The bigger your company gets, the more difficult it can become to keep track of all of your projects, deadlines, and tasks. It can be particularly problematic the more people are working together, as communication becomes key and confusing email threads will no longer do the trick.

Using project management software can make a huge difference to a company, who may otherwise face growth challenges if they are unable to manage their projects efficiently.

Here are some of the ways your business may benefit from using a project management system.

Who can benefit from it?

If you run a relatively small business, you may be wondering if you even need to consider project management software. Project management typically comprises of five phases; defining, planning, organizing, controlling, and closing.

So, a project could be as simple as organizing your supply system, creating an office newsletter, producing new marketing material, and designing brochures.

It may have started off as a popular tool within the IT industry and software development companies, but as word spread of the benefits of using these tools, many different companies started using it, even individuals.

Even a dental practice could benefit from management software with functions such as an appointment book, patient files, quotes and estimates, treatment plans, accounts, reports, fee management, and more.

Benefits of project management software

So, how could this software help your business? Here are some of the benefits project management tools provide:

1) Easy collaboration

Collaborating on a large project with several team members can be difficult, but with software that allows you to post and view status updates, timelines, and share documents, it’s become far easier to see how much of the project has been completed, how much is left to do, and where each team member is at. No more dreaded email threads that can easily get lost in your inbox; now everything is in one place.

2) Internal and external communication

Need to keep clients and stakeholders in the loop? Communication surrounding your tasks and projects doesn’t have to be kept internally; with online software, you can add other individuals to specific projects or tasks to keep them updated on the progress. Clients can also make edits, add tasks, or provide direct feedback, allowing you to keep your project on track easily.

3) Track projects

With real-time updates of where everyone is at, you can easily see what tasks have been completed and what is still left to do. Being able to track the progress of each project in this way means you don’t have to waste time holding meetings and sending out emails, waiting for responses and updates.

This will also make it easy to identify any projects at risk if you spot one falling behind. Recognising a potential problem early on allows you to quickly address the issue before it turns into a big concern.

4) Manage your resources

It’s not just about being able to see how you’re projects are coming along; project management software also allows you to manage your resources more easily. By seeing what tasks members are working on and how long each thing is taking them, you can see if people are using their time efficiently or not.

If someone’s got too many tasks on the go at one, you may be able to delegate some of the work to another team member to ensure the project is able to progress without delay.

5) Improve processes

When you’ve got everything together in one place, it becomes much easier to keep track of how your project is progressing and how long tasks are taking to complete. If any tasks need to be added or changes need to be made, it’s easy to communicate with other team members and immediately update the relevant people without holding time-wasting meetings.

It’s just a much easier, faster, and more efficient way of doing things. We’re not saying everything is going to run smoothly, but even spotting and addressing issues is made much easier with a project management tool.

Functions to look for

If you feel your business may be able to benefit from project management software, then here are a few things you should look out for when comparing products:

  • Collaboration: One of the main benefits of using these tools is to complete your project more efficiently, so your team needs to be able to communicate easily on the platform. Ideally, the software should allow you to communicate, share files, post updates, etc.
  • Easy to use: You don’t want it to get in the way of work, so look for something that is easy to set up so your team can start using it straight away.
  • Resource management: Are your employees working on the right things at the right time? To manage your resources, you want to be able to identify, organize, and track these with things like time tracking, scheduling tools, inventory, attendance reports, and more.  
  • Project management functionalities: This may seem obvious, but you need to consider how the software will help you manage your projects better; ask yourself if this is a good fit for your business, not just a good tool overall. Features such as calendars, schedule management, milestone management, task management, and other tracking tools can be a big help.

There are several great project management tools out there, and if you choose the right one, it can make a big difference in how your business runs. Take the time to consider your options carefully so you can get the most out of the software you use.