As a manager, you must be using Microsoft Excel to manage your projects, but the problem with Excel is that it lacks any automation and customization and doesn’t support collaborative teamwork. Project management software can help you in streamlining different functions to plan projects, allocate resources, and manage time.
You can use it for project road mapping, scheduling, allocating resources, and quality management. Let’s find out what all the software can do for project managers working across different types of business processes.
Project management software is used by managers and teams to plan, track, coordinate and achieve their project goals. This software is also used for communication and collaboration between different stakeholders.
It helps managers and project supervisors to meet their deadlines and control costs. Moreover, it helps track the team’s workflow and by using this information you can make appropriate changes or offer any useful inputs to your team.
In order to successfully manage a project, you need to manage all the information about different supporting activities. You have to collate, assimilate, and interpret the information for project stakeholders in real-time. When the stakeholders and project teams located in different areas, it becomes more difficult.
Therefore, a project management tool has become a critical aspect of any business that allows teams to manage all processes from the initial stage to the closing stage. Let’s look at some critical functionalities of project management tool.
The software allows collaboration between various teams and departments. They can easily update and share information with each other. Moreover, the access-sharing feature allows all stakeholders to have a unified view of the project.
Scheduling tasks for different people is one of the most crucial aspects of a project. Project management tool comes with scheduling functionalities that allow the manager to add a flow to all the tasks, assign them to specific people, give start & end dates to a project and create a detailed project schedule.
While working on a project, your team creates a wide range of project documents like scope documents, requirement documents, risk documents, estimation documents, and more. Project management solution empowers you to manage all these documents with perfection and modify them as per requirement.
The next crucial function of project management software is the management of available resources. It helps in assigning the resource, tracking them, and utilizing them to the optimal level. Moreover, the software also maintains a detailed report of every asset.
It allows you to assign cost elements at the task level. You can also do a cost analysis as well as a value earned analysis in most software systems.
The main reason to use project management tool is to figure out what needs to be done. It is often decided in the form of a calendar or Gantt chart, this feature enables you to join the pieces of your project together and keep the work on the right track. The tool allows you to assign tasks to individuals, set goals, objectives and due dates for different projects.
Gone are those days when you used to keep a manual writing pad handy to note down who’s responsible for what. The software allows you to track your team’s progress and provide any additional inputs for successful completion. It also promotes team coordination and increased transparency among team members.
Like project planning and task management, the time tracking feature is also critical for highly efficient project management. Especially when your team is working on a tight budget. The time tracking feature allows you to carefully plan your tasks, ensuring that you deliver top-notch work with minimal effort and in a short span.
It is an essential feature to facilitate seamless communication between teams and other departments. It helps them in discussing the critical points of a project and getting any help or suggestions from colleagues when required. This feature enables them to get clarity about where their project stands in the current scenario and adjust deadlines as per requirement.
There are three different types of project management software:
These types of project management software are hosted completely in the cloud which enables its users to access data from anywhere at any point in time just by using internet access. This also provides its users with the ability to customize the modules as per their individual needs.
These types of project management solutions are installed on the company’s servers locally. This means that you can only access systems connected to local servers. These are therefore often called ‘locally hosted’ software.
Open-API-based project management solution provides end users the freedom to set up their projects and adjust components to suit their specific business needs.
Project management software offers accurate predictions based on the AI for project completion time, costs associated, milestones to achieve, and more.
With the help of accurate reporting, a project management solution helps with cost projection, identifying the sources of unnecessary expenses, and streamlining production to avoid any cost issues related to it.
Offers a complete overview of project pipelines that include planned projects, completed, and WIP (Work In Progress) projects. This helps in preventing any bottlenecks before they come in the way of project completion.
Also, this gives an overall idea to the team regarding the count of total projects they are handling. This also helps in planning the team as per the project’s need and hiring new employees whenever required.
Provides users with the ability to collaborate and work together within a shared workspace without affecting each other’s productivity. This allows them to focus on their own projects, while team leaders can keep an eye on the progress of multiple projects.
Project management software assists in controlling the budget associated with your project. With the help of forecasting, it presents you with the overall financial picture along with some important financial metrics.
In the end, using these metrics, you can track your planned spending with actual spending incurred. This will let you understand where you are earning and wasting money.
With the help of analytical reports, you can accurately see how the project is performing at any given time. Therefore, make sure that your software offers you various reports including risk reports, variance reports, project status reports, etc.
Any good software helps to get your project done promptly and within a set budget. It helps you narrow down your focus, meet deadlines, and improves the rate of deliverability and success. This in return helps to keep your clients happy and satisfied.
Software project management tools consists of various features and functionalities that can help all industries. It helps their leaders to spearhead the projects with ease and allows the team the ability to cope with difficult projects and tight deadlines. Below is a list of industries that use project management software to their advantage.
Managing multiple projects and tasks is not as easy as it seems. It takes a lot of planning, hard work, and dedication to handle every aspect of the business. But intelligent managers only require the right project management tool to manage their projects with aplomb.
With the help of comprehensive software, you can easily find & resolve critical issues and prioritize important tasks. It allows you to get real-time updates about ongoing projects and share important updates with the team.
Moreover, the in-depth project summaries help you to analyze your progress and make changes as per requirements.
Project management is a scary phrase when you’re running a small business. You must be juggling multiple projects, people, and tasks.
However, software for project management can help you to plan everything in advance and run every project in a profitable manner. It will save a lot of time and ensure that you finish your projects in a short span without undue stress.
In the next few paragraphs, we will list five critical ways with examples of how project management software can make your life easier and take your business to the next level.
You know that in a small business, there is no room for error, therefore it is important to meet your goals and stay on the projected budget. By using project management tools, you can create a road map and manage it with perfection until completion.
Example: During the project planning stage, Rahul realized that the cost of renting equipment will soon increase by 30% in the coming months. He’s in the middle of a new project and the forecasting allowed him to save money in other areas. Further, he also avoided an unexpected increase in the budget.
Projects that go haywire can negatively impact your organization’s structure and they can also cause a repercussion in other critical tasks. If you have a minimal workforce, you can ask them to scatter around to resolve the issues.
However, this would be difficult during constant interruptions. Hence to resolve continuous problems, you must implement project management software in your business.
Example: Jacob was handling multiple projects and working hard to meet the deadlines. Despite all his efforts, he learned that his team has gone over budget in the current project.
To add to his woes, he didn’t even have a plan B to tackle the issue. However, he managed to handle the situation somehow but got reprimanded by the higher management.
To avoid such problems in the future, he decided to use project management software which gave him clear indications of any upcoming problems, create a plan for every project, and create a meticulous roadmap.
In the next few months, he saw an inspiring improvement in efficiency, end results, costs, and the overall process.
The key difference between the success and failure of a project lies in the management process of a project manager.
If they don’t spend time drafting a detailed project schedule and if they don’t closely follow the execution stage to ensure that all targets are met on time, then there is a high chance that they’ll fail to achieve the desired objectives.
Example: It was Esha’s 18th day as a sales manager in the new office, so she decided to do a performance analysis of her team. She found her sales team hasn’t done as many sales as they were supposed to do in a week.
After a careful analysis of every aspect, she came to know that her team didn’t have a clear roadmap and pre-defined goals in hand. She then used PMS tool to streamline the work, define their goals and improve productivity and overall quality of their work. After a few weeks she noticed a drastic improvement in the sales numbers and her team’s performance.
Even when you’re running a small business and if roles are not clearly defined, you will often face accountability issues. It will delay your projects and you won’t be able to complete important tasks on time. But when you use a project management tool, you’ll be able to assign your tasks to the right people and you can hold them accountable for completing the work within a specified duration.
Example: With the help of project management tool, David assigned multiple tasks to various individuals and clearly defined what he expected from them in terms of end goals. Everyone was aware of the job at hand and all the work was completed within the given timeline.
Good project management comprises effective project planning, resource allocation, data accumulation, and communication. Once you’re done with the project, you can look back at your project, assess the performance and try to find out what worked best and what didn’t.
If you don’t have such a facility, you’re bound to repeat the same mistakes, and may also fail to give your best in the next project.
Example: Sanchit used project management software to examine the status report of his projects. He noticed that four tasks are pending, and the team has also spent more than the allocated budget.
With four upcoming projects and four pending tasks, he asked everyone on his team to pull up their socks and give their very best to complete the work on time. The project management software allowed him to allocate more resources for the pending work and get them ready for the new projects.
Regardless of the size of an organization, managing a project is always a tricky task for everyone. Through project management tool, you can lessen the pressure of managing the projects from beginning to end and stay in control of your business objectives.
In the next few lines, you’ll learn about the three main reasons why your business needs project management software.
Example: Rakshay is a project lead in a multinational firm, he immediately wanted to share vital info about a project with his onshore & offshore team. He wasn’t sure if every staff member will check their inboxes, therefore he shared the information via project management software.
Within a few seconds, everyone got a pop-up notification on their software dashboard, and all of them paid utmost attention to the shared info.
Example: Rohan decided to use project management solution to uncover the financial health of the ongoing project. He was pleased to know that the software’s financial planning feature helped his team to avoid budget overrun. Moreover, he was able to set a financial target for the next project.
Example: Daniel, was using Microsoft Excel and manual methods to assign work to his team members, but they used to miss deadlines on a regular basis. After a certain period, he decided to try project management solution for some time. To his surprise, the tool proved to be highly beneficial for his team, as he could set project deadlines, track progress and send notifications when the task was overdue.
It helped in instilling a sense of accountability into his team and make them more productive. Moreover, he was able to document everything and share it with everyone, so they could know where they stand now and what was expected from them.
Suggested Read: Business Use Cases of Project Management Software
Here is the list of the five best open-source project management software to manage your business.
Project management tool has become critical for all businesses. The software is specifically designed to make team handling and task performing simpler & more efficient.
It has proved to be a boon for project managers and automates basic operations like project planning, resource allocation, scheduling etc. The user-friendly interface improves inter team collaboration and keeps a tab on the workflow in real time.
Now, before zeroing in on any project management software, there are a few benchmarks that you should analyse. Here are the six important criteria to keep in mind during the selection process.
Product | Free Trial | Pricing |
monday.com | Free Forever | ₹661.35 / user / month |
Wrike | 2-week trial | ₹810.15 / user / month |
Smartsheet | 30-day trial | ₹578.68 / user / month |
ClickUp | Free Forever | ₹413.34 / user / month |
Kintone | 30-day trial | ₹1984.04 / user / month |
Suggested Read: Benefits of Project Management Software for Manufacturing Companies
Conclusion
Project management software is not an option but a necessary tool to have for your business. It helps in increasing the efficiency of your ongoing operations and minimizing & mitigating the risks involved.
Companies that don’t implement this tool in their business process will always struggle to manage their work, budget, workforce, and product quality.
Related Categories: Kanban Tools | Scrum Tools | Wireframe Tools | Gantt Chart Software
FAQs
Some of the best free project management software include ClickUp, Wrike, monday.com, Teamwork, Notion, Trello, Microsoft Planner, Todoist, and more.
The implementation of PMS software includes 10 steps.
1. Assessing real business requirements
2. Selecting vendor
3. Launching project
4. Fine-tuning implementation
5. Launching software configuration
6. Testing software configuration.
7. Testing of user acceptance
8. Transition or final implementation
With the help of project management software, individuals and businesses can easily track projects, schedules, and tasks. It helps you stay well-organized and ensures task or project completion on time.
Hive, ActiveCollab, TeamGantt, Zoho Projects, Trello, Xebrio, ProjectManager.com, and others are some of the easy-to-use project management software.
Popular PMS software designed for small businesses are Height, Zoho Projects, Kintone, Forecast, Paymo, Asana, Trello, and more.
Basecamp, Kintone, Smartsheet, ClickUp, ITM Platform, Genius Project, and more are a few of the well-known PMS software designed to serve the needs of a large organization.
The major features of a project management solution include scheduling, project planning, team collaboration, project budgeting, billing and quotes, reporting, time tracking, and more.
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