didn't when this step is reached. The plans may be different, but the communication can be just as successful. Now let's go watch some football!
Why to Use Google for Work + Wrike: Q&A with Vitalza
Vitalza is a small startup in México in the financial services industry founded in 2015. Their purpose is to improve communities and create synergy by building alliances with universities and associations that will help their clients develop and grow their businesses. We spoke with Bernabé Torre, who runs analytics and technology, about how he uses Google for Work + Wrike as the foundation for their new startup. 1. Tell us about your team and the role it plays in your company. We've been using Wrike for about 6 months, and we're implementing Holacracy management — this means full responsibility for our roles, tasks, and tensions, and the outlining of OKRs for our strategy projects. As part of our Holacracy, I currently have 3 roles: analytics, technologies, and payment gateways. My day-to-day tasks range from support to operations (technologies), creating reports and analyzing information (analytics), and managing as well as looking for more payment gateways. 2. What were the goals that led you to connect Wrike and Google for Work? We are a Google Apps supported company. We use Google Sheets, Docs, and Presentations for our normal day-to-day tasks, Google Drive as our permanent database, and the Google Console for our company users. So a big factor that led us to choose Wrike is that you have almost full compatibility with Google Apps. 3. How have Wrike + Google for Work helped your team reach its goals? Part of our work ethic is that we need to be very transparent, since we are free to assign a task to anyone. Part of this transparency is giving updates, having a record of tasks, and questioning anyone on their progress. So we upload a file to a task from Drive, and then proceed to give a status update in Wrike. It works really well. For our OKRs, we have different projects with important dates and deadlines, and having the tool synchronize with your Google Calendar works perfectly — although having customized Dashboards in Wrike sometimes works even better. Additionally, some of our staff always have Gmail open, so it's way easier for them to reply to a task, give a status update, or even create a task through the Gmail gadget. And last but not least, we use the Wrike Chrome extension to easily create tasks from any webpage. 4. What improvements have you seen since implementing Wrike + Google for Work? It's tricky because we started implementing Wrike and Google Apps simultaneously, right at the birth of our company. At my previous company, we used to have these meetings where we defined projects by writing tasks on Post-its, dividing them by affinity, complementing the tasks, assigning dates and dependencies by hand or sometimes with Microsoft Project. It was all a real pain, and the process took about two sessions of 2-3 hours each. At my current company, we had one OKR meeting a couple of weeks back where we defined the tasks, dependencies, dates, and responsibilities in one session of only 1 hour and 20 minutes! That was crazy considering the size of the project — everyone was very impressed. Your turn: How have you used Wrike + Google for Work to strengthen your business? Share your story in the comments. Wrike also offers a Wrike Google Apps Partner Program for those interested. If you want to learn more about the program, click here.