In order to build a successful business in the tech world, there are various principles and plans that should be developed by everyone to achieve big goals including; skillset, talent, schedule, communication, documentation and of course management. Project management software will help you plan, execute and offer best practices to meet the goals of a project.
The problem usually lies in choosing the right software for a business. When choosing one for your business, considering certain aspects is important for the success of every business. There are several software's out there that will promise a simple way to manage your projects. Yet, many of them often are not able to live up to the expectations of team members. The following is a list of tips that will help you keep all the important aspects together and will help you to get the most out of your project management system. It’s Mobile Friendly A mobile friendly management software will make it possible for employees to work while moving. They need not be always present at their desks to collaborate, in an emergency they can use their mobile for the update. They can access projects while they are traveling or anywhere. Make sure the software integrates with core apps Look for the integration capabilities of the project management software for teams convenience and effectiveness. It should be able to integrate with your email and posts messages to email to increase user engagement. The whole cycle of managing projects will be completed successfully when the data can be shared with other apps or the file can be integrated with different apps. Recognize the most useful features Different software will have different features and not all the features will be important equally to all connected in the project. A designer will need a proofing feature while planning will require features like Gantt charts and more, while the managers will look for reports. Consider a cloud-based service Selecting a cloud-based project management system will provide an ease of deployment and overall cost of ownership. It will also save a lot of your time and money as it will not require any hardware installation. You will just need an internet connection and you can access the system from anywhere, on any device. Moreover, any updates will also be automatically done. Make sure the software is easy to use There are several things a team has to handle while working on a project. Make sure you provide an easy to use project management software for a team that is intuitive and generally in-line with how your company works. They should be able to understand the features of every tool and use them for their convenience. Make up your mind as it is a bit of confusing thing to find the right software for your projects. Follow these tips to get most out of the software and get your whole team to use it and work the best for you.
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Gone are the days when you have only had email as an option to connect and collaborate with your team. With advent of project collaboration software, you can now connect with your team in real-time, prioritize your work and accomplish your tasks quickly.
The aim of writing above points is to make you aware of the benefits of online collaboration software over emails. The following article will give you a deep insight about the benefits of online collaboration software for your projects and business. Save Time and Set Priorities Email reading is the most unproductive part of a professional’s daily routine. As per statistics, an average employee spends 1/4 of the day in email reading and replying. And this is true with most of us. Our day begins with a long list of emails and we spend the first hour viewing, analyzing and looking for relevant information in our emails. On the other hand, an online collaboration software lets you define priorities and plan out your day accordingly. It lets your employees respond to the urgent requirements of a project and accomplish goals accordingly. As a result of it, you can save a lot of time and work in an organized manner. Boost Productivity Do you know which is the easiest way to improve productivity at work? It is through seamless communication and collaboration with your team. If your team is too busy in reading emails and getting overloaded with information, they would never be able to deliver the work on time. And this is what emails do. With emails, you simply shoot information on your team, which either distracts them or makes them feel overburdened. A better idea is to opt for an online collaboration software, which lets you connect with your team anytime, anywhere. Using an online collaboration software, your team can share documents with each other which will automatically speed up the workflow. An efficient use of online collaboration software can help you boost productivity. Also, this helps your employees to plan their work as per the requirements of the project. Reduce Confusion and Add Clarity Emails contain a lot of information which often gets lost due to forwarding, CC's and BCC's. Also, fetching relevant information from a thread of emails is a time-consuming task. Instead of troubling yourself and your employees with emails it is better to switch to an online collaboration software where you have access to a common dashboard through which you can share the right information with the right audience at the right time. In this way, you can easily communicate with your team members and they can also interact with you to share their ideas. This reduces the chances of communication and brings out clarity within the team. Facilitate Meaningful Collaboration A project collaboration software can improve the way you collaborate with your team in a project. Email is not meant for collaboration. Here’s a simple way to know this better. At times, your document requires a simple edit say an insertion or deletion of a line. Now, every time you make this change you will have to forward the new file in the mail. So, the other person will receive a large number of emails every time a change is done. With an online collaboration software, you can share the new file as and when required with the right audience. This helps everyone in the project to keep a track of the progress and make further plans accordingly. There are endless advantages of online collaboration software over emails. In fact, it just changes the way you handle your projects allowing you to work in a more efficient way. Before we get into details of project management tools and its advantages for your business let’s consider a basic situation.
Imagine if the calendar or the reminder feature is eliminated from your smartphone or PC. So, now you don’t have a personalized reminder to remind you of your insurance renewal. There are many tasks that you need to accomplish on a timely basis. It can be as simple as sending birthday greetings to a colleague or renewing your insurance. Yes, there are things that are always on your mind but there are many others which you cannot remember. And you cannot afford to neglect those things or postpone them. Right? The same applies to your project as well. There are endless tasks involved in a project from beginning till the end and at times even after it is delivered. Now, you cannot remember everything or expect your team to do so. If you do this, you will certainly overburden your team and waste a lot of time. Are you getting the point? In order to accomplish business goals and deliver your project on time, you need to work in a smart way and not just the hard way. With so many technological tools available out there, you can easily get along with the pace of the fast moving business world. And that’s the reason why you need a project management tool, which can help you manage your tasks, your team, and your time in the most efficient manner possible.The following points will add more clarity to your mind about the benefits of project management tool for your business. Stay on a Schedule The most critical part about a project is to build and follow a consistent schedule. Many teams fail to deliver projects on time because of lack of a proper schedule which helps them to meet the deadline of the project and also keep a track of their performance. A project management tool can simplify the job of scheduling for you. You can use features like Gantt chart to plan project activities and track project schedules. Also, this will keep your employees aware of the important information and help them plan their work accordingly. Collaborate Seamlessly The secret ingredient to make any project successful is to involve your team in every aspect of it. Whether it is setting deadlines or interacting with the client, make sure your team is a part of it. But you can collaborate with your team only if you have a flawless platform to share your ideas. An online project management tool lets you and your team share timelines, documents, and status updates. Also, it allows your team to raise questions and concerns which you can easily resolve. Improve Communication Project management tools not just allows you to collaborate and communicate with your team but also share relevant information with your team, clients, shareholders, and vendors as well. Using an online project management tool, you can easily ask for client feedback, review project progress, make changes, and share information at any time. Overall, a project management tool can help you to easily achieve project goals. Also, it helps your team to get along with the requirements of the project and plan their day accordingly. A project management software is the greatest asset of a company for managing projects, people, and deadlines. It helps you to manage people, get rid of those time consuming meetings, and also helps in team collaboration. In a way, it is an ideal platform where everything can be done seamlessly thereby saves a lot of time for teams.
But selecting a project management software that fits within your team’s requirement can be tough. This article will provide you with simple tips to choose the right software and use it for your team in a beneficial way: Pick The One That Fits Your Needs You can find endless options of project management software in the market. But before you go ahead and settle down on one option, you need to first of all understand your team requirements. For instance, what type of projects you are handling? Are your teams working remotely or are they present on the same location? Based on the answer to these questions, you can go ahead and pick a software that can prove to be beneficial for the team. Remember, every business and every team has varying needs. You need to consider those needs first, and then go ahead and pick a project management software. User-friendly Another important factor to consider when choosing a project management tool for your business is its user-friendliness. There is no point in selecting a software that’s too complicated for the team to understand. As a matter of fact, you must select a tool like ProofHub that has got minimum learning curve. Plus, the best part is that these professionals offer a personal guided walkthrough of the tool, making the on-boarding process fairly easy for the team. So, you don’t really need to invest a lot of time in understanding how the tool works. Compatible with Mobile Last, but not the least, thing to keep in mind here is to select a tool that comes with a mobile application as well. Considering the recent boom in smartphone technology, it won’t be wrong to say that we are virtually living on these mobile devices. And, an online project management software that also has a mobile app makes it easy for teams to remain connected with their work even when they are on the run. Therefore, mobile app is another important factor to consider when selecting a project management software for your team. When selecting a project management software, the most important thing to keep in mind is to make your team a part of the process. Discuss with them the options that you have shortlisted. Or, maybe ask them for their opinion - they might have some names already in their mind. Keeping these simple tips in mind can help you choose the most appropriate project management software for your team. So, go ahead and begin the search considering the points that have been mentioned above. And, let’s see where you end up. At times, it has been seen that despite having an experienced team and best resources, many businesses fail to deliver projects. This is the case not just with startups, but with big organizations as well. But what is the actual reason behind it? Why do most experienced project managers fail to get their team aligned towards successful completion of a project?
In this article you will find reasons behind project failures and how a project management application can help you to cope up with the challenges of a project. Lack of Communication This is one of the most prominent reasons for project failure. Most companies don’t focus on establishing a smooth communication channel with their employees, which eventually leads to a disaster in the form of project failure. As a project manager or CEO of the company, your primary aim should be to foster team communication before you begin any new project. A periodical meeting or get-together with your team is the perfect way to bridge the communication gap between you and your employees. But it can waste quite a big lot of your time. Alternatively, a project management tool is also a wonderful medium to communicate with your employees. In fact, this is best suited for employees working at remote locations as it lets you reach out to all of them in just one go. Unrealistic Deadlines Another big reason behind failure of projects is the underestimated timeline for the project, which results into missing of the deadline and finally the company loses the project. Setting realistic deadlines is crucial to the success of your project. Time management is an important aspect of project management as it involves allocation of proper time to each task involved in the project. Setting up proper time for every task will help your employees to plan their work accordingly and thus improve their productivity. There are two important factors involved in deciding deadlines for your team. The first one is to consider the efforts and the time that would be required in completing the project. The second factor is about managing risks involved in the project. While setting the deadlines for your project, it is important to consider the possible factors, which could possibly lead to delay in your project delivery. Defining such things will help you develop a broader perspective towards your project. Also, this will help you look out for alternatives to cover up the risks involved in a project. A project management application can efficiently help you set deadlines for your next project. This will help your team to work as per the requirements of the project. Poorly Selected Technology Many times projects don’t work because the employees are either too frustrated to work on a highly advanced software or the one which is outdated. If this is the situation with your company, then things would rather get complicated instead of being simple. That’s why it is important to ensure that you provide your employees the best technology which fits to your business requirements. You can find a number options when it comes to latest project management application, content management software or client management tool is highly important for your business. In all, a good online project management application can help you achieve more than just managing teams, projects, and deadlines. It lets you work in a seamless manner, let’s your team grow, and eliminates even the slightest possibility of failure in your project. There are many resources, efforts, and time involved in accomplishing large IT projects. Moreover, every project comes with certain degree of risk with it. But neither can we stop working over projects, nor can we afford to put them at risk due to insufficient knowledge and silly mistakes.
If you are working on a long-term project, you definitely need to plan carefully to minimize the chances of failure in a project. In this article, you will learn about the key ingredients to make your project successful and how using a project management tool can simplify things. Get Clear about Business Requirements It is a futile exercise to begin working upon a project when you aren’t clear with the business requirements. Working on a project with poorly defined business requirements will lead to missed deadlines and overlooked customer expectations and demands. On the other hand, clearly defined business requirements help you to work for the project in a better way. So, look out for customer feedback on a regular basis to ensure they are aligned with the business goals. Set Smaller Milestones The famous French proverb says it all, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. So, you cannot expect your team to accomplish the entire project in just one go. It will take lots of planning, patience, efforts, resources, technology, and a lot more to set things right. The better choice is to divide your project in smaller manageable parts and aim for smaller and achievable milestones. This will keep you and your team motivated and help you work in the right direction. Teamwork Can Do the Magic Competent and experienced staff can set the things right for you. They can help you in both planning and executing the project in the best possible way. With the right professionals working as a team, you can easily achieve your project goals. That’s why every business expert focuses on the importance of team collaboration. You can use an online project management tool for team collaboration and management. A powerful tool like ProofHub offers you a virtual platform where you can easily manage big teams at one place. Efficient Communication It is critical to communicate about the business requirements, customer needs to every member of your team. Make sure your team is aware of the entire information about the project so that they can put in their best efforts. In this way, they will also be able to help you identify and resolve problems, conflicts, and weak areas. Also, effective communication is important between you and your customers so that they can take care of the customer's expectations and find solutions accordingly. Track Your Progress Since managing a large project is a challenging job, it is important to keep a regular track of project performance. You can easily find a variety of online tools which you can use to track hours, user rates etc. This will also help you share project report with your clients and fulfill their expectations. In this way, you can keep your team motivated and focused towards the ultimate goal of every project. Project planning, analysis, estimation are quite important for its successful accomplishment. An online project management tool offers you greater flexibility and freedom to manage your project in the most convenient way. With endless options of online collaboration tools available on the internet, it becomes tricky to find out the ones that would fit to your business needs completely. Gantt chart tool and kanban boards are two of the highly useful online collaboration tools which are used widely to manage projects online.
If you are still hunting for online collaboration tools for your next project then your hunt ends here. In this article, you will find the most popular online collaboration tools along with their amazing benefits. Fulfill your Tasks with To-Do List At times, there are projects which involve simple and straightforward tasks. To-Do list in an excellent and efficient feature for such projects which lets you set priorities and focus on right things at the right time. A to-do list is the best tool for your memory to remember the most important tasks and fulfill them before the deadline ends. Benefits of To-Do List
Stay Ahead of Deadlines with Gantt Chart If you are working on a time-sensitive project then online Gantt chart tool is the one for you. It has a timeline format which helps you keep a check on progress of the project and thus allowing you to meet the deadlines in time. A Gantt chart is the tool for team collaboration as it provides a common platform where all the members of a team can view and share information and plan their work accordingly. And, this is where something like ProofHub, a popular and effective project management software, wherein you can have access to Gantt chart tool can be of great help. You can use it manage workload of individual team member and track their progress. Benefits of Gantt Chart
Collaborate Seamlessly with Kanban Boards Well, every project is different! Thus, you will need to have different tools for managing different projects. So, here’s another tool for managing projects in which you may need to accomplish a particular stage before you switch to another. A Kanban chart lets you create tickets which can be moved from one stage to another. The best part is that you can access the entire information in every ticket. Benefits of Kanban
Try using online Gantt chart tool, kanban boards, and to-do list for your next project and you will yourself know the worth of using them. There is a team and there is a world-class team. What sets the two apart from each other?
High performance. Better collaboration. More efficient. Better management. There comes a point when everything goes out of hand. Lost attachments. Messy email threads. Bundle of spreadsheets. Everything becomes inefficient and you know now is the time you need a savior, something like a collaboration software. But how do you convince your boss that the team actually needs one? Here are some points you can point out to your boss for convincing them that you need an online collaboration software for achieving high-level business objectives at a faster pace: “No more overtime” Most businesses are overwhelmed with emails they are receiving throughout the day and they spend way too much time on checking them. By signing up for a software, the team can have access to all updates related projects altogether, without the need of checking emails every now and then. Thus, they will be able to save quite a lot of their time. “No more headaches” In the middle of a project, things may go missing and can result in a headache. Every company strives for better organization, and collaboration is the cure. The way you collaborate makes the difference on your projects. The team can have easy access to documents that will help in increased workflow using the software. “No more bad relationships in team” One of the important tasks is to build an effective working relationship between team members. But it can be quite challenging to do the same. And a collaboration software is an excellent way to for a team to know each other better and develop clear concept of working with each other to achieve a common goal. Overall, it will bring success to the company and save time and energy. “No more lost connections” To keep team members connected with each other they need a better way of communication. Workplace communication is mostly difficult when teams are remotely working. Project collaboration will enable long-term group interactions and sharing ideas within a team. The best ideas can be saved and utilized later during work. “No more confusion” It is quite time-consuming and confusing to look for an important item in the scattered work. A common place on a software can be used for collecting important files to avoid later confusion. You can quickly identify and access the file and can be shared easily, instead of being stuck in so many folders where there is a chance of looking documents. The whole team connected can share files easily and it can be stored so that assigned members can have access to it at the same time. Online collaboration software helps in sharing of a document in a streamlined way among the team. Overall, it can solve even the most difficult problems and surely your boss can run team smoothly by using a software. It will bring better end results. It is no surprise for a manager to face the truth that a challenge exist in every situation and it has a significant impact on the performance of the business. To overcome any challenge, it is important to recognize its existence.
Work is changing at a rapid pace and the team members and managers have to face a host of new challenges which are not easy to tackle. But it is well said that: “Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory” - George S No matter what kind of challenge it is, there is a solution for all. An effective management is crucial to the success of a business and to overcome challenges. But what will actually help you to manage the things? Of course, an online project management software is the solution. Here are some functions of a project management tool that will help you and your team to conquer workplace challenges like a hero. On-time Delivery One obvious challenge for every manager is timely project completion. Project delay can result in a big loss for a company and it will lose its respect in the market. And if it continues for long, a company can go out of business. A project management software will help you to plan projects accordingly to ensure timely deliveries. It has tools like Gantt charts and time tracker to keep a track of tasks and it’s completion. You can also set milestones to make sure you do not miss on any important event. Setting Goals What are your business goals and objectives? In the process of setting goals, the first thing you should know your goals and objectives. Then plan your work in order to achieve them. Using online project management software can help make setting goals easier and simpler. It will reform your business to reach new heights. You can set goals like marketing your products, improving the design, better service and much more. And using a software like ProofHub will help you to break down each goal to best key results. Getting Rid of Messy Email Threads How tedious it becomes to check those long email threads and reply to all in a go. There would be so many emails lined up and a project management tool will eliminate those confusing email threads to search important stuff. The team can have a single platform for sharing all important files, documents, new ideas and can be stored to view anytime. Time management As a manager, there are many duties to handle and out of all planning is at the top. It takes a lot of time in defining a path as to how things will execute, but a management software will save your much time. It is a good way to timely wrap up the planning process. You will get a central place to put all the important project related things and everyone can collect the points they need for their tasks. Resource Management Big projects mean more tasks. And it becomes more difficult to track who is doing what and where are the resources being utilized. By using a software, your every resource can be managed effectively leading to well-accomplished project goals. Tools like Gantt charts, time sheets, reports, tasks, to-do lists will be a great helping hand for management. In nutshell, to keep projects streamlined and to conquer all the challenges, a project management software is essential. Simplify your work and be ready for success using the tool. Working as an effective project manager requires a basic set of tools. A project manager will have demands and various responsibilities. There will be many things to do and not enough time to devote to all activities.
Healthy work management will follow a healthy work environment. And, the key to healthy work management lies in using a project management tool. With a project management tool, you can help your team manage their tasks and time better. If you're growing teams have access to such tools, you give them the freedom to perform in a best and quick way. A project management tool will give you a solid foundation to build a proper management system. Let’s see how: Share your work timeline on CALENDAR All the people involved in a project will have to stay aware of everybody’s work activities. And online project management tools provide a calendar to its users that can be used to plan work for every single day. It will help all the team members to remember an upcoming event and task dates. Any important work commitments will not be missed any longer. Projects can be linked with TIMESHEETS One of the great features in a project management tool is the timesheets. Using timesheets with daily projects on a tool will result in greater productivity. It will help you to keep track of team’s performance by keeping a record of all time entries that they have devoted to their tasks. These timesheets can be exported for invoicing or billing. The time spent on a task can easily be tracked with automatic timer and can also be tracked manually. Overall, it helps an organization to stay productive and competitive. Real-time REPORTING Features Every task and project that is updated online is assembled in real time reports. Managing the tasks, teams, and projects with online project management software will provide an easy and simple view to all the tasks completed in a single window. You can give quick replies to any delay in tasks. The progress can be tracked in real-time by checking reports of all projects at once, individual projects, and reports of all resources at once. Thus, you can keep an eye on all your resources and projects. Tool to PRIORITIZE TASKS A project has big tasks and small tasks, some tasks are crucial at a time and some can be delayed. There are certain tasks that are dependent on other tasks. So, a team needs to know which tasks are of priority and when to deliver which task. By listing the priority of your tasks on management software will make work easy and streamlines. You can avoid wasting time and reach the deadline comfortably. So, what are you waiting for? Pick a tool for your business that has all the required features and manage your projects in a streamlined way. For s startup, a Gantt chart can be used as an effective tool to plan goals and analyze projects. When a startup is in its early stage, it’s main focus is to manage the day to day activities and have a reliable team to build the company and its services.
Adapted by Karol Adamiecki in 1896, and further by Henry Gantt in 1910s, Gantt charts display project schedules in graphical form of rows and columns. Online Gantt charts are a type of bar chart illustrating a project’s schedule and to see that the progress of the project is going as planned or not. It gives a very simplified view of how long each task will take in excellent tracking and project planning tool to help complete every project efficiently. When used properly, Gantt charts will provide a number of benefits for startup teams. . Let’s see how how : Now tasks will be manageable It is quite tough for a startup to please everyone and to create a great working environment. The main focus of a company is to deliver projects on time to the client without any overwork. A Gantt chart helps in managing tasks by splitting large projects into smaller ones. When a member completes one milestone, they can get the motivation to work better for completing the other tasks. This helps in managing the overall project , as the responsibilities can be shared by team members. Now you can always track the work progress Gantt charts are helpful in tracking the progress of tasks and also give a clear view of it. Before a task gets completed it is important to know where it has reached and have a clear visualization of the project. As a result, the problems can be addressed on time and solved for good results. With Gantt charts online, the progress of the project can be conveniently tracked. Now you won’t miss any deadlines For your startup, online Gantt charts is a necessity to maintain the entire timing of your projects submission. It will allow you to schedule tasks and you can plan the overall progress of the project by adjusting all tasks. Any changes made in one task will affect the other, thus the team will have an update on all dependent tasks and will complete it on time as they know the next task is dependent on their work. You can also see how much time the whole project will take and then accordingly plan your future projects. There are plenty of new growth opportunities that the startups are constantly exploring. For the growth of a company it is quite essential to have an external support. A Gantt chart will provide that support and help the startup adapt to change and prepare for challenges that may come during a project. Do you have a project management application in your phone? If no, it’s high time to download one. Why? Because the app can help you to carry your projects along wherever you go.
The application proves to be beneficial for you in a number of ways. It offers almost all the features required to manage a project well that too from anywhere and anytime. Read on to know what are the advantages of using the application -
The application also lets team members to strike tasks off once finished. In addition, you can set critical tasks, events, deadlines and dates as milestones. So, even when you are on the go, there’s no need to worry about missing critical project-related stuff in future. It’s that simple!
But with the app in your phone, you can easily monitor project progress by seeing which tasks have been completed, which are left and which are the ones that are currently under progress. On the basis of this information about the project, you can take the required actions and keep the work flowing in the right direction. For instance, if you find the progress at work going a bit too slow, you can take measures to speed it up.
The biggest benefit of using the application here is that you can store your stuff safely at one place even when you are away from your personal computer. You will not have to run everywhere to find the important information when you need it.
The best way to tackle this is to use the application for online discussion. With the app, you can get your team members, clients and other people related to the project, to discuss important things, irrespective of your and their location. I am sure after going through the points mentioned here you will have a good idea why it becomes imperative to have a project management app installed in your phone. If you don’t have one up until now, then it is high time to check out the options and download one to manage your team and your projects in the best possible manner. “Effective collaboration is about maximizing time, talent and tools to create value. The old way was the pass-along approach. I do my job and then pass along my work product to you. You do your piece of it and pass it along to somebody else” - Evan Rosen
Good collaboration at work can do wonders for you and your team. This is because it helps to connect better and yield better results. Emails, online conferences, phone calls and meetings are some of the ways that organizations use for team collaboration. But, so far, the best option to improve team collaboration is using a collaboration software. In this article, I will give you 3 reasons to use the software at work -
A collaboration tool helps you in coming up with ideas to expand your business as well as solve any project-related issues. Just enter a topic in the tool and invite team members to participate in brainstorming sessions. With the software, you can ensure all the team members express their opinion, even the ones who generally speak less in face to face meetings.
Sometimes you have time to analyze a situation deeply and then reach a conclusion. On the other hand, there are times when you need to take a decision right away and there’s not much time even for an online discussion. In such a case, many software let you take quick decisions by offering the feature of group chat.
Right from the first day of your project, you can start uploading your documents and files into the software and keep it centralized. Besides, you can share your stuff with other team members whenever needed. The tool also lets you maintain notes, in which you can store your ideas, thoughts and other information. Again, you can share your notes with your team and ask for their suggestions on your ideas. If you are among those who haven’t invested in the tool yet, you are missing something highly helpful for your team. So, take a right decision by going for one and see your teams collaborating in a better way. “The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer” - Nolan Bushnell, An Entrepreneur.
Needless to say, an entrepreneur works really hard to make his business flourish. But, is it easy? Well, not at all! Running a business means managing everything right from your projects to your employees. And, you can handle all this easily by using a project management tool. Let’s understand why every entrepreneur should invest in the software -
There are mainly four features in the tool that make collaboration quick and simple. A good software lets teams have online discussions. Some software even allow teams to have a group chat, making the experience even faster and smoother. Other than this, team members can share their files and documents with each other by just uploading them in the tool.
Today when there is rapid development in technology, remote work has become pretty common. But, entrepreneurs face the challenge to make it efficient and easy, and a project management software meets this challenge really well. Since the software runs on the cloud, a team member sitting anywhere in the world can access projects easily and therefore, work remotely.
After creating a task list in a project management tool and assigning work to your team, the next step should be to monitor project progress. With each task entered by your team in the tool together with the time spent to complete it, you get a fair idea of which tasks have been finished, which are in progress along with the ones in progress. The above three points play a major role in deciding the success rate of a business. And, as an entrepreneur, you must focus on improving them. Obviously, it’s high time to try a project management system. Before beginning this article, I have a question for you. How can you understand a piece of information better? Let me help you if you are not sure about the answer. If I give you a research data in two forms i.e. textual and graphical. Which form would be easier to understand? I expect you to say the graphical one. And, that’s where you get the answer to my previous question.
This is the reason why online gantt chart is used for project management. The software makes it pretty easy to interpret project information. By using gantt charts you can illustrate and visualize every step in a project. The tool simplifies project planning to a great extent and saves both your time and effort. But, before investing in a gantt chart tool you must ensure it has some specific features in it. Take a look at must-have features in the software -
An online gantt chart software lets you set key tasks, dates, deadlines, and events in a project as milestones. Milestones can be easily spotted in the tool with a diamond representing them. So, it’s possible to keep an eye on upcoming milestones so that you never miss them.
Here’s an example. Let’s suppose you want to market your content. First of all, you have to get it written by the writers in your team. Then only, it can be reviewed and finally sent to marketing experts in your team. With an online gantt chart, you can relate all the tasks with one another keeping their priority in mind.
By using gantt charts, you can easily see the percentage of tasks completed by your team members. With every team member entering this percentage, you can constantly track how much work a team member has completed in a specific time period and accordingly take steps if needed. To sum up, I would say gantt charts are an amazing gift given to the world by Henry Gantt. Now, it’s up to you to take maximum advantage out of this wonderful tool. Let me know which tool you’re using currently and how it helps you and your team. “Necessity is the mother of all invention” - Albert Einstein
For designers, it can be a little frustrating to collaborate and share design concepts. Designers have to travel to through the content that the client wish to put forward and convert that content into an appropriate media, so that the message reaches the audience. The whole process is followed through email, waiting for feedback and sorting through revision notes. They do not realize how easy it would become to share their designs with the help of online proofing software. Bringing creativity out through design takes time. If you are a designer and are not familiar with proofing software, you might be spending so much of time in manually managing your approval workflow process. Online proofing is a safe and secure way to get your creative content approved and stay within budget to produce high quality work. Let’s see what all solutions will a proofing software offer to your business: File proofing: With proofing tool you can upload PDFs, images or designs to make review process simpler. You can also draw shapes, mark changes when giving feedback on the uploaded files. As you can involve many people in the same project, there are different versions of same file being circulated. The final version of the file that will be approved can be easily notified to all people involved. File versioning: File versioning gives you option to upload new version of files on an already existing one so that you can compare the two versions. This eliminates the hassle of having to store multiple copies of the same file, which can be confusing at times during the sharing process. The best part is that while using a proofing tool you can directly add collaborators to the file, so there is no need to notify them individually. Reduce excessive revisions: A proofing software provides easy to use markup and compare revision tools which reduces excessive revisions. You can just amend the changes to the file and add a comment in detail about the change. Collaborate: If there are any files that can not be reviewed using the tool, you can collaborate by sharing comments and adding feedback on them. You can set your own approval paths on your designs, thus giving a seamless approval workflow process. Your projects can be approved faster and no associated person will be overlooked. Reduces compliance risks: It also reduces the risk of compliance issues. How? As all the feedback is saved at one place so there is a less chance of missing any changes done. You can as well make your own pathway, so the right member see the changes made at the right time. A comprehensive solution of online proofing includes all the above features. If you are facing challenges at work, now is the time to consider adopting online proofing software for your approval process. Running an IT company is all about managing teams, handling constantly changing client requirements and meeting deadlines. And mind you handling all this is by no means a fairytale. In fact, if we look at the numbers they speak for themselves. A survey found that 54% of IT projects fail due to improper project management and only 3% doesn’t work as a result of technical challenges.
And there are numerous reasons behind it. But thanks to the rise of project management software, it has now become easy to deal with all the challenges faced by IT teams while handling projects. Talking about meeting the challenges, let us have a look at some of the ways these online project management tools help IT teams to bring sanity in their life -
An online project management software gives you just the same experience. It saves you from the frustration of going through long email threads. An advanced project management system offers features like task management, collaboration and reporting; eliminating the need of exchanging emails altogether.
Again, project management software is the answer. Ask your team members to update their work in the tool. This way, you get to know what they are up to and what’s the project status, both in no time.
Now that we use the software, the team is able to keep everything organized at one place. The software allows you to keep anything and everything in it. Apart from storing your files and documents, the software lets you maintain notes in it, helping to save your ideas and thoughts instantly. I will close the article with a quote by Bill Gates - “Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don't think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without the talking about the other”. These are just a few of the top benefits you get using the tool. There’s a lot more in the list. I would suggest you to try the tool to experience every bit of it. “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe” - Abraham Lincoln.
The same is true in the case of projects. Before you start with a project, it’s better to come up with a proper plan for it. A good plan not only helps you in running projects smoothly but also in dealing with potential problems and risks. Another benefit of planning your work is that it helps in the best utilization of your team’s effort and time, both. But, how to make a plan close to perfection? A project planning software is the answer. Let’s find out how you can come up with a good project plan using the tool -
So, as soon as a project is finalized start making a task list using an online project planning software. Consider all your project requirements while making the list and divide lengthy tasks into as many subtasks as you want. You can also set deadlines for each task just to make sure that the plan runs on the right pace.
I also suggest you to set roles and responsibilities of every individual in the team. Again, considering their qualification and experience, you can assign them different roles like project manager and team member. This helps team members in keeping their focus only on what’s relevant to them.
Here’s how these milestones play an important role in keeping your team ahead. Dividing a task into different milestones helps in finishing work quickly. So, once a milestone is achieved, your team members will work towards other milestones and goals with more enthusiasm than before. This will, in turn, make them more productive, something every team should be. In the end, I would say make your plans as solid as they can be. And, for that start using this amazing tool if you haven’t given it a try. It’ll certainly prove to be fruitful for your projects A project management software finds use in all the departments of an organization. The sales department is also one of them. One of the main mottos of a firm is to sell as much of its products as possible. That’s where this department comes in. As per Reference.com, “Sales department can be defined as the division of a business that is responsible for selling products or providing services”.
So basically, this department is responsible for generating revenue for an organization. Even if you produce best products and services in your industry, a sound sales strategy is a must to sell them. It’s only due to sales that you can provide your products/services to your potential customers. So, it’s extremely important to manage your sales department well. Let's discuss how the software is helpful in managing sales -
(Baseball Player) The better a team is able to work together, the better results it will achieve. And, an online project management software is the best way to maintain smooth collaboration in a team. As it improves collaboration in a team, there is a positive effect on both the team’s work and organization’s sales. Besides, the software lets all the team members in sales department collaborate from one place. As a result, everyone feels connected to the team.
A project management software saves you from all this hassle. When it comes to a sales team, you need to track which sales targets have been achieved by which team members. Every sales target and the associated details can be added in the tool by team members. After that, you can get reports from the tool in no time. This way, you will easily get to know the sales status in the ongoing projects without breaking a sweat.
But, an online project management software does this for you while you remain busy with other important work. The tool lets you upload all the training-related files and documents into it. Then, employees can study them and ask for assistance, when needed. See, how simple it is! So, get rid of all your worries related to sales management. Give project management system a try and improve your sales. For businesses in general, there are several tools that can determine success. You need to be flexible and use organizational tools to take your business up the path of success.
What is a Gantt Chart? Gantt chart tool is great to predict risks regarding milestones and to track the progress of your project against your deadline. It is a bar chart that shows a series of tasks on the timeline. Depending on the start date, the tasks are arranged on the timeline. A Gantt chart displays information visually and is used for the following activities:
It is used by several business managers and teams to properly manage the projects. They can easily find what needs to be done and at what time. In case there are any delays, alterations can be done in the chart to balance it. How gantt charts are used for planning projects in various spheres of business?
Thus in a nutshell, the tool can be used in several areas of business and has served as a reliable assistant for managers during all these years. It is one of the widely used tools because of its ability to visually communicate plans, schedules and tasks. So, start importing your project data and transform it in the visual form using Gantt charts and see how it works! In any kind of industry, large or small, IT or non IT, it is mandatory to deliver projects on time and within budget. If any of the projects are not organized, it can leave the business in jeopardy. You might have been in that losing statistics when the situation of a complex project comes your way.
What makes a project complex?
And many more… It is not that simple to determine the complexity! We know that the future of most of the companies depends on managing complex projects. In order to step up the challenge of complex projects, project managers need to focus on some fundamental skills. The future of most of the companies depends on managing complex projects. Now, let’s talk about the ways that can help businesses and managers to deal with these kind of projects: Getting the right resources The people you assign the task should have a good knowledge of the business and related topics. To be able to handle the projects, it is required to have resource gap analysis to estimate the skills available in the existing resources. Make sure you access large number of people. To make sure you have the adequate resources, know the needs of the team at various points. Detailed management Being flexible is important in a project and without proper management you cannot eliminate uncertainty and complexity. We are relying so much on digital tools. But you might be missing on collaboration, task management and effective communication and many other features. You can have a detailed management if you are using a project management tool that suits your business needs. Follow the experts When it comes to delivering complex projects successfully, an expert advice is one of the best ways. Business experts will have a lot to suggest you and say about it, listen to them! If you do not agree with their views, question them and collect the relevant information. They will surely contribute something valuable to you with their past experience. Keeping track on deliverables Are you keeping track of how much work is done in a day? What is the productivity of your team during each day involved in completing the project? If you aren’t, then you should develop the habit of keeping track on timely delivers. A project management tool will offer you the option to have a time track on the tasks completed and undergoing projects. Have knowledge of what are you getting into When heap of projects land up, you may forget to do your homework and start working on it without planning. Before you start a project, do a little research about the scope of work so that you have more accurate estimation of how you are going to work on it. Keep check of what and where you begin and where you finish up. And you will end up painting a clear picture of everything that needs to be done for the project. When it comes to successful submission of projects, it is important to manage resources effectively. So, pick a project management tool for your business today! “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success” - Henry Ford.
This quote by the popular American industrialist tells us why keeping a team together is so important. It’s one of the major things managers have to take care of. They need to make sure there’s no communication gap in the team and everyone is able to work in harmony. But, it isn’t an easy job! Since there’s a lot of stuff to be tackled, a manager can easily get frustrated while handling a team. That’s where one needs to use a collaboration software. In this post, I will give you some solid reasons to support the use of this wonderful software -
This is especially beneficial for remote teams where people are working from different countries and locations. Thanks to online collaboration software it’s possible for such teams to carry out work just like the ones that work together at one place.
According to a post, an executive wastes 150 hours per year looking for lost information. That means nearly a month is spent searching for lost stuff. But, you can save this time by keeping all the information organized at one location. This can be done by uploading all the important files and documents into a collaboration software. This way you can find data within seconds when needed.
This is where again an online collaboration software comes into the picture. Using the allows you to discuss things with team members in real time and take decisions considering each individual’s perspective. The option of group chat makes the communication even faster than ever. Although the software has a lot more to offer, I think the above reasons are more than enough to support its use. If you still have some questions on your mind or want to give suggestions, share them in the comments below. I will surely get back to you. More and more teams are working in a distributed way and an essential part of their day to day workflow includes using the group chat tool. A group of people should have real - time communication to share ideas, plan strategies and make decisions to move work forward.
Virtual use of a software will boost team productivity, that is measured by the work produced by the individuals. If they are able to work much better and faster, overall productivity will be floating. Among some of the main things, good communication is required for improving the productivity. A group chat software will enable easy communication amongst the group working on related tasks. The team members can ask relevant questions and have them answered. There would be many times you wish to motivate your steam members to be more productive. You probably would have come across the difficulties to accomplish it. To be honest, to really improve the productivity, there should be a realization as to what is required to bring value to the company. Let’s look at the ways effective communication will boost productivity at workplace:
There are many bad consequences if the individuals do not have the option of group chat or one on one chat in the workplace. Some tasks may be left incomplete, information may not be passed in the right way and productivity will go down. To help streamline processes there are several tools that promote communication. Having the right tool can make all the difference in team productivity. What tool do you use to communicate? It can be a real nightmare if you are dependent on a pen and paper to manage your project or even an excel sheet. Things may get out of your brain and create a mess. If you think for a while, then you would come to realize that things actually should not have been that way if you were a little more careful. Or even if you would have been using a project tracking software.
Businesses worldwide are embracing the practice of using the software. What is the nature of your business? You could be running a website, a marketing campaign or developing a product. What’s important is that your business should be managed properly. You need a project tracking software that will help to deliver the tasks in much easier and manageable way. Have you ever faced the problem of inaccurate task execution or inefficient work that leads to undesirable consequences? To be protected from such consequences, it is much needed for companies to manage their projects with intuitive tools like task tracking to push business forward. Everyday, thousands of teams are struggling to keep a track of what need to be done. Are you one of them? Gone will be the days of struggle if you will start using an online project tracking software. Let’s look at the benefits that a task tracking software will bring to your business:
Almost every project tracking tool can potentially save your time and efforts. So, why to worry when the technology is always there to support you? Give project tracking tool a try and see it helps you take your business and team productivity to the next level! As per a report by The Project Management Institute, "Ineffective communications is the primary contributor to project failure one third of the time, and had a negative impact on project success more than half the time”. So, you can well imagine how critical it is for a team to interact effectively.
When it comes to team interaction, many organizations still use emails, online conference and many other ways. But, if I have to tell you the best method of doing this, it’s using a collaboration tool. The software assists in bringing your team members together irrespective of where they are. In this article, I will explain in detail what are the advantages of using the tool when you are running a team -
An online collaboration tool takes this pain away from your work life. You don’t have to stop your activities in between or wait others to finish theirs just to ask something. Basically, you can converse with your team even while working.
A collaboration tool aids in idea generation by letting teams discuss anything online that too in real time. With the software, you don’t have to face interruption in communication flow or waste time in interpreting information, since everything goes smoothly and doubts are cleared in real time.
Also because each and every file is stored at a single place, you can quickly find any previous or current file in a matter of seconds. Since the tool lets you do everything in real time, so as soon as a you upload a file/document everyone in the team gets notified on it. A quote by Henry Ford says, "If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself". It doesn’t really matter which industry you work in or what position you hold in an organization, team collaboration always has important role to play in our career graph. This is why you must make sure that you and your team is able to collaborate in an effective manner. So, stop thinking and take action. Invest in a collaboration software today and see its magic. |
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AuthorSharon Thomson is a project management expert and writer. Through the years she has written about a myriad of project management topics and has successfully managed countless projects on her own. A big believer in ‘work smarter, not harder’ philosophy; Sharon keeps including her own personal lessons in her writing from time to time. |