Rules of Wrike - Best Practice Learnings

Hi Everyone,

In working with Wrike for the past year, there are a few key learnings we have had. Below is a short list that has been compiled, please feel free to review and comment/add on what you think.

Hope this helps!

Rules of Wrike

• What to write in task updates (Emails or side conversations vs. decisions)
• This will depend on the size and/or efficiency of the team, but we have found that sometimes if the project tasks are used as the primary forum for discussion or used as an email thread, than the task information gets too cluttered and it becomes hard to track and follow. We have found that in certain circumstances, decisions should be made in separate meetings and then the final conclusion for next steps should be tabled in Wrike as part of the project details.

• Removing tasks once completed
• When a project is completed, the project should be exported into Excel and filed accordingly. This ensures the program does not become a place to store information as these projects can become numerous, and that the appropriate project details are still available for future reference.

• Transferring finished attachments to internal storage location and removing them off of Wrike
• When working on an attachment in Wrike, and the attachment has been completed, it should be downloaded off of Wrike, filed accordingly, and deleted. These documents can take up a lot of storage space and should not remain in Wrike once completed if it no longer relates to the project.

• How to set up a new project - What questions to ask? How to approach it?
• If you wish to create a new project, here are some good first questions to ask:
• What is the objective of my project?
• How complex is my project?
• What are the general steps in order to complete my project? What is the general outline of my project up to completion?
• Who else is involved in my project? What is their purpose/level of involvement?
• When does my project need to be completed?
• Once you have answered the above questions, you are ready to start creating your project

• Creating & Optimizing templates
• It is not advisable to create folders within folders when building templates, as it is apparent that when you duplicate them and reschedule them into a project, the dependencies disappear. It is ideal to only have one layer of folders.
• You should put your template task items ON HOLD (workflow) so that all assignees do not get daily notifications.
• You should only assign people to tasks AFTER the project template tasks and dependencies have been implemented, since the tasks need to be ACTIVE in order to work with it and each assignee by proxy would continue to be inundated with notifications.
• Have a separate “Templates” in a pre-determined location  within Wrike to save the templates.

• How to set up a Dashboard and what to use it for
• Dashboards are great for project meetings as they can be used to assess whether a project is on track or not. They are also great for shortening project meetings and keeping the team focused and on track. 

• Multiple people reviewing an attachment

• There are a few different ways to arrange this depending on the number of people reviewing and the complexity of the document.

1. There could be a main task with the document attached, and individual subtasks with people assigned to them with timelines for reviewing. When one person has reviewed the document, they save it in the main task, but mark their designated subtask complete.
2. They could attach the document to one task and in the description, have a check box list designating the order in which the assignees should review. Once an individual’s review is complete, they would check their box and @mention the next reviewer indicating it is their turn to review. 

• When finished reviewing a document in Wrike, it is very important to “Save” it, and then “Close” the document. If you try to hit the “Save As” button, it may not save your work. Furthermore, if you do not “Close” the document, it will show as open and other people cannot review.
• Purging the Recycle Bin
• Make sure to constantly go through the Recycle Bin (we use approximately once a month) to remove any items, as it takes up a lot of Wrike storage space and can slow the system.