The Complexity of Switching Task Trackers

How do you manage all of the things that your team needs to get done? In episode 186 of Journey to $100 Million, listen in to Erik as he explains how we track our tasking here at Array Digital, and how we previously transitioned to a new software. A task tracker is a piece of software that tracks all of the tasks that need to be done within a company, and is essential to any business.

Going back to when Array Digital was a software development only company, we used a software called GitHub - which was perfect for our individual tasking when building software. As we transitioned into a digital marketing agency, we started to hack together different solutions and found the need for recurring issues, which GitHub did not offer. We did not want to switch task trackers if we did not need to, so we implemented a lot of processes in order to ensure that the tasks (most recurring) that we needed for operations could be completed.

After we fully transitioned to a digital marketing agency, we realized that we were jumping through a lot of hoops in order to get our tasks in order. We knew it was time to find a task tracker that was perfect for us. Erik gave this assignment to Jamal, our project manager, to research and find a new task tracker that was perfect for Array Digital. Jamal recommended switching to ASANA, and that’s exactly what we did!

Jamal laid out an entire plan to switch to ASANA. This plan was complex because we had to move every task from our old task tracker as well as the other systems we had put in place for our recurring tasks. After a great deal of work, Jamal got us all set up in ASANA. He set a date for us to switch over, and set up a training session for the team to learn this new software. After the switch date, we never used our previous task tracker again.

When you switch task trackers it can be very painful and complex, like if you were to switch accounting systems. Erik recommends making sure your existing tracking system is being used to its maximum capacity before switching to a new system. Switching task trackers has the possibility of being very bad and disruptive to your business, so you want to put off switching until you absolutely need to. The key here is to be patient when switching systems - and when you do, assign a team member full responsibility, and ensure they will make it happen properly without wrecking your company!

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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is the also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.