The 3 Most Effective Principles To Encourage Your Team's Creativity
“Have fun, create and inspire” – that’s how we describe our work at Realmdigital, a software solution provider. Software development is by definition an area for innovative and creative minds. Nevertheless, it’s not an easy thing to keep coming up with great new ideas in the day-to-day routine. That’s why in our work we follow several important principles that help us keep a fresh look at what we’re doing. If your team works in the creative environment, as well, I presume these principles will work for you, too.“Have fun, create and inspire” – that’s how we describe our work at Realmdigital, a software solution provider. Software development is by definition an area for innovative and creative minds. Nevertheless, it’s not an easy thing to keep coming up with great new ideas in the day-to-day routine. That’s why in our work we follow several important principles that help us keep a fresh look at what we’re doing. If your team works in the creative environment, as well, I presume these principles will work for you, too. Aim for clients as adventurous as you are Simply being a company that builds everyday “vanilla solutions” is not a challenge for us. That’s why we are looking for customers that have the same spirit as we do. There are different companies among our clients – large corporations like Nivea, Motorolla, and Jeep, and really small businesses. What they all have in common is the desire to explore the new technologies and to try something different. It’s challenging and inspiring to work with people who have ambitious goals, such as being pioneers in the digital space and getting the best results from the online market. This makes us try our best to help them achieve these goals. First comes the right idea; then comes the right technology to implement it The most fascinating things in software development are ideas. The technologies only exist to help us implement them. Others pay a lot of attention to the technical requirements right from the beginning, but in my opinion, this kills the creativity in the project. We believe that in software development, everything is possible, and we always start by making our customer believe it, too. With this vision, together we can come up with really groundbreaking ideas and then find the best technologies to implement them. Collect as many ideas as you can The more people who participate in the brainstorming, the more great ideas we get! That’s why we are eager to involve our clients in the development process at any stage, if they want to be involved. Wrike’s backlog feature works great for our brainstorming. We keep logging all of the ideas our team and our clients suggest into Wrike project management software, and then every month we prioritize them with our clients for the next delivery cycle. And as we try to test ideas in action in the very early stages, even if one of them doesn’t work, we minimize the cost of this mistake. This way, we are able to find new, efficient solutions and make sure they work in the fast-changing digital market. And Wrike’s flexibility helps us a lot here! Also, check the videocast with Simon from our YouTube channel for more details: Do you have more ideas on how to maintain a creative environment for your team? “Unlike other project management solutions that we tried, Wrike has a very flexible structure that perfectly fits our workflow. During our daily meetings, we instantly see what has been done and what is planned to do on the timeline and can reprioritize our goals if something may potentially hold the project back. It makes us very agile, while everyone always stays on the same page – that’s just brilliant!” Simon Bestbier, CEO at Realmdigital Realmdigital believes that software development can be as interesting as design. They specialize in opening the opportunities of digital markets for their clients, which vary from large corporations to small businesses.
7 Product Management Best Practices for Beginner PMs
Product management is no walk in the park. Part strategist, part analyst, part marketer, part business executive, the product manager balances business objectives with customer needs to create innovative products that users love. The best product managers are constantly learning and improving the way they work. If you’re just starting a career in product management or just want to understand more about the role, these seven best practices and product management glossary, collected from product management experts on Quora, provide some important insights into the art and practice of product management. Product Management Best Practices to Live By 1. Understand Company Goals How does your company measure success? How does the product strategy support overarching business goals and objectives? Who are your ideal customers, and what need is your product meant to address? Take the time to understand what matters most to executives and stakeholders (including users!) and align with them whenever possible. 2. Dialogue with Customers Current customers and users are your greatest resource. After all, what’s the point of developing an amazing product if no one wants to use it? Many of your active customers will be happy to tell you which features they use and enjoy the most, and which are thorns in their sides. Their insights are critical to understanding your product’s true value—and developing a proper product management roadmap. Conduct user testing or run a short survey to learn how customers interact with your product, try heat mapping software to see how users are interacting with your site, and gather feedback whenever possible. 3. Tap Your Sales and Support Teams' Knowledge Your sales team is in constant communication with potential customers, and therefore has valuable insights into market landscape, your product’s specific strengths and weaknesses, and the problems customers are trying to solve when they come to your product. Similarly, your support team understands better than anyone how current customers are actually using the product—not how you think they should use the product. Sit in on support calls to uncover the most common issues, complaints, and questions your team is fielding and learn which aspects of your product you need to prioritize. 4. Use the Product! You've heard the saying, "Eat your own dog food." This may seem obvious, but you need to get hands-on and use your product every day. How is the trial experience different than the paid product? Which features work well on mobile, and which don’t? How intuitive is the UI? How often do you encounter a bug or glitch? You should know your product better than anyone. 5. Analyze Other Products Think about the products and websites you use and love: what makes them so great? How do they design registration or trial sign up pages? What is the checkout process like? If you've had a bad experience, what made it so awful? Keep your eyes open and compile a so-called "swipe file" of ideas and inspiration to inform your own product management strategies. 6. Plan, Execute, Iterate Use all the information and insights you’ve gathered by doing the above to define your long-term vision for the product, and then break that vision down into iterations of developing, executing—and applying OKRs for product managers to improve and define the next iteration. Doing so will help you determine which features and capabilities to prioritize in the next release (and be able to justify that prioritization to executives and stakeholders). 7. Connect with Peers in the Product Management Community Plugging into online communities is a great way to stay up to date on industry trends and best practices, expand your network, and learn from senior product managers with decades of experience. LinkedIn groups like the Product Management Networking Group and Product Development & Management Association, the Product Management category on Quora, and the Product Manager HQ Slack community are all excellent resources for learning and connecting with other product management professionals. Want to Start a Career in Product Management? What does a product manager do every day, exactly? How do you get your foot in the door? What resources are available to help prospective product managers succeed? What are common product management tools and business process mapping software? If you’re interested furthering your product management education, check out our crash course introduction to the field: Product Management 101: How to Become a Product Manager Further Reading: What Is Product Management? 12 Things Product Managers Should Do in Their First 30 Days at a New Company Transitioning into Product Management The Product Management Field Guide 20 Must-Read Books for Product Managers & Product Marketers
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
The History of the Word 'Hack' (Infographic)
Odds are, the word hack immediately brings to mind either cybercrime and stolen passwords or tech shortcuts and everyday timesavers. But did you know the word's history stretches far back into the middle ages, centuries before computers and the internet? It first appears as early as the year 1200, meaning "to cut roughly, with chopping blows." So how did a word that originated with hewing down trees become so entwined with modern tech? Discover the fascinating history in our latest infographic: Share this infographic on your own site by copying and pasting this embed code: Infographic brought to you by Wrike Read next: Origin of the Hashtag in Social Media (Infographic)
Product Launch Success: Using Wrike to Connect Marketers and Developers
Launching a new product is a huge undertaking, with the future of the business often riding on its success. You need every team pulling together to coordinate efforts and prevent costly mistakes. Efficient collaboration is essential, especially between two key teams: developers and marketing. Developers to listen to customer feedback and build the ideal solution, and marketers and their marketing program manager to speak to customer needs and capture their interest. Yet getting these two very different teams on the same page can be extremely difficult. They have different processes, priorities, and oftentimes, communication preferences. And if these departments aren’t in the same office, things only get more complicated. Enter Wrike’s project management tool. Breaking Down Barriers Between Teams With a major product launch on the horizon, marketers and developers are both hard at work. The development team is putting in overtime building features, testing code, and squashing bugs, and marketing is tirelessly preparing campaign materials and ensuring they have an accurate, up-to-date picture of the end product. Both teams are sending a volley of emails and files back and forth, and attending a slew of meetings to share status updates that are often out of date as soon as the meeting ends. It’s inefficient, important emails are easily buried, and teams waste time working with outdated information until the next status meeting. Instead of scrambling to stay up to speed, give your marketing and development teams a shared, real-time workspace where they can collaborate without so much time and effort. With Wrike, each team can see what their colleagues are doing and where in the process they are without sending emails or attending time-consuming meetings. Everyone has access to the information, resources, and people they need in one spot, so nothing stands in the way of the best possible product launch. 4 Ways to Get Your Team on the Same Page 1. Shared Custom Dashboards Clear priorities are a must for delivering products on time. Set up a custom Dashboard for your product launch and share it with everyone involved. It's easy to keep tabs on where critical tasks stand and who's responsible for what by glancing at your widgets. 2. Subtasks Link interdepartmental tasks for better organization and coordination between teams. Create a subtask for a press release or brochure that's attached directly to the main feature task so your marketing team has the latest details and can always see its current status. Or, use Wrike’s Zapier integration to automatically create a new task whenever an issue or feature is created in Jira. Your marketing team will always have the latest updates and accurate details without having to interrupt developers. 3. @Mention User Groups Use the @Mention feature to send instant notifications with requests for feedback, instruction, or approval to individual teammates or entire user groups. A developer can @mention the entire marketing team to notify them of a delayed release or an important new feature in a matter of seconds. All @mentions and new assignments are collected in each user's notification center, so nothing gets overlooked. 4. Custom Workflows Every company has its own optimal processes, which is why it's important to use a flexible tool that supports how your teams work. Create custom workflows in Wrike to take tasks and projects all the way from initial development to launch. Handoffs between developers and marketing are as simple as a few mouse clicks, since teammates can simply update a task to pass it on to the next stage in the workflow. Keep Teams Connected with Wrike Wrike makes it easy for all your teams to work together to launch products faster, decrease time to market, and increase market share. With a real-time, collaborative workspace, everyone can see what their teammates are doing and can easily align efforts for improved communication, greater efficiency, and ultimately, a growing business. See how Wrike can tap your team’s potential by starting a free trial.
The Complete Guide to Scrum Ceremonies
Two cornerstones of the Scrum framework for project delivery are adaptability and accountability. Scrum ceremonies, sometimes referred to as Scrum rituals, enable Scrum teams to remain nimble as they move through the project life cycle. Scrum ceremonies are also where team members hold themselves accountable for their contributions to the project. In this complete guide to Scrum ceremonies, we’re taking an in-depth look at the five unique events that comprise the Scrum framework. We’ll also explore the different Scrum meeting types and offer tips for getting your team more invested in these rituals. What is Scrum? Before we dive into the specifics of Scrum ceremonies, let’s clarify what Scrum is in the first place. Scrum is a clearly defined project management framework that follows the principles of the Agile manifesto. Agile is often mislabeled as a project management framework or process, but this isn’t the case. Agile is more like a philosophy for guiding product development and other complex or highly fluid projects. Essentially, Agile is all about working in shorter time frames and coming together frequently as a team to review what’s been done and make necessary adjustments. Agile is an iterative approach to project management designed to avoid the dilemma of reaching the end of a project and realizing that you veered off course weeks (or even months) ago. The Scrum framework adheres to these Agile principles by implementing short, set intervals of work called sprints. Sprints typically run for two weeks. At the end of each sprint, the Scrum team comes together to evaluate its output and make needed course corrections. Additionally, Scrum calls for several special meetings throughout the sprint. These meetings are referred to as “ceremonies” or “rituals,” and each type has a particular purpose. What are the five Scrum events and Scrum meeting types? Five distinct events make up a Scrum sprint, four of which are meetings, also known as ceremonies or rituals. The four Scrum ceremonies are: Sprint planning Daily Scrum Sprint review Sprint retrospective The sprint itself is also considered a critical Scrum event, where the rubber meets the road, and the actual project work gets done. Let’s take a closer look at each of the four sprint ceremonies and how they fit into the overall Scrum framework. 1. Sprint planningAs its name implies, the sprint planning ceremony takes place before the sprint commences. This meeting is used to map out the scope, goals, and any issues or concerns for the upcoming sprint. During the sprint planning ceremony, the team determines which items in the project backlog they will work on during the sprint. Key elements of the sprint planning ritual include: Defining the scope of the sprint Establishing which tasks will be tackled and who on the team will be responsible for them Setting concrete goals for the sprint, including deadlines for completion and metrics to determine success Addressing potential roadblocks, issues, or scheduling conflicts that might interfere with the sprint Ensuring that the plans get logged and scheduled in your project management software or tracking system to monitor progress and maintain accountability When it comes to sprint planning, you’ll want to be mindful of any holidays, special events, or individual days off that may affect the delivery or completion of certain tasks. Sprints typically last two weeks, which allows you just 10 workdays to accomplish the goals you’ve set for the sprint. Additionally, risk management should always play a role in the sprint planning ceremony. Scrum teams are not immune to unforeseen delays and hangups, so make sure to factor in these possibilities when planning.2. Daily ScrumThe daily Scrum, also called the daily stand-up, is a short daily meeting in which each team member delivers a brief status update. These meetings are intentionally short and sweet, ideally taking only 15 minutes and no more than 30 at the most. The daily Scrum helps ensure that everyone is progressing with their tasks as scheduled and that issues or roadblocks are being addressed. The daily Scrum ceremony should be laser-focused on the following four points: What has been accomplished so far What’s currently being worked on What’s up next Any obstacles or problems preventing progress The daily Scrum must not turn into an in-the-weeds discussion. Otherwise, you risk spending too much of the workday talking rather than being productive. It’s the Scrum master’s job to keep this ceremony on track. If a team member has an issue that needs further attention, schedule some time outside of the daily Scrum to address it. 3. Sprint reviewThe sprint review is the first of two post-sprint ceremonies. Because Scrum was originally designed as a software development framework, each sprint was meant to produce a shippable increment of work, such as a new feature. During the sprint review, that new feature is demonstrated and feedback solicited from managers and stakeholders. Scrum has since been adopted by project teams across multiple industries and disciplines outside of IT. However, the concept of the sprint remains the same: to produce a specific and defined outcome. The sprint review is when that outcome is demoed or presented to stakeholders for comments and feedback. 4. Sprint retrospective The sprint retrospective is the second ceremony to take place after a sprint has been completed. It’s also the final ceremony of the Scrum process. During the retrospective ritual, the Scrum team reviews its processes to determine what can be improved in subsequent sprints. Remember, the Agile philosophy calls for consistent assessment and improvement. To that end, the sprint retrospective ritual is one of the most critical of the entire Scrum framework. Why are Scrum ceremonies beneficial to projects? If there’s one thing employees do not want any more of, it’s meetings. Team members spend an average of 21% of their time meeting with coworkers and managers. To make matters worse, those workers feel that 25% of that time is wasted. When meetings are unstructured and unfocused, it only leads to frustration. Scrum ceremonies, on the other hand, are highly structured and focused. But what is the most important Scrum ceremony? Well, each Scrum ritual has a distinctly defined purpose: to set expectations, facilitate effective collaboration, and drive measured results. Scrum ceremonies provide the framework for teams to complete their work in a disciplined, orderly manner, as well as to continually refine their processes and sharpen their skills. How do you get your team enthused for Scrum rituals? As we’ve seen, each Scrum ritual has a specific purpose, unlike ad hoc meetings that workers are often involuntarily roped into. That doesn’t mean that your team will always be bursting with excitement at the thought of yet another daily Scrum. Even if they’re not necessarily enthused, your team members should be willing participants at each Scrum ceremony. When workers feel that their contributions truly matter and they own their work, enthusiasm often follows. Here are a few tips you can use to help instill a sense of ownership in your team. As the Scrum master, don’t look at your team members during the meeting. Instead, keep your eyes on your notepad or keyboard as you take notes. This is a sort of psychological hack that will force your team members to look at each other as they deliver their daily updates, rather than looking at you and feeling like they are simply reporting to their manager. Another simple “hack” for signaling that the meeting truly belongs to the team is to arrange the ceremony in a circle, then slowly step out of it. At first, workers will likely still want to look at you as they report, but they’ll quickly realize that they are running the ceremony and reporting to one another. Instead of asking, “What have you done?” or, “What do you expect to complete today?”, focus your questions on the sprint’s goals. For instance, you could ask, “Are you confident that the team can reach its sprint goal?” or, “Is it clear what needs to be done today for us to reach our goals?” How to organize your Scrum rituals with Wrike Organizing and managing your Scrum rituals is much easier with the proper tools in place. Wrike provides several templates and tools to help streamline your Scrum ceremonies. You can access performance metrics, assign action items, monitor progress, and keep all your files and data in one centralized location. Wrike empowers Scrum teams to collaborate more effectively and maximize each sprint. Ready to make the most of your next Scrum sprint? Start your free two-week Wrike trial today!
Version Tracking for Files
We have improved the file-sharing system in Wrike, so you can now track versions of files attached to tasks and project folders. As you know, Wrike project management software lets you attach any kind of files to tasks and folders, so that everyone on the team knows the latest version of specifications, agreements, brochures, logos, etc. When you work on a document together with your peers, each participant can contribute by uploading a new version. To make version-tracking for files more convenient for you, we moved files to a special tab in the task and folder details. “Files” tab Now, when you click on the “Edit task” or “Edit folder” link, you see the new “Files” tab. The number in the tab name shows you how many files are attached to the task/folder. Different versions of the same file are not counted separately. In the “Files” tab you can attach new files (1), upload new versions of files (2) and download files by clicking on the file name (3). The newest version of a file is typed in larger font and placed at the top of the list of files (4). Previous versions are listed below with the information about who and when uploaded the file. Uploading a new file version To upload a new version of a file, click on the “Upload a new version” link near the appropriate file (5) and select a file to upload as a new version. You can also add a file description when necessary. Then hit the “Upload file” button. When you upload a new version, Wrike automatically renames the file to follow the original file’s name to avoid any confusion.
Agile Project Management vs. Process-oriented: Why Not Both? (Video)
Agile project management is all about breaking free of rigid, step-by-step processes and shaking off that old "How We Do Things Here" so you can embrace creativity and ingenuity. Throw those dusty, outdated process manuals out the window! Right? Not so fast. As our productivity coach Errette Dunn explains, the Agile project management triangle still requires clearly defined processes. In this 5-minute video, Errette discusses: the key difference between Agile and improvisation how you can be more Agile with the right process how to use your current process to keep from reinventing the wheel & make your team more efficient Watch the video now: Ultimately, the proper mindset is key. Always be conscious about the way you work so you can recognize opportunities for improvement. Related Reads:8 Attitudes Guaranteed to Sink Your Agile ProjectsIs Agile Viable for Marketing Teams?The 7 Wastes that Cripple Knowledge Workers (Video)
Accurately Manage Your Backlog by Email and Table View
We finished 2010 with unveiling a couple of very helpful new project management features: the add-in for Outlook 2010 and the ability to export filtered task lists to Excel. In this post, we’ll introduce the first updates of 2011 that many of you were suggesting to Wrike’s support team. Whenever you get a valuable project idea that doesn’t have to be realized in a fixed timeframe, you can instantly add it to your project backlog in Wrike without even leaving your inbox. To create a backlogged task via email, add the tag [backlog] in the subject of the message that you send to [email protected]. It's important to have a reliable internet connection in case you need to access Wrike remotely, so be sure to have your instructions on how to check work email from home ready. If you want to create backlogged tasks often, Wrike project management software offers you another handy solution. You can simply adjust your account settings so that any email you send to Wrike without specifying a date turns into a backlogged task. To do so, click on the “Account” link in your project management workspace and go to the Personal profile tab. On that page, you can choose how you want Wrike to process emails with no date tags – either create one-day tasks for today, or add these tasks to the backlog. If you choose to create backlogged tasks by default, you can still add one-day tasks for today by adding the date to the email subject in the following format: MM/DD-MM/DD (or DD/MM-DD/MM if you have this date format set as the default in your account). Another significant addition to Wrike’s scheduling functionality is that backlogged tasks are now reflected in the table view, as well as the list view. The new column in the table view – duration – lets you get a more accurate picture of your plans. By the way, you can easily move the columns by dragging and dropping them to adjust the table view to your preferences. We hope these features will help you build agile plans and manage your tasks productively in 2011!
Wrike and GitHub: Collaborative Coding Gets Much Easier with Wrike’s API
Update 12/16/2014: We are happy to announce the release of our API v.3 with better functionality and feature support for developers. Unfortunately, this update means the integration with GitHub is no longer supported. You can still use Zapier to connect Wrike with GitHub. If you have any questions, please contact our Support team. Many software teams use services such as Github for collaborative coding. These services are a great help when it comes to sharing code repositories, collaborating on them together, and syncing developers’ efforts. However, project managers of teams using Github often don’t have special tools for keeping projects on track and reporting the progress. LiveNinja solved this problem with a single ninja throwing star: they combined Github’s social coding environment with Wrike’s strong project management features. With the help of Wrike’s API, they now automatically transfer every task they create in Github to Wrike, allowing them to organize their work in a more productive way. Let’s take a look at their smart solution! Two Tools, One Up-to-Date Picture LiveNinja builds and maintains a platform that allows users to find experts in any field - everything from cooking to law to graphic design. Despite daily stand-up meetings, maintaining transparency with a growing team soon became a real pain. Team members couldn’t quickly review up-to-date plans and couldn’t always keep track of current priorities in ever-growing Github task lists. Besides, there was no smooth way to sort overdue tasks or tasks completed during a certain time period. “At some point we realized that instead of a clear project picture, we just had a daunting list of never-ending issues,” says Emilio Cueto, Chief Technology Officer at LiveNinja. To get their work more organized, the team started using Wrike as it had all the features they needed. And in order to avoid the redundancy of logging tasks in both tools, they used the Wrike API to unite both tools. Now whenever someone creates a new task, adds a comment or completes the task at Github, the changes are automatically reflected in Wrike. How LiveNinja Benefits from the Integration Here’s how LiveNinja’s project management changed for the better after integrating Wrike and Github: 1. Easy prioritization of bugs and urgent issues Prior to integration, every new bug that was added to the already sizable list of bugs (each one needing to be fixed right away!) got labeled “Urgent,” “Priority,” or “Critical.” The list of all these urgent bugs had grown too big to handle in a standard list format within Github. After integration, LiveNinja now tags all issues according to their importance in Wrike (e.g. with standard labels P0, P1, and P2), and then prioritizes each list. This way, they have a clear understanding of which bug to tackle next. 2. Instant access to an up-to-date roadmap Wrike’s interactive timeline is irreplaceable for planning new features and important milestones. While the team’s manager creates dependencies between related tasks and quickly adjusts current plans, Wrike ensures the team is automatically notified about all changes. 3. Comprehensive insight into the team’s progress Custom reports are a great time saver for Emilio Cueto. They enable him to sort any data he needs for evaluating the team’s progress in mere seconds using filters such as: completion date, particular team member, or tag (e.g. browser version, particular feature, etc.). Suddenly, LiveNinja could look at their task list and Gantt charts and quickly find answers to questions such as: “Will this next release be on-time?” or “When is it feasible to start planning that new feature we have been talking about?” In a nutshell, the integration allowed developers and project managers to enjoy the best of both worlds: the code collaboration platform of Github and the project management tools of Wrike. Get the Code If the integration code sounds interesting to you, you can get the files here. LiveNinja is open to any improvements to the code suggested by other Wrike users. And if you decide to use it, don’t forget to send a thank-you tweet or a Facebook message mentioning #LiveNinjaDotCom. Thanks, LiveNinja, for sharing your code with the Wrike community and helping to make life better for other Github and Wrike users!