The first time I used a digital project management tool was for my social media internship last summer. I learned many useful skills from this internship, but collaborative project management is arguably the most important. No matter what field you work in, staying organized in a group-oriented digital space is essential. 

The project management software I’ve chosen to use is ClickUp, since I am comfortable with it. My summer internship revolved around content creation for social media, specifically TikTok. One of my favorite features about ClickUp is the ability to create customizable spaces. This was integral to how we organized our tasks by platform: TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. These spaces existed in a larger space called “Social.” There were many other spaces for email, digital, partnerships, and retail, but I lived mostly in the TikTok space. 

This was the first time I experienced insight into just how much planning, organizing, and collaboration goes into marketing. I used to think to myself, “How can there be that much to talk about?”

This past week, I translated these project management tools to be usable for my ICM 501 class. I began by creating a space called “ICM 501,” in which there would be three different statuses: modules, assignments, and “complete.” Everything has a due date, which is essential. 

Under assignments I created tasks for my remaining individual assignments for this semester. I separated them from the modules since this project is being worked on progressively over many modules. These tasks have links to helpful examples and directions. 

Under modules, I created Modules 4-7. Within these tasks, I created subtasks for each project that needs to be done within each module. Some of these tasks have checklists, and many also have links to examples, planning docs, etc. 

The final status is “complete,” which is self explanatory. The most satisfying part is seeing everything slowly make its way into this status. We all know that crossing out tasks is the best part of having a to-do list. 

There are many ways to stay organized. Personally, I keep a digital and physical planner and calendar to track all of my classes, meetings, tasks, assignments, and other responsibilities. Learning to use a digital project management software is very useful for all sorts of work environments. 

References

YouTube. (2013). Project Planning Process: 5 Steps To Project Management Planning. YouTube. Retrieved September 22, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do8iykQKMfU&t=2s.