INTRODUCTION
When managing public engagement projects, keeping track of multiple deadlines, tasks and stakeholders can be tough. ClickUp, a project management tool, allows you to streamline these tasks by organizing your workflow into spaces, tasks and timelines.
Here are a couple of steps to take to create a public engagement timeline with ClickUp.
SET UP A DEDICATED SPACE
Begin by creating one dedicated Space to house all your public engagement projects. This will allow you to see their project timelines in one place.
Each client or campaign will have their own folder, and each folder will have its own lists (see next section). You also can use the Custom Fields tool to include specific details relevant to each engagement, such as stakeholder contact information, project budgets or key dates. Custom Fields can make it easy to filter and sort through different tasks as you manage multiple projects.
USE LISTS TO ORGANIZE TASKS
Once your Space is created, break your project down into lists. These lists could include stages of the public engagement process such as Research, Outreach, Implementation and Analysis. Each list should have all the tasks needed for that phase, from setting initial goals to promoting your message to scheduling events.
Within each task, you can add subtasks to break down activities, which makes sure no details get overlooked. Subtasks help in managing the workload and are especially useful if you’re working with a team, as you can assign different responsibilities within each task.
For example, let’s talk about Outreach. One major task might be creating a community survey. The subtasks could be: write survey questions, review questions with the client, load the survey into the software, launch the survey to the public, post survey links on social media and send reminder emails to stakeholders.
CREATE AND TRACK YOUR TIMELINE
ClickUp’s Timeline and Gantt chart features are helpful for visualizing your public engagement efforts. Set due dates, assign tasks and track progress all in one place. If deadlines change, the tool makes it easy to adjust the timeline by having a drag-and-drop feature. Sometimes there are tasks that have to be done before another. ClickUp’s Dependency feature can link related tasks together.
You can also use ClickUp’s Milestone feature to mark important project dates such as public meetings or major deliverables.
AUTOMATE AND COMMUNICATE
ClickUp offers automation features to save time and keep your project on deadline. Automate reminders for deadlines or task completions, or set triggers to move tasks between lists when certain things are met, like task approval. This ensures no steps are missed as you move to different stages of the project.
Communication tools, like Comments and Chat, also are at your disposal. You can leave notes for your team directly within each task and even tag specific team members. You also can attach documents, files or reference links to make sure everyone is working on the most up-to-date information.
MONITOR YOUR ENGAGEMENT’S PROGRESS
Track your overall performance of public engagement initiatives with ClickUp’s dashboards, which allow teams to build custom visualizations like task progress bars. This can be helpful in providing your client with status updates.