Meet Redfoo: former member of LMFAO who has since become an independent recording artist and CEO of LaFreak clothing line and Party Rock Records. As a busy musician, he found it difficult to communicate with his team while traveling around the world, and his team had just as much trouble knowing exactly who was responsible for specific tasks.
But since implementing Wrike, Redfoo has seen a total transformation in the way his team works. They're more productive, communicate better, and (most importantly) they have more time to have fun. Here are five of Redfoo's secrets for Wrike success:
Tip #1 - Use Wrike during team meetings
Redfoo keeps his team organized by having everyone open their Wrike accounts during meetings. Each task and every idea goes straight into Wrike as they move through agenda items, so it's clear who's responsible and what the next steps are.
Some ideas:
Brainstorm with your team in Wrike
Add and assign tasks in Wrike while discussing upcoming events, projects, etc.
Share links and upload the latest document versions so everyone has access to what they need
Discuss overdue items with the team to uncover roadblocks and improve processes
Wrike's email integration makes it easy to create and edit tasks on the go. Redfoo uses this tool extensively to turn emails into action items and assign them directly to his team members.
Some ideas:
See your Wrike @mention notifications in your inbox
Reply to comments directly from emails
Capture and categorize important emails by adding them to the proper folder in Wrike
Tip #3 - Keep an ideas folder
As an artist, Redfoo is constantly coming up with ideas for songs, events, and fashion designs. Wrike provides a secure, central location where he can archive every idea even before he decides what he wants to do with it. He knows exactly where to find his ideas and can rest easy knowing that nothing is lost or forgotten.
Some ideas:
Keep an "Ideas" folder to archive your thoughts
Within the folder, create subfolders for better organization
Add any attachments or links associated with the idea so everything stays together
Tip #4 - Use the mobile app to track tasks on the go
Wrike's mobile apps for iOS and Android let Redfoo stay in contact with his team even when he's halfway across the world. He can check project statuses, see the latest updates in his Activity Stream, and discuss progress or leave feedback for his team, minimizing project delays.
Some ideas:
Respond to comments and view the Activity Stream directly from the mobile app
Use your mobile device's camera to attach photos to Wrike tasks
Record voice notes on your mobile device and upload them into Wrike
Tip #5 - Keep all project-related items in one location
Redfoo's goal is to keep all work and ideas in Wrike. "If it's not in Wrike, it doesn't exist!" he says. Keeping everything in one place removes the stress of scouring countless emails and spreadsheets just to find a particular document, comment, or idea. Having all his project data consolidated also makes it easier to look back and see which processes worked and how to streamline.
Some ideas:
"Wrike it down!" Instead of capturing an idea on a post-it or in an email, just put it in Wrike
Duplicate folders and tasks or mark them recurrent to create project templates
Evaluate your process by reviewing completed projects and recording lessons learned
Watch the video interview with Redfoo, where he tells you how he uses Wrike to get work done:
How do you keep your team organized?
What are your tips for keeping your team organized? Tell us in the comments!
Brianna is a former Content Marketing Manager of Wrike. When she’s not writing about collaboration and team building games, you’ll find her in the kitchen testing out the latest recipes, sharing her favorite wine with friends, or playing with her two cats.
Visual Guides for New Users: Getting Managers, Team Members, and Collaborators Up to Speed Quickly
As the number of Wrike's new users grows everyday, we want to ensure that every new user can pick up the key functionalities and hit the ground running as swiftly as possible. After all, the faster you learn how to use Wrike, the more efficiently you can collaborate with your team on all the tasks that need to get done.
We put together three separate Quick Guides to Wrike -- for managers, for team members, and for collaborators -- to make it incredibly easy to begin using the tool. These easy-to-read visual manuals contain screenshots and tips to help you understand Wrike’s features according to your role within the team or project:
A Quick Guide to Wrike for Managers teaches managers and team leaders how to master the tools for progress tracking, reporting, time tracking, planning, and workload allocation. If managers want to ensure the smooth adoption of Wrike among all stakeholders, we recommend they point their employees and collaborators to the other two manuals below.
A Quick Guide to Wrike for Team Members introduces project members to the basics of the workspace and the different views, and includes tips on effectively collaborating on tasks, tracking individual work progress, and optimizing your dashboard widgets.
A Quick Guide to Wrike for Collaborators gives collaborators a brief overview of the workspace, and an introduction to reporting on task progress as well as tracking work progress within Wrike.
For further details on Wrike features described in the guides, such as the dashboard, search, filters, Gantt charts, and more, check the other adoption materials, visit our help section, or watch the video tutorials on Wrike TV.
Wrike Tips
3 min read
Best Practices for Seamless Wrike Adoption from Full-Service Ad Agency
Scott Struber, the VP/Operations of Yamanair Creative, a full-service ad agency, deployed Wrike to his team in March 2012. Scott now runs easily 80% of the business in Wrike, effortlessly collaborating with a team of 20+ spread across the country.
In my conversation with Scott, I asked "If your friend in another company or department was implementing Wrike, what advice would you give her to get up and running quickly?" His response was both insightful and helpful for any new or existing business using Wrike.
Understand your Business Goals
First, make sure you understand what you're trying to accomplish and how Wrike helps achieve that goal. Then, become as well educated about Wrike as possible. Stay aware of what your people need to know and need to do in Wrike. The users need to understand how this will work within the organization and at their team level. Finally, lead by example. You got to use it yourself if you expect others to use it. Be an ambassador for Wrike.
Position for Productivity
Positioning Wrike appropriately is very important. Don’t say, “Here’s something you need to learn.” Instead, roll Wrike out and share, “We found something that’s going to boost our productivity and allow you to move through the day with less stress, and go home without worrying about what you may have missed." Wrike is a tool we use to help make our jobs easier. Put another way, we let the software do the heavy-lifting when it comes to remembering.
Be Firm on Team Adoption
When implementing Wrike, it’s important to be firm about team adoption. As I shared with my team, “If it’s not in Wrike, it didn’t happen.” Not using Wrike was not an option. Simultaneously, encourage and help your people to get past the learning curve and they’ll be happier and more compliant.
Empower your Users
Make sure the users know where to get answers. Wrike offers great support through a variety of channels. Inform and empower your users to be self-sufficient or you’ll end up answering all of their questions.
Ask for Feedback
Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback. Work to figure out how well Wrike is working overall and how it’s working for individual people. Don’t assume the way you set it up is awesome and perfect and the one and only way to do it. Be open and flexible to changing the process. We have revised the work flow many times over, always for the better, and often using suggestions from team members.
Wrike Tips
5 min read
Wrike Adoption Tip of the Month: Find Your Power Users
Adopting a new software can be difficult, but it doesn't have to be. Last month I talked about the importance of habit-building during the initial stages of Wrike adoption. This month, I'll talk about our second Wrike adoption strategy: finding your power users.
Power users are Wrike experts who have learned the ins-and-outs of the software and the accompanying best practices. Because they're comfortable working within Wrike, they can help answer questions from colleagues and provide training for other users in the company.
Not that I'm biased (okay, just a little), but Wrike has one of the most helpful Customer Support teams around, available via 24/5 live chat, email, or phone. Though what would be even more helpful than contacting our amazing Customer Support team is having your own power user in the company. This approach has many benefits:
1. Power Users can Provide Perfectly Customized Help
While our Customer Support team can help answer specific questions about Wrike, we are not necessarily familiar with your team's unique workflow. And since Wrike is a project management software, it's important to be able to customize it to fit your needs.
Since a power user is a part of your team, he or she knows how your team operates. Every answer and explanation they give will be relevant and can focus solely on the essential features for the team's workflow, glazing over features that are less integral. For your other users, it means they won't be overloaded with unnecessary information, and they'll have an easier time learning how to use Wrike.
2. Power Users can Ensure Consistency in the Way Wrike is Used
Because there are so many ways to use Wrike, it's important to have processes in place to ensure consistency in the way your entire team uses it. Power users can put those processes in place.
This approach helps avoid compatibility problems, such as each user setting up his own folder structure or workflow in Wrike, only to find out later on that his folder structure is not compatible with the rest of the team.
3. Power Users can Provide 1x1 Training
Last month I addressed our natural resistance to change. For some users, the thought of learning the ins-and-outs of a new software is unpalatable. They give up before giving Wrike a chance because they don't know how easy and intuitive the tool can be.
In my experience, having someone sit down for five minutes with "resistant" employees to show them how to create folders and tasks is all it takes to demystify the software. This approach is more interactive than watching help videos, participating in newcomer webinars, or attending online training sessions. Face-to-face interactions eliminate communication barriers and facilitate the Q&A experience that comes with learning anything for the first time.
Did you catch our productivity proverbs back in March? Number 9 reads: "Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I’ll understand." With the help of power users, one-on-one training can be more hands-on, making it easier for your employees to adopt and internalize their new Wrike habits.
4. Power Users Spread the Habit
But what if you have a large team and it's just not feasible to do one-on-one sessions with the power user?
As power users train more of the team, some of these newly-trained employees will become power users themselves, armed with the ability to spread their knowledge. This extended network of power users expedites Wrike adoption throughout the company.
If there is a technical support division in your company, it could be helpful to turn your own Customer Support agents into power users so that they can provide ongoing internal support for employees new to the system.
There is no shortage of support material published by Wrike, and you are highly encouraged to take advantage of our resources. But we've found that the most successful Wrike adoption cases are the ones that have power users in their company.
Interested in becoming a power user? Contact our Support team, and we will be more than happy to give you the tools to make your company's Wrike adoption a success!
More adoption tips are on the way. Check out the third post in the series next month: setting defined goals.
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