How to find the best Project Management software : Managing multiple projects at the same time, assigning tasks to internal or external resources, and collaborating are essential activities for the success of each project. That's why Project Management software exists: tools that...

How to find the best Project Management software

"Those who plan do better than those who do not plan even though they rarely stick to their plan." - Winston Churchill

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Project management software can help people working and teams to simplify the organization, execution, and completion of different tasks.

Yet, whether you work on paper documentation or through automate spreadsheets, today's PM software offers a wide range of tools designed to improve productivity and simplify job management.

Suites of this type typically offer the ability to define teams and enable communications between members, assign specific sub-tasks with due dates and goals, and include features such as interactive calendars, progress reports, and statistics for processing workflow data.

More significantly, several project management platforms integrate with other applications, such as cloud-based document storage or business relationship software. Others can even perform advanced functions such as CRM! 

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A close sight on choosing the suitable one

The next project is coming up, enthusiasm is excellent and objectives are set high. 

But we all know that skills and motivation are not enough. Today, project management software is an essential asset for any company as it lets manage medium, large, but also small groups of professionals and automates all those activities that would normally take too much time. 

Before choosing the right software for your company's needs, we recommend considering a number of relevant criteria.

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Project planning with deadlines and priorities

Typically, professionals and companies don't manage or are involved in just one single, but several projects. There is an overwhelming number of things to do. Task lists are continually expanding and teams receive urgent requests from other teams, collaborators, and stakeholders. This may cause Product Managers to feel like they are falling behind and just reacting. 

A good PM software should provide the ability to schedule and plan the project step by step. For example, they allow people to assign tasks to team members and set priorities and deadlines. Thanks to it, managers won't have to communicate time by time when finishing a task or ask which one has priority. 

Generally, this feature also lets to create calendars for vacation planning, contact lists, and doc folders that can be shared with team members.

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Monitoring and reporting

The time tracking feature records the hours spent on every single task. In fact, the project manager needs to be aware of the time a resource spends on tasks. 

Stay on schedule to stay on budget!

Project tracking is the procedure of monitoring the progress status of a project against the original plan. Its goal is to make corrective actions as soon as deviations (or events that may lead to deviations) are identified. So that the team stays on track! 

Tracking also serves team members as it helps them keep track of their normal working hours and overtime.

To track the progress of the project, it is important to have the ability to create reports which allow you and your team to collect project data and help identify any issues or delays. What is the importance of this activity? It is that you can prevent problems and make corrections in time to avoid wasting time, money, and precious resources.

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Billing tools

Gone are the days of doing accounting by hand. With the advent of PCs and then machine learning or AI, things like cost estimates are now easily automated and thankfully less prone to errors and distractions.

Companies that deal with customers need to have software that is capable of managing quotes, payments, and invoicing. These activities normally take a lot of time, but thanks to this feature, it is possible to gather the documentation and forward it to customers, with just a few clicks with PM software.

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CONCLUSION

‍To conclude: how to find the best software?

Successful projects always follow a plan, meaning every step is planned and easy for workers and managers to understand, monitor, and (hopefully) achieve.

Having said that and given the expansive offer in the market, don't worry if you don't know which software to choose. Here are some useful tips to find the most suitable one for your needs:

• take a look at reviews: undoubtedly other project managers have already worked with that software and could provide useful opinions about advantages and disadvantages
• ‍book demo or use trials to try out the features for yourself: don't buy a product right away but try it before. If you find the trial version interesting, it is likely that the paid version will be better

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Looking for a way to perfect project management?