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Norwest Engineering—“a classic engineering firm,” according to Chris Stine, Norwest’s Director of Project Management—manages projects ranging from industrial pump replacements to multi-million-dollar facilities. But coordinating hundreds of tasks across civil, mechanical, and electrical disciplines pushed their manual workflows to the limit. With spreadsheets falling short, Norwest turned to Teamwork.com to bring order to the chaos.
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Challenge: Managing chaos across teams and projects
A flood of spreadsheets
Norwest Engineering used to rely on spreadsheets to track tasks and milestones, with engineers and designers having to juggle dozens of different spreadsheets across projects. “We had some parts of the spreadsheet that were useful and some that were a little bit clunky, but the spreadsheets didn't talk to one another,” Chris explained.
Overlapping priorities
Engineers at the company sometimes meet with multiple clients daily, constantly switching focus. This made it hard to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines.
Project management built for tech, not engineering
“A lot of these project management softwares seem more built for tech-based companies, and web-based startups,” Chris said. “When they're talking about managing a project, their definition of a project is different from ours, because it doesn't involve construction.”
Visibility gaps
Supervisors struggled to track progress or anticipate conflicts across projects. Clients needed updates, but assembling them from scattered data was time-consuming and error-prone.
Industry inertia
“There's not the same thirst for advancements in classic engineering the way that there is in tech,” Chris said. “Because people are afraid to change things with structures that might fall down, they want to stick with what works.”
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Solution: Adapting Teamwork.com to engineering needs
Unified visibility
Teamwork.com’s Everything tab gave Norwest the ability to view tasks across projects, allowing project managers to shape tasks for individual users more effectively. “They don’t have to see everything,” Chris said of their clients. “But for me as an admin, I need to see everything.”
Milestone tracking for long-term planning
Teamwork.com’s Milestones allowed Norwest to spot overlapping deadlines months in advance, helping them coordinate resources and avoid last-minute scrambles—not to mention less-than-satisfied clients.
Custom templates for consistency
By creating project templates, Norwest standardized workflows and gave junior project managers a clear starting point, while also making sure that the engineers and other leadership can stay organized across numerous overlapping projects.
Client-first features
Norwest streamlined client communication with polished, shareable reports and daily email reminders. “For the most part, clients say, ‘Just give me a PDF, give me a bullet list, and then I’ll work on that.’” Chris said. “Being able to assign action items to a client or to a subcontractor or a collaborator is huge.”
Built for engineers
Unlike tools designed for tech startups, Teamwork.com’s intuitive interface made it easy for engineers to take ownership of their tasks without needing constant oversight.
Results: Efficiency, transparency, and empowered teams
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Improved collaboration
Engineers now manage their own tasks in Teamwork.com, eliminating the need for project managers to act as the middle person. “We’re seeing more people interacting with [Teamwork.com], whereas it was much more of a struggle to get people comfortable to interact with Excel.”
Proactive resource planning
With milestone tracking, Norwest can anticipate bottlenecks months in advance and adjust schedules before problems arise.
Stronger client relationships
Professional, client-friendly reports save time and strengthen trust, ensuring clients stay informed without extra effort. “Our clients are used to speaking in Gantt charts, so we love that they’re integrated.”
Adoption across the team
Despite initial hesitation, Norwest’s team quickly embraced Teamwork.com. “Once people see the benefits, they see past the, ‘Oh, I have to learn this,’ to ‘Oh, actually, this is really nice.’”
Why Teamwork.com is built for engineering
For firms like Norwest Engineering, managing complexity requires tools that are flexible, intuitive, and client-focused. Teamwork.com delivered exactly that, helping them transition from spreadsheets to a platform that empowers their team, improves collaboration, and streamlines their workflows.
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