Remote and distributed teams have become the norm across most industries today. Studies show that by 2025, 36.2 million Americans will be working remotely – a staggering 87% increase from pre-COVID levels.
With this rapid shift, teams are still adapting to new ways of communicating, coordinating complex work, and fostering genuine connections in digital-first environments.
The data shows that effective collaboration is one of the biggest challenges remote teams face:
- 76% of remote workers struggle with communication and collaboration
- 58% have challenges staying aligned across locations
- 51% have issues tracking progress on team goals
This is where implementing a dedicated work management platform makes all the difference.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll explore how Wrike specifically enables seamless collaboration for dispersed teams with features like:
- Centralized communication
- Task coordination
- Project visibility
- Workload balancing
- Automated workflows
- Analytics and reporting
Let‘s dive in…
What is Wrike (Overview)
Wrike is an online work management and collaboration platform built for remote teams. It acts as a central hub for teams to:
- Map out project plans using interactive Gantt charts
- Break down initiatives into tasks/subtasks
- Assign work and track progress
- Collaborate via comments/mentions
- View status through dashboards
- And more…
It‘s designed to give managers clarity into work execution while empowering teams to actively coordinate amongst themselves.
Wrike is trusted by leading companies like Airbnb, Dell, and Hootsuite to enable collaboration at scale across global teams.
Getting Started With Wrike
It‘s quick and easy to start using Wrike for your team. Just follow these steps:
- Create an Account: Sign up for the free version or start a paid trial
- Add Team Members: Invite collaborators to your Wrike workspace
- Structure Projects: Build out folders to organize key initiatives
- Map Out Plans: Define tasks, timelines, and dependencies
- Assign Work: Assign tasks and subtasks to team members
- Collaborate! Comments, activity streams, and @mentions enable direct coordination in Wrike
Check out this 1-minute video that walks through getting started:
Wrike Benefits for Team Collaboration
Wrike comes packed with a range of features to facilitate transparent collaboration at every level, including:
Enables Workflow Management
The platform provides managers with tools to map out coordinated plans while giving teams visibility into how their work fits into broader initiatives.
- Interactive gantt charts to map out interconnected tasks
- Custom fields to capture important context
- Comments and activity streams to coordinate work
This leads to 73% higher project visibility and 61% better alignment across teams based on data.
Facilitates Cross-Team Alignment
With multiple teams often collaborating on shared goals, Wrike brings together all the elements required to facilitate coordination.
- Associate tasks across multiple projects
- @mention collaborators from other groups
- Unified dashboards across plans
Studies show aligned teams experience 32% higher productivity and 56% better business outcomes.
Centralizes Communication
Teams can message, share files, provide status updates, and more without ever leaving Wrike.
- Interactive activity streams
- Comment directly on tasks
- Real-time notifications
- Direct chat capabilities
This leads to 66% faster resolutions and 41% stronger alignment on goals.
workload balancing based on capacity data
With visibility into individual capacity and real-time status changes, it becomes much easier to dynamically optimize work allocation.
- Track time logged on tasks
- Capture availability outside of Wrike
- Balance assignments across plans
Teams leveraging active workload balancing in Wrike drive 57% higher utilization across their members.
Insightful Analytics
Wrike analytics uncover trends about where teams are improving and where issues may be arising that need resolution.
- Task progress metrics
- Milestone tracking
- Contributor leaderboards
- Burndown reporting
Data shows analytics can lead to 46% faster identification of impediments and 37% better decisions to drive outcomes.
Key Features of Wrike
Wrike provides extensive capabilities that directly enable transparent team coordination, including:
Custom Dashboards
Real-time dashboards give teams high-level visibility into relevant task statuses, progress bars, roadblocks, and updates.
Built-In Proofing
The integrated proofing system removes bottlenecks by enabling teams to gather feedback and secure approvals without ever leaving Wrike.
Resource Management
With visibility into capacity, capability, and availability of human resources, it becomes much easier to dynamically optimize work allocation across plans.
Custom Fields & Forms
Tailor data capture processes to your teams‘ unique coordination needs with customizable fields and request forms that integrate directly with your workflow.
Cross-Project Visibility
Leverage features like cross-project task association, universal search, and organization-wide dashboards to uncover connections.
Interactive Gantt Charts
Visually map out projects end-to-end with an interactive gantt chart that gives all collaborators visibility into how their work fits into broader timelines and dependencies.
Kanban Boards
These familiar kanban-style boards make it easy to break down initiatives into workstreams and track items flowing through key workflow states.
Mobile Apps
Stay connected from anywhere with full-featured iOS and Android apps that enable communication, status updates, and progress tracking on the go.
Comparing Wrike to Popular Alternatives
Here‘s an overview of how some of Wrike‘s main competitors stack up across key collaboration capabilities:
| Wrike | Asana | Monday.com | Basecamp | Airtable | |
| Task Management | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Gantt Charts | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Workload Balancing | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Custom Fields | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Time Tracking | ✅ | Additional Fee | Additional Fee | ❌ | ❌ |
| Advanced Reporting | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
As the chart above shows, Wrike provides one of the most extensive sets of features specifically focused around facilitating team-based work coordination and alignment.
Getting Started With Wrike
Let‘s walk through the step-by-step process of getting started with Wrike for your team:
1. Create Your Free Account
First, you‘ll sign up for Wrike to create your ownworkspace. You can start free with their Basic plan for up to 5 users.
When going through the signup process, make sure to:
- Select "I‘m signing up for my team" so you have admin access
- Pick the Basic plan to start (you can upgrade later)
- Enter your work email so Wrike knows you have a business account
2. Structure Your Projects
Once inside your Wrike workspace, start by structuring your initiatives into different folders to categorize work.
For example, create folders for:
- Marketing Campaigns
- Product Roadmap
- Sales Initiatives
You can always add, edit, or remove folders later as your needs change.
3. Map Out Project Plans
With your structure set up, it‘s time to start mapping out actual plans.
Click into any folder and hit "Add Project" to start building out tasks, timelines, and assignments.
Be sure to capture important details like:
- Main tasks and subtasks
- Dependencies across items
- Owners for each activity
- Due dates given constraints
This will provide the necessary scaffolding for your team to align and execute work.
4. Collaborate Across Teams
With your plans built out, teams can now seamlessly coordinate work directly within the context of projects themselves.
Wrike‘s activity streams and comments make it easy to:
- Provide status updates
- Ask clarifying questions
- Resolve blocking issues
- Celebrate milestones
This enables transparent conversations that help convert plans into collective outcomes!
Maximizing Wrike for Team Success
To help make sure your team collaborates effectively, here are some key best practices to put in place with Wrike:
Cross-Train Power Users
Identify key users across teams to deeply understand Wrike capabilities. They can then coach other members and ensure adoption.
Standardize Processes
Map out consistent workflows for core initiatives like campaign development, content requests, lead follow-ups so work is coordinated.
Configure Notifications
Optimize notifications so updates are routed to the right individuals without notification overload.
Integrate Systems
Connect Wrike into your existing stack like email, Slack, Salesforce so data flows automatically across tools.
Review Analytics
Setup weekly syncs to comb through key reporting dashboards and address any workflow issues that arise.
Sticking to best practices like the ones above ensure your teams get the most out of Wrike!
The Bottom Line
Effective collaboration is critical for remote teams striving to deliver complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives. Wrike provides a dedicated work management solution tailored to facilitate transparency around data, communication, and work coordination amongst teams.
With capabilities extending from customizable plans to status visibility to built-in messaging, Wrike enables organizations to scale collaboration seamlessly.
By centralizing teamwork and providing clarity across functional silos, Wrike unlocks the next level of operational performance for today‘s distributed teams.
