Project success is critical to
bottom-line profitability,
yet many businesses struggle
with projects running
behind schedule or over budget.
To ensure a project meets its objectives
it must be managed throughout
the process and deviations
from its defined path must be
identified immediately. This
enables the project manager to
carry out the necessary steps to
guide it on its path to success.
There is an ever-expanding
range of project management
software designed to help in the
planning, support, management
and control of projects. Here are
some types of functionality to look
for when selecting the best project
management software: project
planning & scheduling, resource
management, time management,
expense management, project
billing and project analysis.
Precise project planning is
essential to the success of any
project. Project management software
must be able to accurately
plan every detail of a project to
guarantee it's successful from the
outset.
Resource management provides
a detailed representation of
resource capabilities and availability.
Time and expense management,
and its approval, makes
sure that projects accurately
reflect true costs. A comprehensive
billing and revenue recognition
function assures compliance
with contract requirements and
accounting standards. Throughout
the project process, embedded
project analysis and reporting
combined with business process
management must provide exact
up-to-date status information and
meaningful alerts.
Accurate project billing will
ensure that customer accounts are
managed and collected to
enhance cash flow and the financial
health of the organisation
with minimum effort. The
automation of this process provides
ease and convenience.
The ideal suite of project management
tools would supply fully
integrated functionality such that:
- Tools share the same communication
medium with the team.
For example, web, intranet,
exchange server, email,
client/server.
- Information can be automatically
transferred to other tools,
or better still, be held only once.
For example, team names, task
lists, email addresses and distribution
lists.
- Efficiency and effectiveness are
supported by automatic messaging
and workflow control—
applications will always prompt
those responsible for action.
Accessibility: Tools providing
such integrated functionality will
typically have varying components
for different purposes. Since
they share data there needs to be a
central database server. Users
may have differing tools depending
on their needs, all of which
link to a central server. For example,
the project manager need
access to the full planning and
scheduling component, whereas
ordinary team members only
need to see parts of the resulting
plan that concern them. The project
office manager need full
access to the issues, risk and
change management data while
other participants only require
viewing information and submitting
updates.
Right project tools: Most projects
use automation tools to support
at least some of the project
functions, although there are still
an alarmingly large number of
project managers doing everything
by spreadsheet. It is easy to
see why this is still so common.
Having an integrated set of project
management tools in place
and making it operational takes
time and effort, which inevitably
coincides with the launch of the
project when everyone is focused
on mainstream activities rather
than supporting functions. By the
time the project management
team has time to look for a smart
tool set it is often too late to displace
the ad hoc spreadsheets that
have sprung up. The project management
toolset either needs to
have been invested in prior to the
project, or dedicated resources
need to focus on that area while
the project manager and team are
engaged in mainstream priorities.
It takes time to select and install
a new suite of project tools. As
with any other software selection,
the functional, technical and support
requirements or preferences
should be matched against the
capabilities of currently available
software applications. As well as
the selection process, it takes time
to finalise the purchase, install the
applications and train project
team staff. It is best for these
things to be in place before a project
commences.
Use of tools and data: At the
completion of the project the tools
need to support closeout activities.
Final status reports are produced.
Data should be archived
for any future reference with
heuristic information captured for
future use in project planning and
estimation and reusable knowledge
and materials transferred
into knowledge management systems
so that understanding
gained can be utilised to enrich
other projects.
Some data and tools may be
required for the ongoing support
and maintenance of the system
such as user and system documentation,
configuration management,
issue management and
change requests. This may need:
- Extraction and cleansing of
content
- Obtaining appropriate software
licenses
- Training the permanent support
team
To be successful in a project
environment, project management
must permeate every aspect
of the business solution. Companies
that are able to efficiently
meet the demands of managing
their portfolio of projects have a
distinct advantage over their competition
as they can bid with confidence
because they have a better
understanding of their costs.