Tools for effectively managing business projects can help ensure success. Many are easy to find and use…the trick is knowing where to look.
The reality is, managing projects is an enormous task. It requires tools and systems to help keep you from getting behind.
It’s like guiding a ship. It’s important to be aware that there are reliable engines onboard you can trust.
Here are some of the most important project management tools that every project manager should at least be aware of.
Project Management Software
There are plenty of software packages available. However, the three that are at the top of the class are Microsoft Project, Basecamp, and Wrike.
Microsoft Project is a powerful piece of software that lends its super strength to the process of planning. It’s easy to quickly and smartly make a plan that includes tasks starting dates, ending dates, times, dependencies, and Gantt charts.
You can set specific holidays, and enter resource names. You can also identify the key route of a project. When you’re ready, you can also color-code individual bar graphs and reports to make them more personal.
Collaborative Software
Basecamp, a collaborative tool, has a sleek and user-friendly interface. It’s also very easy to learn and navigate. Simply add a few tasks to instantly collaborate with your team members.
Basecamp’s “discussions” function can be very useful and even enjoyable. You can discuss an issue, then post it to the online interface. After that, you can trigger discussions between your team members, your client, and the vendor.
It’s worth noting that Basecamp uses cloud functions which could raise security issues for certain companies. However, when you take proper safety measures, this is seldom a problem. This software’s suitability for small to medium-sized projects is pretty amazing.
Wrike is a different web-based project management application. Its features are many and varied. They include online collaboration, with well-designed tools to show the status of projects. Wrike transfers well to Microsoft Project data and is also linked to Microsoft Outlook.
Time Management Software
Toodledo is an excellent personal productivity tool to help you stay on task. If you’re a professional manager, you’ll be happy to know that it is easy to log in online or add tasks. Filters, sorting, tags, or categories on any item are a breeze.
If you’re a subscriber to the professional version, you’ll also be able to add sub-tasks. The program also syncs with devices like the iPhone or iPad.
Templates for Project Management
Templates are great time-savers. Projects templates are typically Microsoft Word or Excel documents that include “placeholder” sections that contain content. Simply fill in the content and you have a working document for your team members or your key stakeholders.
Below are some sample templates for managing projects:
- Project Charter
- Stakeholder Register
- Status Report
- Assumptions, Risks, Dependencies and Other Issues
- Change Request Formulation
- Project Request for Resource Formula
- Lessons Learnt Log
- Project Financial Tracking Sheet
A good PM is always aware of all his or her important tasks and avoids having a “template-based” mentality. A lot of PMs are so caught up with the templates they use that they fail to consider important elements such as managing stakeholder relationships, the scope of control, and timelines.
Project Management Strategies
The next tool that a project manager needs is a management strategy.
The majority of software development projects use the typical “waterfall” approach. It’s the simplest to implement and has the widest acceptance. With this method, you must first review all functional specifications and business requirements. After the initial phase, you must then give development and configuration full attention before testing and release. You then repeat this at each stage that the plan goes through. With the help of your software, these phases are easily tracked and documented.
PRINCE2 is another method of managing projects which is built around many of the elements of the standard lifecycle of software development. Its processes are easily mapped into those of the Project Management Body of Knowledge PMBOK and PM basics.
The “Agile Project Management” is very different from traditional methods of project management. It has recently become more popular than ever. It works with smaller tasks that you complete quickly which you then present to the user for approval. This can present other problems to the PM that the standard waterfall method leaves behind. However, it’s still a very workable method.
In the field of software development, the Agile method is more about building prototype actions in order to develop smaller, incremental versions of the product in use. This is helpful because it lets users see the planned solution while it is still in development and not have to wait until the testing phase. However, it also makes the process more time-consuming since users will need to be a part of the approval process through the whole development process.
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