Product development can be a highly rewarding career. You’re spearheading all of the amazing things your company is creating and each launch makes you beam with pride. But that doesn’t change the fact that your responsibilities are also stressful.
Your day-to-day involves a lot of uncertainty and you probably spend a big chunk of your time trying to keep everybody else on track.
Despite perceptions about the role, you know that product management isn’t just about dreaming and strategizing. In fact, a 2016 survey of 2,500 product managers and product marketers found that only about 28% of their time is spent on strategy, while 72% is spent on tactics or execution.
You’re managing a lot, and you’ll take all of the help that you can get. That’s where a product management tool (like Wrike) can swoop in and save the day.
From streamlined collaboration to centralized communication, a platform like Wrike offers tons of advantages for you and your team. But, one of the biggest assets you’ll lean on is the product reporting and analytics.
Let’s dig into the details of how Wrike’s real-time reports will boost your product development and reporting processes.
Why real-time reports give you real project insight
Whether you’re adding a new feature, meeting unforeseen market demand, or adjusting timelines to accommodate delays, things change fast in product management. Without product management analytics on your side, responding to those ever-evolving requirements can feel a lot like shooting in the dark.
It’s no wonder so many product managers think that their company’s product management processes are broken. In fact, a dysfunctional process is one of the top reasons that product managers quit their jobs. Almost half of product managers admit that they don’t like their organization’s current product management process, yet 60% of organizations don’t have a plan to improve things.
Gathering data from your projects, tasks, and time logs empowers you with information that you can use to streamline your processes, make informed decisions, and successfully get more products to market.
The good news is that creating reports is easy with Wrike. Just click the Reports tab at the top of your workspace, select whether you want to start from scratch or use a template, and the Report Builder will walk you through what data to add to your report as well as how you want to view that information.
You can also rest assured that you won’t be operating with old data. Wrike reports automatically update with new information each and every time they’re opened, so you always have the most up-to-date details in your back pocket.
Curious about what kinds of reports you can create and how they can help you with product management? Let’s dig into three key insights you can get your hands on through this product management tool.
1. Checking active tasks with Wrike reports
We’ve already mentioned that there’s a lot to juggle as a product manager, and that’s why it’s a role that’s in such high demand. From August 2017 to June 2019, product management roles in the United States grew a whopping 32%.
That growth and job security is comforting, but it also means that you have a lot on your plate. One survey asked product managers about their biggest challenges and the second most popular answer (behind a lack of market research) was that they’re stretched too thin.
Having a dozen balls in the air at once is complex, which is why you’ll want an easy way to get a grasp on everything that your team is currently working on. You can create a Wrike report (there’s a template too) that shows all of your active tasks, grouped by assignee, and within specified folders or projects that you choose.
You’ll immediately get the lowdown on what everybody is up to, without having to track down information from each of them individually.
2. Checking overdue tasks with Wrike reports
As the Project Management Institute states, both budget and schedule overruns are common in product development. Even a company like NASA struggles to keep products on the straight and narrow, with their new moon rocket reportedly three years behind schedule.
You can’t keep things close to your timeline if you don’t understand where things are crumbling or delayed. Use Wrike reports to view overdue tasks grouped by assignee. There’s a report template for this one as well, so you don’t need to start from scratch.
Not only will you see what you’ve fallen behind on, but you’ll also see which projects are really lagging and which team members might need some more support.
3. Checking time spent with Wrike reports
You want to be as efficient as possible in getting new products to market. But, as Tech.co explains, it’s common for product managers to run into roadblocks, such as adding too many features, setting unrealistic timelines, and investing too much time in pre-launch activities while forgetting about everything that needs to happen post-launch.
It’s helpful to understand where time is currently going so that you can spot areas of bloat and ensure that everyone’s time and energy is focused on the right things.
Wrike Reports offers a template for time spent this week, so you can see time log entries from specific folders and projects. You have the ability to select what users and groups you want included in your report.
You no longer have to wonder how much time was spent on a certain project this week — this report will show it to you clearly.
What’s the secret to boosting product development? Real-time data
There are plenty of things you need to take care of as a product manager, but taking wild guesses with little information shouldn’t be one of them.
That’s where a product management tool like Wrike can help. In addition to organizing and streamlining your processes, you’ll have access to real-time reports and insights that will help you make informed decisions — and get more products to market.
Ready to get started? Sign up for your free trial of Wrike here.
