ClickUp is one of the best project management tools on the market right now. Their unique hierarchy is one of the things that really sets it apart. But it also changes the way you need to think about your account.
I will admit that it was a little challenging at first but once I took the time to really break it down, I realized that now I was able to organize my account in a way that truly made sense. The ClickUp hierarchy gave me so much freedom in the way I organized my business and viewed my jam packed to-do list!
Before I dig into the 4 spaces you need in your ClickUp account as a service-based business, let’s break down the hierarchy a little. While their guide is great, I see the hierarchy a little differently. So here is my take.
The Hierarchy
Workspace – This is the highest level. Think of it as a company or organization. For example, I have a workspace for my own business, a separate workspace for the business I co-own with my biz bestie, and then separate workspaces for each of my contract positions that use ClickUp. Workspaces DO NOT talk between each other. They are completely independent.
Spaces – I like to look at spaces as departments or teams. Think back to your corporate job, there were different departments: finance, marketing, purchasing, production, etc. If you use Asana, this would be the equivalent of a Team. I am going to dig deeper into the 4 spaces you need as a service-based business later in this post, so don’t worry too much here.
Folders – This is the extra layer that other project management tools are missing. It is great to break up your account into the different departments BUT even within that there are different groupings of tasks. For example, blog content, email marketing content, podcast content, YouTube content, and other similar items are all content related. But content marketing is under marketing. So you can see having the ability to further organize your lists (or projects) is so important.
Lists – A list is nothing but a container for your tasks. It is a way to group similar tasks together. Using the same example as above, I have separate lists for blog content, email marketing content, podcast content, and more. It allows me to have an isolated view of those tasks.
Tasks – This needs no explanation. A task is the actual to do item that you need to complete. You assign it a person, a date, add details and more.
Subtasks, Checklist and Assigned Comments – Sometimes a task has multiple steps. This is where subtasks come in. They are able to be assigned a person and a due date. Checklists are great for pieces that don’t need dates and assigned comments are an extra layer of accountability!
The important part about the hierarchy is that you can view all your tasks in an entire Workspace in one view, or you can view your tasks from just a single space (which includes all of the folders, lists, tasks and more within it), or you can view your tasks from a single folder (which includes all the lists and tasks within it), or you can view the tasks from a single list.
For example, I have a Sales & Marketing Space that holds multiple folders and each folder has multiple lists. One of those folders is Content Creation. And within Content Creation I have the following lists: Blog, Email Marketing, and Podcast. So I can see all of my Sales & Marketing tasks, or if I am batching content creation I can just view the Content Creation Folder. Or say I just want to see blog posts then I just view the Blog list.
MIND BLOWN!
This organization is so valuable!
The 4 Spaces You Need in Your ClickUp Account as A Service-Based Business
There are a lot of different ways to organize your ClickUp account but as a service-based business owner I have found a system that works amazing for me. Below you will see the 4 spaces I create and the types of things I put in each!
Business HQ
Every business needs a business headquarters and this space is just that. I use this space to include anything related to CEO-type tasks (planning, reviews, visioning, etc.), brand materials, business upkeep and any business related projects that don’t fit anywhere else.
Sales/Marketing
This is going to be where most of your projects live. I’ve seen other people call this space Operations but that just doesn’t resonate with me. I call it Sales/Marketing because this is where all of my sales and marketing tasks live. I keep track of all of my content marketing, social media marketing, my products and programs, funnels, launches and even advertising.
Client Work
As a service-based business owner, you need a place to organize your client work. I have seen others create a space for each client BUT I don’t recommend that. The reason is because I like to see all of my client work tasks together in isolation, and if you have them in their own spaces then the only way you can view them all together is in Everything view and that will include everything NOT client work related as well.
What I like to do is create a folder for each service package because each package has a different workflow (and therefore have different statues for the project). For example, I currently have 4 main offerings: Digital Debut (eBook Design), Grow Like Whoa (Webinar Design), Laidback Launches (Course Design) and Tech VA Services. So I have created a folder for each. This way I can isolate all of my course design tasks in one, and so on and so on.
Education
You should always be growing and learning as an entrepreneur. And I don’t know about you, but I am a recovering course hoarder. What helped me was creating a space for me to track my progress of my courses. This way I didn’t forget I purchased something and I made sure I was actually making progress.
Every time I purchase a new course or training, I create a task in my Education space. I then create subtasks for each and every lesson and thing I need to get done, then I assign myself dates to work through the course! Is it a little bit of work upfront? Yes. But it has held me accountable and makes sure I am working through the material. Try it. You won’t regret it!
BONUS SPACE: Community
Do you have a Facebook group (or any community type platform)? Then you need a space for it. I decided to create a space for it on its own rather than include in the Sales/Marketing space because I do plan on hiring a community manager down the line.
So create a space called Community and you can then add all of your communities to this area. It makes it super easy to pass off later down the road when you are able to hire help.
Now go forth, set up your ClickUp account and kick ass in your business!
If you need a little more direction, then check out #GSD with ClickUp!
So if you are ready to organize your business and life with ClickUp and want to see how I fully set up each space, sign up for this AMAZING course for JUST $97!
So tell me, what is your biggest takeaway from this set up?
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