Managing 11 client projects at once? Tabitha Robinson found smarter ways to juggle tools, tasks, and meetings—without letting details fall through the cracks.
In her previous role, Tabitha Robinson managed 11 active client implementations across multiple systems. Each day brought countless inputs that, while individually simple, created a significant challenge when combined.
"None of it was difficult and none of it required a lot of brain capacity," Robinson explains. "But when you had four or five things coming in throughout the course of the day, plus client meetings and internal meetings, all of those things added up to create an ever-growing to-do list. It got easier for things to slip through the cracks."
Though Robinson has since transitioned to a new role, she still navigates work across disparate systems like Jira and Nova Notes. The fundamental challenge remains the same: how to effectively process information without letting critical details slip away.
Being successful in today's project management landscape requires more than task tracking – it demands systematic approaches to managing information flow while maintaining quality relationships and ensuring complete follow-through.
For Robinson, the day began with intentional preparation time that allowed her to mentally shift between different projects and clients.
"I blocked off my calendar every morning and I had focus time," she shares. "I looked at the meetings that I had that day and looked back at the last two meetings worth of notes to see what we'd talked about recently, any open action items I may have forgotten about, what was going on. I recentered on what was happening in this project and put together my agendas that morning."
This dedicated preparation time allowed Robinson to show up prepared and build client trust. By reviewing recent notes and open items before each meeting, she entered conversations with context fresh in her mind, allowing her to be responsive and proactive rather than reactive.
Like many project managers, Robinson dealt with a complex web of tools and notifications. Her tech stack included Wrike for project plans, Microsoft DevOps for development work, Zendesk for support tickets, Microsoft Teams for communication, and SharePoint for document storage.
"I was getting notifications that there was movement and I was able to see that easily within my email," Robinson notes, "but in terms of being integrated, that was not there."
This disconnection put the burden of context-switching on Robinson herself – she had to be the bridge between systems. Rather than fighting this reality, she developed personal workflows to manage the information flow.
While many PM tools claim to be all-in-one solutions, Robinson found that sometimes simpler was better for personal task tracking. "I was using pen and paper. I later shifted to using the Planner feature on Teams because it served the same purpose," she explains. "It allowed me to create a checklist. I could quickly add tasks without having to add a lot of detail if I didn't want to."
Managing client relationships meant understanding that different clients had different communication needs.
"I tried to respond within 24 hours," Robinson shares about her approach to client communication. "If it was urgent, then I responded immediately. If it wasn't so urgent, then I responded within 24 hours so they were getting the attention they needed."
The key was flexibility. "If they needed more attention, if they needed more touch bases throughout the week, then I did that," Robinson notes. "I tried to cater to that because it was a working relationship. I didn't want to leave a sour taste in their mouth because of something I had done as their project manager."
This client-centered approach helped build the trust that became crucial when inevitable challenges arose during projects.
Even with the best intentions and organization systems, things can fall through the cracks. Robinson helped implement processes that created accountability.
"We had a daily standup with our support team and with our development team," she explains. "If I said I needed help with something, it didn't just go into the void. There was a level of return there that they were acknowledging it and they were reaching out to assist with whatever it was I needed."
This team-based accountability created a safety net that ensured critical items didn't get lost. As Robinson explains, their supervisor actively monitored these requests: "If nobody had spoken up, then at the end of that call they would say, 'Okay, Tabitha said she needed help. Who's helping her?'"
Robinson's approach to managing multiple projects and information streams highlights several key strategies:
In a perfect world, project management tools would solve these challenges. Robinson's wish? "A tool that really allows you to not only take notes, but create action items, email those notes, or create a ticket from an action item within the same workspace." Until that exists, successful project managers like Robinson will continue to build systems that help them stay on top of information overload while delivering successful projects.
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