For teams to work faster and deliver positive bottom-line results, two key conditions need to be met. First, teams need to be able to communicate asynchronously. Without an easy-to-use and mandated communication method, a team’s ability to collaborate effectively takes a hit. (One of the biggest productivity killers is time spent searching Slack, email, and more for the latest updates.) Second, everyone must be using the same collaborative work management platform to provide the feedback and grant the approvals that move work forward. Lacking one, or both, leads to slower progress, fractured teams, and reduced productivity.
In part one of our “selecting the best CWM solution” series, we examined the four major pain points that modern hypergrowth businesses and enterprises face:
- A lack of process makes accepting and assigning work requests difficult.
- Managing a team’s work in spreadsheets is time-consuming and inefficient.
- Working without project tracking (visibility) into project progress means teams are siloed.
- Working out of multiple tools prevents teams from staying on the same page.
In part two, we’ll focus on teams working together and fast-tracking approvals.
Pain: More tools isn’t the answer
As it goes at many companies, some technologies, like Slack, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams, and email, are used by everyone. Then there’s the siloed software used only by specific teams with access. For example, the product team works out of Atlassian and Miro. Meanwhile, the creative team uses Adobe and Figma to collaborate. Customer success uses Totango, Accelo, or ChurnZero to keep tabs on accounts, monitor churn, and look for upsell opportunities. With all these disconnected tools and limited team access, how do you provide visibility across teams to share files, tasks, reports, and project progress? It gets murky when you don’t have a single solution that everyone has access to for project updates, asset approval and management, and shared team calendars.
Of course, one method to extend visibility is the @mention to get their attention and spark a conversation. Collaborative work management tools should include the @mention functionality by default but that’s only setting the stage for how teammates and stakeholders should be collaborating. File sharing and providing feedback on HTML and design assets are also important components because these features allow everyone to collaborate in the same interface. When your chosen software doesn’t allow you to do either one, you’re forced to work out of multiple platforms and critical feedback could be lost in translation.
Pain: Design asset approval takes too long
Marketing campaigns don’t go live until all assets are finalized, and just one unapproved asset can delay an entire campaign. When multiple assets live in disparate locations, keeping track of everything can be overwhelming. The result is a lengthy approval process when multiple stakeholders need to sign off and not everyone has access to all your tools.
Approvers must be able to access the same software and communicate in real time. Even better if everyone can compare version histories to see what’s new. With design feedback, having the ability to pinpoint specific areas with edits is ideal instead of drafting screenshot mockups. Furthermore, your CWM should have established workflows where you can automatically move assets (and projects) to the next person and stage in production.
Collaboration is in Wrike’s DNA
The @mention functionality is an easy way to draw someone's attention to a high-priority conversation or message. Whereas some collaborative work management tools allow its users to @mention colleagues in limited areas, others don’t support project- or folder-level collaboration. Hypergrowth and enterprise teams need more.
Wrike has the @mention, of course, and what’s great is that conversations are streamlined at the folder, project, task, and subtask levels. Descriptions are organized above conversation threads and support multi-user live editing.
In addition to conversations, teams may have files in separate places that other stakeholders will need to collaborate on for projects. Wrike’s file sharing and uploading capabilities accepts files from your computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, Microsoft One Drive, SharePoint, YouTube, and website links, along with digital asset management providers MediaValet and Bynder. Pretty much any file source you have, Wrike can upload.
Launch campaigns on time with speedy asset approval
Now that you’ve uploaded your file, your team needs to work together to finalize the asset. Wrike’s proofing capabilities boost team productivity and creative output because you can visually mark up and compare images, videos, PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoints, and HTML web content for easy edits and fast approvals. Highlight text, click images, or select time markers to leave clear, contextual comments. Reply to and discuss feedback inline, and resolve comments as edits are made.
As a bonus, you can access the functionality inside Adobe® Creative Cloud® applications to view feedback and make changes without switching tabs or tools.
You can also invite external reviewers if they’re outside your organization, and it’s all secure with password protection:
Aerotek speeds up asset approvals with Wrike
Aerotek eliminated weeks from their planning time by using Wrike, and Matt Andrews, Marketing Campaign Manager, loves the proofing capabilities:
“Having the ability to critique work, mark it up within the tool, and have it go directly back to the team saves us a lot of time… “There’s no functionality for mark up in email. Now we’re able to skip some meetings and do everything in-line while capturing the history of all the comments and revisions.”
Experience the Wrike difference
Evaluating CWM software is more than just reading customer reviews and comparing functionality on a pricing page. It’s not a decision to take lightly — your team’s work depends on having a solution that enables them to work their way. Download our new eBook, Empowering Teams With CWM: 13 Common Pain Points and How to Solve Them to learn the top 16 most important CWM features for hypergrowth and enterprise teams.
Whether your team is fully remote, hybrid, or returning to office full-time, you can always collaborate better and approve work faster. Let Wrike show you how by starting a free trial today.
