Projects are all about communication and collaboration. More project service automation tools are being delivered to the market. If you are in the professional services industry, delivering knowledge intensive programs, you should read on...
The Project Manager Experience
Project managers live in schedules, issue and risk lists, and email/status meetings. Typically, a Microsoft Project Schedule, which is updated based on team progress as communicated via updates via email or phone calls. The risk and issue lists are managed separately, where adding tasks to manage issues/mitigate risks could be put into the project schedule as assigned, but usually are not. A status report is a collation of information from various sources, including staff schedules, issues, risks, requirements burn-down, etc. all coming from disparate systems.
The Team Member Experience
Team members have to work off a daily task list - as communicated via the project schedule. They provide weekly (or sometimes daily) time sheet updates - sometimes in two different systems, one for invoicing and financial tracking, and one for project task plan versus actual. Often, activities for managing risks and issues are not in the communicated schedule. Updates to the project manager are via phone or email, and therefore time consuming.
The Customer Experience
As a project sponsor, there is a lot riding on the success of the delivery. After careful (not to mention expensive) deliberations, business case evaluations, and budget allocation, the project is finally underway. The experts are "doing their thing". But what are the project metrics really like? Is everything all good, or is the score card a "watermelon" - green on the surface, but red once you open it up? As a Project owner - what is the performance of the internal team against the deliverables indicated as being dependencies? How do is your schedule integrated in the managed project plan? In complex projects, running the day to day management of tasks, issues, risks, and budget, it is not always transparent on what the real status is.
A Project Server Solution
Project servers have been available for quite some time. Recently they have become more user friendly, both in setup as well as in use. However, for large project teams, with members of both vendor and customer equally distributed, it is an expensive, and sometimes complicated licensing process. But there are alternatives.
GANTT Chart - project schedule and performance at a glance
Every project manager is familiar with the GANTT chart - track the plan based on actual performance as updated by the team.
Track Milestones by User
Quickly identify bottlenecks, performance issues, or task overload before it is too late.
Submit, Organise, Manage Issues and Risks
Keep the team aware of the actions, either planned or as mitigation to an unforeseen event. Ensure the issues are tracked, actioned, and mitigated
Collaborate with team members in forums
Communication is essential in projects. Collaboration depends on it. Use forums to include the project team in on the communications. You can post directly, or simply add the form syncbox email address in your message.
Enter Zoho Project
Managing the project schedule has never been easier. You can create a project from scratch or simply use a template which you can modify to meet the requirements. The team members automatically get the tasks assigned, and when they update the status of that task, it is reflected in the schedule. All risks and issues managed from within the tool, and communication can be captured within the project forums. The feed keeps everyone abreast of the important developments on the project, as they occur. The dashboard gives direct insight into the project status, on which you can drill down where there are exceptions.
But wait: there is more? You can use this as a time tracking tool for your employees - this can then be exported to the invoicing tool of choice (or you simply use a Zoho product for invoicing - then it is already integrated), allowing you to keep track of all project commercial transactions (including expenses). You also can provision client team members on the portal - it is a restricted access (they cannot invoice!), but you can manage the client dependencies. And last - you can dive into the project where ever you are, there is a mobile client - when you are having a coffee with the project sponsor, you don't have to put off a question and do research, you can dive into the system on the phone, and give a qualified answer, then and there.
If you are in the business of delivering complex projects, such as ERP or CRM deliveries, you should take the time to check out Zoho Project. Free trial available.