ACCIDENTAL
PROJECT MANAGER
Real-World Projectplace Use Cases
Accidental Project Manager | 1
PROJECT COLLABORATION
ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION
The need to improve team collaboration has never been more
critical. Projectplace® is a collaborative work management
solution that brings teams together to manage projects and
get things done. It eliminates the need for multiple applications
by combining planning, resourcing, workflow, communication,
reporting, and more, all in one.
Not just for project managers, Projectplace is for anyone who
needs to pull people together to complete a set of deliverables
and reach business objectives … It’s for “accidental project
managers.” As you’ll see, it’s for you regardless of your
department or title.
This eBook features 12 real-world, Projectplace use cases –
told by people who use it every day. Read how they are easily
planning team projects, scheduling tasks, collaborating on
documents, and tracking their group’s progress using integrated
Kanban boards, Gantt charts, and communication tools.
Projectplace empowers
your teams to work together
to achieve goals
 Easy to use
 Great for virtual and distributed teams
 Cloud-based for anywhere access
 Provides effective collaboration and organization
 Manage all work and gain status reporting
 Achieve visibility for teams and stakeholders
Accidental Project Manager | 2
EXPLORE THE DIFFERENT WAYS PEOPLE ARE USING
PROJECTPLACE IN THE FOLLOWING USE CASES
Turning “Professional Cat-herders” Into
Efficient Public Relations Project Managers 
Improving Cross-Department
Communication 
Simplifying New-hire Onboarding
in Human Resources 
Instituting Repeatable Event
Management Processes 
Establishing a Blog Management Process
in Marketing 
Establishing Processes for Contract
Renewals in Customer Success 
Organizing Project and Task Intake for
Agile Digital Marketing 
Facilitating RFP Project Planning 
Enabling Project Management and
Collaboration in Product Marketing 
Sharing Win/Loss and Competitive
Documentation Across Sales 
Advancing Campaign Planning and
Delivery for Demand Generation 
Improving Communications Across
the Sales Department 
Accidental Project Manager | 3
Turning “Professional Cat-herders” Into
Efficient Public Relations Project Managers
By: Jane, Public Relations Manager
All public relations (PR) people, whether they work at
an agency or on-staff with a company, must balance
internal projects and expectations with external
deadlines and requests, aka public relations project
management. And everyone knows that in the digital
age we live in, trying to manage your work day through
email is a fool’s game.
Like many employees in the digital workplace, the
nature of the work I do has made me an “accidental
project manager.” You won’t find it in my title, but
to some extent, on any given day, I am managing
projects, deadlines, and expectations.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect with
Projectplace. I wasn’t convinced that converting my
projects into smaller tasks and putting them on cards
was the solution. But I do like shiny new technology,
so I dove in:
Email and spreadsheets simply
aren’t enough
• I created a workspace in Projectplace.
In the past, I have often relied on spreadsheets and
email, even online document sharing, to track projects.
However, when you are managing incoming requests
from media as well as the numerous deadlines
associated with various articles, news releases, and
other projects, it is easy to lose track of which deadline
goes with which project and who has reviewed what.
• I put milestones in the plan, so I could see the
big stuff coming up.
• I created activities for my
priority campaigns.
• I moved tasks, assignments, and smaller projects
to cards. Each card was assigned a deadline, an
owner, and a label so I could easily differentiate
between news releases and articles, award
entries, and media pitches.
Public Relations | Accidental Project Manager | 4
Suddenly, I could “see”
deadlines, bottlenecks, and
who was working on what.
I could also see task owners, due dates, notes, and
related documents – all in one place. Plus, adding
external agencies to the workspace was as easy as
adding their email address to the folder.
Feeling overwhelmed
by tasks, deadlines,
Now, I manage all tasks related to public relations
activities through Projectplace. The external PR
agency I work with can easily communicate notes
on tasks and projects. Also, if I need to know
where a project stands, I simply check that related
card instead of wading through a spreadsheet or
searching my email inbox.
and projects? I highly
The advantages of Projectplace go beyond
recommend Projectplace
stakeholders and structured (work where
public relations. For any team with multiple
to get organized and teams
methodologies drive how work is planned
on the same page.
as well as moving targets for deadlines
and executed) as well as unstructured work
KEY BENEFITS
Ownership. Projectplace lets me communicate
directly with task owners on specific activities. The
whole team has line of sight into accountability for
individual tasks. Aligning those cards and tasks to
activities helps us see progress of tasks for specific
campaigns.
Visibility. It’s easy to see status reports, because I
can easily view what has been done and where the
bottlenecks are. Because the cards are visible to
everyone, we all can see what’s been accomplished.
We can now use the time in weekly status calls to
discuss strategic issues, because the logistics and
other details have been captured on cards.
Standardizing processes. One of the things I like
best about Projectplace is the checklist feature for
cards. It allows me to create standardized tasks
for an activity without having an overwhelming
number of cards. Being swamped with information
is almost as bad as not having that information,
which is why we use Projectplace in the first place.
(spoiler alert: that’s all of us), Projectplace
provides one collaborative workspace to
get work done.
Public Relations | Accidental Project Manager | 5
Simplifying New-hire Onboarding
in Human Resources
By: Sabrina, Human Resources Specialist
How often do you consider
those in Human Resources
as project managers?
Probably not often.
But I am here to tell you we are. From facilitating interviews
during the hiring process, planning annual employee benefits and
rollout, addressing employee concerns, to new-hire onboarding,
Human Resources staff has their fair share of project work. Human
Resources project management is part of our day-to-day.
Like other areas of the organization, Human Resources is always
looking for new ways to improve work efficiency, but it isn’t always
easy. While email and spreadsheets have a purpose, it’s no longer
enough. We started using Projectplace, a collaborative work
management solution by Planview. It not only became much
easier to communicate progress and share status, but it took
less effort to manage tasks.
Human Resources | Accidental Project Manager | 6
EXAMPLE: NEW-HIRE ONBOARDING MANAGEMENT
We struggled managing the new-hire onboarding process. It was difficult to
know exactly where new hires were in the process or answer questions like: Did they
receive and complete their benefit package? Were they invited to orientation? Were
they issued a parking permit? Team members had to navigate lengthy email chains
and track separate emails to find the answers. We could not easily see what was
done or what still needed to happen at a glance.
Projectplace changed all that. To start, the Kanban board functionality allows the
team to create a workflow and identify all the steps that must be completed – from
before the new hire’s first day to the end of their first week of work. We can assign
cards to specific team members so everyone in the department can see who is
responsible for the next task – which creates accountability. The cards work as a
ladder where the next task is not assigned until the previous task is documented
and completed.
Not only that, but document management is a breeze. We manage documents
in cards and have created shared folders in the workspace that are accessible to
our extended Human Resources offices around the world. These files contain all the
shared documentation and templates needed for a new hire, and can be updated
and shared easily, ensuring everyone is using the same forms. Projectplace has
created a much more stable and organized environment for the entire Human
Resources department.
Projectplace has created a much more
stable and organized environment for
the entire Human Resources department.
Human Resources | Accidental Project Manager | 7
Establishing a Blog Management
Process in Marketing
By: Leyna, Content Marketing Manager
CREATIVITY IS KEY
We’ve all heard that one before, particularly those of
us in marketing. For us marketers, developing content
can be an arduous process when it involves numerous
people, often spread out across different departments.
Without a proper collaboration tool, marketing project
management can quickly become overwhelming.
As a content manager and blog editor, I understand
this challenge all too well. Seeing a content idea
from conception to publication requires the work of
writers, subject matter experts, reviewers, a primary
proofreader, and also SEO experts, graphic designers,
and developers, depending on the type and length of
the content. Overseeing this process means managing
all of these people, ensuring each person completes
their part by a set deadline, and remaining flexible if
adjustments must be made.
Relying on email and spreadsheets in the past made it
challenging for me to keep track of numerous content
pieces in the works. Once an idea was submitted to a
writer, I was left in the dark as to their progress and had
to set reminders for myself to follow up when deadlines
were approaching. I had to be hyper organized, and
it created a lot of additional busy work for me. This all
changed with Projectplace. To explain the benefits,
I’ll walk you through the creation process (I leverage
the Kanban boards in Projectplace to establish this
workflow)
Marketing | Accidental Project Manager | 8
PROJECTPLACE BENEFITS
BLOG MANAGEMENT EACH STEP OF THE WAY
1. Idea generation – With Kanban boards, it’s simple
for anyone to create a new card under “new blog
request,” then assign it to whoever has the bandwidth
to write it. I can filter the board by assignee, enabling
me to view everyone’s workload, and delegate
accordingly.
3. Editing and review process – Instead of
continuously sending drafts to reviewers via email,
documents can be uploaded to their specific cards
and edited all in one place. No more losing track of
the most-recent draft. This has been an amazing time
saver!
2. Writing – Once a card is assigned to a writer or
subject matter expert, it is moved to “in progress,”
and all communication regarding the content is kept
within the card. This way, all relevant information is
kept together, rather than spread out in various emails
and spreadsheets.
4. Meeting deadlines – Each card can have a specific
deadline, and I can easily view any that may be lagging
or adjust due dates.
With the use of Projectplace, each aspect of
blog management is streamlined and made more
efficient. The cards and Kanban board eliminate the
need for email and spreadsheets entirely, and trust
me, they are not missed.
5. Publishing – The final draft with all edits is easily
available when blogs are ready to be published.
The card can then be archived, to keep track of past
communications regarding the content.
It’s amazing how much easier marketing project
management has become, particularly when establishing
content development processes and workflow.
Marketing | Accidental Project Manager | 9
Organizing Project and Task Intake
for Agile Digital Marketing
By: Dawn, Digital Marketing Manager
Digital marketing project
management can be
challenging because we
constantly have an ongoing,
lengthy to-do list.
We add to the list within our own department, but
we also receive website update requests from other
departments. Our to-do list grows daily and is difficult
to manage, with priorities constantly shifting and
schedules having to be rearranged.
In the past, we lacked visibility. There wasn’t a
single point person who received and organized
requests; the expectation was that anything sent to
the department would get done immediately, which
resulted in chaos. Before getting organized with
Projectplace, I used Microsoft Project, which is a lot
more complex and not very intuitive. It was easy to
make mistakes, and it was difficult to track multiple
users collaborating on a project.
Now, I use Projectplace daily. Mainly, I use the Plan
feature for each sprint. I plan out different subtasks
beneath each larger task, so I have something to tie
the cards to. Before each sprint starts, my manager and
I will go through the request board for our department
and see what projects we can include in the next
sprint. We also look at requests received from other
departments and try to fit those in when we can.
Digital Marketing | Accidental Project Manager | 10
Projectplace keeps me organized and on schedule.
In My Overview, I can see real-time status updates
without having to go to each board. I can see
everything coming up and past due at a high level. I
frequently use the @reference feature to alert staff to
updates and information as well as ask questions. This
cuts out hundreds of emails and lets me communicate
more efficiently with my team.
The main tip that helped me in getting started
was to make an outline and use the Plan or
Roadmaps feature to plan your project. Then you
can have a productive kickoff meeting to ensure
your team is on the same page. After that, it
should be (relatively) smooth sailing!
I especially love the Dependencies feature. It’s often
the case that the progress of one card will depend on
completion of another, and Dependencies makes it
simple to keep track of each individual card and how
it’s moving along its timeline.
Projectplace keeps me
organized and on schedule.
Digital Marketing | Accidental Project Manager | 11
Enabling Project Management and
Collaboration in Product Marketing
By: Angie, Product Marketing Manager
Our goal in product marketing is to
empower our internal teams with
knowledge they need about our
organization’s solutions and products.
This includes helping them understand the market, competition, and
external forces that affect the way we conduct business.
When you think of sales and project management software commonly
used in an organization, you have your usual suspects: a CRM system,
email, spreadsheets, and maybe document storage owned by a
single person or gatekeeper. We had that same challenge in our sales
enablement process: using a variety of tools that were fragmented
and disparate. As a result, we had no clue if our team members were
accessing and using the right resources to get their jobs done. In
product marketing, we have to be organized, and Projectplace has
helped us qualify our sales team with materials and market research to
give them an edge over the competition.
Projectplace’s Documents feature is our go-to place to organize
and keep our internal collateral. Even though my title is “solutions
marketing specialist,” I act as our department’s project manager – I
often coordinate content updates for sales and marketing materials.
I’ll collaborate with a team of subject matter experts using my favorite
feature – documents with version management.
Product Marketing | Accidental Project Manager | 12
Before, it was difficult to keep track of who had the latest edits on documents that
we were working on. I’d send a version out for review, it would go back and forth in a
long trail of emails, and sometimes those edits would get lost and forgotten among
the shuffle. Now I can request a subject matter expert to review and edit a draft, I’ll
set a deadline, and Projectplace puts it through a process flow, notifying the editor
to get it done. I don’t have to hover over anyone that I’ve assigned tasks to – all edit
requests are done in one place, finalized, and ready to share. All is good with the
world of collaboration!
Another favorite Projectplace feature of mine is the ability to work on tasks, see
project status, and collaborate on multiple devices. Our field team can be on the
road visiting customers, and if they need a particular file, they can quickly pull it up
and reference it on the fly within the Projectplace mobile app. The app interface is
so user-friendly, too. Imagine the impact that makes!
At the end of the day, I really enjoy seeing it all come together when the field
team posts in Projectplace’s Conversations about their wins in real-time, and
we can celebrate together as a global company.
Team members no longer use outdated materials that they saved on their desktop
– they now have access to the most up-to-date documents. They can see exactly the
last time a file was updated. I @reference team members to let them know when it’s
ready (secretly, I can track to see who’s using it)!
At the end of the day, I really
enjoy seeing it all come together when
the field team posts in Projectplace’s Conversations
about their wins in real-time, and we can celebrate
together as a global company.
Product Marketing | Accidental Project Manager | 13
Advancing Campaign Planning and
Delivery in Demand Generation
By: Elsa, Demand Generation Manager
As a demand-generation
marketer, it is my job to get
customers excited about
our company’s products and
services.
The programs I manage through email campaigns and
social media create touch points with our customers.
Project management in demand generation marketing
has many challenges, including organizing and
planning. If your job includes long- and short-term
projects, from the simple to the complex, you can
probably relate.
On any given day, I have multiple projects going on
that each require individual attention to detail to be
successful, and it can be difficult to keep everything
organized and on track. Demand generation also faces
the problem of effectively planning campaigns. A
campaign often requires multiple activities and tactics,
each requiring numerous steps to be created. To be
optimally effective, these demand gen activities need
to be spaced out over time. Running more than one
campaign at once further complicates this, which is
why planning is such a challenge.
Demand Generation | Accidental Project Manager | 14
USE PROJECTPLACE TO
SUPPORT DEMAND
GENERATION ACTIVITIES
TO KEEP THINGS
ORGANIZED
Organization in Demand Generation:
To combat organizational challenges, I’ve created
a calendar in the Kanban section, with each card
representing an email, webinar, demo, etc., and they
are color coded accordingly. Each card allows me to
create a checklist within the card to ensure that all
steps get completed. Being able to see everything I’m
working on ensures that I don’t miss any tasks and stay
on track to complete my deadlines.
I encourage anyone in demand gen who’s
looking to be more organized and effective
at planning to try Projectplace.
Planning in Demand Generation: I use Projectplace
daily when I’m planning email sends. The calendar
view I’ve created helps me plan resends and create
consistency in emails, without overwhelming my
audience. I can also assign a card to someone, which
makes delegating tasks and assigning accountability
clear. Once a task is completed, I’m notified, which
streamlines the review process.
How Projectplace compares: Compared to previous
software I have used, Projectplace combines its
functionality into one. Rather than using multiple
tools like Atlassian for planning, or Asana for task
organization, I now only use Projectplace. It makes it
easier to keep track of everything when it’s all in one
place. I also enjoy the flexibility of Projectplace, as I
can get creative and customize my board to work best
for my needs. I encourage anyone in demand gen
who’s looking to be more organized and effective
at planning to try Projectplace.
Demand Generation | Accidental Project Manager | 15
Improving Cross-Department
Communication
By: Nikki, Demand Generation Manager
Often, when cross department
communication suffers,
project deadlines are missed.
So, you can imagine the challenges are compounded
when those people you need to communicate with are
also geographically dispersed. Projectplace improves
communication by breaking down these silos.
Before Projectplace, I used email and scheduled a
lot of face-to-face meetings to collaborate and share
information with extended team members. Once a
meeting was over, I had to manage all the files and
details from my desktop and via email. If we needed
to collaborate on a content or creative piece, I sent it
via email, then had to track who had the last edited
version or had to consolidate changes into a fresh
document. Collaboration was slow, as some people
responded via email, while others didn’t. I couldn’t
easily know who still needed to provide feedback. I
knew there had to be a better way.
Together we plan, collaborate, and execute
on different demand generation activities
including content development, events,
webcasts, and more, so we are all in sync
with what we intend to deliver.
I now have a Projectplace workspace dedicated to
fostering communications with solutions marketing
and our extended demand generation managers in
Europe. Together we plan, collaborate, and execute
on different demand generation activities including
content development, events, webcasts, and more,
so we are all in sync with what we intend to deliver.
The global demand gen team can then leverage
efforts done at headquarters and localize activities
and campaigns to create demand globally. One thing
I love about Projectplace is its versatility. If I have a
special project, I can create a dedicated workspace
for the initiative and invite others to participate and
collaborate.
Demand Generation | Accidental Project Manager | 16
Projectplace allows me to communicate upcoming
and new demand gen activities to the global
field, inside sales teams, and solutions marketing.
Social features allow everyone to see, “like,” and ask
questions on announcements related to the campaigns
I am running in one place – no more digging through
emails. My communications are front and center on the
conversations tab.
Document management is also easy in Projectplace.
As part of my campaign communication, I use the
document management feature to alert the subject
matter experts when it is time to collaborate on
a document. As a best practice, I upload shared
documents to the documents tab so that 1) there
is a source file, and 2) it improves the document
management experience. I can then link the document
to a card directly from the documents section, so if any
changes are made, there is only one version.
For me, two features help improve cross-department
communication the most. First: Breaking out tasks
into cards on the Kanban board. I love seeing what
needs to get done in cards and who is assigned to
them. This helps everyone in the workspace see who
owns what – and it creates accountability. Second:
If you see a roadblock with a card or simply have a
question for the owner, the ability to ask questions
on a given card is amazing. The owner receives a
notification and can communicate quickly to stay on
track. I find people are very responsive to comments
and feedback in Projectplace. And if other people
need to be brought into the conversation, there is
a history – so you don’t need to have a meeting to
explain the matter. Having a communication chain
captured in the card speeds up progress and
saves everyone’s time.
Projectplace allows me to communicate
upcoming and new demand gen
activities to the global field, inside
sales teams, and solutions marketing.
Demand Generation | Accidental Project Manager | 17
Instituting Repeatable Event
Management Processes
By: Anna, Events Manager
The nature of event
management involves lots of
moving parts: dates, people,
deliverables, activities,
deadlines, and more deadlines.
Trying to keep track of everything can be complicated
and challenging, often resulting in an event
management quagmire – constantly digging yourself
out of action items, follow-ups, and due dates. When
this is the case, you must reevaluate how you’re
spending your time and energy, and collaborative work
management just might be the perfect solution.
THE BRIGHT SIDE OF
EVENT MANAGEMENT
Collaborative work management simplifies the process
of event planning, bringing all the moving parts together
in one centralized, organized, collective location.
Imagine being able to see exactly what everyone is
working on, along with the status and progress of each
assignment or task, whenever you need to. Whether
you’re managing one event at a time or juggling several
at once, a collaborative work management solution will
keep you on top of your plan.
Event Management | Accidental Project Manager | 18
PLANVIEW PROJECTPLACE
IS A PERFECT COMPANION
WHEN IT COMES TO:
• Organizing: Utilize an event planning workspace to capture
everything pertaining to your event. With Kanban boards and cards,
you can set up a custom structure to identify each action and step in
the process. Deadlines and progress can then be further organized
in a Gantt Chart, which helps you visualize overlapping projects and
deadlines. Plus, a built-in event planning template will walk you through
the various components, so you won’t miss anything along the way.
• Communicating: No need to rely on email. Communicate and
collaborate with your entire team right from the workspace. Document
management and sharing capabilities make certain all your event files
contain the most up-to-date versions and are readily accessible.
• Assigning and Tracking: Task management is seamless within a
collaborative work management structure. You can easily assign action
items with due dates, provide direction, and receive feedback and
updates by using the Kanban board cards. The cards are organized in
columns by specific categories, with each column representing a different
stage in the process (ex: New; In Progress; In Review; Completed). The
cards can be moved from column to column as the status of the item
changes. This way everyone has visibility into what stage a specific item
is in, what progress is being made, what has been finished, and what still
needs to be done.
Collaborative work management simplifies
the process of event planning, bringing all
the moving parts together in one centralized,
organized, collective location.
Event planning can be rather stressful as it is – you want it to be
successful and for all those involved to walk away with a great
experience. You don’t want to add to this stress by having too many
disjointed collaboration tools. Rest easy knowing everyone and
everything is up-to-date on information that is stored in one place.
That way, you can simply enjoy the after party.
Event Management | Accidental Project Manager | 19
Establishing Processes for Contract
Renewals in Customer Success
By: Scott, VP of Customer Service
If you have worked in a customer-facing position, you
know how difficult it can be to effectively allocate the
finite resources you have across a myriad of customers.
Customer project management and success is a
delicate balancing act that must take many factors into
account. It requires a significant amount of internal
communication to coordinate these efforts, but using
email as the primary communication tool is sure to
present many challenges: Were all of the appropriate
parties included in the email? Are long, confusing
threads developing? Are recipients reading this
information on a timely basis? Using email to manage
customer accounts does not ultimately serve the
customer best.
SUCCESSFULLY MANAGING
CUSTOMER RENEWALS
I now use Projectplace to keep track of customer
projects. I have since left confusing email chains
behind and have never looked back. For example,
the complex contract renewal process has countless
touchpoints and documents associated with each
customer: emails, notes, contracts, and invoices, to
name just a few. In Projectplace, I can easily organize
key information for a customer on to a “card” on
a virtual task Kanban board and effortlessly attach
documents, links, status updates, and more to each
card. Cards are arranged in columns that represent
stages of workflow, enabling an intuitive “at a glance”
view of where each customer is in the process.
Customer Service | Accidental Project Manager | 20
Progressing the card through the workflow is
incredibly simple with drag and drop. A variety of
boards can be set up to organize customer cards
by geography, product line, and more. When
we’re on the go we can easily use a mobile device
to manage the cards, providing timely access and
updates to the entire renewals process.
SO MUCH MORE
Work collaboration in Projectplace is so much more than
just a fancy way to replace emails and documents; its
versatility and simplicity lends itself exceptionally well
to the management of a variety of customer project
management use cases. Because each customer and
project is inherently different, you need a tool that can
be flexible. And that’s what Projectplace is. Its power is
limited only by the limits of your creativity.
Because each customer and project is inherently different, you need
a tool that can be flexible. And that’s what Projectplace is.
Customer Service | Accidental Project Manager | 21
Facilitating RFP Project Planning
By: Kasey, RFP Process and Operations Manager
The request for proposal (RFP)
process often requires collecting
answers from multiple subject matter
experts to produce a complete
deliverable to the prospect – and in
my experience, this project planning
can get messy, fast.
Tracking project tasks such as who owns what, deadlines, and
communication with technical and product experts can result in
outdated information when solely done through email. Not to
mention the vast amount of time wasted on a bunch of busy work.
Before implementing Projectplace, I had to go through the
monotonous task of manually tracking status from emails sent and
received by everyone involved. Projectplace makes the process
much smoother and allows us to see work in progress. Information
pertaining to a certain RFP response is now in one location – no
more digging through emails for the most recent status update or
document version.
I set up a Projectplace workspace to manage global requests.
Within the workspace, I can create and assign tasks to subject
matter experts and key contributors. Tasks can easily be tracked
throughout the entire process, resulting in improved collaboration
and communication – no matter where contributors are in the
world. As a result, the team has a focus on what needs to be done
and when. RFPs are delivered in a timely fashion, which helps us
contribute to the sales process and the company’s bottom line –
growth and customer satisfaction.
Request for Proposal | Accidental Project Manager | 22
For me, the most useful feature of Projectplace is
the Kanban board and cards. The Kanban boards
allow everyone to visualize status, quickly see
progress, and identify bottlenecks so they can be
resolved and work can continue. The cards allow
the team to start conversations, ask questions,
and request feedback; plus, there is a history. If
someone new comes to the conversation, they can
read the history and have a better understanding
of the current state of the project. This is useful for
asking questions or giving reminders to individual
team members. All of this has resulted in easy and
timely collaboration. For both myself and the team,
being able to track the tasks assigned to you as
well as due dates on your homepage is valuable for
prioritizing work and creating accountability.
For both myself and the team, being able
to track the tasks assigned to you as well as
due dates on your homepage is valuable for
prioritizing work and creating accountability.
At first, adopting a new project collaboration
software may seem like it will be time consuming
or difficult to implement; however, from personal
experience, Projectplace is a very user-friendly
system, and adoption was simple for our diverse,
global group. Simply spending a day getting to
know the interface and creating projects is enough
to get started. Once you get used to the solution,
making a project and inviting those who need to
participate only takes minutes. For my team it
improves RFP Management efficiency, saves
hours of busy work, and allows everyone to
remain informed and organized so we deliver
winning RFPs on time.
Request for Proposal | Accidental Project Manager | 23
Sharing Win/Loss and Competitive
Documentation Across Sales
By: Michael, Inside Sales
Sales professionals often face team collaboration challenges – they want
information at their fingertips, fast, and when they need it. Whether it be
information about current deals, win/loss stories, competitive information,
training, or sales enablement materials, using traditional tools like email and
spreadsheets can slow collaboration and disrupt the sales cycle. So, how can
managers break down silos and improve sales team collaboration?
Here are a few ways I have used collaborative work management tools like
Projectplace to improve our team’s processes.
Share Win/Loss Announcements
All sales professionals want tactics for good selling. Projectplace enables this
through its collaboration and social conversation features. Anyone on the sales
team can share both win and loss announcements, offering learnings for others in
the field as well as practical tips that can be applied to opportunities in progress.
Our friends in marketing share the latest campaigns, new public relations activities,
and new assets. This gives everyone the opportunity to read, collaborate, or
congratulate sellers without having to wait for that weekly meeting.
Sales Document Management
Sales people often have a set of core documents they use. NDAs, contracts,
collateral, sales enablement materials, etc. Instead of storing these documents
via email or your desktop, Projectplace provides sales teams the ability to store all
necessary documents in one place, and there is version control. If marketing needs
to update a product datasheet, or if business operations updates pricing docs or
contracts, all changes are managed and shared in Projectplace – everyone is always
leveraging the same, up-to-date document and collateral.
My tips for any organization looking to uplift their sales processes or that simply
need a better way to stay organized is to first determine what you are trying
to accomplish. Whether it is collaboration, task management, or planning,
understand the group of people you are working with and how it can fit their
processes. Collaborative work management tools are not just for project
managers! Projectplace can be a vital tool for any department looking to improve
collaboration – like sales.
Inside Sales | Accidental Project Manager | 24
Collaborative work management tools are not just for
project managers! Projectplace can be a vital tool for any
department looking to improve collaboration – like sales.
Inside Sales | Accidental Project Manager | 25
Improving Communications Across
the Sales Department
By: Paula, VP of Inside Sales
For most people involved in
sales, traditional methods
of project management and
communication are sometimes
difficult and cluttered.
Often, accountability is missing, and communication
can be arduous. There are many moving parts in
each sale and, with that, comes factors that can be
miscommunicated or confused.
From years of experience in sales, I have found that
most communication and project management is done
using email. This method works until you are receiving
30-plus emails a day, which can become difficult
due to clutter and just the sheer number of things
to keep track of. This is where collaborative work
management comes in. Using Projectplace in sales,
project management and customer communication
become streamlined and user-friendly.
Inside Sales | Accidental Project Manager | 26
With Projectplace, teams can get a
top-down view of every sales project and
plan available and receive updates on
the status of any given project.
Here are three scenarios that demonstrate the benefits
collaborative work management tools like Projectplace
can have on the sales process: Project Management
1. Sales project management – Having an overview of
projects in sales makes teams effective and stress free. With
Projectplace, teams can get a top-down view of every sales
project and plan available and receive updates on the status
of any given project. Thus, communication is simpler and
team members are more productive.
2. Enterprise sales leadership team meetings – Scheduling
team meetings and having easy communication with clients
and prospects is important and necessary. Projectplace
streamlines this process and improves collaboration and
communication. Being able to have everyone involved and
on the same page for meetings and projects makes the sales
process extremely user-friendly.
3. Regional customer user group – In Projectplace, sales
teams can stay in contact with regional customers via regional
customer user groups. Using these, teams can update
customers with information and make sure they are getting
the newest and most relevant news. When a customer can
receive updates about the products, the sales process
becomes straightforward and painless.
I would recommend leveraging a tool like Projectplace
and reading more specifically about all of the ways it
could benefit the team and make sales easier every day.
Inside Sales | Accidental Project Manager | 27
CONCLUSION
The use cases presented in this eBook are just some of the ways your organization
can use Projectplace across your entire business. While the applications are
endless, there are several common denominators across these users. They are
no longer burdened and held back by email, disparate tools, and spreadsheets.
Because Projectplace is extremely user-friendly and intuitive, everyone got up to
speed on the solution quickly. They now lead with confidence and deliver strong
results for both internal stakeholders and customers through advanced visibility,
communication, and collaboration.
Projectplace’s wide range of capabilities provide a seamless solution for anyone
in your organization – as well as external team members – to leverage regardless
of responsibility, title, department or location. Teams in every industry and
function across the globe are using Projectplace – from small work groups to large
enterprises. In fact, Projectplace is ideal for multidisciplinary, virtual teams who must
collaborate on everything from regulatory compliance to creating today’s complex,
digital products and services.
Experience Projectplace for yourself by signing up for a
free trial today.
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