How to create a project management workflow: A step-by-step guide

It doesn’t matter the size of the business you manage, you can always use more help in completing projects easier… while still being on time and within budget.

You shouldn’t feel ashamed for admitting that you could use some help, we all need it from time to time. Think of it like when you call your best friend for relationship advice. 

A project management workflow is that “best friend” that adapts their advice based on everything that they know about you in order to complete a project successfully. 

Chances are that a lot of your daily tasks and projects tend to be very similar, which means that you can improve your project management by standardizing all work phases and creating a cohesive workflow that’s easy to understand for everyone in your team.

In this article, we will cover:

  1. What is a project management workflow
  2. What is the difference between project management and task workflow management
  3. How to create a project management workflow
  4. Why use a collaboration tool and what are the benefits

What is a project management workflow

Project management workflow is a thoughtfully planned series of tasks and to-do’s you need to complete a particular project. Having clarity and tasks organised in a project management workflow has proven to be efficient and effective, making you save more time, improve results, and increase team collaboration. 

Depending on the nature of your team’s work and projects, sometimes one workflow can work for every process or have small variations for different types of projects. But the fact is that having a project management workflow is well worth it, and so is investing in a project management software.

According to users of MORNINGMATE, using this easy and simple productivity collaboration tool has:

  • Saved 60% in meeting times
  • Increased 200% in brand value
  • Increased 10% in work productivity
  • Saved 20% in process spendings

What is the difference between project management and task workflow management

Differentiating project management and task workflow management can be blurry as they both in some way are one of the same.

Project management mainly focuses on flexibility and transparency at a macro  level of a project such as assigning responsibilities to team members and arranging work itineraries for deliverables, among others.

Task workflow management on the other hand is more specific. It breaks down the exact series of tasks needed to complete a project. Basically, the main goal of task workflow management is to build optimised iterations for work.

So, as you can see, both concepts go hand in hand. However, this becomes much easier in practice with workflow tools like MORNINGMATE, which does both managements in one platform, making it easy and simple to complete a project successfully.

How to create a project management workflow

Whether or not you’re new at project management, establishing a project management workflow can be overwhelming. In this step-by-step guide, we will go through the process of creating a project management workflow, whether or not you’re planning to use a task workflow management tool like MORNINGMATE or continue with the old-manual pen and paper way to do it:

1. List what has to be executed

Create a detailed list of each individual task that your team requires to complete a project. This can include from creating assets, sourcing material, identifying pain points, to making quality check points among others. Try your best having this list organised to make the next steps easier, with MORNINGMATE’s to-do list, organizing, assigning, and editing your workflow outline is easy to make and collaborate with others.

2. Gather all of your resources

Once you have your ultimate list, now you can make another list with everything you need to be able to successfully do it. Consider functionalities such as tools, formats, files, and roles. Make notes of anything that you are still missing so that you can make sure to gather the needed resources before starting the project. Organizing these files and resources is a piece of cake with MORNINGMATE and the best part is that you can share what you’ve already organised directly to the soon to be involved team members without the hassle of onboarding.

3. Assign roles and responsibilities

Define all the roles your project needs and start matching your tasks to the corresponding members that will contribute to the project. Whether it is a fixed project based on the same iteration or a one-time project, with project management tools like MORNINGMATE, you can simply assign the task managers and the specific team members to their corresponding subtasks.

4. Create a workflow layout

A workflow layout or diagram is a visual way to organise the order and priority of the tasks that need to be completed. Here you should be able to see task dependencies and how work is progressing. MORNINGMATE’s task manager is a type of workflow diagram that makes this process easy by reducing it into 5 simple steps you can follow so that you don’t have to create one from zero.

5. Test and keep improving it

Even the pros struggle having the perfect workflow, now imagine on your first try. It’s important for you to test and refine your workflow as you finish projects and gain insight. To minimise all the adjustments you’ll need to make, it’s good to present your proposed structure to your team and have their feedback before testing, and as your team adapts to this new workflow, continue getting their feedback so that you can constantly optimise processes and be on the same page with everyone.

Why use a collaboration tool and what are the benefits?

It’s needless to say that investing in a collaboration tool will save you not only time, but also money and resources by having proven tools that are already built for you to implement for an effective workflow.

MORNINGMATE is more than just another work OS or project management tool. It’s an all-in-one platform for all your business processes, regardless of your business size and industry. Everything we have mentioned previously are just small sneak peaks of what this powerful software can offer. It’s easy and simple to use, seamless to integrate, engaging for the team and external members, and it even offers multiple ways to view your work the way you need it. What are you waiting for? Start investing on a workflow tool and improve your project management in no time.