Magazine Project Sheet?

lhumphrey

My department manages the production of a quarterly magazine and uses SS for the editorial/content management process.

Here is the sheet we currently use:

https://publish.smartsheet.com/c95e42926fad4be7ae3463eaf2b228da

I'm wondering if this seems like the best process, or if there's a simpler solution to a project that doesn't have hard deadlines. Many of the dates in the Content Editing process change, and it's pretty tedious to go through with the dependencies, duration, etc, to do that. Maybe using a Gantt chart isn't the best solution?

J. Craig Williams

We (at Smarter Business Processes) have worked with several clients that have content production (for example e-Learning modules) at the core of their business. Getting authors to do things on time is like herding cats. It can be done, but there has to be a better way.

At first glance, your process looks OK. For me, a Gantt chart is a visual cue for things but I don't use it much when managing projects. 

The thing that jumps out to me first is I don't see visual cues to let the PM know that something needs to be done (by them). 

I suggest reaching to Richard (richardr@smarterbusinessprocesses.com) for a one hour free consult. I don't think it would be too difficult to ease some of your pain points.

Craig