How to manage your projects like a boss.

WALKER CHRISMAN
AUGUST 5, 2024

I don’t think you’d have looked at 22-year-old me and thought, “You know, this person is the picture of organization and discipline.” I think you’d have looked at me and thought, “Man, that girl needs to clean her room.” And you’d be right.

But I’m here to say, I’ve beat the odds and I’ve learned a thing or two about organization—and you can too. My secret? Finding and adopting the right project management software.

Here’s what you need to know.

1. PM TOOLS ARE NOT ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL

Implementing a PM tool that one person uses well is one thing. Implementing a PM tool that everyone uses (and uses well), is a whole different ball game. It’s ok to try a lot of them, and it’s ok for some of them to fail. It’s important to do your research, prioritize the features that you think would work best for you (and your team) and, just keep trying.

2. THE WHOLE TEAM HAS TO BE ON BOARD.

As with introducing any new process or software, the whole team has to be open to change and ready to learn. You’ve got to have team-wide buy-in.
PM tools often mean a change in process and a change in workflow. Yes, they’re supposed to be intuitive, but let’s be real here—they’re definitely more intuitive for project managers than they are for creatives. And that’s ok! As long as everyone is open to learning.

3. THERE'S NO PERFECT TOOL.

And not everyone will use the tool you choose perfectly. But finding a transparent way to organize information that’s visible to everyone on the project team? That’s worth all the trial and error.

When it comes to choosing, implementing, and mastering a new PM tool, there’s no “one way” to do it. But if you continue to coach your coworkers through best practices and trust your project managers to lead the way, you can create a thriving project team that collaborates like a well-oiled machine.