Departments » Project Management » Softwares » Wrike

Rules of Wrike

How to Get it Wrike

Why Wrike?

After months of research and testing of various software, countless demos, and discussions. Wrike was the easiest to use, had the most integration, as well as well as had a robust filtering/folder option which is very powerful for generating the reports we need.

What is the expectation for Wrike usage?

The operations team will be expected to use this daily, all communications in regards to projects, task as well as request should be done through Wrike. Wrike will be essential for the day to day operations, for any of the resources. All users are expected to log time within Wrike, as well as maintain up to date information about the status of projects and any other relevant information in regards to the clients, such as support requests.

How is work initiated?

When contracts are executed, the project management lead is in charge of assigning a Project Manager to the project. When the client contacts the Support Team, the support rep is responsible for submitting the request via Wrike in order to have the resources fulfill the request. Other teams which are requesting work from any of the resources are also expected to submit tasks via Wrike.

Are users responsible for creating tasks and projects or is an admin?

The users who are expected to submit tasks to the resource teams would be:

  • Technical Support
  • Project Managers
  • Marketing Team
  • Products Team

 Sometimes department heads may find it necessary to create sub tasks for their resources, this is fine, however for new requests, they should be submitted by a member of the teams above.

Is there a specific naming convention?

All Tasks should be associated with the appropriate folder under the Salesforce/Accounts/Client Name this will ensure that the integration with salesforce works properly. All projects must include the name of the project, as well as sub tasks should include the name of the client. This is to ensure that all resources are clear about the client they are completing a task for.
When creating new projects the naming convention is:

- Main site, Upgrade, CMS redesign: Client Name - State.
For example: Sarasota - FL

- Advanced Subsite:  Client Name - State - Department - Adv.SS
For example: Sarasota - FL - Police Department or PD - Adv. SS

- Basic Subsite: Client Name - State - Department - Basic SS
For example: Sarasota - FL - Econ Dev. Basic SS

- Design theme: Client Name - State - Department - BDT or ADT
For example: Sarasota - FL - Parks & Rec - BDT

Where do I go to see my tasks?

Resources - The resources would review the my work section, this organizes the task assigned to that particular user. It shows tasks due today, this work, next week, and later. The department head is in charge of assigning the tasks as the are received.

Department Heads - Department heads will be assigned to tasks, they would be charged with accurately tagging the tasks received with the appropriate folder for their reporting purposes. Department heads are encouraged to review the tasks assigned to them, as well as the folder which is labeled for their department.

Project Managers - Project managers are expected to review their projects on a regular basis, the best view for them to review is their own folders, as well as keeping an eye on the inbox. Project Managers should also assign themselves to tasks to ensure that they are presented the tasks in the My work section.

Technical Support - Technical Support reps should assign themselves to tasks that they open for the resources. They are expected to check in on their tasks, as well as review their Inbox to ensure to respond to resources if additional details are necessary. They would be also encouraged to review their My work.

Sales - Sales rep would be encouraged to review any specific requests, or projects overall to be reviewed via the Salesforce integration.

Marketing - Marketing would be encouraged to assign themselves to the tasks, and review them from the my work sections, as well as review the inbox.

Products - Products would be reviewing the specific folders labeled for their department. Also Products would be expected to keep track of messages via the inbox.

Where is work done?

All tasks must be marked as completed by the submitter, for example the Project Manager, or Technical Support.

The resources would simply give the Task back to either their department head, or the submitter as checked in to be reviewed and marked as completed.

There must always be a @mention with the change of responsibility, or any type of update to the task.

All tasks should be processed through Wrike, this is to ensure that the resources are able to log time, and track the work they completed.

Run team meetings out of Wrike –

All Resources, and teams are expected to log time, sometimes the work is not related to a project. examples of this would be all hands meetings, or department meetings. For this, under the department there would be project/folder titled Department Name internal. Ex. Project Management Internal

The department head would create the task for the meeting, Ex. Q4 All hands Meetings - The resources would all log time under the same task.

Where can users go for additional questions?

  1. Contact the champion(Department Heads)
  2. Contact Admin (David Rodriguez)
  3. Wrike Help Center: www.wrike.com/help
  4. Email Support at support@team.wrike.com


Wrike Basics:

Set up Profile – Upload Profile Picture.

This is found in the top right hand corner in your view profile section. Hover over your name in the top right and a drop down will appear with a “view profile” option.

Workspace Layout

Left-side Navigation Panel

Top Icons

By selecting a Project/Folder and cycling through the views on top, we’re viewing the same tasks from different angles.

List: Our first view that resembles a to-do list. It’s my favorite view for creating tasks quickly. You can view Tasks inside Folders & their Subfolders in this view by clicking the “Show descendants” button.

Stream: This is the same type of view as the Stream in the left navigation panel, but it focuses only on the chosen folder (and subfolders). This is my favorite view for keeping track of work being done in real time and for reviewing updates made that day.

Time Log: This shows you time logs entered on the tasks in this folder.

Timeline**: A Gantt chart. This displays the flow of work, time duration, and task dependencies in your selected folder. This is my favorite view for scheduling and planning tasks.

Table: Similar to Excel. This view allows you to see the important information for your tasks in a spreadsheet. You can edit what information you do/don’t want to see. It’s great for reporting and updates during status meetings.

Workload**: This view focuses on assignment distribution. It shows the current workload and availability of all your team members. Unassigned tasks will be available at the bottom to distribute to your team.

**By nature and purpose, when you look at these views tasks without an assigned a due date will not be visible.

Download Wrike App on phone.

You will only see the folders that are shared with you. Sharing = Seeing. Talk to your team to make sure you have access to the correct folders.

Task Basics

  • Click on + New Task - Type the Name of the Task. Hit Enter to save.
  • Attach Files to Task. This can be done via Box Links. This ensures that all information is included with the task.
  • Task completion dates, these are generally set by the department head, unless this is a PM Task that the PM Will be working on themselves.
  • Either Create Task in Appropriate Folder or Assign Task to a Folder. It should be tagged to all relevant sections.
  • Tasks can be in multiple folders at the same time. Click on the + under the task name, while task is open. This allows you to assign it to additional folders.
  • Sub Tasks – All activities related to the bigger project should be kept in one place to keep projects organized in a central location. Follow the same process for assigning, setting dates, etc. Syncing files should be a sub task of the original request, this keeps the details together.
  • Write a Description. This is a good place to put details/ideas/notes about the task and what needs to be done. It’s essential that the person assigned to the task understands what’s expected. Text in the description field is automatically saved. This is specific to the instructions or details about the request. Updates are submitted via comments, and Mentions.
  • Assign the task to correct person. Tasks should only be assigned to one person unless there’s a specific situation. This avoids confusion on who’s in charge. If you want others to be in the loop, try @mentioning them in the comments. It’s best to do this as one of the last steps in creating the task. That way if you create 10 sub-tasks while setting it up, assignees won’t receive notifications for all 10 changes in the task.
  • Comments (within a task)  should always happen when a status is updated, or if any information is required, it should never be missed.
  • If you @mention someone in the comments, they will receive a notification on the top navigation bar of their page. You can @mention more than one person. Simply type @ and a list of names will pop up to select from. (example - @David Rodriguez)
  • @mention will allow the person to “Follow” the Task, but not edit or see everything in the main folder or get notifications of all changes within the task.
  • You must click the balloon button or Shift + Enter to post comments.

Set up Dashboard

There’s automatically a Dashboard with your name when you set up your account. Click on the Gear Symbol next to it to choose what you want on your personal Dashboard. Some good basic choices: Assigned to Me, To Do Today/This Week, Assigned by Me, My Overdue, My Backlog, and Activity Stream.

Search Function

Use the search bar at the top of the workspace to find a task either in the specific folder you're in, or the entire workspace that is shared with you. Can't find a folder or project? Click the search icon next to 'Projects' in the Navigation Panel to quickly find a folder or project.

Starring folders

In Wrike you can use the “starring” function to have your favorite or most commonly worked in folders/projects to easily locate them later. When you hover over a folder/project in your left side navigation menu, you’ll see a star icon appear on the right. Click it and the folder will be added to the “Starred” section on top of your folder tree for easy access later.

Email notifications

In Wrike you can edit what you are notified about and how often. This allows you to focus on the work that is the most important to you. This is found in the top right hand corner in your view profile section. Hover over your name in the top right and a drop down will appear with a “view profile” option.