When you work on a project with a team, you need a proper system that can track all the moving parts: tasks, assignments, documents and deadlines. Doing all this manually eats up a lot of time, and human error often results in both time and money lost. That’s why it’s so important to choose your project management tool carefully, and make sure the software you use provides you with the best features and custom options.
In this post we are going to take a look at Wrike, a cloud-based project management software that lets you easily organize all your work and collaborate with your team. I came across Wrike while looking for a team management software and found that it’s one of the best online project management tools. In this post, I’ll be reviewing some of the main features it has to offer. First, let us take a look at what exactly Wrike does:
What is Wrike? – An Introduction
As I mentioned, Wrike is a project management tool that makes work management and collaboration easy and efficient. With Wrike you can import all your work, organize it into folders and subfolders, assign tasks and attach related documents, and discuss progress right in the task commens. Use visual analytics to gauge your team’s productivity, create project timelines and adjust plans via drag-and-drop, and quickly scan the latest work updates in the real-time Activity Stream. Wrike’s email add-ins let you quickly create actionable tasks from your email messages, and it integrates with dozens of other web apps like cloud storage services, Evernote, Zapier, Salesforce, Google Apps, and more to provide a comprehensive project management system.
Wrike’s Project Management Features
Team Collaboration & Task Management
As a manager, visibility into what every member of the team is assigned to and working on is key to making sure your project stays on track. While these status updates are commonly made via numerous email messages or in-person meetings, with Wrike you can simply scan the real-time Activity Stream to review the latest updates and discussions, or @mention a specific colleague or department to request the current status. Whoever you @mention will get an instant notification so they can respond to you right away.
The @mentioning feature is also great for team collaboration, since you can get timely feedback, approvals, and instructions right on the task itself, instead of digging through email messages looking for a specific comment or the correct version of a document.
Each Wrike task also has a built-in live editor, where you and your colleagues can simultaneously add or edit text. It’s ideal for brainstorming new ideas, taking meeting notes, and peer reviews. You’ll be able to see each of your teammates typing in real time, or use the revision history tool to see every change made and who made it, as well as easily revert back to a previous version.
Integration with Other Useful Services & Tools
Most teams have a variety of tools they use on a daily basis, from Dropbox to Excel to Outlook and Google Apps. Wrike integrates well with all these services and dozens more, including Zapier, Evernote, QuickBooks, and Salesforce, to name a few. The email add-ins for Outlook, Apple Mail, and Gmail let you turn an email into an actionable task and add it to your Wrike workspace with a single click, right from your inbox. The Wrike Chrome extension is another bonus feature that allows you to easily create a new task from any website, add it to a folder, assign it, and even take a screenshot.
Other Wrike Highlights
- You can view your tasks and projects in a variety of ways, from a complete overview to the nitty-gritty details. Choose from the list view, table view, timeline view and workload view.
- Wrike saves every keystroke, so you don’t have to worry about lost data or files.
- Wrike focues on its customers needs, and users can request a feature or vote for a submitted request in the Wrike voting forums. Based on the number of votes, your feature might just get added!
- Free mobile apps for Android and iOS will easily let you manage and check on your work while on the go.
- Watch helpful tutorials and introductory webinars on Wrike’s YouTube channel, or browse the comprehensive Knowledge Base to find answers to common questions.
Pricing & Verdict
Wrike offers three subscription plans to accommodate teams of all sizes.
- Small teams can use the freemium subscription, which includes up to 5 users and unlimited collaborators, plus essential project management features like file sharing, cloud storage integration, and the real-time Activity Stream.
- The Professional plan includes 5 users for $49/mo or 15 users for $99/mo, plus additional features like subtasks, customizable Dashboards, visual analytics, the interactive Gantt chart project timeline, and email add-ins.
- The Enterprise plan is designed for larger organizations or companies with advanced project management needs, and offers anywhere from 5 to thousands of users. This plan also includes Custom Fields, Custom Workflows, user groups, custom calendars, Salesforce integrations, a branded workspace, and extended security controls.
All in all Wrike is a great project management software— give it a spin and see for yourself.