Wrike Customer Q&A: Advice Interactive Group
We spoke with Advice Interactive Group about their experience using Wrike. This Inc. 500 digital marketing technology company shared how they came across Wrike and how the tool has helped them meet their goals. They specialize in local SEO, website design and development, content development, paid media and advertising, and social media. They can do everything from building and launching custom websites to writing blog content, and they've helped over 1 million companies nationwide improve their online visibility. Their company is composed of 50 employees and multiple teams of contractors, all using Wrike! 1. Tell us about your team and the role it plays in your company. Every department in our company uses Wrike, and each department head uses its organizational structure a little differently. We have folders set up for each client and then folders set up per project under those folders. That's where we keep all the day-to-day tasks, and we can quickly and easily attribute different work to different projects, set timelines, set recurring tasks, etc. 2. What were the goals (or problems you faced) that led you to Wrike? We had problems with scaling projects, time management, task management, and team/contractor communication and collaboration. We tried Basecamp, Trello, Google Drive, and Dropbox. Wrike combines the best of all those software solutions and puts it all on one place. 3. How has Wrike helped your team reach its goals? We have a lot of moving parts and a lot of different teams working on projects. Wrike has been the best solution for us to easily manage project timelines, monitor task completion, and effectively communicate with different members of our team. 4. What improvements have you seen since implementing Wrike? We've been able to scale projects very quickly and easily. I could launch 300+ projects a day by taking advantage of Wrike's ability to create task dependencies and duplicate tasks and subtasks. It's easy to manage both internal and external teams for task completion. The Wrike interface is user friendly and it's simple to create different dashboards to monitor team members' work. I have over 40 teams I can oversee with ease. How are you using Wrike to power your productivity? Share your story in the comments.
Tips and Tricks: How to Create Favorite Folders in Wrike
Even though you have dozens of folders and subfolders in your workspace, most likely you use only some of them on a regular basis. If this is the case, you may want to pick out the most important items and keep them in a separate folder named “Favorites.” In your Wrike workspace, it will take you only a few mouse clicks to make that happen! First, create a folder called “Favorites” wherever you want. We believe that the most convenient solution would be to create it right in your parent folder. Now you can add your most important project folders to your Favorites folder. To do it, just open them one by one in your workspace,then go to "Folder info and click on the "+" button underneath the folder title. Type in "Favorites" and hit "Enter". That’s it! These project folders will instantly appear in your Favorites folder, and you won't need to scroll down the folder tree and unfold them one by one to find the specific one you need. You can do the same with some of your tasks and enjoy fast and easy access to the most important items in your workspace. Your Favorites folder will be visible only to you, unless you decide to share it with someone. As always, when you include an item in several folders in Wrike, it is still the same task or folder, not a copy. So any change you make to a task or folder in your Favorites folder will be instantly applied to this item in all other locations. We hope that today’s tip will help you keep the most important project information close at hand. Do you have your own tips and tricks to share with other users? Leave a comment to this post!
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Why We Complain About Work & How To Stop
Researchers say we complain about 15 to 30 times a day, and a lot of those complaints are about our job. Why do we complain about work? Let's take a look at what complaining is, why you do it, and how to get past it to lead a more positive life.
Creative Block? 5 Surprising Ways to Spark Creativity
There it is. That blank sheet of paper. Or a blank Word doc with the blinking cursor. Or blank Wrike task. It’s daunting to think about that deadline due in two days, or two hours, or 24 hours... you can feel the panic creeping in. You're in desperate need of a creativity boost, and it's not coming from your marketing collaboration tools. Forcing a creative state feels downright impossible. When you're in the zone, the ideas seem to come to you out of thin air. So what can you actively do to fuel creative inspiration? Next time you're stuck, just remember to B.U.I.L.D! Be bored Yes, you heard me right. Actually try to be bored... it's not as easy as you think! Technology has opened a vast horizon of stimuli; between mobile apps, search engines, social networks, and instant communications, we reflexively reach for our phones when we have nothing else to do. The reason we so often come up with our best ideas in the shower is simply because we have nothing else to do but think. When you find yourself with a creativity block, try to daydream. Instead of tapping into an app, tap into your subconscious. Who knows what you'll come up with when you let your mind wander? Unwind with a drink Looks like Don Draper was on to something! Drinking (a little) alcohol has proven to help boost creativity. In a study conducted at University of Illinois at Chicago, two groups of individuals were asked to perform the same creative task. The only difference: one group was slightly inebriated (BAC = .075) and the other group was stone-cold sober. To no one's surprise, the inebriated group performed slightly better on the task than the sober group. The study determined that a person's "creativity peak" is reached at a BAC of .075, just under the legal limit. Of course, too much alcohol is almost guaranteed to give you an even bigger creativity block (not to mention a headache). But go ahead, pour yourself a glass of wine and get the ideas flowing! Inspire with color Believe it or not, there are colors that can help influence creativity. Blue and green in particular can help boost both creativity and productivity. Red helps with focus and concentration. Having a blue or green desktop image, or even just sitting next to a window and looking outside once in a while, will enhance your ability to focus and be more creative. Listen to music Music can trigger different emotions from different listeners. Oftentimes, writers listen to the lyrics of a song to get inspired or to simply alter their mood. Mood can often reflect in your writing, so it's important to make sure you're selecting your music choice appropriately. The type of music can also effect how you write as well. Classical music, such as Haydn or Mozart, helps with concentration and focus whereas Impressionist music, such as Debussy and Ravel, helps trigger creativity and imagination. Music can also act as a powerful anchor. When you need to remember the feeling or emotion of a specific moment in your past, music can trigger that memory and mental state. Music is a truly powerful tool when it comes to creativity and it's fairly accessible, so make sure you turn up the radio when looking for inspiration. Draw on paper Although there are many tools available on your computer to inspire you, sometimes it's good to get another perspective — a pen and paper perspective. In their book, The Creativity Cure, Drs. Carrie and Alton Barron show how it's better to capture your ideas with pen and paper first. So grab some supplies and just start jotting down words or even doodling. It'll help clear your mind of distracting thoughts keep fresh ideas coming. How do you jumpstart your creativity? What are your favorite ways to get your creative juices flowing? Tell us in the comments! Related Reads:How to Better Foster Creativity on Teams5 Ways Creative Teams Can Boost Productivity
Combating Fear, the Productivity Killer (Work Management Roundup)
Welcome back to the weekly Work Management Roundup, where we share the week's best links to articles on work, productivity, focus, and success to inspire you to do great things. This week, our post title is an homage to a phrase in Frank Herbert's Dune novel ("Fear is the mind killer"), but we look at how fear blocks productivity and what we can do to get past it. Plus, learn how to create a work environment where productivity and creativity are abundant. Read on! My Most Important Productivity Method (Zen Habits): Productivity expert Leo Babauta pinpoints the one thing that gets in the way of our productivity: fear. In order to combat the fear of losing control, certainty, or comfort, he lists 5 steps that help you dive right into that uncertainty, and come to terms with how this fear is driving you to distraction. Building a Psychologically Safe Workplace: Amy Edmondson at TEDxHGSE (YouTube): In an earlier roundup, we linked to an article about what makes a great team, based on results from Google's Project Aristotle research. A chunk of that research stemmed from the earlier work of Amy Edmondson, a Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School, who is well-known for her work with teams. Her take on what makes a team successful? You must build a psychologically safe workplace. Watch her 11-minute TED talk for her suggestions on accomplishing this in your own workplace. The Career Advice No One Tells You (Quartz): Over on Quartz, entrepreneur and marketer Raghav Haran doles out 11 unspoken rules for career success, which includes nuggets such as "job requirements are negotiable," and "pick a boss, not a company." A good article for those trying to land their dream job, and a great reminder for those of us already in the workforce. What to Automate, What to Outsource and What to Do Yourself (Quuu): If you're feeling overwhelmed by your work, you can outsource and automate a lot of menial tasks. Just make sure that it supports, powers-up, or adds value to your workflow. Is Solitude a Key Element of Creativity? (Lifehacker): Creative insight depends on free-flowing ideas and emotions that go through our subconscious mind. Yes, we can nurture and control our subconscious mind through mindfulness exercises, but we also need periods of isolation to let ideas incubate properly. Want your remote teammates to feel like a real part of the team? Send them company swag. Company-branded gear will boost morale, and reinforce the fact that they’re valued just as highly as their colleagues who work from the office. #Wrike See more tips for including your remote team in your activities in this blog post: -------- >>>> http://bit.ly/RemoteTips A photo posted by Wrike (@wriketeam) on Mar 17, 2016 at 3:40pm PDT More Work Management Reads Think About This: What Happens When Millennials Run the Workplace? (New York Times) How Tracking Time on Projects Boosted One Company's Profits Almost 50% (A Girl's Guide to PM) Parental Leave (AVC) 10 Companies That Hacked Traditional PR for Big Digital Marketing Wins (Contentmarketer.io) Go Try This: Show Your Work (Seth Godin) Working for a Workaholic: 10 Tips to Reclaim Your Work-Life Balance (Infographic) (Wrike) This Cable-Wrapping Technique Will Stop Headphone Tangles And Change Your Life (Video) (Digg) How to Disagree With Your Boss Without Getting Fired (Lifehacker) Browse Productivity Works on Flipboard If you use Flipboard on your laptop or mobile, then you'll enjoy our magazine on productivity tips. Check out Productivity Works or click on the widget below: View my Flipboard Magazine.
Working for a Workaholic: 10 Tips to Reclaim Your Work-Life Balance (Infographic)
It’s not a bad thing to be dedicated to your work. If you love your job, seeing the results of your efforts successfully move the needle is hugely satisfying. But spending every waking hour focused on work simply isn’t for everybody, and if you’re one of those people who needs a clear separation between their professional and personal lives, working for a workaholic can be stressful. It’s easy to feel like you have to mirror their habits and constantly be available. How often do you find yourself feeling pressured to check work emails at all hours, or respond to requests on Sunday afternoons? Use these 10 strategies for impressing your workaholic boss — without becoming one yourself. Help your friends reclaim their work-life balance! Share this infographic on social media, or on your own site with this embed code: Infographic brought to you by Wrike Get More Done from 9 to 5 Browse our collection of productivity tips to power through your to-do list and enjoy your well-earned personal time.
Creative Problem Solving for Product Developers (Infographic)
Innovation isn't extraordinary anymore — it's expected. Product managers are facing saturated markets where every competitor is releasing new products and features at a quicker pace, each scrambling to beat the others to launch. Creativity is more essential than ever for product developers to capture consumers' attention, outpace the competition, and find ingenious solutions to customer needs. Many people view creativity as a gift: either you have it, or you don't. But as this infographic shows, creative problem solving is a skill you can learn — and master. The 9-Step Process for Creative Problem Solving 1. Identify your users' pain points. 2. Gather as much information as possible about the problem. 3. Examine the data to look for patterns. 4. Walk away. Let your subconscious form connections and find solutions. 5. Capture ideas as soon as they hit you. Once you have a handful, evaluate to choose the best one. 6. Set your solution apart from the competition. Write a value proposition that clarifies how your idea captures customers' attention more effectively. 7. Create a plan for executing your chosen idea. 8. Get to work! Time to make that idea a reality. 9. Track your results for continuous improvement. Take a peek at the full infographic for tips on writing a Strategic Positioning Statement, the best ways to let an idea incubate, and why the best problem solvers have "T-shaped minds." Source: Mashable Ready to connect the dots? Find out how Wrike helps product development teams deliver amazing results, faster than ever. Read Next: 3 Lessons on High Performing Teams from TED Talks 5 Lessons in Lean Product Development from the Wright Brothers (Infographic)
5 Remedies for Mobile Productivity Headaches (Infographic)
Sending work emails, checking your calendar, chatting with colleagues via instant message — we rely on our smartphones and tablets to keep us connected to the office. But it’s not always easy to be productive on your mobile device. Limitations like smaller screens, tiny keyboards, and incoming notifications about both professional and personal events can make it difficult to focus and cause major headaches. Respondents to our recent mobile productivity survey named their biggest sources of stress when working via mobile devices. Take a look at the infographic below for fixes to 5 of these top challenges and turn your mobile into your secret weapon for work productivity. Share this infographic with your fellow mobile workers by sharing it on social media, or embedding it on your site with this code: Infographic brought to you by Wrike How do you stay productive while on the go? Share your best advice for getting work done on your smartphone or tablet in the comments below. Then check out the full results of our mobile productivity report to find out how dependent we are on mobile devices for daily work, how that dependency affects our work-life balance, and more insights about the future of mobile work.
10 Encouraging Productivity Proverbs for Your Office Wall (Part 2)
If you read our first batch of productivity proverbs, you may remember that a picture is worth 1,000 words. So, without further delay, here are 5 more proverbs to get your productivity juices flowing on those days when all you want to do is crawl back into bed. 6. “An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening.” Wrike recently conducted a survey to determine work how different lifestyle habits play a role in workplace productivity. We found that the proverb exists for a reason; only 10.2% of early birds feel overworked versus 26.7% of night owls. It might be difficult to wake up in the morning, but at the end of the day you'll appreciate the stress-free evening. 7. “Any time means no time.” We all work with or know someone who constantly says, "I'll do it tomorrow." Or maybe their cousin, the person who flippantly thinks, "It doesn't matter if I procrastinate now, I can get it done any time." Don't take a lesson from them. According to Wrike's productivity survey, more than 50% of employees feel that deadlines mobilize their best skills. If your boss claims that a project has no deadline, set one for yourself and stick to it. Working without deadlines increases chances you will never start the project at all, so do yourself a favor and make "any time" today. 8. “Think of many things, do one.” Think you are good at multi-tasking? Research shows that only 2% of people are good at juggling tasks without letting the balls drop. The rest of us may think we're keeping everything in the air, but more research suggests that we are actually knocking down our IQ by 10 points when we try to multitask, and our productivity is decreasing by as much as 40%. It's not your fault; the brains of "supertaskers" simply process information differently. So if you have a lot of ideas, write them all down (after all, a dull pencil is greater than the sharpest memory!) and then focus on one task at a time for the best results. 9. “Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I’ll understand.” This proverb goes one step farther than the classic, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime," proverb. It is better to teach someone the answer rather than giving it away, but even more than that, you must involve them in the teaching. We retain 50-90% of what we learn by participatory teaching methods, compared to just 5% when listening. No more lectures! 10. “Better an ounce of happiness than a pound of gold.” Do you remember the old Mastercard commercials? The products bought in the commercial were expensive, but they happiness received was priceless. And according to Wrike's productivity survey, over 56% of surveyed participants feel motivated by a good mood, while the possibility of reward encourages efficiency in just 42.1% of those same employees. So don't overvalue money while undervaluing happiness; happiness is enough of a reward to boost your productivity. Did you like these amusing productivity lessons? Share them with your friends! We hope our 10 pieces of wisdom will help rejuvenate you at work. Save them in your phone, print them out as office decor, and read them over again when you're in a slump. And don't forget to spread the wealth to your friends and colleagues - we all have off-days.
6 Strategies for Dealing with a Toxic Work Environment
Constantly chewing on Tums to get through a bad day at the office? Sounds like you may be dealing with a toxic work environment. All joking aside, negativity at work can have serious consequences for your health and personal life. If you think that you're dealing with a toxic environment, you need to come up with permanent solutions to make your office a better place to work. Ignoring the problem or telling yourself it will sort itself out eventually isn't good enough when your health is involved. Here are some tips to help you toss the Tums in the trash and turn your situation around: 1. Anticipate problems and solutions If you are regularly stressed at work, learn to predict what creates the problem. Is it that daily 1:00 PM meeting that always causes arguments? Is it working with a specific person? If you can anticipate stressful situations, then you can walk into them prepared to engage extra willpower in order to remain calm and collected. 2. Talk it out If there is an identifiable problem, create a constructive environment with someone who can help remedy the situation. Micromanaging boss? Underperforming teammate? Set up a meeting to exchange feedback. To make sure it doesn't feel like a one-sided attack, share what you think is working well, what you think could be improved, and allow them to do the same for your performance. Since you expect them to take your feedback seriously, take theirs seriously too. And pick your battles carefully — not everyone will be open to your mature conversation. 3. Don't complain in the office Fruitlessly venting can put you in one of a few situations: (1) your boss overhears you complaining, (2) your team thinks you're whining or dislike your negative attitude, which makes it harder to work together, or (3) your coworkers also start engaging in the negativity, which just feeds the toxicity of your environment. When you're in the office, the best thing you can do is to remain positive in the face of hardship. If your coworkers are the ones who start complaining, try not to engage. Put on headphones or take a well-timed bathroom break. 4. Find an outside support system Finding that "talking it out" is too difficult, either due to the person you're having a problem with or your own shyness? That's fine. Always closing your eyes to prevent yourself from rolling them while you're in the office? We can't always help it. If you're boiling in the negativity, release your emotions outside of the office. Confide in your patient spouse, a friend and a glass of wine, your dog, a counselor, or your diary. Finding a supportive outlet for your frustration — not someone you work with — will help you tame the itch to lash out at your toxic colleague(s). 5. Learn to let it go You can't control other people, their actions, or the outcome of a dinner with multiple cooks in the kitchen. When things go awry, learn to take a deep breath, tell yourself that things could be worse, and help yourself move on. Holding onto negative thoughts builds up in your brain and can make a bad situation feel much, much worse. Remember to let go of the negativity, and you might realize your environment is not as toxic as you thought. 6. Make sure you're not the problem This is a hard one to confront. Before you throw up your hands and quit your job, make sure that you aren't the main source of toxins at work — or the negativity could follow you forever. A good way to do this is to ask your boss or a trusted colleague for specific feedback on ways to improve your performance. If they seem to think that you have significant room to improve, it might be time to reflect on how you can improve your work demeanor. Is it time to move on? Not every job is a perfect fit, so if you have already tried our tips above and nothing is working, it's time to move on. Learn what you can from your current company and go find a job that makes you feel healthy again. Make sure to let your contacts (outside of your current company, of course) know that you are on the market, update your LinkedIn profile, and start searching for an escape. Ever worked in a toxic work environment? What did you do to improve the situation? Share your wisdom in the comments and help out everyone who is struggling right now. Related Reads: How to Communicate Like Super Bowl Champions Team Conflict & Resolution: The 2-Minute Guide 4 Strategies for Dealing with Difficult Stakeholders Top image credit: Nicolas Raymond on Freepik. Changes made. Some rights reserved.
10 Encouraging Productivity Proverbs for Your Office Wall (Part 1)
"A proverb a day keeps distractions at bay" ... Okay, you caught us. That's not a real proverb. We just made it up, but it's true nonetheless. We collected 10 well-known proverbs about productivity and backed up their claims with insider business tips and facts to encourage you on those difficult work days. Today, we'll give your our first five insights. Post them on the wall by your desk for inspiration, or share them with your friends and colleagues when they feel like throwing in the towel. 1. "It is possible to move mountains by carrying small stones." Have you ever looked at a project and felt completely overwhelmed without a clue for how to start? If you have read The Progress Principle by Theresa Amabile and Steven Kramer, then you know about the power of "small wins." They say that small wins ignite our motivation to work and make further progress possible. By moving one stone at a time, eventually we will have moved so many that the entire project is complete. For the best productivity, one study says you should work in small chunks of time as opposed to straight through an 8-hour day. Split your progress into 90-minute work sessions followed by 15-minute breaks to increase your focus by 16%. 2. "A picture is worth a thousand words." Whether you consider yourself a visual learner or an auditory learner, that fact is that we process visual information faster than written information. Visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text. This is why marketers love infographics, why Instagram and Snapchat are so successful, and why you hire a photographer instead of a journalist for your wedding. Pictures just work. 3. "A dull pencil is greater than the sharpest memory." Do you have the memory of an elephant or of a goldfish? A study by the Dominican University of California shows that people who write down their goals (and share them with a friend) are 33% more likely to accomplish their goals than those who only rely on thought formulation to push progress. Next time you have a bright idea, grab a napkin and the closest writing utensil - be that a dull pencil or your child's favorite green marker - and write it down to keep you more accountable. Or better yet, jot down your idea in Wrike for safe keeping! If you're constantly jotting ideas down with nowhere to put them, consider researching how to set up an office at home, and ensure you've got plenty of storage around you to keep things organised. 4. "No living man all things can." If you find yourself mulling over work 25 hours a day, 8 days a week, it's time to re-prioritize your work life. The Harvard Business Review shared this fun fact: 41% of a knowledge worker's daily tasks could be handled more competently if they were delegated. Easier said than done, we know, but the benefits are worth it. Harvard Business Review said that knowledge workers who redistributed their tasks saved themselves about 6 hours of work and 2 hours of meetings per week. One man can't do everything, so learn to rely on others. 5. "A stitch in time saves nine." If you can fix it with one stitch now, you'll save yourself nine stitches in the future. The GTD method recommends that if the task will take less than two minutes then tackle it without delay. If you comply to this method, you won't have to waste future efforts on the small task AND any mistakes that have resulted from not fixing the issue early on. You'll thank yourself later. Feeling inspired? Share these with friends and colleagues, print them out for the office, and make everyone's productivity shine. And don't forget, this is only the beginning. If you liked these, we bet you'll love the next five proverbs, too. Stay tuned to re-examine more tips that can give you the extra boost you need.
Who Works More? The Secrets of Male and Female Working Habits [Infographic]
It's late at night. The office building has long gone dark and quiet, yet the lights are on in one of the windows. Two figures are arguing over something in front of a computer screen. No, it’s not a secret lab. These guys just need to finish that very important and urgent “thing” for tomorrow. According to our recent survey with almost 2,000 respondents, 88% of men and 85% of women regularly overwork. But who feels more stressed about this matter? What are the other remarkable differences between men’s and women’s work styles? Overworking isn’t overwhelming The “anti-stress champion” title goes to men. While 45% of them overwork more than 5 hours a week, that doesn’t seem to damage their work-life balance. The figures in this chart speak for themselves: The headache grows with power Juggling work and personal life is never an easy task. According to our survey, the more responsibility you have, the harder it gets. Only 14% of female business owners say they are satisfied with their work-life balance. Want it done well, do it yourself. Huh? Delegation is known as one of those mission-critical, yet rather challenging, management skills. We discovered that 18.4% of women and only 12.8% of men still prefer to do everything by themselves — even when they have the authority to delegate. Diamonds are a… man’s best friend? We all wouldn’t mind some motivation to get things done. If you haven’t seen our previous infographic yet, we’ll remind you that a sense of responsibility, a good mood, and a possible reward were cited as the leading productivity triggers. Interestingly enough, it appears that a prospective reward inspires 45.8% of men and only 35.6% of women. The biggest productivity killer is interrup-- After a good lunch, the tricky task that bothered you all morning seems to crack at last. And that’s when your colleague calls an impromptu brainstorm for his puppy-clothes campaign. BAM! The concentration is gone, and so is the flow. We all know the feeling. That’s why men and women for once agree when they name the biggest productivity threat. The Razzie goes to… interruptions. That’s an impressive win over procrastination, a strong opponent. For a more extensive overview of men’s and women’s work styles, check out our brand new infographic. Overwork doesn’t seem so dreadful with these bright colors. ;-)
