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Step 5: Start Working and Collaborate
Now that you've learned all the Wrike basics and your workspace is fine-tuned for the teams' needs, let's dive into the actual work and communication in Wrike.
The beauty of Wrike is that you can use it as a central hub for your work, tasks, priorities, and discussions without juggling multiple emails or switching between apps.
Whether you’re launching a new product, writing an ebook, or preparing for a conference, you’re managing a project. Use projects to manage a group of tasks that are part of a larger goal and have a due date. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to launch a new project from scratch.
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Create a project by clicking the + button 1. Fill out the project title, due dates, and project owner and choose the default view for your tasks (List, Board, Table, or Gantt Chart).
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Populate your project with tasks 2. Think of tasks as action items that should be completed in order to achieve a project goal.
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Assign tasks to users 3. Ideally, tasks should be small enough to be assigned to one person. If not, think of breaking tasks into subtasks and assign each of them.
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Schedule the tasks 4 one by one or by using mass editing.
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Switch to the Gantt Chart 5 to visualize your schedule. Make sure that you’ve set up correct durations for each task and reschedule tasks if needed.
Set up dependencies 6. Dependencies help you understand how tasks are interconnected. When you reschedule a task with dependencies, all dependent tasks are automatically rescheduled. When the task is completed, the assignee of the dependent task receives a notification that they may start working on their task.
Convert key tasks into milestones. Milestones reference points to mark a major event or a branching decision point in a project. When you reschedule dependent tasks on the Gantt Chart, milestones aren’t rescheduled automatically.
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If you’re running repetitive projects, you can save it as a template or a blueprint 7 and then duplicate it for further initiatives.
All the necessary steps are represented with tasks.
Tasks titles are clear. We recommend starting the task title with a verb to make it action-based. For example, use “Write a blog post” instead of “Blog post.”
Tasks are assigned and only have a single assignee.
Tasks are scheduled.
Tasks are interconnected with dependencies.
Tasks have correct durations.
Key tasks are converted into milestones.
Learn more about achieving a successful project launch.
In Wrike, there a few quick and easy ways of locating and tracking any tasks assigned to you during a project launch.
Start your day by checking your Inbox. It shows you all work updates that require your attention: notifications for new @mentions, task assignments, and when a task, folder, project, or space is shared with you. If you click a notification, you’ll open the task or project panel with detailed information and previous discussions.
It’s a good idea to use the two-minute rule when dealing with notifications: If the answer takes you less than two minutes, reply to it right away. If it requires more of your time, snooze notifications to prioritize it later.
Another way to see your work is in the My to-do smart folder. It helps you focus on the most important tasks and contains:
All tasks and subtasks that are assigned to you
Tasks that you manually added to My to-do
You can customize what you see in My to-do by applying filters, changing sorting order, or displaying tasks and subtasks as a plain list.
Dashboards are one of the most customizable ways to keep track of your work. They allow you to focus on your priorities and make sure that nothing falls through the cracks.
On Dashboards, tasks are grouped on widgets by certain criteria, such as your overdue tasks, tasks to do this week, your backlogged tasks, etc. You can add additional widgets, like a file widget or all tasks you assigned – anything that’s important to you. Learn more about Personal dashboards.
A personalized and up-to-date profile adds a personal touch to online collaboration.
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Customize your profile: Upload your avatar, enter your job title, company name, and other information. Up-to-date profile information is vital for online team collaboration.
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Check out notification settings. By default, all email and product notifications are turned on. You can edit them, so you only receive emails for the changes you want to track. If you’re new to Wrike, we recommend you leave the default settings and get back to fine-tuning notifications after a couple of weeks.
Now that you know where to find your work let’s move on to getting things done. Wrike provides you and your teammates with a shared workspace where you can share progress, discuss issues, and find a single source of truth for the task status and final version of files.
Take a quick look at the list of features that will help you collaborate with your team in Wrike.
Feature |
How it works |
Use case |
In the comments field, type @ followed by a username. Use @assignees to mention all task assignees and @followers to mention all task, folder, or project followers. |
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The task description saves changes automatically and instantly. Multiple people can work on tasks at the same time, and you’ll see who’s working on what. |
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When someone makes changes to a task’s description, an Updated description link is added to the task’s stream. Click the link to see what changes were made. |
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Highlight text from the description field or comments, then click the quotation marks that appear. A new comment is started, quoting the text you highlighted. |
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Add emojis to comments in Wrike. Click in the comments field, then click the smiley face icon to see a full list of available emojis. |
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Approvals(Available for Business and Enterprise plans) |
You can assign approvers and set deadlines for tasks and projects. Each approver is able to approve or reject the task. |
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Feature |
How it works |
Use case |
Attach files to tasks from your computer or from cloud storage providers. |
You have files related to projects and want to keep everything in one place. |
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Wrike Proof and Wrike Publish are available as paid add-ons. | ||
Add comments directly to images, videos, PDFs, and Microsoft Office files. Reply to and discuss feedback and resolve comments as edits are made. |
Proofing is an easy way to collect centralized feedback without juggling emails. |
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Request reviews from key stakeholders and set approval deadlines. Reviewers can mark assets as approved or request specific changes, creating a clear edit and approval log. |
You need sign-offs on collateral before it can be used or published. With Guest reviews, you can invite your clients who don’t have a Wrike account to review files. |
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Wrike Publish: MediaValet and Bynder Integrations |
Publish approved assets directly to your digital asset manager from Wrike. |
Unify brand messaging and visuals across integrated campaigns. Upload, find, and attach approved digital assets. |
Learning new tools may be challenging, but practice makes perfect. Follow these simple rules every day, and you’ll soon realize you don’t need long email threads, multiple status meetings, or manual updates in spreadsheets. Wrike will save you time on finding your work, collaborating with your team, and reporting on progress, so you can focus on tasks that are really important for you.
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Start your day by reviewing your new and existing tasks in Wrike:
Check Inbox for new @mentions and incoming tasks. Reply to, snooze, or archive notifications until you empty out your Inbox.
Check the My to-do list for task priorities.
Check your Personal dashboard to keep track of your work.
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When creating a task, make sure:
The title is clear.
The task is assigned and scheduled.
The task description covers requirements and expectations.
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When work is in progress:
Add comments and @mention others.
Change task status to reflect the current state.
Change the due date if necessary.
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When work is done:
Complete a task by changing its status.
@mention stakeholders.
Attach assets if applicable.
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At the end of the day, make sure that:
There’re no unread notifications in your Inbox.
You updated task statuses to In progress and Completed.
You rescheduled overdue tasks or notified stakeholders.
You have prioritized your tasks for the next day in My to-do.