Dashboard to show "process step" as a parent level field

Dan LaBrecque

Hi Wrike Community,

I’m looking for advice on the best way to structure a project in Wrike that has multiple parallel swimlanes, each representing a separate subproject. All of these subprojects need to be completed for the main parent project to finish.

What I’m trying to solve

• I want to track where each subproject is in its process flow at a high level.
• Ideally, I’d like to use a custom field (e.g., a dropdown called “Process Step”) that I can show in a Dashboard widget.
• We have stakeholders who only need high‑level visibility, not full access to all tasks. I want them to be able to open a dashboard and immediately see the stage of each subproject, without seeing task‑level detail.

Questions for the community

1. What’s the best structure for multi‑swimlane subprojects?
   Is it better to use multiple subprojects under a parent project, or a single project with multiple folders representing swimlanes?
2. Can I create a single shared custom field (“Process Step”) that appears across all subprojects and is easily visible in dashboard widgets?
3. Any dashboard configuration tips for giving stakeholders a clean, high‑level view of “Subproject Name + Current Step” without exposing internal task detail?
4. Is there a smarter pattern in Wrike for showing the lifecycle stage of individual subprojects?

Appreciate any tips, examples, or screenshots from teams who have solved something similar!

Thanks in advance!

—Dan

Sven Passinger

Hi @Dan LaBrecque

from my experience:

1. it depends on your project. Are the swim lanes small folders can be a good solution. Are the sub-projects big and perhaps you e.g. want to see time booking on different swim lanes then use sub-projects. If you have sub-project managers also folders are no good choice.
2. Yes you can. Make a space custom field. But why you are not using the workflow of the project? That could reflect your project status.
3. For the dashboard I would make a widget with Filter: Item Type: projects; Parent: your main project; Then e.g. a pivot with columns project name, assignee, workflow status, end date. That is a high level quick overview.
4. as said before: use the workflow the project status I would say is the normal way.

Hope these short ideas help.

Sven