As a business owner juggling various projects and tasks comes with the territory. While it can feel overwhelming at times, it’s essential that you develop a system to reduce overwhelm while boosting your efficiency and productivity related to completing projects. When you don’t have a central place to organize these projects, goals, and tasks, that’s when you find yourself dropping the ball, missing the mark and failing to meet your business goals.
The importance of project management software tools rests in the fact that they serve as that central spot. Whether you’re a team of 1, 2, or 10, you want to find the project management software that works best for you and your team so you can achieve the goals you set for your business.
Why is Project Management Software Useful?
The purpose of project management software is to do what the name suggests – manage your projects. It allows you to keep track of the project from a high overview level while also breaking down the minute tasks that need to be accomplished.
When you have this information on hand, you can better understand what needs to be done to bring the project to completion. You’re then able to better manage the project from being an idea to your head to breathing a sigh of relief once it has come to fruition.
Important Uses of Project Management Software
Your project management software will allow you to manage your project, obviously, but what exactly does that look like for your business? Here are some of the essential uses of any project management software.
Collaboration
Many successful projects require the work of many minds and skill sets to come to be completed. Having project management software allows all of those involved in the project to know what their role is along with who else is responsible for making the project come to life. This keeps everyone involved on the same page from beginning to end.
You can use your project management software to collaborate by
- Asking questions needed to move forward with a task
- Sharing relevant information and files
- Sending status updates to those involved in the project
Scheduling and Planning
Your project management software will also allow you to develop a timeline for the tasks needed to complete the project. Without having benchmarks along the way to completion, it’s easy to underestimate the work that’s to be done and how long it will take. This often leads to projects not meeting their intended deadline or being rushed at the end, which causes the quality to be negatively impacted. Another benefit of using your project management software for scheduling and planning is that it can increase productivity because there are fewer questions about what needs to be done, when it should be completed, and who is responsible.
You can use your project management software for scheduling and planning by
- Prioritizing tasks within the system
- Creating a team calendar that all can review to determine what needs to be done, when and by who
- Viewing team member tasks and hours worked
Resource and Budget Management
Project management software is also beneficial when it comes to resource and budget management. Your project resource can vary, but it might include things such as the materials you have available, software being used, or independent contractors supporting the project. The budget can consist of your overall budget and how much money is available for specific areas of the project. Having this information on hand helps you to control spending. You want to keep track of your resources and budget because it can help to determine whether you’re meeting your desired profit goals within your business. Spending too much money on a project can quickly derail your profit potential.
You can use your project management software for resource and budget management by
- Tracking time spent working by independent contractors
- Creating budget reports
- Tracking other relevant financial data
Documentation
Since so much information goes into project management, you want to use your project management software to keep track of all essential information. Having it in one centralized place helps you to maintain consistency, transparency, and open communication amongst all involved.
You can use your project management software for documentation by
- Storing all relevant project information
- Tracking all key performance indicators
Communication
You can use your project management tool for both internal and external communication. Internal communication can be for those involved in implementing the project. This might include things such as asking questions, sharing information, and updating the project status. While external communication would be necessary if you’re completing a project for a client, and you want them involved throughout. You can use the system to easily share access to parts of the project so you can communicate about the project status, make requests, get feedback, and more all in one centralized location.
You can use your project management software for communication by
- Joining a group chat amongst those working on the project
- Spending less time communicating via email and more time using the app which keeps conversations in one location so you can easily reference them
- Ask questions and get feedback using the comment feature within the project management software.
Improve The Client Experience
If the project at hand is for a client, having a project management system in place helps you to keep things within budget, done on time, and finished with the desired quality. When you can deliver a project with these results, you provide a better customer experience to your client. On the other hand, if a project isn’t managed correctly, it can leave a bad taste in their mouth, which is never how you want your client to feel after working with you.
You can use your project management software for communication by
- Keeping your project organized from beginning to end
- Meeting deadlines
- Staying within the assigned budget
Get The Project Management Software You Need to Improve Your Business Systems
Now that you know why having project management software in place is so crucial for your business, it’s time to put yours in place. Part of my job as an online business owner is to support my clients in setting up and managing their projects. The good thing about using a project management tool is you don’t have to stay in constant contact with the software to ensure that your project is going as planned. Outsourcing this task to an online business manager can help you check one more thing off of your to-do list so you can focus on the essential parts of your business where you excel.
If you’re ready to set up a project management software for your business, let’s talk.
