You’re a Brand Strategy professional. How can you streamline your project management?

Project tools allow you to have a good visibility of everything you and your team have to work on. This way its easier to work with priorities and better manage your time. When defining a project plan, work backwards: when is the absolute deadline this or that has to be completed, write out what has to be done in order to get there, then map out the timeline. Not so difficult, is it? ;)

As a small business owner, you might think branding is something that’s best left to the Apples, the Googles and the McDonald's of the world. But the truth is, it doesn’t matter how big (or how small!) your company is; if you’re in business, you need to think about branding your business. And according to a survey, where the majority of small business owners (78%) reported that visual branding has a significant impact on their revenue growth, your bottom line will thank you. You don’t need an Apple-sized bank account to build an effective branding strategy from the ground up. There are plenty of things you can do to help your business stand out, grab your customers’ attention, and make your business memorable without blowing your budget.

Streamlining project management in brand strategy involves a multifaceted approach to ensure efficient execution. Start by defining clear objectives and creating comprehensive project briefs to establish a shared understanding among team members

Optimizing project management is CRUCIAL for Brand Strategy. - Keep the team on the same page with clear communication. - Play to everyone's strengths when assigning tasks. - Digital tools like Trello or Asana make organization a breeze. - Regular check-ins ensure progress and tackle any roadblocks. - Embrace flexibility in planning for agile responses to changes. - Document insights for continuous learning. Involve clients for feedback and alignment with their vision.

Defining scope comes under the whole goal setting exercise. What’s the overall purpose, who is the sponsor, what kind of budget is allocated for the project, and how soon can it be achieved? That’s the resource ~ budget ~ time triangle?? Next it’s crucial to lay down the project plan, milestone, deliverables & key activities. And what are the success criteria that drives the project towards its goal! It’s also essential to map stakeholders & communicate how will the project benefit them, to keep the mission compelling & avoid friction.

Trello, Clickup and Airtable are 3 of many project management tools that offer free trials and versions, and it’s good to first have a think of your specific needs, team size and ideal workflow are and look like before deciding which tool works best for you!

Last tool i used was ClickUp, very easy to understand and manage. Do recommend. Basecamp was way to simple, they might have improved over the past 3-4 years though. Asana and Wrike asre somewhat similar, Prefer Asana just because its visually more appealing.

My team has found Monday to be an extremely useful tool. We can clearly define and assign tasks, alert everyone involved in any updates, and even take requests from other in the organization who don't necessarily use Monday via forms. At a quick glance, you can see project status, timelines, and assets. It's also a great way to cross-collaborate efforts without constantly needing to ask your coworkers for visibility into their resources that you may need to reference, because you can easily view their project boards to get the answers you may need. This tool has been crucial in keeping together our flow between various marketing and branding efforts.

Leverage project management tools like Asana or Trello to organize tasks and enhance collaboration, while a detailed project timeline with milestones aids in managing deadlines. Foster collaboration through shared workspaces like Slack, and delegate tasks based on team members' strengths

I personally love Trello, it’s my second brain and keeps me very organized - both professionally and personally. It keeps all the project management “stuff” in check so I spent more time in my zone of creativity.

When we are working on any project, we start with setting end goals and mid-journey milestones. Effective delivery of any project requires effective interaction amongst stakeholders and interaction is primarilty driven by communication, both verbal and writte. Thus, having a robust communication plan that places right set of information in front of right stakeholders at the right time is the key.

Conduct regular check-ins to discuss progress and address challenges, incorporating risk management strategies for early issue resolution. Document processes to ensure consistency and create a reference guide for the team

Communication is probably THE most important element managing a project. Things can go south very quickly, team members get upset if not updated, it creates tension and friction. Weekly or bi-weekly check-ins are optimal, depending on the project and how close you are to that deadline. Think scrum, be agile. Be flexible. Act fast. But don't drag not making a decision. The worst.

At its core, leading projects is about moving things forward while keeping all stakeholders up to date on what’s working, what’s not working, and help needed. Its not about throwing information over a project management tool, though these can help, or drowning team members with details that are not relevant to their role. It is about defining clear objectives, designing micro-goals, and giving the right contextual input (just enough) for functional leads to get their piece of the puzzle done AND to provide leaders the right soundbytes to ensure that things are on the right track.

Run weekly meetings. AI can help here as well. Last one I used was Fireflies. Works as a charm. Saves a ton of time and keeps everyone on the same page.

You want to hire a project manager when you see things are getting out of hand. Someone to keep it all in and poke team members every now and then (read daily) to keep things moving.

You need a clear understanding of where the buck stops. Constant decisions by committee ensure projects chase their own tail. The aformented person should listen to all input but ultimately make a decision on the direction. Almost all decisions can be altered later - very few things are set in stone. Be prepared to make bold choices and own the consequences.