These are typically collaborative techniques and tools that your entire team can use and interact with that keeps staff on the same page working towards a unified goal. We will be discussing some conventional project management tools, and how using effective software can ensure project goals are met efficiently.
5 Benefits of project management tools
- Collaboration – Effective project management software makes collaboration, both internal and external, much more convenient and less time-consuming.
- Project estimates – Being able to track the real-time progress of your projects will significantly help in estimating the outcome. It will also aid in highlighting any constraints on your team allowing you to alter your goals where necessary.
- Effortless administration – One place where your processes can let you down, is your administration. If it takes your team too long to put together proposals or quotes, your run the risk of your prospect getting a solution from a competitor faster. Management tools, aim to automate or significantly reduce the time required when completing admin work freeing up valuable time for your staff to focus on other areas.
- Budgeting – Being able to track your expenses, from costs to clients, employee salaries and more, enables more effective budgeting and forecasting.
- Resource management and allocation – Having access to team members' task lists and workflows, allows managers to make sure the right people are on the right tasks, and the workload is distributed effectively. Top project management tools will help in assigning work based on employee availability.
Project management methodologies
Agile project management – This methodology has a strong focus on managing change, by preparing for and adapting to necessary changes during the length of a project. An important component of this method is feedback from clients, as well as communication between team members.
Critical chain – This method revolves around ensuring that any necessary resources required during the project are available. Following this, it has a strong focus on quick resolutions on resource allocations should any issues arise. The ‘critical chain’ refers to the vital elements within the process, sometimes referred to as the ‘critical path’ and essentially determines the timeline of the project.
Waterfall project management – Considered to be a traditional method of project management, the waterfall method is designed so that everything is planned in a predetermined way after its conception. This method focuses on quality assurance including maintaining the success of the project even after its conclusion. Typically, the requirements for the success of a project using this method are determined very early in the process and changes are not made unless absolutely necessary.
Gantt charts – A Gantt chart is a way of visualising your project's timeline as well as the dependencies between your team and requirements. This is a popular method when keeping track of project schedules and budgets. Furthermore, this method is useful in identifying the most critical tasks to ensure they are prioritised and completed on time. This method is best for providing a clear visualisation of your project goals, which aids in allocating resources, whether it be time or money.
How to choose a project management method or software
First of all, you should research your options thoroughly and ensure your unique requirements can be achieved. Good project management strengthens the guarantee that the objectives within your projects line up with the goals of your business and provides the best possible return on investment. Essentially, effective project management software can be an indispensable asset for your business processes as it works towards conveying the correct objective, adding real value.
If you are looking to increase your project efficiency, whether you need help managing costs, deadlines, or scheduling, Zigaflow’s project management module within our centralised CRM can help you achieve your goals. Furthermore, our real-time reporting capabilities offer critical metrics to identify any issues should they arise during your journey, informing actions needed to get you back on track. If you would like a tour around the software to see if it would work for your business, please book a free, no-obligation demo with us today.