We believe - what gets tracked gets done.

Specifically in marketing, there are lots of moving tasks, feedback loops, deliverables, due dates and content pushes etc. Sometimes you need to loop in clients in conversations and the other time you need to make sure your freelancers (working in different time zones) have access to the right files. How are you to process all of this while still staying sane and making sure your business is growing without putting a strain on your current resources?

Our answer - you need a predictable marketing project management process that lets you step back and see the bigger picture as well as zero-in on things that need your team's attention at anytime. It is 2018! Email or a spreadsheet-based project management is not going to cut it. At Brightpod, we are big fans of setting systems (on an atomic level we have a process google doc for all of our business functions) and here is one such system that you can adopt to have a smooth way to organize, manage and track your projects.

PROJECTS

A project is a business activity that can have an end date. It is important to build out a project for everything that you are tracking. Some customers even have a “HR” project that lets them track marketing resumes. If you are working on multiple things for a client (web, app, branding etc.) it is important to break up each activity into a separate project and then link up all those projects to the client. This way, you can easily zoom into only those projects and see how they are progressing.

TASKS

Anything that gets tasked goes into Brightpod. Your system should be the single source of truth for everything. If there are many incoming requests (through an external form etc.) assign one person to be in charge to take those requests and put them in Brightpod as tasks. It is important to whet these requests before getting them into the system.

DAILY DIGEST

Everyone has a Daily Digest coming in at 8 am so review that before starting your workday to see what you have overdue, due today and upcoming in the next 7 days.

DAILY LOGINS

Make it a habit to login to the system each day. Habits and routines are good for predictability. Bookmark the link in your browser if you have to.

PRIORITIZATION

Anything that needs to be prioritized needs to be done from the Me page  This feature is project-agnostic and will help you prioritize work for your teams across projects. Many times people work on different projects at any given time and it is important to help them know the important from the urgent.

PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY

Everyone uses the Focus feature to get organized to feel in control. I could have 20 things to do this week across all my projects but realistically can only focus on 4-5 each week.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

The Brightpod calendar gives us a zoomed-out view of all our deadlines and publish dates.

INSIGHTS

Want to get someone’s workload report or want to know how a clients projects are doing? We head to Insights and run a report to dive into the details.

NO EMAIL & SLACK

Project, tasks and project-related communication should not be sent via email. Instead, use the Messages section to send out project related communication. This way, knowledge is stored in the system that is searchable and actionable by all.

END OF DAY

Before you close out of the day, make sure you close out tasks that you have completed and/or comment on messages. A quick review of the Activity page will give you a run through of what happened today in all of your projects.

Remember, a system is only as good as the time you put in to using it. Over time, it can help you tame the chaos (think less busywork) and focus on what really matters.

Have a productive day tomorrow :)