Project Management using DayLite
Creating a process for Project Management
Efficiency + Reliability + Accountability = Success.
When looking into a project management process for a company of over a thousand people, there are many factors that need to be considered. Analyzing current practices and determining actual needs requires a bit of investigating and some good old Q&A time. A process that is implemented poorly can steer a department off track. And while nothing is ever solid in the ever changing marketing world, establishing a clear and comprehensive plan is important for the end result of saving a company time and money while providing accountability and data needed for today’s modern project managing.
Implementing a CMS system
While implementing a CMS system at Hunter Industries, I worked closely, as I often do, with all parties involved from internal clients and designers to the consultants and creators of the software I chose to use. I selected Daylite by MarketCircle. Daylite is an amazing CMS system. Daylite is a business productivity manager designed to help you manage your business and your team, with native applications for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. More than just a CRM, Daylite can be used to manage your company’s projects, sales, contacts, tasks, appointments, meetings, notes, and email.
What do you use Daylite for?
I was first introduced to Daylite in early 2008 and implemented it in our Marketing department using it as a project management tool. We handle project requests from internal and external customers, and we enter that information into Daylite with the help of DMI, linking the relevant contacts to each project so that all our emails, tasks, and planning can be associated with that project are tracked.
What was it about Daylite that drew you in initially?
It was the strongest featured software for project management that I could find and being Mac based, it became a simple choice. It seemed to do most everything I wanted backed and supported by great online training videos, documentation and community forums, which has been very helpful.
How has Daylite and/or Daylite Touch improved your workflow?
Daylite allows our process to be more manageable and efficient. From initiating a project all the way to providing current assessments using smart lists and sending project reports via the Delivery integration feature, we rely on this daily. I also wrote a decently detailed manual to help our entire team with all the great features of Daylite.
Which features do you find most useful to you and your business?
The DMI integration with the ability to hold attachments and keep correspondence associated with the project is the most used feature. Tasking allows us to send action items to each other that we want to track through to completion as part of a larger project. The “Add file reference” is one of my new favourite features that saves me a ton of time by letting me set a link directly to a folder on our server or to a website. Pipeline stages with status change annotation help us with our reports that we send to project requestors showing the status of their projects and our current workload. I am currently looking into importing data from the project request form into Daylite using the “import XML web leads” function. There is a lot more, but that’s some of the most used.
How has Daylite helped you to increase revenue in your business?
Efficiency + Reliability + Accountability = Success.
Documenting and Educating is critical to the success of any process.
Not only is there a need to modernize and implement a CMS system for successful Project Management, but documenting and educating is just as critical. For this process at Hunter, once the needs were defined as determined by the interviewing and assessing process, I then documented the process for the internal team by creating a short Process Manual. I believe that the education process is very important and because of that philosophy, I don’t believe the manual should be anything less then modern and function as well – and that is why I created it with a dynamic table of contents that breakdown the manual for those who want quick references to the functions they need. The manual also has dynamic page references. This is another important part of document creation because over time, certain needs might change and some parts of a process might be updated, revised, or removed. So it is important to think of this while creating the manual because when pages are added or removed, you do not want your cross-references to be incorrect.
Is implementing a CMS project management system right for you and your organization?
Keeping in mind that this is a Mac based software, I believe that the DayLite software is the best solution for small to medium sized organizations. I also use Daylite personally, integrating their mobile software, DayLite Touch, to keep me on track in my freelance career. Being able to sync my data, notes, and calendar when I get back to the studio is fantastic. I also use the billings software that Marketcircle makes for time tracking billing and creating estimates, invoices, and keeping all my projects on track when it comes to the dollars and cents, there is no better Mac based powerhouse package then what Marketcircle has to offer.
If you are interested in implementing a Project Management solution in your organization but not sure where to start, give me a call or send me an email. The time and money you spend up front with proper analysis, will be worth it!
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Sean Bell
Marketing Consultant
PO Box 813 Carlsbad, CA 92018
760.580.9062
If you are in the San Diego area, I also recommend Steve Henry, a DayLite Master Partner. Steve was key in helping me get up and running with Daylite.
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Steve Henry – San Diego Mac IT
http://www.sdmacit.com – 888-502-1038 Office
Certified Member, Apple Consultants Network
Daylite Master Partner • MoneyWorks Consultant
