How Collaborative Work
Management Software Improves Production Management
If you ever plan to manage an entire
production process, there’s no way around it: you absolutely need a
collaborative work management software. And when you consider the basics of
production management and all the ways in which this kind of tool supports them,
it makes sense why. Here’s an overview of exactly that, along with some
inspiring examples of how leading brands use collaborative work management
software to successfully pull off multi-layered and complex production
management projects.
Production management
101
Here’s everything you need to know about what
production management is, why it’s a big deal, and what all production managers
strive to achieve.
What is the nature of
production management?
Production management is usually run by an
individual or team, depending on the scope of work. It can be used to help create a
product or run a service. The most common activities involved in production
management include a wide range of duties. These include everything from
organizing a new manufacturing process to overseeing a related marketing
campaign to creating a budget for the project.
What is the importance
of production management?
It’s essentially the bridge between managing
and producing the good or service. While other specialists on the team can
execute the nitty gritty details, the production management professionals help
plan, facilitate, and control the big picture. Depending on the industry or
product, a company might need production management to work alongside other key
departments like HR, finance, or even R&D.
What are the key
objectives of production management?
Here’s what a production manager or production
management team is primarily responsible for on a day-to-day level.
1.
Sourcing
the best possible materials and/or talent
While a production manager might take on the responsibility of hiring and
firing team members, they may also delegate the task to an HR department or some other
qualified individual. It’s not so much about who does it but how it gets done.
No matter who’s executing it, the production management team will most likely
determine the best process for the job.
2.
Creating
a blueprint for production from A to Z
It’s the production team’s job to orchestrate the path from idea to
realization. They’ll typically start with an overview of what tools are needed,
who they’ll collaborate with, what timeline they’ll operate in, and what budget
they have to work with. Then they’ll go into detail to describe the expected
due dates and benchmarks. After that, the production management team will go
into even more detail to subscribe a plan of attack for each segment.
3.
Top
level management of progress
Once the process is established and in motion, the production management team
will move even deeper into the management portion of their position by
overseeing each step. They’ll also be responsible for working out the kinks and
keeping track of what (or who) has fallen behind. If a project is behind their
assigned timeline or creeping towards its budget limitations, the production
manager will take over and find a solution.
4.
Providing
guidelines and systems that maximize efficiency
For production management teams, a job well done is defined by finishing ahead
of schedule and under budget. In order to achieve this perfect balance, a
production manager must be skilled at anticipating problems while also creating
a process that’s realistic and flexible. They’ll also have to take things like
the assigned team’s productivity and human error into account when planning the whole production.
5.
Reviewing
and adjusting the production process when needed
As we’ve already mentioned, project managers have to develop and execute the
plan, which means that they’ll also have to deal with roadblocks along the way.
When something interrupts the process (a failed parts delivery, a prolonged
employee absence, etc.) it’s the project managers responsibility to huddle with
relevant parties and maneuver the schedule so that everything fits the initial
timeline despite the issue.
Now that we know the primary purpose and goals
of production management, let’s take a look at one of the most necessary (but
often overlooked) tools needed to accomplish it.
Why the most
successful production management teams rely on collaborative management work
software
There’s a reason why brands like Adidas, Cisco, and AT&T all use collaborative management
software for their production processes. The short story is, it’s because it
works. But the longer version will take a little more explaining, which is why
we’ve laid out exactly what this tool does and why it’s perfectly suited for
the demands of production management.
What is collaborative
work management software?
Collaborative work management software has a
few other nicknames like digital collaborative tool and team collaboration
software. But the most important word in all of these monikers is, of course,
collaboration.
Why? Because that’s what this type of software
is best at. And for project managers, being able to seamlessly work together
with a large and/or diverse group of people while juggling hundreds of
variables is priceless.
In practical terms, collaborative work
management software is a tool that allows users to outline big-picture plans,
fill in the details, and assign tasks to the right people. Once the system is
drafted, planners can look over their ideas to make sure they have the right
equipment, resources, and personnel in place. They can also look for
anticipated obstacles and create backup plans.
After the project has begun, collaborative
work management software helps visualize what has been completed, what’s
currently being worked on, and what tasks are left over. Even if your team is
spread out all over the world, a tool like this allows each individual to
provide status reports and ask questions all within the main project file. This
keeps communication all in one place, which means nothing gets lost and
everyone on the team knows what’s going on at a glance in any given
moment.
Sound familiar? Let’s take a closer look at
exactly why this kind of tool is a secret weapon for most production management
professionals.
Why is collaborative
work management software important for production management?
You can probably tell from what we’ve outlined
about production management needs and what collaborative work management
software is capable of; it’s clear that these two go together perfectly.
Besides helping them fulfill nearly every task
on their objective list, production managers also appreciate how much easier it
is to use one main program for their work. While you may not be ready to cut
ties with your most trusted MES or QMS, you can still use a collaborative work
management software to consolidate all your team communications, tasks, and
timelines.
That means you can easily replace all your
paperwork (spreadsheets, messy email chains, private messaging conversations,
vendor invoices, etc.) into a single, flexible software. It’s easier to refer
back to and change as you go.
Besides being a match made in heaven for all
your most common responsibilities, here are some other reasons to adopt a
system like this for your next project.
What are the benefits
of collaborative work management software when used for production
management?
1. It helps build
trust with clients and partners.
Studies show that transparency is the best way for brands to increase their percentage of
long-term relationships and gain trust among their audience. And when you use
collaborative work management software to draft and manage production, you can
easily give clients a clear idea of where their budget is going. It also helps
stakeholders make informed choices if anything comes up down the line.
2. It gives you more
options than traditional structures.
One of the biggest perks of collaborative work
software is how flexible it is. Especially compared to less advanced DIY
systems like Word documents or paper and pencil outlines. First, this type of
tool makes the production outline process a lot faster thanks to features like
drag-and-drop capabilities. Second, if you need to make an edit, your changes
can be reviewed and acknowledged by related team members without any extra
paperwork.
3. It’s highly visual
which is necessary for the complicated team structures of modern
business.
Data visualization includes any part of your production
that can be communicated through charts, graphics, timelines, and interactive
maps. It’s easier to understand for visual learners, of course. But it’s also
helpful when you’re dealing with an international group of suppliers,
manufacturers, and marketing/sales teams. Even if we don’t all speak the same
language, it’s possible that a solid data graph or translatable timeline can
make sure nothing gets lost.
4. It helps every
member of your team get hyper focused on their responsibilities.
Thanks to the collaborative work software,
everyone on your team knows what they have to do and what they don’t have to do
simply by looking at what other tasks are assigned to their colleagues. And
because this tool allows individual users to add progress updates, they’ll be
able to see who they’re waiting on and the time frame to complete their leg of
the run. If they see that someone else is late or that they haven’t been given
enough wiggle room to complete the task, they have plenty of advanced notice to
speak up or find a solution.
5. It lets you develop
more realistic processes.
In an ideal world, we’d all be able to manage
our time effectively in any given circumstance. But since we don’t live in one
of those, using a collaborative work software can give us the next best thing:
a workload management platform. Chances are that your colleagues aren’t just
working on your production process. This is especially true if you’ve brought
on freelancers or are juggling remote employees. And although it’s been proven
that they tend to be more productive, it still helps to get their approval on
certain critical deadlines ahead of time.
6. It helps you break
down complex, layered segments into manageable chunks.
If you’re following a typical work breakdown
structure, you’ll usually take
large projects within your timeline and separate them into steps. From there,
you’ll either assign the task or break that chunk down into smaller ones, then
repeat. Thanks to features like folders, subfolders, tasks, and subtasks,
you’ll be able to label each step appropriately and in a way that makes sense
for everyone.
7. It gives you the
chance to clearly communicate priorities.
To do this, you’ll have to label tasks by
both urgency and importance. Most collaborative work management software
dashboards allow you to choose a level of prioritization. From there you can
easily search for and filter out the most important tasks from different tracks
into one place without having to search through every timeline or sub
timeline.
8. It stores all your
project-related documents in one highly accessible place.
Besides storage, you can also expect your
collaborative work management platform to let you attach specific files to
various tasks for easier reference. This is great not only for general project
forms but also for signing or making changes to things like contracts and
purchase orders.
9. It allows you to
templatize procedures or entire production plans.
Have you worked on a similar project before?
Whether it’s an overall timeline and budget or simply a task run that would
work really well with this new idea, you can quickly duplicate it with this
tool. You can also quickly refer back to older projects saved in your software
to find out where comparable productions went wrong or experienced issues to
help avoid similar problems in the future.
10. It improves the
efficiency of every step of your process.
This benefit is a combination of everything
mentioned above. From better communication to clearer task assignments to more
accurate timelines, collaborative work management software helps fulfill every
goal a production management process could possibly have.
But all these benefits are just hypothetical
advantages for your company if you’ve never used this tool before. Which is why
it’s great to review how other businesses have tackled production processes so
you can see how these benefits translate into the real world. Without further
ado, here’s a little inspiration for how you can use collaborative work
management software like these aspirational production managers did and reap
the same (or similar) rewards.
3 ways leading brands
use production management software
What do all of these successful businesses
have in common? They used the right tool to achieve their production management
goals. This is true even though they are in entirely different industries
(travel, insurance, and entertainment, respectively). Even the projects
themselves are completely diverse. From scaling their globalization efforts to
streamlining client email correspondence to building an entirely new
broadcasting department, these businesses are great examples of what it means
to use this tool for production management.
Airbnb was recently valued at $31B, and the
hospitality and travel brand continues to grow their global reach through
collaborative work management software. By outlining, finalizing, and executing
the production process of their newest service, Experiences, Airbnb was able to
save money and increase productivity at the same time.
Case study: Experiences on Airbnb is a marketplace for unique, local
activities. They started out in just 12 cities initially but wanted to
quadruple production by streamlining their asset creation process from start to
finish.
In order to do so, the Airbnb team created a
uniform workflow through Wrike, their collaborative work management platform of
choice. This massive overhaul required aligning at least three different teams
as well as their individual leaders.
The end result? A scalable production process
that allowed all their teams to create thousands of assets while dealing with
real-time user feedback and the addition of new locations to their overall
database. Duplicate projects and outdated materials became a thing of the past
thanks to their newly streamlined and visual timelines.
Main takeaway: Even with a brand as powerful as Airbnb,
adding another foundational service without interrupting active user
experiences is quite a challenge. This is especially true when you’re relying
on multiple teams to communicate with each other from across the globe. As
complicated as it seems, moving your system from spreadsheets and inboxes to a
fully realized collaborative work management software can help solve communication
and production issues without compromising core objectives.
Esurance, the insurance search and quote tool,
helps thousands of users find deals, process claims, and use one of many tools
designed to make vehicle and home ownership a whole lot easier. Because their
service is positioned as an authority on complex insurance topics, customer
education is a large part of their marketing strategy. But at a certain point,
they started to experience rapid growth and needed a system for handling
incoming requests for informational content.
Case study: With this in mind, Esurance decided to
use collaborative management software for all of their content creation needs.
They needed to find an easier way to juggle multiple open projects at the same
time. They also needed to keep track of multiple versions, approvals, and edits
without releasing anything prematurely. And all of it needed to be
strategically posted across every digital channel, including all their social
media accounts and website.
Using Wrike, Esurance was able to accept and
organize incoming client correspondence. From there, they could organize all
questions and suggestions for content inspiration into one centralized place.
And because the emails received were being collected in one relevant storage space,
their employees saw an average decrease of 400 new messages taking up space in
their inboxes every month.
From there, they could develop a workflow for
weeding out the best, most actionable ideas. Then they created a process for
turning that idea into a creative asset, drafting the final product, getting
necessary approvals, and finalizing the piece.
In real life that translated into a series of
request forms that site visitors could use to input suggestions. It also helped
them track workloads and performance reports necessary for fine tuning their
strategy. And on top of all that, they also helped clear up any confusion
around simultaneous projects by providing greater visibility into progress
across everything that was in process.
In the end, their efforts were a huge success.
Not only did they increase their team’s concentration by streamlining their
email system, they were also able to improve both the quality and quantity of their marketing pieces
too.
Main takeaway: If you have multiple production
processes that require creativity, approvals, and edits, a collaborative work
management project is an absolute must. In addition to creating assets, you can
also discover new ways to improve your customer information intake and reduce
any busy work normally associated with the day-to-day grind. While Esurance set
out to solve one issue, they ended up solving three instead.
Bonnier Broadcasting is some of the most prolific and well
known TV stations in the Netherlands. The group is a global brand and reaches
millions of viewers each year. As part of their revenue model, the broadcasting
giant produces and distributes thousands of ads across all their platforms.
From pitching to filming to editing, each piece requires a complicated set of
specialists as well as equipment and key stakeholder partnerships.
And that’s just the actual content production
process. Comparing outcomes to original concepts, getting approval from brands,
and choosing when/where/why certain ads should be placed in certain time slots
on certain channels was another.
Case study: As you can probably tell, Bonnier
Broadcasting needed a way to manage all these moving parts and teams all over
the world. At such a large scale, tools like spreadsheets were not going to cut
it. And because each promotional advertisement required a huge financial
investment to make, there was very little margin for error. Bonnier
Broadcasting trusted Wrike to help them create a more organized process for
accomplishing their goals.
Following the steps shown in earlier examples,
the production company created a standardized workflow for content creation.
But, given the need for client approval at every step of the way, they also
made it a priority to maintain transparency. This helped with decision making
and protecting financial investments since a reshoot or cancellation was simply
not an option. Their visual project dashboard combined with schedule and
timeline overview helped put investors’ minds at ease and keep everyone on the
same page.
In the end, they successfully established and
executed a new system that helped them create a predictable workflow,
regardless of who was involved, where the project was shot, or which decision
makers needed to be reached.
Main takeaway: Some of the biggest setbacks in
production management come from leaving key decision makers out of the loop.
This can happen for a number of reasons. Maybe the schedule isn’t organized
well enough to ask for and receive suggestions while still remaining on track
for the due date. Or maybe the decision makers simply don’t have access to a clear
overview of where each project is at any given moment.
Collaborative work management software like
Wrike is critical for keeping everyone in the know. It clears up
communications, helps keep everyone on schedule, and makes sure that
expectations align with results.
Main takeaway:
collaborative work management software provides A to Z support for all types of
productions
Comments
Post a Comment