Nozbe

This article is for you if you miss the sub-projects feature in Nozbe or you just want to see how project labels can make your life easier.

I need sub-projects!!!

When promoting Nozbe at conferences we end up talking to many interesting people. Once, a professional event manager came up to Nozbe’s stand and confessed that she tried Nozbe once but gave it up pretty quickly. She was disappointed not to find a sub-projects feature.

She explained that she deals with dozens of various aspects of event management and she runs many events at the same time. Each event requires at least several linked projects. “I really need sub-projects!!!” she claimed!

But maybe not.

We think it’s possible to modify the workflow so that sub- and sub-sub-projects aren’t that necessary. We recommend using project labels!

Too big to fit into just one project

We totally understand how complicated your job can be and that it consists of many aspects and stages. We also deal with such complex processes at Nozbe. Have you tried to think outside of a vertical hierarchy though and link related projects differently?

Think of the master-projects you would like to have (perhaps you’ll add some sub-projects later on). Let’s stick to event management and consider these examples:

  • venue arrangements
  • catering
  • team
  • promotion
  • accounting and finance, etc.

These are really complex topics! One project definitely might not be enough to tackle it all, organize tasks and handle the workflow. That’s why you could use project labels for these broad items in Nozbe and apply them to group single projects related to a specific area. Instead of creating big projects with sub-projects and sub-sub-projects, link all related projects by assigning them to the same label.

Many projects - one label

Create the labels you might need. Let’s take “Team” for instance. Any event takes a concerted team effort to handle all of the details. You’ll probably need an experienced Event Manager as well as individual leaders who will be responsible for venue management, volunteer management, publicity, etc. And there’s no conference without speakers. You’ll need to choose them carefully.

Each of these aspects requires a separate project:

  • Hiring Event Manager
  • Recruiting Volunteer Manager
  • Speakers
  • etc.

To be able to focus on people-related tasks, filter your projects and easily switch from one team-related project to another, mark all of them with the “Team” label.

This is how we do it

  • First create your projects and populate them with tasks.
  • When you’re done and want to make the project management easier, go to your project list.
  • Choose one project and go to the infobar (“i” icon).
  • There, use the “Change labels” button to create your “Team” label and assign in to this project.
  • Next, go back to the project list and enter the multi-edit mode using the “…” button.
  • Tick all the projects related to team, personnel, staffing, HR etc. and use the “change” button.
  • Now, click “Labels,” choose your “Team” label and confirm your choice.

You might also want to mark all team-related projects with the same color to make searching and switching between projects even easier.

Even quicker version

You might also assign a label to your project and mark it with a color when creating a project. See how easy it is:

Give it a try

If you think you could adjust your workflow and task/project management to a more horizontal hierarchy based on grouping related elements, try employing labels in Nozbe.

We are really curious to hear how it works on your end. If you have any suggestions about projects and sub-projects vs. grouping projects using labels, share them with our productive community in the comments section below. Thank you!

Written by Magda of Nozbe marketing team