Why Project Management Software? Part 3
We are looking at core reasons that project management software is evaluated and used by organizations, such as our last post on too many projects. How about managing the people that are working on project (i.e. resource management)?
Resource management is a broad term, but what it boils down to is the difficulty in managing all of the people that are working on all of these different projects. How do we know who is getting their work done? Who is not? Who needs help? How much time are they spending to get things done? Are they working on the right things?
This becomes especially important in times of economic hardship. Companies have been downsizing and trimming their work force. That makes it all the more important that the resources they do have are managed effectively and utilized properly.
Project management software is not the "end all". What I mean is that implementing project management software will not automatically solve your resource management issues. However, it can be a very effective tool when combined with the proper processes. Look at it this way. You have to use some tool to manage your resources, even if it is a piece of paper or a whiteboard. At some point, it becomes unmanageable without an effective tool. This becomes a big reason that people look towards project management software. It simply is too hard to piece all of the information together for good decision making and to take proper action.
A good project management software system should enable you to answer at least the following questions:
Until next time...
Resource management is a broad term, but what it boils down to is the difficulty in managing all of the people that are working on all of these different projects. How do we know who is getting their work done? Who is not? Who needs help? How much time are they spending to get things done? Are they working on the right things?
This becomes especially important in times of economic hardship. Companies have been downsizing and trimming their work force. That makes it all the more important that the resources they do have are managed effectively and utilized properly.
Project management software is not the "end all". What I mean is that implementing project management software will not automatically solve your resource management issues. However, it can be a very effective tool when combined with the proper processes. Look at it this way. You have to use some tool to manage your resources, even if it is a piece of paper or a whiteboard. At some point, it becomes unmanageable without an effective tool. This becomes a big reason that people look towards project management software. It simply is too hard to piece all of the information together for good decision making and to take proper action.
A good project management software system should enable you to answer at least the following questions:
- What are my resources working on?
- What is the status of the work that my resources are working on?
- Who is overloaded (has too much work assigned)?
- Who is underutilized (does not have enough work assigned)?
- Who is performing and who is under performing (who gets work done)?
- Do I have enough resources to handle the upcoming projected workload?
Until next time...
Good article. For me, project management software is really useful. It lessens some burden on project management.
Posted by: project management software | 04/07/2010 at 08:53 PM
Excellent post! This will greatly help to those who are having a hard time finishing their projects on time and who are confused how to make things done.
For me, even if you use the best project management software tool, if you don't have proper processes, it'll be useless. You should, at least, learn all about your project and it's necessities to finish it on time. That makes a project management software tool an effective tool.
Posted by: Nathaniel @ project management test | 10/22/2010 at 08:10 PM