Streamlining Project Organization
We started using Wrike years ago, before custom fields, custom workflows, and before their were projects (it was just folders and tasks). So our process has been to use folders as "tags" to organize projects. Our "tag" folder have a "+" prepended.
We are now in the process of cleaning things up and using custom fields and custom workflows to organized projects. The main advantage of this is that the GUI itself prompts folks to enter the client, enter the project type, and select/update the status. No need to remember to add a folder, remember the taxonomy, and no worries about similar named folders that are too easily selected from the auto complete.
The problem, however, is that if I put all projects in a "client projects" folder, three isn't an easy way to sort filter the projects by status and client. It looks like we still have to have client folders and status folders in order to easily navigate to open projects. I'm trying to limit the amount of filing required, however, and was hoping that there was a better way than having to create folders and move projects among them.
Right now we have:
1. CLIENT PROJECTS
1.1 Client One
1.1.1 Active Projects
1.1.1.1 Project One
1.1.1.2 Project Two
1.1.2 Closed Projects
1.1.2.1 Project Three
1.1.2.2 Project Four
1.2 Client Two
etc.
I would rather just have all the projects listed under client projects but only show those that are active.
I feel like I'm missing something, so I thought I would throw this out to the community for advice.
My thinking is to train the team to not jump to project via the folder structure but instead to "star" the projects they are most actively working on and use the REPORTS section to see an overview and to jump to active projects.
So I will simplify the folder structure to:
1. CLIENT PROJECTS
1.1 Client A
1.1.1 Project 1
1.1.2 Project 2
1.2 Client B
etc.
All projects, whatever their status, will be listed under the client folder.
I will have an "Active Projects" report in shared with the team.
Team members should start the projects they are most active with.
Any other thoughts on how to handle this?
Again, I want a minimum of filing activity. You should enter the client, project type, etc when creating the project and never have to worry about filing and categorization again. Just updating it status and creating subfolders and tasks as part of project execution. The project itself should not need to be moved around after it is created.
Hi Paul! Thank you for the questions and for describing your use case in such detail. The ideas you already have about setting this up are great, and I think that using both Reports and starred Projects will be useful. Team members can star the Projects they need to be working on after opening the shared Report, and after that set a Report reminder to easily check for updates in the future.
Depending on your team's workflow, another option which could potentially help is to make the "Active" Folder precede the "Client" one, as shown here:
I know you mentioned that ideally the Project shouldn't be moved after it is created, but I wanted to suggest the archiving option too, since it makes it easier to find active jobs in the Workspace. Here are some tips to get the most out of archiving:
Would any of these options work for your team? Looking forward to hearing about how other users approach this too!