Project managers wear many hats: facilitators, managers, problem-solvers and even interpreters — translating business needs into actionable plans for teams and aligning resources. They must work around constraints, map skills and set timeframes to ensure positive outcomes for the business. Luckily, we now live in the Digital Age, which makes the life of team members as well as project managers much easier. Project management and collaboration are no longer limited to emails or sharing platforms. Recent developments in technology have opened doors to a brighter horizon in project facilitation.Agreat number of worthwhile tools have become available in the form of project management technology that previous generations could only have dreamed about. These attributes allow for smoother operation, increased efficiencies, and a better overall collaborative experience, so let us see exactly how they can improve your project management skills and allow you to do your job more quickly and efficiently.
Time Tracking And Resource Management
The first and most important your chosen project management software must have is a time tracking tool. When assessing the speed and efficiency of your team members you do not have to rely on old-fashioned methods of white-boards and, and it would almost be impossible to keep tabs on everyone’s timing manually. Luckily, time tracking tools allow you to calculate or track the time spent on each project so you don’t have to pay such close attention to the clock. The reason time-tracking is important, not just for current goals and deadlines, but also in the long run is because tracking your team’s time for the project, gives you an insight of the average time specific tasks take. Therefore, when you look and analyze the time needed to complete a past project, you will have a good picture of the average speed of each team member’s performance and hence have information on how much time you need to allocate to each member for any future project. As for the resource management feature, this tool serves a similar purpose to that one of time-tracking, but in addition to providing insight on how much time your team member has until his part has to be completed, it also serves to show how much they have left on their plate, which in turn helps you assess whether a particular member is overwhelmed and whether you need to delegate some of their workload to another member whose hands are not as full in a given moment.
Communication And Collaboration
Before you commit to project management software, make sure to conduct a best project management tools comparison, in order to ensure your software has all the tools you deem necessary to do your job right. One of the tools essential to your role of a great project manager is one that allows for a smooth exchange of information and fosters communication. A team collaboration tool allows you to be in constant contact with your team members. The reason this is of high importance to the success of your projects is because without constant flow and exchange of information regarding everything from goals, current progress, present and hypothetical obstacles to workarounds and expectations, you run a great risk of your project failing. Another reason for which every great PM should use this tool is because aside from his primary obligations which revolve around budgeting, scope management, etc., his job is to help his team members – help them stay on track and prevent them from getting overwhelmed. By using this tool, you show that you are here for your team and that they can rely on your assistance and help overcoming obstacles.
Project Budgeting And Invoicing
As previously stated, these are two of project manager’s primary roles, and the best project management tools have these features, which will not only serve to make you more efficient, but they save you an enormous amount of time. The invoicing feature allows you to use tracked time in order to create invoices in just a matter of minutes. The budgeting feature allows you to stay on top of things regarding finances and be in the loop when it comes to expenditures and control your costs, and as a PM you know how stressful, taxing, not to mention time consuming this part of your job is, but with the right tools it does not have to be.
There are numerous more useful features created to make a PM’s life and job easier, and keep him on top of his game, client permission, task views and management being only a few of them, so when choosing your project management tools, keep your needs and requirements in mind and opt for the one that best caters to the needs of your team and company.