Project management, in simple terms refers to the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements or goals set by an organization. Simply put, it is the practice of planning, organizing, and executing the tasks needed to turn a brilliant idea into a tangible product or service.
Project management is meant to ensure that a team's work aligns with goals set by the said organization and meets the criteria for success within given constraints and time frame.
Project management therefore is meant to guide a project from the beginning to the end. With a structured approach, project handling teams are able to achieve specific goals within not just a defined time but also a specific budget and particular resource constraints. Whether a company or an organization is launching a new product, organizing an event, effective project management is the sure way to reach definite success.
Project management software therefore is a digital tool designed to help teams plan, organize, and manage their projects effectively.
Phases of Project Management.
Planning.
In the first stage, the company defines the project scope, the project objectives and various steps to achieve these objectives. In this stage, the company comes up with a detailed roadmap, planning resources and also identifies potential risks and measures to take when faced with these potential risks.
Executing.
This is where the company puts the plan into action by coordinating people and resources, managing stakeholder expectations, and overseeing the completion of tasks as earlier planned.
Monitoring.
Monitoring involves tracking progress achieved in the project so far, measuring performance against key indicators, and adjusting as needed to keep the project on track.
Closing.
This is the formal ending of the project. In this stage, the company will evaluate the project's success, document lessons learned while pursuing the project( for reference with future projects) and release resources.
Tasks handled by Project Management Software.
Collaboration.
In most cases, project handling teams are comprised of people working in different departments (sometimes they are even in different states, cities and so on). Despite the distance, every team member is required to handle their particular duty for a certain project. Project Management software tools aid in the collaboration of team members as they are converged in the same work space. It enables them to share not only ideas but also files, documents as well as real time updates.
Scheduling.
Every project that is catered for has a specific timeline, a deadline and some times there is need to schedule certain meetings in regards to idea sharing among team members regarding a project. The scheduling and Calendar integration that comes with Project Management software is helpful as it aids in ensuring timelines and deadlines are highlighted. Sometimes, reminders are even set to encourage the team push forward with their goals.
Task Management.
Task management is one of the most important features of project Management Software. How does this work? The software allows Project Managers to create tasks and assign them to the team members easily. It also enables task managers to keep track of the assigned tasks and check progress of the team in regards to the tasks.
Resource Allocation.
Project Management software also allows teams to allocate resources for specified tasks for each team member efficiently. Once tasks are allocated to team members based on their availability, it becomes easier to allocate resources to the said team members in accordance to the allocated tasks.
Monitoring.
Because of proper scheduling and calendar Integration, it becomes easier to use Project Management Software to monitor the progress of a specific project, find roadblocks and come up with mitigating solutions for them.
Budget Management.
One of the most important details regarding Project Management Software is budget management. This software aids the project Manager and the entire team to effectively manage every resource available. There is real time tracking which helps in identifying how the initial budget is being followed up plus the expenditure for every assigned task.
Reporting.
What better way to ensure a project is fast advancing than through reporting? The various reporting tools embedded in Project Management software make this highly possible. With reports, it becomes easier for a team to track their progress, find challenges that have been arising with the project and figuring out mitigating solutions to these problems.
Most commonly used Software in Project Management.
Among the various software used in Project Management, there is the kind of software that is most common with users. Every team has a reason as to why they choose a specific type of Project Management Software considering that they choose one that is bound to meet their needs. Keep in mind that while choosing a Project Management Software, you need to figure out your goals and objectives and choose one that meets them.
Wrike
This software is most commonly known for its customization tools. Wrike is known to be flexible enough to meet the various needs of just about any team. It could be in marketing, design, professional services, product management, or even business operations. This project management software can easily adapt to a variety of business needs, whether for managing Agile teams, clients, or even remote workers.
Some of it's stand out features include collaboration, task and project planning, automation and integration.
Trello.
Trello is most popular with smaller teams and start up teams. Many entities use it for temporary projects that are aimed to be short term. Trello allows for simple project visualization and effective drag-and-drop task management. It’s familiar to many people, allowing for easy sharing and collaboration, even among external users. It is most popular for it's easy-to-use interface that make it excellent for optimizing team-based productivity.
Asana.
Asana is quite effective for remote teams. It enables more effective project and task management across the organization in one interface. It provides an organized workspace where users can look at project data using different work views, such as lists, timelines, and boards. Users can create and assign tasks, build plans, customize workflows, and track project progress over time.
Notion.
Notion is widely famous for its high adaptability. It is embedded with features that support project management, task management, team wikis, vision boards, and more, teams can customize Notion to meet various team needs.
Smartsheet.
Smartsheet is a Project Management software that is more efficient for fast growing teams. It is embedded with strong real-time work management features, advanced dashboard reporting, collaboration, and automation tools. Smartsheet also has automatic update requests and can be used for waterfall and Agile-based projects.
Monday.
This software is embedded with tools that allow users to modify views and create dashboards to display important project information to decision-makers. It us highly customizable for scalable teams, workflows, and use cases. The highly visual project management platform provides an intuitive centralized workspace for users across the organization.
Jira.
Jira is widely known for its special features like project and issue-tracking features for technical and development teams. The task management features in this project management app enable users across the organization to plan, track, manage, and complete tasks, including repeat tasks. And the best news? It is free for up to 10 users with scalable paid plans for bigger teams.
Clickup.
ClickUp is quite famous too. It turns out to be the best free project management tool because of its robust free plan that allows for unlimited users and projects, with 11 different task views and new AI features. And also, ClickUp is ideal for complex projects.
When choosing the type of Project Management Software for your project, be sure to keep your goals and objectives in mind as that is the best way to pick a software that will meet your organizational needs.
