We all manage projects every day, even if "project manager" isn't our official title. Everything from writing company blog posts to cooking dinner at home could be considered a project that needs to be managed.

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So before we go on, we want to define what we mean by project management:

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Project management is the act of brainstorming, planning, executing, and delivering a collection of tasks in order to achieve a specific goal or goals for a company.

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Interest in project management as a business practice has exploded. In the last 10 years, the Project Management Institute has seen its member-base grow from 25,000 folks to over a quarter million. That's a 10-fold increase in a single decade!

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It's not surprising when you understand how beneficial project management can be. Effective project management leads to:

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• More Efficiency: A qualified project manager will bring focus and clarity to a company and the projects it attempts to complete. This leads to work getting completed on time and on budget on a more consistent basis.
• Less Risk: Teams that work inefficiently pose a great risk to companies. Inefficiency often leads to projects of low quality and missed deadlines, which could result in a loss of customers. Project managers are in charge of making sure this doesn't happen.
• Greater Success: Lastly, proper project management almost always leads to greater company success. This is because project managers are generally able to look at completed projects and assess what can be improved upon in the future.

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Now that we know what project management is and why it's crucial to business success, let's look at how CloudApp assists project management processes.

Here's the truth: visuals allow teams to communicate more effectively than plain text alone. As we've already established, communication is key to project management success. Here's how CloudApp's visual communication features can benefit your projects:

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• Screen Recording: Rather than explaining complex processes in long, drawn-out emails, users can take advantage of CloudApp's screen recording feature and simply show their contact how to do something. This workflow is much more efficient for both demonstrator and recipient and will greatly improve productivity in your organization.
• Webcam Recording: Similarly, your computer's webcam can be used to record yourself explaining your ideas or clarifying key points to your team. It's a much quicker form of communication. It's also more personable and will better engage your staff. This is important as employee engagement has been proven to boost profitability by 21%.
• GIF Creation: A GIF is a silent, looped video clip. If you've spent five minutes online in the last few years, you've certainly seen one — they're quite popular and frequently used on social media and in blog posts. As it turns out, CloudApp allows users to quickly make GIFs and send them to colleagues.

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Here's how to use CloudApp's visual communication features:

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1. First, Download CloudApp to your Windows or Mac computer. Then click the CloudApp icon to begin using the tool. You'll find it in the Quick Launch Icon tray on Windows devices and the Menu Bar on Mac devices. A drop-down menu will appear.
2. To create a new piece of content, select either "Capture" to take a screenshot of your screen, "Recording" to record a video of your screen or yourself (via your computer's webcam), or GIF. Next, choose the portion of your screen that you want to capture.
3. Once you've selected a portion of your screen to capture, another window will appear. Select "Start" to begin a recording or GIF and "Finish" to end it. When you're done, the resulting content will automatically be uploaded to your personal CloudApp Library.

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And that's it! You now know how to use CloudApp's visual communication features to improve your project management processes.

The amazing content you create with CloudApp won't benefit your project management efforts if you don't have a convenient way to share it with your colleagues. Fortunately, CloudApp makes content distribution extremely easy in the form of secure links and convenient call-to-action buttons. Here's how file-sharing works inside CloudApp:

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1. First, create your CloudApp content. Once your webcam recording, GIF, or annotated screenshot has been made, CloudApp will automatically save it to your personal library and create a unique link for it.
2. To share, simply click on the CloudApp icon on your computer. Mac users will find it in their Menu Bar, while Windows users will find it in the Quick Launch Icon tray. A menu will appear.
3. Search through your library to find the piece of content you want to share, then hover over it.
4. At this point you have two options: you can click the "Copy Link" icon and then paste it into an email or Slack Chat. You can also click "Share" and then choose one of the share options in the menu that appears.
   

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As you can see, sharing your CloudApp creations couldn't be simpler. When managing projects, you'll save a boatload of time by first crafting your content with CloudApp and then using our platform to distribute it to your colleagues.

CloudApp will help you become a better project manager. Our solution's screen and webcam recording, GIF creation, and image annotations features make communication a breeze. And when you communicate effectively with your team, everything else falls into place.

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But fortunately for you and your career, CloudApp won't cost you an arm and a leg to use. You can get started today for free! If you decide you want access to some of our high-end features like enhanced editing options, calls-to-action, and integrations, simply upgrade. Paid plans start at just $8 a month per user.

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Give yourself an unfair project management advantage and sign up for CloudApp. You won't regret it!