Teams | Collaboration | Customer Service | Project Management

Excel is one of those tools everyone just expects you to use. It’s already on your desktop, your team knows their way around it, and most of the time, someone before you was already using it to track projects. So, you open a new spreadsheet, start plugging in tasks, and keep using it out of habit. But just because Excel is familiar, doesn’t mean it’s the best tool for project management.

One of the most common words out there in the professional service industry is “utilization”—but what does it actually mean? To go back to the basics, the root word is “utility”, meaning “the state or quality of being useful”. Now let’s put this into industry-speak. When we talk about utilization, you want your people to be as productive as possible and output work at a good (yet reasonable) clip.

Early in my marketing career, I had plenty of big ideas. Campaigns I wanted to run, events I thought we should attend, tools I believed we should invest in. But more often than not, those off-the-cuff suggestions didn’t go far. They lacked three important things: With 10+ years of experience growing B2B SaaS organizations, one thing has become clear: it’s not just about having a great idea. It’s about how you pitch it.

There is only one way to measure whether a project is a success or a failure—with data. Thanks to project metrics (and the right tools to track that data), it's now easier than ever to crunch the numbers on previous projects to see where we went right and what task ended up causing a major delay. I use project metrics to track performance and spot problems before they become catastrophes.

I’ve worked on a lot of fast-paced marketing teams over the years, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that a solid project schedule can be the difference between everything clicking into place and things falling part. Without a clear project schedule, it becomes way too easy for priorities to clash or for tasks to slip through the cracks. I remember one campaign where we had to roll out across multiple channels on a tight timeline.

I still remember when managing a project meant juggling spreadsheets, printed Gantt charts, or a whiteboard full of sticky notes. If you weren’t in the room, you could easily miss something, and things often slipped through the cracks. Fast forward ten years working with fast-growing B2B SaaS teams, and everything’s changed. Digital project management isn’t just about replacing paper with software.

From my experience working with fast-growing B2B SaaS companies for the past 10+ years, project portfolio management is more than just a buzzword. It’s actually about making sure all the projects you’re juggling line up with what the business really needs. When you’re managing multiple projects, it’s easy to sweat the small stuff and lose sight of what will really move the needle.

I’ve led marketing campaigns, product launches, and complex cross-team projects at fast-moving B2B SaaS companies for 10+ years. One thing I’ve learned is that the project management tool you choose can make or break a project and affect your sanity along the way. I’ve used a wide range of tools including Teamwork.com, Jira, Asana, Notion, and Trello. Some helped bring clarity. Others just added noise. In one company I worked at, we were using too many tools at once.

A new project lands. You open the 38-tab beast labelled “Staffing_Master_v3_FINAL” and brace yourself. You’ve been here before – updating availability, fixing formulas, hoping it holds together. Excel has been your staple for resource management. But let’s be honest: the honeymoon phase is over. What worked for a smaller team now feels clunky and slow. You’ve patched it together, but it can’t keep up with shifting deadlines, growing teams, and complex workloads.

From smarter AI-powered planning to seamless calendar syncs and upgraded reporting tools, our July updates are all about helping you work faster, plan better, and stay in control. Here’s everything new in Teamwork.com this month.