How to choose the right project management software

John Reeve | March 23rd, 2009 |

The IT Project Management Blog has posted some great tips on how to evaluate and choose the right project management software.

Tip #4 is especially important:

Set your goals – do not expect to do everything better and to include any improvement during the first phase (or the initial implementation cycle). Prioritize to get faster results. Below you will find a list of possible goals that you could address with a PM software tool

  • Improve project reporting and tracking
  • Improve estimating and scheduling
  • Reduce cost or speed process up by automating workflows
  • Improve resource assignments
  • Improve project communication
  • Improve project team collaboration
  • Improve overall project process

Every goal will impact different functional areas within an organization. You should plan your implementation to impact those areas and improve those process that will add the most value.

Why is this tip so important? Because no online project management app is going to fix all your problems right from the start. You have to be realistic about setting goals for improvement. And you have to be realistic that achieving those goals is going to take time. It’s not the software’s fault if you don’t get it right away and team performance doesn’t improve instantly. Project management is a complex union of ideas, practices and methods and it will take some time to find that sweet spot where your goals and the software’s capabilities meet.

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