Teams | Collaboration | Customer Service | Project Management

December 2024

What are OKRs? A guide to objectives and key results

OKRs stand for objectives and key results, a goal-setting framework that can help your team set and track measurable goals. Originally pioneered by John Doerr, this framework pairs the company-level objectives you want to achieve with the key results you’ll use to measure progress—so your goals are tied to your team’s day-to-day work. In this article, we explain how the OKR process works and share examples to get you started setting OKRs for your company, team, or personal life.

10 Best Order Management Software for Small Businesses in 2025

As your business grows, managing operations gets harder. You’ve got to keep tabs on your inventory, track orders, and drive on-time shipping. But issues arise. Stock can run out unexpectedly. Deliveries get delayed, and customers are frustrated. Order management software solutions can fix all this and more. These solutions automate routine tasks and keep your inventory updated. They streamline orders and shipping, improve customer satisfaction, and reduce errors.

12 Best Database Software for Small Businesses in 2025

Your business data is of no use if you can’t get actionable insights at your fingertips when you need it the most. For smaller businesses, data management becomes particularly trickier. Often, smaller organizations don’t have the resources, time, or assets to collect, collate, and make sense of customer data. This is where investing in database management software becomes mandatory.

We Tried 12 Product Lifecycle Management Software for You

Every product begins as a spark of inspiration. It continues to evolve through stages of design, development, and feedback before users get a new product in their hands. For teams involved in building and managing products, this journey is a familiar one. Over time, as products become more sophisticated, so does the volume of data and documentation they generate.This is where product lifecycle management software (PLM) steps in.

Crafting an Effective Employee Write-Up Form: A Comprehensive Template & Guide

Managing employee performance and behavior is essential for a productive and harmonious workplace. An employee write-up form is a key tool that helps employers document incidents, address misconduct, and ensure clarity in workplace expectations. Properly crafted, this form serves as a record that supports consistent and fair employee management while protecting the company from potential legal issues.

Emergency Contact Form: Importance and Best Practices

An emergency contact form is an essential document in every workplace, ensuring that in case of an emergency, employers can quickly reach the necessary individuals to support employees. Whether it’s a workplace accident, a sudden illness, or any other urgent situation, having up-to-date emergency contact information helps ensure the safety and well-being of employees. This article explores the importance of emergency contact forms and best practices for creating and maintaining them.

Top 15 CRM Software for Small Business in 2025

As a small business just starting out, you could have a sizeable budget for marketing and sales. But if you’re not retaining your customers, you see money out the door. The Harvard Business Review states that it’s five to 25x more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. Naturally, building a relationship with your customers takes center stage.

12 Best Time Tracking Software for Consultants in 2025

As consultants, managing your time is a core skill to have. You need to stay organized, productive and focused. After all, the consulting work is rarely straightforward. In a single day, you might be invoicing clients, recording billable hours, getting estimates, and more. With multiple projects, shifting priorities, and varying billing rates, your time is anything but predictable.

What is a workflow? Definition and examples

Workflows are a structured series of steps that take you from the beginning to the end of a process. Workflows show stakeholders what tasks are complete, when they get done, and who is responsible for them—increasing visibility and efficiency across teams. Learn the many benefits of workflows and how to start using them in your work today. The term workflow is ambiguous. For some, a workflow is a process—for others, it’s a way to organize information.

How to create a winning marketing plan (with examples)

A marketing plan helps leaders clearly visualize marketing strategies across channels, so they can ensure every campaign drives pipeline and revenue. In this article you’ll learn eight steps to create a winning marketing plan that brings business-critical goals to life, with examples from word-class teams.

15 Best Client Onboarding Software Options for 2025

Client onboarding is highly underrated—a big mistake. After all, it is the first real experience your clients have with your business. The customer onboarding process is a systematic approach that sets the tone for your company-client relationship. Done well, it builds trust, reduces churn, and turns first-time customers into long-term advocates. But let’s face it: onboarding clients is never a linear process. That’s where smart client onboarding software comes into play.

People Analytics: An Essential Guide for 2025

As we enter 2025, the role of data in shaping organizational decisions has never been more significant. Among the most transformative developments is People Analytics, a method of leveraging data to enhance decision-making related to employees. Whether it’s improving recruitment processes, boosting employee engagement, or fostering better leadership, People Analytics has become a vital tool for businesses aiming to gain a competitive edge.

Project and Portfolio Updates and Best Practices

At OneDesk, we recognize that each of our customers has unique needs when it comes to managing their Projects. You might be thinking that the Helpdesk features are all you need, and wonder why you should bother with Projects. Here’s why: Projects serve as powerful containers that help you organize and share items effectively. They allow you to control visibility, ensuring that only the right users or customers can see the information they need.

Self-Managed Teams: A Step-by-Step Implementation Guide

A self-managed team is a group of individuals empowered to make decisions, set goals, and manage their own work processes without constant oversight from a traditional manager. These teams are responsible for organizing their own tasks, solving problems, and holding themselves accountable for their results. In a self-managed team, each member is encouraged to contribute their skills and expertise, fostering collaboration and collective responsibility.

Top 6 Simple Project Management Software for Small Businesses

Running a small business is like trying to get a ship through stormy seas. Deadlines crash in like waves, the budget is as tight as the sails, and your crew looks up to you for guidance to get them through it. It’s tough, but there’s a lifeboat: project management software. No matter how rough the waters get, this tool can help streamline tasks, improve communication, and keep you on track.

The Benefits of Time Blocking: A Guide to Mastering Your Schedule

Time blocking is a powerful productivity technique that helps individuals take control of their time by planning tasks and activities into dedicated blocks. This approach promotes focus, reduces distractions, and fosters a sense of accomplishment. In this article, we’ll explore the concept of time blocking, how it works, its benefits, and ways to overcome potential pitfalls.

Christmas 2024 Version Update: Usability Improvements

The holiday season is made special by its little delights – a glowing string of lights, a crackling fire, and a perfectly wrapped gift. In that same spirit, our Christmas update brings together many thoughtful improvements that may seem small individually but collectively add to a more delightful user experience.

Product development process: The 6 stages (with examples)

The product development process is a six-stage plan that involves taking a product from initial concept to final market launch. This process helps break down tasks and organize cross-departmental collaboration. Find out how to implement a process of your own. Product development is both an exciting and difficult endeavor. From initial ideation to research and prototyping, no two product launches are the same.

12 Best Brand Management Software Options for 2025

The digital world has emerged as a battleground for brands, where consistency, relevance, and impact have become table stake. However, maintaining a dedicated positive brand image is easier said than done. This is where brand management software steps in. With the right brand management solution, you can ensure all your assets, campaigns, and brand data are in one place. Need to ensure your logo is the same shade of blue across every campaign? Done.

Top 10 Marketing Analytics Tools in 2024

Tracking marketing performance is layered and complex, especially with data coming from everywhere, be it social media, email campaigns, ads, etc. For marketers, the true challenge lies in making sense of said data and converting it into ROI-driven actions. That’s where the top marketing analytics tools help. With the right tool, you can combine insights from multiple platforms and determine what’s working and what’s not.

10 Free KPI Software for Key Performance Indicator Tracking

Keeping track of KPIs can feel like juggling too many balls—sales metrics, customer satisfaction scores, website traffic—but where do you even start? For smaller teams, the problem isn’t the lack of data but the struggle to organize, visualize, and actually use it to make better decisions. That’s where KPI software comes in, acting as a dashboard that collates everything in one place.

How to Write a Resignation Email: 12 Resignation Letter Email Examples

A resignation email is a formal written communication that an employee sends to their employer to announce their decision to leave a job position. It serves as an official notification of resignation, providing key details such as the employee’s last working day and any transitional support they are willing to offer. This email is often sent to a direct supervisor, the human resources department, or both, depending on the company’s policy.

What's new in Asana | December 2024

Welcome to the December edition of What’s new in Asana. First, customize your email notifications with more detailed options for which notifications you want to receive. Next, sort and group tasks in Gantt view based on what’s most useful for your project. Finally, request access to private work in portfolios you’re a member of.

6 essential agile templates to streamline your project management

Imagine a project environment where everyone is on the same page, deadlines are met with ease, and changing priorities don’t disrupt progress. For many teams, this is the ideal scenario—a place where every task is clear and organized. Agile project management makes this possible, helping you and your team stay adaptable and focused, no matter how complex the project.

Maximize your profits: Mastering the art of tracking billable hours

Tracking billable hours is more than just a task—it’s a strategic advantage for businesses looking to maximize profitability and strengthen client relationships. By accurately tracking time, you ensure that every hour worked is accounted for and properly billed. This not only improves cash flow, but also helps maintain transparency and trust with clients. Whether you use traditional timesheets, digital tools, or automated solutions, effective tracking can streamline your operations.

Project Management Process: 8 Simple Steps [+Free Template]

A well-defined Project Management process helps IT teams keep their projects on track, ensuring that objectives are met, resources are efficiently allocated, and any potential risks are mitigated. From improving collaboration to streamlining workflows, a robust process ensures that everyone is aligned, and work progresses smoothly.

Executive Dashboard Examples For Professional Services

Dashboards are powerful tools that help professional services firms track performance, manage resources, and make smarter decisions. By bringing all key metrics into one place, these dashboards give real-time updates on operations, finances, and client projects. Here are two examples of exectuive dashboards tailored for CEOs/COOs and CFOs.

16 Best Daily Planner Apps for Improved Productivity in 2025

I used to start my mornings with the best intentions. But by the time afternoon rolled around, my to-do list had somehow doubled instead of shrinking. Missed deadlines, overlapping tasks, and that nagging feeling that something important had slipped through the cracks — it was exhausting. That’s when I discovered some powerful daily planner apps. These apps are super helpful and keep me organized by scheduling tasks, deadlines, and reminders in one place. Here’s the exciting part!

Create and Manage Unscheduled Tasks and Projects in OneDesk

In the world of Project Management, not every Task or Project fits neatly into a pre-planned timeline. Sometimes, Projects arise unexpectedly or need to be handled on the fly. And if you’re using Projects to organize your Helpdesk (which we recommend), you might not have a need for scheduling in the first place as you respond to requests in real time.

5 steps to effective client reporting that keeps clients happy

Clear communication and effective client reporting are powerful ways to keep clients updated, build trust, strengthen client relations, and show the value you bring to the table. By sharing client reports, you keep clients informed and confident in your work, which leads to better partnerships and lasting success. In this post, we explain client reporting, share the key elements every report should have, and show you how effective reporting can set you apart from the competition. Let’s get started.

Hushed hybrid: The silent rebellion shaping workplaces in 2024

Have you heard about the silent rebellion reshaping workplaces in 2024? It’s called a hushed hybrid, a subtle but powerful movement in which employees and managers silently resist strict office mandates to prioritize flexibility and productivity. Think of it like a basketball team running an unexpected play—not part of the original plan, but something that works better at the moment.

Running your agency like clockwork with Jinny Mitchell-Kent

How do you create a highly efficient agency without losing flexibility or quality? In this episode, Harv Nagra sits down with Jinny Mitchell-Kent, Joint Managing Director at Great State. With nearly 20 years of experience at agencies big and small—including global powerhouse AKQA—Jinny shares how she’s applying lessons from her big-agency days to a 100-person team. Here’s what you’ll hear: If you want to learn how to streamline your operations and scale smarter, this episode is packed with insights you can put to work right away. Give it a listen!