Posted by Courtney
At a marketing agency there are numerous projects happening all simultaneously, and managing multiple projects and people at once is no easy task. So, the big question is how do you best manage those projects to make sure they are getting done efficiently and on time? Here at Pulse Marketing we have many tools and programs that we use to help complete projects by their deadlines, make communication easier and keep track of how much time we are spending on things. No one likes to be late on a deadline so dug into what tools and programs we use and how they help us stay on track, communicative and organized.
Asana
One of the biggest assets in our agency that we use would be our project management tool called Asana. This is where all the project business goes down. Everything from tasks for each team member, project detail information, all the way to project copy or creative approvals. Everything for our clients projects is run through this system. Having everything all in one place is extremely helpful and we are able to go into one project and see all the tasks, who they are assigned to and the due dates for each one. This helps us stay on track with where we are on each project and what the next steps are going to be to continue pushing the project forward.
Everhour
Everhour is a team-oriented time tracking software. We use Everhour for a few different things, to track how much time was spent on projects, to pull project reports, and also client invoicing. This tool helps us see if we are profitable, and what certain tasks take longer than others. Overall Everhour gives us an idea of how much time our whole team spends on projects. We also use Everhour to keep track of our clients creative retainer hours. So at any time the project coordinators can go in and see how much time has been spent out of a client’s monthly creative retainer and how much is left so we can plan the rest of the month accordingly to best use up all their hours. This program also integrates with Asana, which is super helpful because our team can start tracking directly in Asana and not have to worry about wasting time switching platforms to start a timer.
Slack
Communication is huge in a team environment. Especially here at Pulse when our team is working on multiple different projects throughout the day all at different times. To communicate within our team without interrupting the whole office by talking out loud as we are in an open office we use the app called Slack. This app is perfect because we have created channels within Slack for each of our clients. That way when someone has a specific question for a client they can ask it in that channel and everyone apart of that team or channel will be able to see it. This easily helps everyone stay up to date on clients and projects without having to schedule meetings for every update. You can create separate channels for each client as well as who belongs in each channel, which allows us not to bother certain team members with messages if they aren’t directly related to a project. Some of our clients even utilize Slack which is a huge help in communicating with them as well outside of your typical email or phone calls.
Overall the tools and programs a company uses are a game changer! We stand by Asana, Everhour, and Slack as our main programs in helping us stay on track, be efficient, organized and in constant communication with our team. Do you use any of these apps? Let us know which ones down below in the comments, or better yet if you know of a program you use that I didn’t mention and you’d like to share, we’d love to hear about it!