WWW… Wednesday! Wrike

Wrike is a project management tool focused on visibility, flexibility, and collaboration. It utilizes the standard kanban board style of dashboard while automating some of project management’s biggest time sinks. By giving project management teams the ability to create project request forms, Wrike streamlines the process of beginning new projects. Business partners can use these forms to submit project proposals to the company, and they will appear in their own designated portion of the dashboard.

Project request forms can be customized to include any necessary details so the project management team has a clear idea of expectations and specifics before accepting the job. Not only does this cut down on the time wasted in the usual back and forths to iron out the details of a project, but the form serves as a centralized reference for the team should the project be accepted.

From here, Wrike’s workload overview can be used to see each team member’s schedule at a glance so the project can be assigned to individual managers based on availability. Upon acceptance, the request becomes a project and moves to the kanban board for tracking each project’s progression toward completion. Team members who have been assigned the task receive a notification and can begin work.

Project managers can flesh out the projects with specifics using tags and labels to provide any additional info before dividing the project into its necessary tasks. Similar to the larger project umbrella under which they fall, these tasks can be further refined with due dates, assignees, and the department responsible.

Projects serve as a single source of truth for the whole team to refer back to throughout the process. As a project progresses, any accumulated files can be attached to this original project along with any comments and updates from team members or management. The timeline view provides a convenient overview of the project as a whole for team members to keep track of tasks and due dates, while project managers can use them to track the progression of the project and make any adjustments necessary to ensure deadlines are met.

The timeline overview also gives teams the ability to view task dependency, something that is less easy to visualize using a table. Tasks that depend upon the completion of other tasks first are displayed in a sequence that allows for easy adjusting. Moving the endpoint of one task will automatically adjust the start point of any task that depends on it.

Wrike also features templates for common project types which can be used to cut down on repetitive tasks. Templates are also useful for those uncommon project types that come along every once in a blue moon, to ensure their specific requirements aren’t overlooked.

Wrike is free to use. You can learn more and try it out here.