The Role of Project Management Software in Managing Complex Projects and Selecting the Right Tools for Your Project Team

Failure is a part of life. However, the proportion of failed attempts is quite jarring when we talk about ‘projects.’ A recent PwC study reveals that more than 60 percent of project failures are due to internal project issues, such as missed deadlines and insufficient resources. In fact, the three primary reasons for project failure are – bad estimates or missed deadlines, scope changes, and resource crunch.

As organizations of all scales and types have to juggle numerous projects and programs to cater to demands, having a project management software solution can help. These tools provide companies with enough leverage to maximize profits and minimize failure, and also provide them with a competitive edge. So, without further ado, let us look at the role of project management software in managing complex projects and how you can select the right tools for your team.

How Can Project Management Software Help Manage Complex Projects: Top 5 Ways

Easy Monitoring

The first way by which project management software tools can help manage complex projects is by assisting in the monitoring process. One of the key aspects of catering to a project’s demand is invigilation. Keeping a rigorous check on the project’s progress creates room for inventory management and record maintenance. Thus, various project management software tools like PRISM let organizations monitor progress and performance.

Improved Planning

The reason why project management software facilitates efficient management of projects is by streamlining the planning process. If organizations have learned anything from years of managing projects, it is that most of the time spent in project planning goes in vain. However, the situation can be altered 360 degrees with the help of the right project management software.

With precise and accurate predictions backed by AI technology, project management tools can gauge when the project will be completed, its constraints like cost, scope, and schedule, and more. Thus, project experts are able to establish a solid foundation for their projects, etch key milestones, understand the pertinent deliverables, and more.

Enhanced Project Collaboration

It goes without saying that a team is an integral part of any project and organization. However, individual inputs also make up a large chunk of the bigger projects being worked upon. Project management tools facilitate better teamwork by helping everyone maintain standards. Project control software tools offer interfaces for timelines, real-time updates, and document management.

Better Budget Management

All projects come with certain costs and expenditures, all of which center around budgeting and planning. Besides, it is also established that businesses in a roundabout fashion aim to maximize profit. Top-tier project management tools help with budget planning and control by managing costs and expenses. For instance, organizing invoices and documents is a tedious task, especially when done on a large scale. In most cases, creating and updating simple spreadsheets do not make the cut.

Therefore, good project management software will efficiently handle these issues with automated invoicing, offering reports and charts on the progress of current and previous projects, and more. Simply put, the budget allocation process becomes better with project management software.

Improved Internal and External Communication

Irrespective of an organization’s hierarchy, breaks in communication can have catastrophic impacts on any enterprise vis-à-vis growth. One of the pertinent goals of a project management software solution is to assist organizations collaborate in real time. With stalwart project management tools, enterprises can gain from effective communication between users, teams, departments, and stakeholders. As everyone is working with the same real-time information, the projects are managed in a better and smarter way, without any data being isolated.

Now that we know about the top five ways by which a project management software solution can help in managing complex projects, let us check some tips and tricks in choosing the tools.

How to Choose the Right Project Management Tools?

Identify Your Challenges and Restrictions

Not all project management solutions solve the same problems. Therefore, it is important to recognize and gauge your specific challenges and then move on to the software selection process.

Consider Specific Criteria

You should take into account certain factors before choosing the project management software. These factors are −

• Budget

• Team size and potential for the tool to scale with you

• Integration options

• Integration options

• Permissions and review or approval capabilities

• Guest access requirements

• File storage capacity

• Security requirements

Create a List of Top Options

After you know what you are looking for, you can make a list of the options that may be compatible with your requirements.

Test Each Tool

It is almost impossible to make the right choice vis-à-vis project management tools without using them first. So, sign up for a free trial. If a tool does not come with a trail, it is a likely sign that you should move on.

Test Each App with the Team

While choosing a project managing software tool, it is imperative to have your team on board. It is best to test-drive a tool’s collaborative features with a small, committed group of people. This type of pilot program will help uncover some of the problems and advantages that only show up at scale.

Get Team Feedback

The team’s input is crucial to ensure that the new project management software you have chosen gains traction and improves the workflow.

Calculate and Justify the Cost

Last but not least, introducing new software will cost a lot of time and money. But, finding the right tool makes the execution of the project exponentially faster and easier, implying that over time, the software could pay for itself.

Final Thoughts

So, there we have it, a crisp overview of project management tools and how they help in streamlining complex projects coupled with tricks and tips to choose the same. The fact that 77 percent of high-performing projects use project management software is proof enough of their prowess, significance, and scope.