Make large projects easier to manage with Work Groups in inMotion ignite.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed when looking at a task list for a project? Even relatively small projects can feel daunting when you are confronted with that full task list. An easy way to make that list feel more manageable is to combine all those individual tasks into groups of like with like.
What should those group be? The variety is endless, so your team can find what works for them on each project. And don’t fear experimentation. inMotion ignite allows you to easily add and delete groups, rename groups, and use drag-and-drop functionality to move individual tasks in and out and between groups, or to re-order entire groups.
Here are a few ways to group your work to get you started.
Phase
When you are working on projects that span a longer time range it can be useful to divide the work by the phase of the project. This strategy can be used either linearly, for projects where a “phase 1” must be completed or approved before moving on to “phase 2” or for projects with distinct groups of work that can run in parallel before a final phase of bringing the full project together. Work groups can allow your team to organize work to clearly see any dependencies in the project.
Type
Large campaigns often involve multiple types of work. These “types” really can be whatever works best for your team, but the objective is to group similar kinds of work together so it’s easy to see how the project breaks down, and where more resources might be needed. For example, one way to break down a typical creative project is the copywriting and the visual design. In the first group you can include all the tasks that require copywriting, and in another you can parse out the tasks that call for visual design. You could also break out promotion of the project within workgroups: a group for social, email, paid search, etc. Organizing projects by type makes it easier for the project manager to ensure that enough resources are allocated to each type of work.
Person Responsible
When there are multiple team members assigned to a single project, grouping work by who is assigned to each task can provide clarity for each individual team member. This grouping also gives project managers a snapshot view of how tasks are distributed among team members, and whether the best person is assigned to each task. Grouping work by person responsible makes it easy for individual team members to see their portion of larger projects.
Work Groups are a flexible way for teams to apply custom organization to their projects. Don’t forget, you can use different forms of grouping for different projects, you don’t have to stick to just one. By grouping work in a way that is intuitive for how your team works you can increase visibility for both team members and project managers, provide clarity around task assignments, and make large project easier to digest.
Elise Hauser is a product and content marketer with a passion for telling brand stories. She has produced inMotionNow’s annual In-House Creative Management Report for 3 years, webinars, content sessions for major industry events reaching audiences of 1,000+, and of course, countless blog posts. When Elise isn’t writing about the marketing and creative industry at inMotionNow she is teaching economics and hanging out with her cat, Tucker, at her home in Raleigh, NC.