Cella recently conducted CreativeExecs Roundtables in five cities (and in a virtual event) to talk about Workfront: Mastering Adoption and Workflow. A big thanks to all who attended, and to our partner, Workfront, for participating as well.
According to Workfront, more than 3,000 global organizations use the company's project management software to help creatives get their best work done and help their enterprises thrive in a fast-paced digital world. For creative teams, Workfront is a sizeable investment, and teams often stumble out of the gate when deploying it. The implementation is complex; getting it right the first time is an ambitious but necessary goal. And even if your team gets it deployed, can you then get it adopted? Can other in-house agencies' successes help ensure your own?
These questions, and the challenges surrounding them, were items of discussion during the CreativeExecs Roundtable series. Participants from around the country shared insights on the best ways to attempt and succeed at transitioning to Workfront and realize its transformative power. Whether they were kicking the tires, recent purchasers, would-be implementers or everyday users of Workfront, they all gained productive advice for getting maximum value from the platform tool-- all based on the real-world experiences of their peers and our consulting experts.
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Here are a few key points from our discussions during the roundtable:
Ready, set, get started the right way. You're not ready to implement until you define why you need Workfront, determine your goals for it and set rules for using it. Ask your team: What's our story? What data do we need to tell it? What should go in reports? How will it support the management and throughput of projects? Hit GO only after you agree on the answers.
Dedicate an administrator--a must! A go-to resource for all things Workfront is critical--not just for configuring and launching the tool, but maintaining and evolving it as well. Supporting Workfront is a full-time job, establishing a subject matter expert, or steward, ensures a greater opportunity for success.
Launch in phases. Workfront's features are very robust, so roll them out in phases--slowly adding teams and functionality after the pilot. Create a change-management plan covering communications, testing, training, launch strategy, launch and post-launch support.
Nix garbage in, garbage out. Workfront won't fix broken processes or make up for nonexistent ones. Take time to audit, analyze and fine-tune them before configuring the tool.
Gain vital backing up front. The support of key stakeholders really matters to the success of a Workfront transition. It's very important to seek alignment at the executive level, to partner with IT early (working out SSO and any required third party integrations) and to build enthusiasm among all the departments that will be using the tool.
If you're looking for guidance in selecting or implementing the right technology for your company...ensuring a successful adoption...or adding great project management talent to your staff ...Cella can help. Contact us today.
