Today, there are plenty of project management tools available in the market. All of those are made to help teams and individuals manage projects more efficiently. Ultimately, managing projects in better ways results in easy and fast reach for company goals. Moreover, most project management tools are designed for multiple skill and experience levels. Therefore, you don’t need to be a veteran project manager to use most of these.
Also, there are tools for highly complex and high-risk tools for managing daily tasks. Plus, there are tools to help you manage your personal life. Hence, a project management tool exists for everything, whether you own or operate a business. However, with plenty of tools available, how do you select one that is the most suitable for your team? We are here to answer this. This article will guide you in choosing the right project management tool for your business.
What is Project Management?
First, let us clarify what project management is. Project management is the planning and organizing a project from beginning to finish. People involved in the project use particular skills, techniques, and tools. They do this to deliver a perfect project with value to others. For instance, making software to streamline business processes involves project management. Another example is that coordinating relief duties after natural disasters requires project management.
During processes like these, teams engage in multiple activities. These activities include identifying the project lifecycle. Moreover, teams might build a project’s objectives, identify resources, or set goals. Also, in project management, the team assigns tasks, goes through risks, and sets milestones. They do this to ensure the project meets its deadline and requirements.
Why are Project Management tools essential?
These project management tools are essential for any organization for multiple reasons. First, they help keep the team organized. Plus, they ensure that procedures are followed. Second, they give a clear briefing of all activity happening about a project or task at a given time. Project management tools also let teams communicate quickly and clearly.
Furthermore, there are statistics to support the significance of project management software. According to a report, 77 percent of high-performing projects use project management software. Another report says that $122M was wasted due to inadequate project planning. Hence, you can avoid these things using the right project management tool for your next project.
6 Tips for Selecting the Right Project Management Tool
Below, we have mentioned the six main steps. You must go through these steps to choose the best project management solution. Otherwise, you may risk investing in a tool with scalability restrictions. Also, some poor project management tools do not support certain project methodologies. Moreover, they are also costly and burdensome to afford in the long run. Here are the tips to follow before choosing the right project management tool.
Define Your Needs
Rudy Bush, Founder at Wiringgerman, says, “To begin with, selecting the tool is crucial to identify your needs. Include listing your problems, like repetitive errors or lack of visibility. Then, know the functionalities you require to manage your projects well. For instance, a project manager should know who is doing what and monitor each task. Plus, a document-sharing space to centralize and find your files conveniently. Communication tools like quick messaging or a video conferencing system are also available. This will enable collaboration and exchanges.”
Think About Mobility
After the pandemic, working patterns have changed. The teams do not work in the same way anymore. Within the same team, some workers come to the office daily while others may work from home for several days a week/month. Others may travel regularly, and a last category of workers may work remotely permanently. Therefore, this situation raises the need for a mobile solution. Here, a tool is required that your employees can use anytime or anywhere. This means that your project management tool should have a mobile application. Your employees can use it from any device and even offline if needed.
Pay Attention to Security
In today’s digital world, securing data is challenging. Intrusion, data leaks, password theft, etc, are common today. Hence, your project management tool needs to be safe and secure. It is crucial to protect your data. Whether the data is personal or business data of your employees and customers, it must be protected. Also, this should apply to all your digital tools. It would be best to go for a sovereign tool to do this. It is a French or European one that guarantees your data is hosted in France or Europe. It is done to avoid it being subject to the suspicious act.
Moreover, you should also check that the software offers privacy features. For instance, end-to-end encryption and multi-factor authentication. At last, you should be able to effortlessly manage access rights to know who can access which document(s). You should also have access to whether the person can only view, edit, and share it.
Ask Employees for Their Opinions
Te Wu, CEO of PMO Advisory, said, “Your employees will primarily use the project management tool. Logically, they have a say in the selection of tools. You can survey your employees to collect their needs and requirements. Ask your employees how they see the best or ideal software. Ask them about what features are essential, etc. Additionally, your employees will like being involved in selecting a new tool. Moreover, it will make it easier for them to accept the latest project management tools. However, if you find any employee reluctant to change, you must reassure and convince them. You can do this by implementing a change management system.”
Compare Prices
The selection of a project management tool also depends majorly on your budget. First of all, you should know that you can select to pay a monthly or annual fee. However, the latter is more advantageous. Secondly, you need to make sure that updates, maintenance, support, help, and other resources are included in the package. It is crucial to avoid unpleasant surprises, particularly if you have an issue or require technical assistance. At last, ask around. This is because some tools publishers offer reduced rates for some organizations. These organizations include associations, NGOs, and public bodies.
Do Not Hesitate to Test
After shortlisting two or three project management software packages, do not hesitate to test them. Testing before making a final decision is vital. Nearly all software publishers offer approximately one month of free testing. Thus, it is an ideal chance to explore the tool. You can also see if your employees find it convenient to use. If the selected tool meets your expectations perfectly, then go for it.
Conclusion
The employees go through plenty of problems while doing any project or task. These problems range from not getting a timely update to not meeting the deadline. One of the main reasons behind this is they need a better project management tool. Project management tools are essential for doing a project perfectly and conveniently. However, there are numerous project management tools available in the market. Therefore, carefully selecting the most suitable one for you would be best. Above, we have given you a short guide on choosing the right project management tool for your project. This ARTICLE will help you select the best tool for your upcoming project.
