Symphonic Distro Staff’s Favorite Project Management Tools

Whatever your role in the music business may be, efficiency and process are always important. Here the Symphonic staff share some of their favorite project management tools for smoothly and quickly getting things done.

By Randi Zimmerman from the Symphonic Distribution Blog

Here at Symphonic, we’re all about getting shit done. We’re always looking for better ways to streamline what we do to make sure our processes run as smoothly and efficiently as possible for our clients. That being said, we asked our team about which tools they love the most. Here’s what they said…

Symphonic Staff’s Favorite Tools for Project Management

Ana Gamboa // Marketing Associate

I love Monday.com. I’m more of a visual person, so for me to have everything organized in a board where I can see all my tasks, when are they due, and the progress made for each one, helps me keep a better track of things. I like how intuitive and simple it is and the different options it offers for viewing your tasks. I also love how helpful it is for group projects. It makes it easy to communicate with everyone on your team in one place and makes the collaboration process much smoother.

Sean Davis // Associate Product Manager in Technology

Project management tools aren’t the only tools to help you be more productive. Our bodies are complicated vessels which require a balance of mind, body, and spirit to run at peak performance. Meditation Oak is a great meditation app for beginners and veterans alike. Yes, meditation is challenging, but stick with it. Even 10 minutes a day can work wonders.

So before you dig into your fancy tools to help organize life’s infinite numbers of inputs and requests, get the foundation of your health solidified first. You’ll feel more focused, have more energy, and bring a vigor to your life you’ve probably not experienced since childhood.

Esteban Mora // UGC Coordinator in Client Services

I find the integrations of different applications/software with Google Sheets incredibly useful for projects that have to do with lots of information. — It helps you have the information right in front of you. I find that sometimes the “beautifully designed” interfaces of applications can get in the way of finding information more quickly.

With Google Sheets, you can filter information using the query formula (“=QUERY”). I use it to group information into different tabs to access information even quicker. This also helps for building monthly reports and is great for coordinating efforts. Multiple people can work on the same spreadsheet in an organized way and share it with key players without needing to give them access to subscription-based software.

Jorge Brea // CEO & President

Excel, all the way! This is an old school one, but honestly, it’s one of the best pieces of software ever written. I’ve been able to manage budgets, do quarterly reports for record labels and artists, and even my own personal budgets and summaries. Excel is, by far to me, one of the most productive softwares out there and one I use on a constant basis.

Meghann Wright // Manager, Client Services & Development

I LOVE Airtable. It’s so customizable and user-friendly. It can house as much or as little info as you need — anything from links to data to visual assets. It can be presented in many formats (kanban, rows, etc.). You can populate it manually or with forms, as well as link it to other useful apps like Slack via the tool Zapier. Also it looks AMAZING. It’s especially helpful for folks who are very visual when it comes to organization.

Randall Foster // Vice President of Business Development & GM in Nashville

I have found Slack to be the swiss army knife of inter-company productivity and communication. The 3rd party and proprietary app integrations have really sped up the pace at which we communicate and do business and the ability to communicate immediately with different teams and channels means a more focussed approach to communication. — Big fan over here!

Alexandra Kennedy // Social Media Coordinator

I’m basically in a committed relationship with Sprout Social. I absolutely love how many useful features it has when it comes to anything social media related. Sprout is really an all-in-one tool for social media scheduling, analytics, reporting, and social listening. It has the ability to integrate with every major social platform as well as Google Analytics, so you’re really able to keep everything organized in one designated platform. If you’re a label running multiple social accounts or a musician looking to schedule out your content while getting valuable insights along the way, Sprout Social is for you.

Hopefully these productivity tools help you to become more efficient in your day to day. They’ve definitely helped us! Check ‘em out and see how they work for you. You might find a tool you never knew you needed and wonder how you ever lived without it. — Now, get back to work!