The term project management instantly makes us imagine endless spreadsheets, a mess of email chains, stock-piled to-do lists, random post-its, and a confused team because they are the basics. Still, you can leave them with the past and give a chance to a new solution that could make everything easy and convenient for you when it comes to project management. What is this solution? A good project management system is the best solution if you want to see your project progress according to your expectations.
- An estimated 77% of high-performing teams use PM tools
- Organizations that invest in these tools waste 28 times less money than organizations that do not.
You know that the numbers don't lie and are hard to ignore. So isn't it worth giving a try? We are here to assist you in getting to know what project management tools are and what you must know before choosing a project management app for your project, company, etc.
Shall we start?
It is easy to go to the internet and find project management software because there are many options, but don't you think that it will be better if you know what to look for then you can select the best option from many that suits your process.
let's start with the basics...
Definition of Project Management Software
Here's a simple definition of project management software to get an initial idea of the program.
💡
A project management tool is software that is a centralized platform designed to help plan, organize, and track tasks and resources within a project or many projects, It makes collaboration among team members, monitoring progress, and managing timelines easier to ensure successful project completion.
Why using an online project management tool is that important for your project?
- Resource Optimization
You can check the availability and usage of your resources instantly with a few clicks accurately. This helps you to assign tasks effectively making full use of your team’s potential and organizing work packages to integrate.
- Capacity Planning
You can plan and visualize a full work schedule for a whole team even over one or two years ahead
- Tracking Budget
You can check and keep track of whether the project is staying within the set budget.
- Estimate+Accuracy
You can enter data-related work packages, due dates, and capacity and get estimated completion dates and the critical path for your project.
- Progress Administration
It is simple for you to monitor all aspects of team progress without any need to keep close tabs on anyone.
- Risk Monitoring & Assessment
You can calculate potential risks accurately by using a project management tool.
- Automated+ Effective Reporting
You have access to real-time progress and responsibilities through pre-built reports and dashboards.
Isn't it great? everything is easy about managing a project, project managers, and a team with PM software (Project management software). So we can agree that project management tools are important in project management.
There are common features that you can find in almost every project management software/ project management tool/ task management tool etc. Apart from that you must know that there are special features that come with different tools specific only to them. let's find out what are the features of project management software/ what project management platforms offer.
| Task Management |
Resource Allocation / Management |
| Budgeting |
Reporting & Analytics |
| Mobile Access |
Time Tracking |
| Documenting |
Quality Management |
| Gantt charts and Kanban Boards |
Visible Metrics |
| Collaboration/ Sharing |
Project Tracking/ Planning/ Estimation |
| Customization |
Integrations |
| Automation |
Approvals |
| Project Administration |
Risk Management |
| Scheduling |
Dashboard |
These are common features of project management software platforms, they are interesting right, you can do many things including work management and project tracking, and it looks like you can manage your business/ project systematically with ease. Shall we move to the next topic?
Now let's explore the various advantages that project management software brings. from streamlining workflows to promoting collaboration, these online project management software tools play a vital role in optimizing project processes and securing a successful project delivery. Let's dig into the key benefits of investing in the best project management software.
Improved Work Environment
Encourage collaboration, and efficient communication apart from that they provide a centralized platform that contributes to a more organized and strong working environment.
Well-organized workflows, task prioritization, and real-time progress-tracking options allow teams to work more efficiently by keeping down delays and improving overall productivity.
Customization of workflows, task structures, and timelines by adapting to diverse project needs.
Standardization provides better project planning and execution by reducing the probability of errors or oversights.
Provides a structured framework for tasks, timelines, and resources.
Team members can get important project details anytime, anywhere with data stored centrally and accessible online.
Improved Planning and Scheduling
Provide advanced features for creating timelines, allocating resources, and setting milestones to make the result a more powerful project plan by increasing the team's ability to meet deadlines and navigate the complexities of project timelines more effectively.
With the assistance of features like cloud-based access, virtual communication, and centralized document storage, these tools support the flexibility of remote work arrangements.
By providing a clear roadmap for project progress these work management platforms allow team members to outline and visualize project milestones, deadlines, and dependencies.
These tools promote a centralized approach by combining project information, communication, and tasks in one platform.
Through features like messaging, comment threads, and status updates management tools provide better communication within teams.
Make sure that sensitive project information is only accessible to authorized individuals by providing customizable user permissions often.
Assists in setting up clear goals by allowing teams to define and communicate project objectives within the platform.
Allow teams to make informed decisions promptly by providing instant visibility into project progress, task completion, and changes.
So as you can see, the list of advantages of using project management software is a long one which is by the way a positive point for you to mark down. Like everything else, these many project management tools also have their drawbacks too.
Disadvantages of Project Management Software
Now, let's look into the flip side of using project management software.
In this section, we'll go through the potential drawbacks and challenges associated with using project management software, even though these tools offer many advantages, it's important to be informed of their limitations and potential issues that you can come across when using these types of software to make the right decisions in project management.
Implementing and maintaining expenses like licensing fees, training costs, and ongoing subscription charges.
Team members may need time to get used to the new tools, which can temporarily impact productivity.
These tools may have complex features that can be overwhelming for users.
May not smoothly integrate with current systems or other tools, leading to data storage, etc.
A Chance for Mismanagement
Overreliance on automated processes might lead to oversight or misinterpretation of critical information so human involvement is still important.
Now you know what to expect from a tool like this, it is time to know the steps to choose the best project management platform for project management and team collaboration as project managers and team.
To make it easy for you we have created a list of steps to follow before choosing a software. If you want a great project management tool you should follow these steps, having a map is better than going blindly and ending up in the wrong place right?
Step 1: Define the needs of your project/ business/ company etc.
Step 2: List out the challenges and limitations that your project team currently face.
Step 3: Understand the capabilities of your project management team perfectly.
Step 4: Note down the “must-have” features of your project to make it more effective and efficient.
Step 5: Create a list of available effective project management software platforms.
Step 6: Try & Test them with your team by taking a trial period.
Step 7: Calculate your budget to find what you can afford.
Final Step: Find the best project management tool and make your choice wisely.
isn't this easy? few simple steps to follow to make a game-changing decision for our project and the team.
Would you like to check out the criteria to select the best project management program?
We aim to guide you toward making a reasonable informed decision because choosing the right tool determines the success of any project. Please note that the information included in this section is based on 5 criteria for selecting a SaaS product based on the research by Manish Godse, and Shrikant Mulik' “An Approach for Selecting SoftwareasaService (SaaS) Product”, based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach intended for ranking the SaaS features.
Let's get into the details and key criteria that are going to help you select the best project management tool for your team's needs and project objectives.
What's next?
It's important to go through various factors that can notably influence your team's efficiency and project outcomes when selecting a project management software as a task management system or collaboration tool because considerations play an important role in making a good decision.
In this section, we are going to go through the key factors to consider when choosing project management software.
- Check whether the cloud-based option is available.
- Check on the flexibility of managing projects.
- Check on its scalability.
- Check whether you can receive as much as you invest.
- Check if they have the control you need.
- Check with the browser, whether it is compatible or not.
- Check whether you are okay with how the workflow processes.
- Check if it is a one place for all projects and business
- Check whether it simplifies your process without making it more complex.
Conclusion
So here you are at the end of the article, by now you must know all the things about What is a project management tool right? If you are thinking about using project management software for your team, make sure to follow the above-mentioned steps and criteria. Apart from that make sure that you are fully informed about good project management tools and finally go make your decision. Good luck!!!