Teamwork. How Project Management Software Can Help.
 By Patrick L. Wynne

Every business project needs a manager to oversee the progress and the end result. And big, collaborative projects that require the input of team members can often benefit from project management software.

Project management software is useful for tracking and managing complex, integrated tasks. Its main benefit is the ability of coworkers or colleagues to collaborate and see how their contributions relate.

The software gives each team member independent ability to stay in the loop as a project progresses. It lets everyone see assignment dates and deadlines, upcoming approvals, delivery dates, ongoing revisions and other tasks, and how each affects the others.

Here’s an example. Let’s say your small business is preparing to exhibit at a trade show. The project might require contributions of in-house staff, such as the person in charge of booking space and the staff member responsible for equipping the company’s exhibit. Another in-house staffer might have unique responsibility to accumulate material to be transported to the exhibition site, then to transport it and set up the company’s display.

Even in a one-person operation, tracking disparate tasks is useful. For instance, a freelance writer, graphic artist and printer might team up to produce a slick brochure for a client. Project management software keeps everyone up to speed on production deadlines, client approvals and project changes. Project management software gives each team member a status report at a glance of overall planning and progress, as well quick notification of alterations and any domino effects.

If this sounds complicated, that’s because it can be. The secret to good project management software is to keep the system simple.

When project management software becomes too difficult for users, they abandon it. The value of the software is in coordinating and collaboration. When members of the team don’t use it, it becomes useless for everyone.

Project management software usually resides on a server. It can often be accessed by remote users or over a network or through Internet connections. Some software packages are designed to be Web-based, and some to be used by single users.

Typically, the software has steps for creating users and assigning them levels of accessibility, as well as a means to create, store and change passwords. One feature to look for is ease in uploading data, including documents in common formats such as Word or Excel. Users should also be permitted to annotate information as well as track previous versions of documents.

A core function is the ability to assign tasks to team members so each can track and review progress. There should be functions to compute how much time or other resources are spent, and how those factors relate to the overall plan.

Microsoft is the most recognizable provider of project management software, and its products offer interactive aids to step through the learning curve.

Microsoft Office Project Standard 2003 is a stand-alone program to manage projects independently, priced at $279-$599. The Professional version at $869-$999 provides all the capabilities of Standard, but when used with Project Server 2003 and Microsoft Office Project Web Access provides enterprise project management capabilities. Each version allows you to assign resources, compare project plan versions, evaluate changes, track performances, generate and print reports, export data to other programs and more. All varieties mesh nicely with the Microsoft Office suite of software.

Other competing software solutions to consider:

• Project Kick Start is an affordable $130 program for planning and scheduling projects. A wizard-like interface helps step you through developing a plan, including phases, goals, obstacles and resources. Project KickStart, by Experience in Software, has built-in Gantt charting ability and prints reports. It also transfers project details to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and even Microsoft Project.

• Another option is Milestone Professional 2000 from Kidasa Software, which is billed as “a complex, full-scale project management program” at about $230 street price. Milestones is a graphics oriented program that creates Gantt charts for presentation and publication, while solving what-if calculations, managing dates and adjusting tasks automatically when other related tasks’ data is changed.

(Posted October 2005)

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