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THE NEW WORKFRONT EXPERIENCE

Use this booklet as your step-by-step guide for taking inventory of existing materials and updating your organization’s assets as part of your preparations for launching the new Workfront experience.

The new experience brings an updated look to the Workfront your users are familiar with. Help ease the transition into Workfront’s modern look by providing updated support materials for each job persona or license type using Workfront.

Guide to updating training and support materials

WHY CHANGE WORKFRONT?

Mastering modern work requires a modern

work platform that is personalized to the way

people work today.

Workfront worked with dozens of visionary

leaders and knowledge workers who use the

platform daily. We want to make it even easier

for people to manage and contribute to the

important work at their organizations.

See the new Workfront experience page for

a message from Workfront’s chief technology

officer about the change.

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Table of contentsStart with a plan .......................................................3

Online learning resources .....................................4

Make a project plan ................................................5

Take inventory ...........................................................6

Prioritize the inventory list .....................................8

Update the Workfront plan ...........................10

Make the updates ...........................................11

Develop new materials ..........................................12

Make materials available .......................................14

rev. February 12, 2020

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Start with a planFollow three main steps—prepare, produce, publish—to help get training and support materials updated for the new experience.

PREPAREMake sure you’re up to date on the new Workfront experience before you dive into the prep work.

1. Understand the WHY behind the new Workfront experience. Knowing the intent and value behind Workfront’s new user interface will help you champion the changes to your users. Download our onboarding guide to learn more.

And this is where our enablement kit starts, guiding you through each phase of the work.

2. Learn the new Workfront experience yourself. Log into your Preview environment and use Workfront’s video tutorials, quick guides, and knowledge base articles to learn how the changes will affect your daily work and can benefit your organization.

3. Make a Workfront plan. Start with our project template for updating materials and adjust it along the way to meet your organization’s deadlines.

4. Inventory existing training materials. Discover what’s out there—guides, support materials, training outlines, etc.—and what needs to be updated to reflect the new Workfront experience.

PRODUCEYou know what materials you have, now it’s time to decide what to update and to get started on the work.

5. Prioritize existing training materials and make the updates. Decide which job personas to focus on first and which pieces of collateral are the most important to those personas.

6. Develop new training materials. You may discover gaps in your existing materials. Create new content to support the new Workfront experience—but only after the other work is done. The DIY training resources can come in handy.

PUBLISH7. Share the materials with all users. Make sure all the updated guides, videos, and other resources are stored electronically where they can be quickly and easily accessed by your users.

You’re ready to get started! Like with anything, start at the top and work your way down the list. Staying organized and focused is the key to getting the updates done.

WHAT ABOUT TR AINING FOR THE USERS?

While you’re updating your training materials, you’ll want to update your training curriculum. See our Guide to training Workfront users

for recommendations on developing new content, and delivering classes to prepare users for the new Workfront experience.

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Online learning resourcesUse these links to video tutorials, guides, and articles to become familiar with the new Workfront experience.

ALL WORKFRONT USERS(any license type)

• Navigate the new Workfront experience video

• Navigate the new look guide

• System icons guide

• Pin pages to customize your workspace article

• Recents, Favorites, and New For Me guide

• Recents and Favorites comparison guide

• Run a search guide

• Search comparison guide

REVIEWERS/REQUESTERS (Collaboration license)

• Introduction to Workfront for Reviewers video

• Home and My Updates guide

• Requests area overview guide

• Requests area comparison guide

• Make a work request guide

• Make a request video

• Update a request video

• Update a work request guide

• Issue page comparison guide

• Issue page overview guide

• Home overview for Reviewers guide

• Updates and notifications video

• Review and approve digital work video

• Delegate approvals video

TEAM MEMBERS (Work license)

• Task landing page overview video

• Task landing page overview guide

• Task landing page comparison guide

• Workfront Home overview guide

• Curate the Work List guide

• Log hours on work guide

• Update work status guide

SYSTEM ADMINISTRATORS (Plan license)

• Enable the new experience guide

• Layout templates article

• Editing user profiles article

• Collaborators: Getting started training materials

• Workers: Getting started training materials

• Planners: Getting started training materials

PROJECT MANAGERS AND TRAFFIC COORDINATORS (Plan license)

• Project page overview guide

• Project page comparison guide

• Project landing page video

• Task side summary video

• Task landing page overview video

• Task landing page overview guide

• Task landing page comparison guide

• Convert a request guide

• Getting started with resource management article

PREPARE: STEP 2

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Make a project planUpdating all of the training/support materials is a major initiative. Track the work being done with a plan in Workfront.

PREPARE: STEP 3

Workfront’s Modern Work Enablement team tracks new content creation and updates to existing videos, quick guides, training curriculum, and more using a project template in Workfront. We’ve provided a simpler version of the template for you to use.

1. Download the Update Training Materials_initiative project template.

2. Create a new project with this template by going to the Projects page, selecting New Project, and then choosing Import MS Project.

3. Navigate to and select the Update Training Materials_initiative.xml file. This imports the project plan into Workfront and creates a new project.

4. Rename the project, if desired, and update the project details (make sure the project is in the right portfolio, adjust the start date, etc.).

5. Assign a project manager. This person is in charge of the main initiative project and making sure everything on the inventory sheet gets updated properly, deadlines are met, materials are distributed, etc.

The project has three main tasks—Prepare, Produce, and Publish. Sub-tasks represent the work to be done to fulfill each milestone. The template contains the steps highlighted in this guide. Add tasks when you find other things that need to be done. You’ll make tasks for updating the deliverables in Produce: Step 5.

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Take inventoryStart by finding out what materials already exist so you can decide what needs to be updated.

Knowing what Workfront training and support materials exist at your organization for each of the job personas is a big step in getting all of your Workfront collateral updated. Make sure quick guides, manuals, training curriculum, websites, and other materials your end-users refer to for Workfront information have been updated to help smooth the transition between Workfront Classic and the new Workfront experience.

A top to bottom inventory of any and all collateral for each job persona is the best way to start.

WHERE IS EVERYTHING?Where do project managers, team members, internal trainers, etc., access Workfront information? Some examples:

• Intranet site or internal server

• Website

• Center of excellence

• Learning management system

• Check with users to see what they have stashed away

WHAT MATERIALS EXIST?What types of training and support materials are out there for your team members, project managers, etc.? Some examples:

• Video tutorials

• Quick guides

• On-demand modules

• Process documents

• Training outlines/curriculum

• COE and governance files

• URL links to Workfront resources

MAKE A LISTNow that you’ve searched high and low for your organization’s Workfront materials and know where everything is, record it all on a detailed inventory list.

See the next page for tips and suggestions.

PREPARE: STEP 4

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A spreadsheet is a quick, easy way to track your training and support materials inventory.

Download a sample inventory spreadsheet (pictured above) to help track your assets.

ORGANIZE BY USER T YPECreate a tab to represent the different job roles, personas, license types, etc., that exist at your organization. Some examples include:

• Project manager

• Planner

• Traffic manager

• System administrator

• Requester/Reviewer

As you inventory your content, list the items by the type of person they’re targeted for.

DIVIDE BY T YPECreate a section on the spreadsheet for each type of content you have:

• Videos

• Guides/Manuals

• Articles

• On-demand modules

• Templates (Word, InDesign, etc.)

• Etc.

DETAILS IN THE COLUMNSInformation you’ll want to track about each file includes:

• Filename

• Storage location/URL

• Update? (Yes/No)

• What changes are needed?

• Priority (High/Medium/Low)

• Owner for updates

If there’s additional information you’d like to record about each piece of collateral, just add a column to your spreadsheet.

PREPARE: STEP 4

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Prioritize the inventory listYou should update everything ... but not right away. Focus on what’s needed for users to get work done after the launch.

You don’t need to update every single video, handout, etc., before launching the new Workfront experience. Focus on what is needed right away to support each type of user as they dive into the new experience. Use your inventory spreadsheet to indicate what’s “high/medium/low” priority, with “high” priority items being those that must be updated for launch.

WHAT DO THEY NEED TO KNOW?One method we use at Workfront for prioritizing is to put ourselves in the users’ shoes and determine what that user MUST know to do their daily job.

Those steps become our first focus.

For example, a team member (at minimum) needs to:

• Find their new and current assignments

• Update their work assignments

• Mark work as complete

Do this exercise for each of the job roles, personas, or license types at your organization—team members, project managers, traffic coordinators, system administrators, requesters, etc.

Make the information visible to everyone helping with updates by adding it to the top of each page in your inventory spreadsheet.

See the next page for changes in the new experience that might affect the daily work for each job persona.

DECIDE WHAT TO UPDATEThen look at your existing materials, going through each persona tab on the inventory spreadsheet. What must be updated in order for that person to do their job?

For example, what updates need to be made to help team members find their work and complete it in the new Workfront experience?

The items marked “high” priority are your first focus.

If you find the “high” priority list is growing quickly, ask yourself, “Is this absolutely needed for (persona) to get their work done?” If the answer is no, then that update is “medium” or “low” priority.

And prioritize againTake the “high” priority items on each tab and rank them against themselves. For example, when you’re looking at team member content, should a video on finding work assignments be updated before a quick guide on uploading a proof?

Take the top handful of items for each job persona. Now you know where to start making updates.

PRODUCE: STEP 5

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Changes in the new Workfront experience may affect daily work for users.Below are different roles, personas, or license types that you might find at your organization. With each is a list of things that have changed with the new Workfront experience that could affect the way your users work.

These lists don’t contain everything that users need to know. Nor do they contain every change in the new Workfront experience. Rather, the focus is on areas where the changes are likely to affect the user’s daily work.

REVIEWERS/REQUESTERS (Collaboration license)

• Basic navigation and finding the Requests area

• Make a request

• Navigate the request/issue landing page (make an update, view updates, header changes, etc.)

• Subtabs become the left panel

• Review and approve items in the Home area

TEAM MEMBERS (Work license)

• Basic navigation and finding Workfront Home

• Navigate the task landing page (update, log hours, header changes, etc.)

• Subtabs become the left panel

• Search

• Recents and Favorites

SYSTEM ADMINISTRATORS (Plan license)

• Basic Workfront navigation and finding the Setup menu

• Enroll users in the new Workfront experience

• Adjust layout templates in the new Workfront experience

• Workspaces

PROJECT MANAGERS (Plan license)

• Basic Workfront navigation and finding the Projects area

• Workspaces

• Use Filters to find My Projects, etc.

• Navigation within a project (subtabs become the left panel)

• Side summary on Tasks tab

• Find dashboards and/or reports

• Search

• Recents and Favorites

RESOURCE MANAGERS (Plan license)

• Basic Workfront navigation and finding the Resourcing area

• Find the different resource management tools

• Workspaces

TRAFFIC COORDINATORS (Plan license)

• Basic Workfront navigation

• Find dashboards and/or reports

• Navigate the request/issue landing page (update, convert to project, etc.)

PRODUCE: STEP 5

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Update the Workfront planUsing the prioritized inventory list, update your Workfront plan to help you estimate time for updates and manage the process.

ADD TASKS FOR EACH UPDATEGo back to your update training materials initiative project. Under the Produce parent task, add a task for each deliverable to be updated.

At Workfront, our task names include which persona the asset is for, what type of asset it is, and the name of the asset—e.g., Team Member: Video: Finding Work. The initiative plan template you used in Prepare: Step 3 includes sample tasks that follow this format. Duplicate these and rename them.

If you want more detailed steps for each deliverable—write, edit, review, approve— use the tasks available in the Update Training Materials_Deliverable mini templates (pictured above). These examples include recommended steps for updating each type of deliverable, as well as duration and planned hour estimates for each step.

Import this XML file into Workfront, make a template from it, and then add the template to the training updates project as needed.

ASSIGN OWNERSHIPAssign each deliverable task to the person who is responsible for updating that piece of material.

ESTIMATE TIMEUsing the duration and planned hours provided in the sample project (these are based on how long it takes Workfront’s team to update materials) as a foundation, update the project to reflect your organization’s resource availability, skill sets, etc.

This gives you an estimate of how long the updates will take. And it helps everyone on the project manage their time.

SET DEADLINESSet a planned completion date for each update. (Workfront best practice: Use durations and predecessors to set due dates.) Stick with these deadlines. But make sure they’re realistic.

PRODUCE: STEP 5

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Make the updatesRoll up your sleeves and make the changes to your materials.

You don’t need Workfront to tell you how to make updates to your training materials. You know how to do this. But let the Workfront Modern Work Enablement team share a few things we’ve learned about creating new and updating existing videos, quick guides, curriculum, etc.

RECOMMENDATIONS• Use the quick guides

that Workfront has created as inspiration and reference. These are in the Downloadable Content section of the new Workfront experience website.

• Focus first on the priority items on the inventory list. These are the items that your different job personas—project managers, team member, etc.—need in order to get their work done.

• Don’t rewrite every word. Just update what’s there. Now isn’t the time to completely overhaul all of your materials.

• You may need to multi-task or work on several updates at the same time. For example, at Workfront, we update multiple quick guides and then submit them as a group for approval. This works better for us than a one-guide-at-a-time approach.

• Check with the creative team to see if there’s a specific resolution you should use when taking screenshots. For example, at Workfront, we take screenshots on our laptops rather than our desktop monitors because the laptop screens are higher resolution.

• Follow the project plan to make sure each file gets a copy edit, peer review, and approval (when necessary). And as updates are finished, change the task status to Complete.

NEED NEW DOCUMENTS?

As you’re updating, you may realize you’re

missing a piece of documentation or think,

“wouldn’t it be great if we had a guide

about XYZ.”

For now, keep a list or start a project

where you log these needs and ideas.

Don’t get derailed from getting existing

files updated. Making new materials is the

next step.

TR AINING CURRICULUM

Did you include the training outlines or

curriculum on your inventory list? See our

Guide to training Workfront users for

recommendations on creating a training

plan and updating curriculum.

PRODUCE: STEP 5

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Develop new materialsAfter you’ve inventoried and revamped existing materials, you may have a few knowledge gaps to fill.

PRODUCE: STEP 6

PRIORITIZEBefore you start creating new materials, ask yourself:

• Is this (video, guide, email, handout, etc.) really needed?

• Is it going to help someone do their job  … or do you just think it would be “useful”?

• Is it needed for the launch of new Workfront experience?

• Or can it wait for later?

Answering these questions helps you set priorities and budget time for what really needs to be done to launch the new Workfront experience.

DEVELOP THE CONCEPTAsk the same questions you did while you were updating existing materials.

• Who is this for? Which role/persona/license will benefit from this information?

• Set the learning objective. What does the user need to know by the time they’re done reading the guide or watching the video?

• What is the best delivery method for presenting this information and for the people receiving the information? Would a video that’s screen capture and voice over be sufficient? Or would the users learn just as quickly if the information were presented in a one-page guide?

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TIPS FOR WRITINGAs you’re writing the how-to steps for a guide or the script for a video, stay focused on the audience and the learning objective.

Some things to think about:

• Assume the person using the material has a base knowledge of Workfront and your organization’s processes. For example, you don’t have to tell people how to log in to Workfront in every tutorial.

• Keep the information focused, which will help keep it short. Don’t list every scenario, criteria, or requirements. Focus on the basic steps the user needs to accomplish what is needed.

• Refer to existing materials and sources of information. Include links to your center of excellence, as well as links to Workfront’s knowledge base.

• Use the guides provided by Workfront as inspiration. It’s OK to copy the text and modify it to match your organization’s processes. And it’s OK to distribute the guides to users, rather than creating your own materials. That’s why those materials are there!

When you’re done writing, revisit the learning objective you established before creating the material. Does the material meet that goal? If not, then make revisions so it does.

FILL THE GAPSIs everyone asking how to do the same thing? By listening to what your users are saying, you’ll identify where you need to provide additional knowledge.

What can be done to address correct misconceptions, share information, or retrain users? Just a few of the many options—Maybe a tweak to the training curriculum will clear up a few things. Perhaps an email with a

“Workfront tip of the day/week” would be helpful.

DIY GUIDES

Tap into the do-it-yourself training

information available in the DIY: Build

your Workfront training toolkit.

Stay focused to ensure you meet the need.PRODUCE: STEP 6

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PUBLISH: STEP 7

Make materials availableYou’ve done the work. Now make sure everyone has access.

PUBLISHDecide which channel(s) you’ll use to make the materials available to users:

• Intranet site or internal server

• Website

• Center of excellence

• Learning management system

• Email, instant message, etc.

Organize the materials in a way that makes it easy for everyone to find what they need. And don’t forget to grant the proper access to the materials!

COMMUNICATELet everyone know what new Workfront experience materials are there and where they are.

Use the communication channel that works best at your organization—email, intranet article, instant message, etc. It may take more than one message on more than one channel to get the word out.

Tempt users to check out the updated/new materials by attaching a sample document to your communications, or include a list of what’s available so they can pick what they want to download.

TR AINING

Incorporate these

updated training and

support materials into

the end-user training

you develop for your

organization. Put your

training plan together

by downloading

Workfront’s Guide to

training Workfront

users.

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Share your feedback about this guide with allisonlippert@workfront.com.