Overhauling the Project Management System for a Christian Denomination

A Christian denomination in the United States faced a backlog of work during a staff transition, due to the lack of effective project management. The denomination’s marketing and communications team handle the bulk of publishing efforts, including the annual report, curriculum, video production, and other writing, editing and design projects. However, following the departure of the project manager, they struggled to track projects, meet deadlines and manage workflow. The project management tool they were using did not handle workflow well; different teams were unable to tell which projects took priority, what the status of the work was and what work needed attention on a daily basis. They tried to stick to a production schedule but frequently missed deadlines. Without tracking the time spent on projects, they were unable to set expectations. Projects frequently overlapped, leading to confusion and delays while the team tried to keep up.

Guardian worked with the communications department to completely revamp their workflow, first analyzing the current process to better understand where there were inefficiencies. We recognized that they needed a more robust project management tool to track their projects. After researching multiple systems that could work for them, we ultimately encouraged them to opt for a comprehensive and customizable tool that another group in the denomination was already using. This would improve efficiency, make it easier to interface with teams across the denomination and allow for better collaboration. 

As a result of our efforts, the team is now better organized and able to manage their workflow.

Before we implemented the tool, we created a rollout plan complete with announcement dates, training sessions, live Q&A and a staggered transition process. We met with teams to help develop strategies and scope of work to design a healthy project process and well-organized system. Within the tool, we set up a hierarchy to structure their process, and centralized comments and tasks to improve communication. Our team also set up notifications and reminders to automate repeated tasks—such as deadline reminders—to limit emails and reduce workload.

Once the teams were comfortable working in the system, we created a communications process that detailed steps for the preparation and development of publishing projects, from initial request to finished product. Next, we implemented new tactics to increase the team’s efficiency and customer service. Some of these strategies included the introduction of daily and weekly updates within the project management tool, along with best practices.

As a result of our efforts, the team is now better organized and able to manage their workflow. They are knowledgeable about the production management tool, and can sort their work according to due dates, track their progress and get the most out of the system. In addition, the departments they serve are now aware of their projects’ progress, so they can manage expectations and plan accordingly.