What would you change?

[NRYNR]

Happy Tuesday!

If I could go back to the beginning of my Workfront experience 8 years ago and change one thing, I would refuse to back myself into corners with integrations. Without fail, integrations where we've tried to automate issue routing or process user additions have always ended up taking more time long run and were never worth it. As an administrator and configuration expert, I suggest you stick to working inside of Workfront as much as possible, even if it means some manual steps are required. I don't care if we have to add 20 users a day manually. We can still do it better, plus it comes with that personal touch that requesters appreciate more than you can imagine. It's only when you've mastered the manual process that I suggest you ever try to automate a solution. #TheWFProWay

What would you change if you could go back to the beginning of your Workfront administrator experience?

[BenettaPe]

I would not create individual hundreds of reports. Understanding the wildcards and using them is CRUCIAL. In the beginning - I'd never heard of wildcards like $$USERID, This knowledge came over a year later. (I joined in 2016 and there was not much in helps) So now - my struggle is report clean up. ‚

[Christina_Jarosz]

1. I would make sure it is clear what you are looking for with your WF implementation team. Example: Is Workfront WORM compliant? (Our interpretation - does it meet all the needs that are required with WORM Compliance? WF interpretation - does WF have a compliance workflow method?)

2. Input input input. Work in Sandbox, throw some of your test users in it and ask for feedback good and bad. Our workflows made sense from our perspective, but how it's done on paper vs. how the team actually completes it are two different things.

3. Ask for the 'wish list'. What about WF would make it the bomb dot com as they say? What would make you excited about it - if it helped you HOW? What's important to system admins is NOT what is important to end user.

4. Document decisions and WHY you made them - as roles change, the reasons behind foundation decisions are lost. If a change takes place later, newer staff may not know the broader impact.

5. If it doesn't make sense, ask. You'll be taking over the reins from the WF staff eventually and you'll need to know how/why they did what they did in a certain area. If you're asking yourself 'is there an easier way' to accomplish xyz, someone likely already thought the same thing. Work smarter not harder.

[Sheri_Whitten]

Oh my goodness, same as Benetta! We have so many custom reports and now when I try to use wildcards to whittle down the list, there's always some specific criteria missing that we should have set up when defining our separate departments during implementation.

I also would not have created so many reports/dashboards/layout templates for every user/team that wanted something different. I would have created more of a modular approach using wildcards and Workfront's baked in views, instead of creating: a creative view, a creative manager view, a marketing view, a proofreader view, a core team view, a campaign team view, an executive view, and the list goes on. It's a lot of work to remember to update all versions of the dashboards/reports/layout templates. I'm planning to use the move to the New Experience as an opportunity to streamline and purge. :)

[NRYNR]

Ouch! I can feel your pain, or at least I remember what that used to feel like. Indeed, I said "remember" because I don't feel that pain anymore. Why not? It's simple, WFPro Package Manifest. You'll never remember all the things you create in Workfront no matter who you are. To think otherwise is insanity. But I happen to have the secret ingredient to bringing order to chaos in the Workfront instance for us who configure. It comes in the form of a single package, which consists of just a few dashboards, a custom form and a project. Once installed, it can be used after adding it to your layout template. It'll probably take you an hour to learn, so I hope you have that kind of time available. It will immediately solve dozens, if not hundreds of problems you know you have and many you don't know you have that I happen to know you do have. If you want to learn more, check out the package, watch the demo, and let me know if you have questions. By the way, I estimate it took me upwards of two solid years of my career to fully conceptualize, develop and deliver the package. Let's make creation easier for a change. #TheWFProWay‚