Projects are the lifeline of any business organization, and this means that without proper planning, the right tools, committed team members and a strong leader, any project will fail. In today’s highly competitive scenario, Project Managers need to adopt creativity and innovation to stand out from the crowd. This is where Project Management comes into the picture.
Project Management is the application of planning processes, techniques, knowledge, tools, and skills to achieve the project objectives. Project Management helps organizations cut expenses, increase productivity, returns and ultimately improve customer satisfaction.
With the advancement in technology, manual project management has been replaced with an automated Project Management Software.
How to Choose the Right Project Management Software
It is definitely more profitable and productive to use a system that the entire team can collaborate upon, as opposed to following individual methods and systems. This is due to the below reasons:
● Saves time as members knows the steps involved and makes results more predictable and uniform.
● Being aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the system, it is easier to refine and re-use work.
● It allows the Team to work simultaneously on multiple projects and thus eliminate their miscellaneous over-time.
Main Types of Project Management Methodology:
· Waterfall
This method requires the team to begin with their end goal, and then proceed to map out every step of the project that is needed to achieve that end goal, before any work begins. It is best used for extremely complex projects as it provides great structure, keeps the team members motivated and focused, and also fault-tolerant. However it doesn’t go well with tight deadlines.
· Lean
This project management methodology’s core goal is to deliver the highest value at the lowest cost. Under this methodology, the team members build the most basic version of the product first and then test the idea by taking it to actual users. Finally, they use the results of the testing to decide whether to continue on the same path or take a different one.
The Pros of this method are: Adapting to changes without slowing down, Producing cost effective results, and accurate feedback which allows the creation of the perfect product.
The Cons are: There isn’t a formal process to guide the team, and there’s almost no emphasis on employee happiness under this methodology.
· Scrum
Scrum is a sub-set of the Agile methodology and it involves some pre-work planning. Here the end goal is divided into mini goals or ‘Sprints’ which are assigned 2-4 weeks for completion. Progress on sprint goal is expected on a daily basis from teams and at the end of each sprint, reassessment is done before moving onto the next sprint.
The Pros of this method are: Constant reassessment, Focus on short time periods, and keeping the project dynamic.
The Cons are: The ease of adding/changing the end-goal may lead the whole Project in the wrong direction.
· Kanban
Under this project management methodology, a project is broken into pieces, and each piece is worked upon without a defined workflow. The Pros of this method are: Individuals can work independently and the overview of the project’s status can be given at any time.
The Drawback: If the team members aren’t in sync or the project has a high number of dependencies, the whole project may suffer.
· Six Sigma
The Six Sigma is perhaps the best project management methodology for your Team. This method follows the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) approach. The method focuses on 3 main ways to cut costs without reducing quality: Defect Prevention, Cost Savings and Cycle Time Reduction. The benefits of using this method for project management are: Almost error-free project completion, Analytics-based decision-making and flexible deadlines.
Why Your Business Needs a Project Management Software
Traditional methods of manual project management waste a lot of time as far as searching of information, and sharing of projects is concerned. This is where technology comes to the rescue with Project Management Software as it enhances the flow of projects greatly. This software will use various means and platforms to increase the involvement and collaboration between your employees. This will ultimately result in greater success and revenue for your business. Detailed below are some reasons on why your business needs a project management software:
· Easy Planning And Smooth Workflow
A project management and collaboration software helps in easily mapping out the tasks for effective completion by indicating the sequential steps and the tasks. This software enables the Team Leader to see the tasks that the team is working on, and also the members involved. Further, it enables him to add more members if task is bigger. All this saves your team’s time and makes it easier for them to execute the whole project successfully.
· Efficient Task Management and Future Planning
The project management software empowers the Admin to assign tasks, monitor their progress, and get access to all the related information. The software helps track the project in terms of time taken, information about the members involved, the current status of the project, etc. This makes the planning of future projects easier and also improves the performance of every member. All this makes task management efficient and ultimately results in incredible benefits for the business organization.
· Sharing Of Documents, Contacts and Other Information
Project management and collaboration tools are highly useful in storing and organizing the documents in a centralized manner. This makes it easy for team members to access, edit or contribute to it easily. It avoids the cumbersome process of sending hundreds of emails back and forth between the team members. Further, having access to shared calendars and contact information makes communication easier and ensures that everyone is on the same page.
The Top 5 Project Management Apps
The Project Management Software can serve as the team’s digital memory, making sure that your team is aiming for a common target and keeping everything in one place. Listed below are the Top 5 project management apps for your organization:
1. Asana
Asana’s workflow templates stand out from other similar apps by allowing you to standardize the sequence of steps for your team. The app takes away the need for sending emails as communication between team members. The ‘Task and Project Conversation’ module can be used to clarify details on a specific assignment; and also for communicating the high-level plan for the entire project. The powerful search options makes searching for files and finding previous conversations easy. The app can be integrated with Google Drive, Box and Dropbox to make adding attachments seamless.
2. Hubstaff
Hubstaff lets you monitor your employees’ work activity as well as the time spent on specific tasks, which is incredibly helpful to Project Managers. The app also makes project reporting simpler and more accurate. The time taken to do the project and money owed by the clients will be calculated automatically. Hubstaff also lets users add notes to their entries which enables communication between team members without leaving the app.
3. Basecamp
The latest version of Basecamp is a high-powered but easy to operate collaboration tool. Each project in this app comes with its own dashboard which has tabs for: Documents, Message Board, To-do List and Reminders. The app enables automatic check-ins for updates from clients and team members, and even ‘Campfires’ for timely conversations and questions. Basecamp’s lack of frills increases team productivity, as it eliminates the process of sorting through excessive number of tabs or customizing tons of settings.
4. Wrike
This project management software is great for marketing, product development and of course, for project management teams. It allows you to create a hierarchy when it comes to projects and tasks. The app can also help you create Gantt Charts based on the project schedule and project status. This makes the visualization of what’s in the pipeline easy. The app’s Workload view shows the user who’s overwhelmed, who’s underwhelmed and who’s got the right amount of work. The budget and time tracking feature helps the user stay within the budget and time limit of the project.
5. Trello
This app is aesthetically pleasing yet its simple interface is definitely unique. It makes being productive very fun. The progress on each project or task can be marked by grabbing a task card and dropping it into the next list. The app makes it very easy to find things as each card can include an owner or owners, files, attachments, due date, checklists, labels, etc. It enables you to communicate with team members via the Comments section in each card.
Project Management has become easier with web enabled software which provide solutions to different business requirements, budgets and demolish the obstacles caused due to non-collaborative or manual processes. Ultimately, the main aim of a business is to provide high quality products or services in a short time, which can definitely be achieved by using an apt Project Management Software!
Author Bio: Bhavesh Koladiya is currently a Digital Marketing Executive at SoftwareSuggest. In just 2 years, he has made his mark in the field of Digital Marketing. When not working, you can find him either listening to Music or reading Tech stuff. Connect with him on Twitter @bhavesh9040.