Read how they are easily planning team projects, scheduling tasks, collaborating on documents, and tracking their group’s progress using integrated Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and communication tools. Featured Use Cases:
- Streamlining Content Development
- Managing Project and Task Intake
- Enabling Project Management and Collaboration
- Advancing Campaign Planning and Delivery
- Improving Cross-Functional Communication
5 Real-world Use Cases to Transform Project Collaboration in Marketing
Content Summary
Plan, Collaborate and Deliver Efficiently
Creativity is Key
Projectplace Benefits Content Management Each Step of the way
Conclusion
Plan, Collaborate and Deliver Efficiently
As time-to-market becomes the benchmark for companies everywhere, the need to deliver customer value rapidly has never been more important. To meet this imperative, marketing teams need tighter collaboration and greater efficiency – all while working against the challenges of global teams and shorter deadlines.
It’s critical for marketers to plan and execute work with a bevy of stakeholders – from sales to senior leadership – if they want to deliver successfully. Enter Planview Projectplace™, the collaborative work management solution that brings teams together to manage projects, improve their efficiency, and get work done.
This eBook features Projectplace use cases told by marketers who use the solution every day. Read how they are easily planning team projects, scheduling tasks, collaborating on documents, and tracking their group’s progress using integrated Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and communication tools.
Featured Use Cases:
- Streamlining Content Development
- Managing Project and Task Intake
- Enabling Project Management and Collaboration
- Advancing Campaign Planning and Delivery
- Improving Cross-Functional Communication
Bring teams together to get work done with Projectplace
- Easy to use
- Great for virtual and distributed teams
- Cloud-based for anywhere access
- Provides effective collaboration and organization
- Manage all work and gain status reporting
- Achieve visibility for teams and stakeholders
Creativity is Key
We’ve all heard that one before, particularly those of us in marketing. For us marketers, developing content can be an arduous process when it involves numerous people, often spread out across different departments. Without a proper collaboration tool, marketing project management can quickly become overwhelming.
As the leader of the content marketing teams, I understand this challenge all too well. Seeing a content idea from conception to publication requires the work of writers, subject matter experts, reviewers, a primary proofreader, and also SEO experts, graphic designers, and developers, depending on the type and length of the content. Overseeing this process means managing all of these people, ensuring each person completes his or her part by a set deadline and remaining flexible if adjustments must be made.
Relying on email and spreadsheets in the past made it challenging for our teams to keep track of numerous content pieces in the works. Once an idea was submitted to a writer, we were left in the dark as to their progress and had to set reminders to follow up when deadlines were approaching. We had to be hyper-organized, and it created a lot of additional busywork. This all changed with Projectplace. To explain the benefits, I’ll walk you through the creation process (we leverage the Kanban boards in Projectplace to establish this workflow).
Projectplace Benefits Content Management Each Step of the way
- Idea generation: With Kanban boards, it’s simple for anyone to create a new card under “new content request,” then assign it to whomever has the bandwidth to write it. We can filter the board by assignee, enabling us to view everyone’s workload and delegate accordingly.
- Writing: Once a card is assigned to a writer or subject matter expert, it is moved to “in progress,” and all communication regarding the content is kept within the card. This way, all relevant information is kept together, rather than spread out in various emails and spreadsheets.
- Editing and review process: Instead of continuously sending drafts to reviewers via email, documents can be uploaded to their specific cards and edited all in one place. No more losing track of the most recent draft. This has been an amazing time saver!
- Meeting deadlines: Each card can have a specific deadline, and we can easily view any that may be lagging or adjust due dates.
- Publishing: The final draft with all edits is easily available when a new piece of content is ready to be published. The card can then be archived, to keep track of past communications regarding the content.
With the use of Projectplace, each aspect of blog management is streamlined and made more efficient. The cards and Kanban board eliminate the need for email and spreadsheets and trust me, they are not missed.
Digital marketing project management can be challenging because we constantly have an ongoing, lengthy to-do list.
We add to the list within our department, but we also receive website update requests from other departments. Our to-do list grows daily and is difficult to manage, with priorities constantly shifting and schedules having to be rearranged.
In the past, we lacked visibility. There wasn’t a single point person who received and organized requests; the expectation was that anything sent to the department would get done immediately, which resulted in chaos. Before getting organized with Projectplace, we used tools that were a lot more complex and not intuitive. It was easy to make mistakes, and it was difficult to track multiple users collaborating on a project.
Now, we use Projectplace daily. Mainly, we use the Plan feature for each sprint. We plan out different subtasks beneath each larger task, so we have something to tie the cards to. Before each sprint starts, the digital marketing managers and I will go through the request board for our department and see what projects we can include in the next sprint. We also look at requests received from other departments and try to fit those in when we can.
Projectplace keeps us organized and on schedule. In My Overview, each of us can see real-time status updates without having to go to each board. We can see everything coming up and past due at a high level. We frequently use the @reference feature to alert staff to updates and information as well as ask questions. This cuts out hundreds of emails and lets us communicate more efficiently with each other.
I especially love the Dependencies feature. It’s often the case that the progress of one card will depend on the completion of another, and Dependencies makes it simple to keep track of each card and how it’s moving along its timeline.
The main tip that helped me in getting started was to make an outline and use the Plan or Roadmaps feature to plan your project. Then you can have a productive kickoff meeting to ensure your team is on the same page. After that, it should be (relatively) smooth sailing!
Our goal in product marketing is to empower our internal teams with the knowledge they need about our organization’s solutions and products.
This includes helping them understand the market, competition, and external forces that affect the way we conduct business.
When you think of sales and project management software commonly used in an organization, you have your usual suspects: a CRM system, email, spreadsheets, and maybe document storage owned by a single person or gatekeeper. We had that same challenge in our sales enablement process: using a variety of tools that were fragmented and disparate. As a result, we had no clue if our team members were accessing and using the right resources to get their jobs done. In product marketing, we have to be organized, and Projectplace has helped us qualify our sales team with materials and market research to give them an edge over the competition.
Projectplace’s Documents feature is our go-to place to organize and keep our internal collateral. Even though my title is “solutions marketing specialist,” I act as our department’s project manager – I often coordinate content updates for sales and marketing materials. I’ll collaborate with a team of subject matter experts using my favorite feature – documents with version management.
Before, it was difficult to keep track of who had the latest edits on documents that we were working on. I’d send a version out for review, it would go back and forth in a long trail of emails, and sometimes those edits would get lost and forgotten among the shuffle. Now I can request a subject matter expert to review and edit a draft, I’ll set a deadline, and Projectplace puts it through process flow, notifying the editor to get it done. I don’t have to hover over anyone that I’ve assigned tasks to – all edit requests are done in one place, finalized, and ready to share. All is good with the world of collaboration!
Team members no longer use outdated materials that they saved on their desktop – they now have access to the most up-to-date documents. They can see exactly the last time a file was updated. I @reference team members to let them know when it’s ready (secretly, I can track to see who’s using it)!
Another favorite Projectplace feature of mine is the ability to work on tasks, see project status, and collaborate on multiple devices. Our field team can be on the road visiting customers, and if they need a particular file, they can quickly pull it up and reference it on the fly within the Projectplace mobile app. The app interface is so user-friendly, too. Imagine the impact that makes!
At the end of the day, I enjoy seeing it all come together when the field team posts in Projectplace’s Conversations about their wins in real-time, and we can celebrate together as a global company.
As a demand-generation marketer, it is my job to get customers excited about our company’s products and services.
The programs I manage through email campaigns and social media create touchpoints with our customers. Project management in demand generation marketing has many challenges, including organizing and planning. If your job includes long- and short-term projects, from the simple to the complex, you can probably relate.
On any given day, I have multiple projects going on that each requires individual attention to detail to be successful, and it can be difficult to keep everything organized and on track. Demand generation also faces the problem of effectively planning campaigns. A campaign often requires multiple activities and tactics, each requiring numerous steps to be created. To be optimally effective, these demand gen activities need to be spaced out over time. Running more than one campaign at once further complicates this, which is why planning is such a challenge.
I use Projectplace to support demand generation activities to keep things organized.
- Organization in Demand Generation: To combat organizational challenges, I’ve created a calendar in the Kanban section, with each card representing an email, webinar, demo, etc., and they are color-coded accordingly. Each card allows me to create a checklist within the card to ensure that all steps get completed. Being able to see everything I’m working on ensures that I don’t miss any tasks and stay on track to complete my deadlines.
- Planning in Demand Generation: I use Projectplace daily when I’m planning email sends. The calendar view I’ve created helps me plan resends and creates consistency in emails, without overwhelming my audience. I can also assign a card to someone, which makes delegating tasks and assigning accountability clear. Once a task is completed, I’m notified, which streamlines the review process.
- How Projectplace compares: Compared to previous software I have used, Projectplace combines its functionality into one. Rather than using multiple disparate tools for planning and task organization, I now only use Projectplace. It makes it easier to keep track of everything when it’s all in one place. I also enjoy the flexibility of Projectplace, as I can get creative and customize my board to work best for my needs. I encourage anyone in demand gen who’s looking to be more organized and effective at planning to try Projectplace.
Often, when cross-functional communication suffers, project deadlines are missed.
So, you can imagine the challenges are compounded when those people you need to communicate with are also geographically dispersed. Projectplace improves communication by breaking down these silos.
Improving Cross-Functional Communication
Before Projectplace, our marketing department used email and scheduled a lot of face-to-face meetings to collaborate and share information with extended team members. Once a meeting was over, we had to manage all the files and details from our laptops and via email. If we needed to collaborate on content or a creative piece, we sent it via email, then had to track who had the last edited version or had to consolidate changes into a fresh document. The collaboration was slow, as some people responded via email, while others didn’t. We couldn’t easily know who still needed to provide feedback. We knew there had to be a better way.
We now have a Projectplace workspace dedicated to fostering communications with solutions marketing and our extended marketing team members in Europe. Together we plan, collaborate, and execute on different marketing activities including content development, events, webcasts, and more, so we are all in sync with what we intend to deliver. The global demand gen team, for example, can then leverage efforts done at headquarters and localize activities and campaigns to create demand globally. One thing I love about Projectplace is its versatility. If I have a special project, I can create a dedicated workspace for the initiative and invite others to participate and collaborate.
Together we plan, collaborate, and execute on different demand generation activities including content development, events, webcasts, and more, so we are all in sync with what we intend to deliver.
Projectplace allows us to communicate upcoming and new marketing activities to the global field, inside sales teams, and solutions marketing. Social features allow everyone to see, “like,” and ask questions on announcements related to the campaigns we are running in one place – no more digging through emails. Our communications are front and center on the conversations tab.
Document management is also easy in Projectplace. As part of our campaign communication, we use the document management feature to alert the subject matter experts when it is time to collaborate on a document. As a best practice, we upload shared documents to the documents tab so that 1) there is a source file, and 2) it improves the document management experience. We can then link the document to a card directly from the documents section, so if any changes are made, there is only one version.
For me, two features help improve cross-functional communication the most. First: Breaking out tasks into cards on the Kanban board. I love seeing what needs to get done in cards and who is assigned to them. This helps everyone in the workspace see who owns what – and it creates accountability. Second: If you see a roadblock with a card or simply have a question for the owner, the ability to ask questions on a given card is amazing. The owner receives a notification and can communicate quickly to stay on track. I find people are very responsive to comments and feedback in Projectplace. And if other people need to be brought into the conversation, there is a history – so you don’t need to have a meeting to explain the matter. Having a communication chain captured in the card speeds up progress and saves everyone’s time.
Conclusion
The use cases presented in this eBook are just some of the ways your organization can use Projectplace for marketing teams and their ecosystem of inter-dependent stakeholders. While the applications are endless, there are several common denominators across these marketers. They are no longer burdened and held back by email, disparate tools, and spreadsheets. Because Projectplace is extremely userfriendly and intuitive, everyone got up to speed on the solution quickly. They now lead with confidence and deliver strong results for both internal stakeholders and customers through advanced visibility, communication, and collaboration.
Beyond marketing, the Projectplace’s wide range of capabilities provides a seamless solution for anyone in your organization – as well as external team members – to leverage regardless of responsibility, title, department or location. Teams in every industry and function across the globe are using Projectplace – from small workgroups to large enterprises. Projectplace is ideal for multidisciplinary, virtual teams who must collaborate on everything from regulatory compliance to creating today’s complex, digital products and services
Source: planview
