Best Project Management Software in 2020

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Advantages of Project Management Software

PM tools can assist you to improve your Company's everyday processes. Having this kind of software in place would permit you to have access to additional analytics as well. This will, in turn, make your company more productive.

1. Helps Attain The Project Objectives:

   Online project management applications enable you to receive the maximum productivity from the projects as it helps in successfully executing the projects on time and in good quality. It even assists Project Managers to create an appropriate scheduling plan for his/her team. Subsequently, the software assists in overseeing the entire team effortlessly.

2. One Can Check The Project Growth From Anywhere, Anytime:

   Besides being able to oversee the team members and the real-time status of the projects they are working on, you can also interact with your team members about the projects. Discussing project issues and queries become very easy with project management tools. Moreover, you can screen the performance of each team member. So, if you catch any team member to be late, you can shift that member to another less important project, and as a result, evade any delay in projects.

3. Best Way To Avail The Expected Outcomes:

   The software allows managers to allocate the workload as per the competence of each human resource. The software has numerous tools which help in activities and time management. This consists of network diagrams, spreadsheets, Gantt charts, etc. The project management system is the best way to confirm savings in time, resources and money. It can lead to output gains and elimination of miscellaneous expenses.

Drawbacks of Project Management Tools

Project management software is not a cure-all. In fact, a bad project management system can deter the development of critical projects. Even though there are noticeably good reasons to exploit project management tools, there are a few drawbacks as well:

1. The Staff Needs To Be Trained:

   You have to train the staff on the correct use of the project management software. You will have to put in training for everybody. Nevertheless, with an easy to use project management software interface, the training would be negligible.

2. Does Not Substitute Remarkable Management Skills:

   Almost all Managers wish to discover a sure-shot recipe for a successful project. However, no project management software can actually substitute the expertise of a great Project Manager.

3. May Make Simple Projects Complicated:

   A Project Manager can at no cost depend solely on any software for successfully completing the projects. It may produce a work setting that is conquered by disorder and confusion. The misuse of the software can also make simple projects complicated.

4. Management vs Execution:

   Project management and project execution are two different sides of the same coin. Project Managers have to visualize beyond the software. You have to confirm that the staff is succeeding on their projects within the stipulated time frames, and this can be done manually only.

5. Inflexibility:

   Business projects are extremely fluid by nature. They demand relentless alterations and modifications. Don't let yourself and your colleagues to be so dependent on the software that you aren't able to make modifications when required.

How to Pick the Best Project Management Methodology for Success?

When it comes to choosing the best fit of project management methodologies for your upcoming project, you must make the most appropriate choice as it will hugely impact the outcome of your project and efforts. Here is a guide to evaluating different project management methodologies. One or a mix of these might be the right fit for your next project.

Among the first steps to successfully manage a project is to choose the right one among various project management methodologies. However, with an array of options available at your discretion for managing a given project, you will find that choosing one out of these approaches can be difficult because of the immense overlap between the suite of choices.

It is the job of a project manager to assist their organizations in choosing the right project management methodologies and project management software to produce an efficient and effective output. Let us take a deeper look into the impact of each methodology and how it stands to enhance the likelihood of success in your organization.

1. Waterfall:

Among one of the mainstream project management methodologies present today, this one has been in use for the past many years. If you carefully study its structure, you will find that it is sequential in nature and presently in use across a number of industries, most commonly in enterprise project management software development industries. It involves a static phase which includes requirement analysis, design, testing, implementation, and maintenance. These steps are always executed in a specific order. From the control aspect, waterfall allows the manager to observe effectively, but when it comes to flexibility, they would sometimes be hit hard with the lack of options if the scope of a project changes often. However, with a formal planning approach, all the relevant project related requirements are caught up front and there is a minimum chance of losing any key information relating to the project at the initial stages.

2. Agile:

As compared to the waterfall approach, the Agile approach was built with more flexibility and speed. Using a concept called ‘sprints’, the agile approach aims to achieve this flexibility through shorter delivery cycles. When it comes to projects, this approach is best suited for those projects which require less control and an element of real-time conversations among self-motivated teams.

Agile project management methodology is characterized by a high level of interaction, rapid feedback system, reduction in risk, faster turnaround, reduction in complexity, and allowance for rapid adjustments. Agile project management software and agile project management tools are among the most used today. They allow for quick identification of issues and making modifications in the early stages of development.

3. Hybrid:

Waterfall and agile project management methodologies are among the most favored among project managers. However, a hybrid approach allows for a more collective project management approach as it combines the planning and requirement phases of the waterfall methodology and the design, development, implementation, and evaluation phases as per the agile methodology.

4. Critical Path Method:

This is mostly used for projects which include an array of interdependent activities. Using a work breakdown structure, it includes the list of activities and the timeline within which they have to be completed, along with the various milestones and deliverables. This helps in outlining the critical activities and the activities which will consume a lot of time, separating them into critical and float activities. This helps in identifying which activities are critical to achieving targets and which ones are not, acting as one of the best online project management software and methodology.

5. Six Sigma:

It was originally developed to eliminate wastes and improve the revenues of the organization. This data-driven online project planning tool includes three major components. While it continues to remain a debatable type of methodology under project tools, there is ample significance in how it allows a manager to make crucial decisions.

6. Scrum:

Scrum project management software is a part of agile project management tools and maintains an interactive status. It is characterized by Scrum sessions or rather, 30-day sprints, which are brought to use to define critical and priority tasks. Instead of a project manager, a scrum master takes the reigns of the project in his hands. Here, specific tasks are looked over by small teams, each of which has to report back to the scrum master and evaluate any bottlenecks in the whole process.

7. Critical Chain Project Management:

Compared to the critical path method, the critical chain project management methodology is quite different. Here, the focus is directed towards the use of specific resources for the project instead of simply focusing on project-related activities. Buffers are built to identify issues with the use of resources so that the timeline of the project does not suffer and everything moves on as planned. It also lays focus on safety as a critical issue.

How to Evaluate a Project Management Methodology?

Ideally, a process should be laid down to evaluate and assess each methodology but it often proves to be a complex, time-consuming activity. However, there is no other way to choose the right PMO tools or online project planning tool without going through this process. As per the Project Management Institute, an OPM3 model, known as the Organisational Project Management Maturity Model, can be used by organizations to identify and measure the project management capabilities and standardize the whole process involved in choosing one. It helps in defining the project outcomes and resources involved, so as to make an estimate of the outcomes.

When an evaluation of the best project management methodology is being made, one should evaluate and consider the following factors before choosing and zeroing in on any one of the methodologies:

• What are the goals of the organization and how do they stand apart from its core values?

• What are the key business drivers of the organization?

• Does the organization face any constraints?

• Who are the stakeholders of the organization?

• What risks does the organization face?

• What is the level of complexity faced by the project managers?

• What are the estimated size of the project and the related costs?

Once these critical factors have been assessed and identified, you will need to develop project management options, which can be done through project management software to evaluate some steps:

1. Determine what the project drivers are and identify the primary goals of the project

2. State the goals and requirements and the impact of each methodology for the project

3. Match the relevant methodologies with the project

4. Compare and contrast each methodology

5. Consider the results of each methodology with the least risk

6. Document the entire workflow

7. Implement the methodology

8. Monitor the methodology and make amendments.

Project management software can help make these steps a short task at hand and help you achieve the best results in a short span of time. A project management information system is used vastly by project managers these days in conjunction with PPM software and PMO software which together make up the most interactive online project management system. Some project managers also make use of project portfolio management software to achieve these tasks.

Why you Need a Project Management Software?

With project management system tools in hand, you can establish and manage projects, resources, and schedules to achieve the needs of a particular project. Apart from the usual benefits that come with the implementation of online project management tools, there are some other advantages too such as calendars, tracking of people and finances, charts, producing reports, and scheduling.

Project management system software assists the managers to effectively plan, manage, and perform the significant sub-tasks tangled in each project. You don't have to look around for status info on any project running in your organization. The whole kit and caboodle are right in front of you, at your fingertips. So, don't wait anymore! Buy software, and manage each project with comfort and ease!

Steps to Choose the Best Project Management Software

The project management software you are going to use determines how effective you will fair your project management endeavors. You don't want to make a hell of mistake that will cause you a lot of harm (financially speaking) a long way. Here are some of the things you need to look at before purchasing your project management tool:

1. Plan your Project Effectively:

Before you get started, ensure that you have all your objectives, scope, deliverables, time frame, and approach you are going to use. That means you will need background on what type of tool your project needs, why you need it, and how it fits in with your technology.

2. Gather your Project Requirements:

Before you take the plunge, take a note of all your requirements. Ask yourself why people would need that particular package, the likely changes they are likely to encounter and how they can be solved.

3. Create Package Long List:

Now that you know what you need, create a list of potential buys and all packages that might meet your needs

4. Come up with the Package Shortlist:

Evaluate your list and come up with a smaller number of the PM tools that may not fit with your needs are too new or may simply not fit within your technology architecture.

5. Evaluate Package Shortlist:

This is the hardest and time-consuming aspect of the project management software selection. Map out the product package features, functionality and compare with your immediate and future requirements. Then determine which package closely meets your needs. For more information, you can interview the vendors. Ask them also to set up full-version product demos so that you and your team can review their product.

6. Make the Final Selection:

Once you find out the best PM for your organization, negotiate the contract, and make a purchase.

Common Project Management Myths to Avoid

A project manager is bound to face various difficulties and drawbacks while implementing his leadership skills for managing a project. Whether it is through the use of project management software or project portfolio management software, he has to maintain the vision and goals of his project at all times.

There are several myths that have infiltrated the world of project management. Let’s talk about some of these common pitfalls and how you can avoid them.

1. It’s Not About the People but the Process:

This one has been around for a long time and it’s quite hard to make a project manager understand why it is nothing more than a myth. Project tools and project management software have their own relevance but even then, without a great project management team, you would still find it hard to realize most of your project goals. This is because unlike an online project management system, a project team holds a qualitative significance, which even the most sophisticated project portfolio management tools cannot match.

2. Project Management is just Paperwork:

Well, this one is just plain obvious. Project management has evolved in more than one way, which is why we find the use of project portfolio management tools quite common these days. Project management involves outdoor activities, technical studies, use of project management software to evaluate and choose different courses of action and possibly, a lot of technical mayhem, which is way beyond ordinary paperwork.

3. Facts and Figures are way too Important:

Facts and figures obviously form the basis on which project management software and project management information system do their job but when it comes to a project manager, there is something that a project management software cannot replicate and that is his unique vision. His vision and intuition can conceptualize an outcome in which any project management tool may fail to even grasp.

4. Project Management Orientation:

It is often believed that the only thing that a project manager is concerned with, is his project. That, in fact, is not true. In order to give a holistic approach to a project, a project manager is usually entrusted with the task of combining the use of online project planning, team management software so that team can understand the vision and mission of the project as a whole. Without doing so, he will be unable to come up with the right strategies for the firm and mold his project according to those strategies.

5. The Customer/Stakeholder should Know Exactly What They Want:

Sometimes, the customers/stakeholders in the organization need not necessarily know what they want out of a project management exercise to the minutest detail. A project management team can take up this role and help define the outcome of his project management activity through project management software and project management information system.

6. Failure is the End of the World:

Many project managers believe that one project went wrong means the end of their career. However, this is not true. Sometimes, it is the wrong implementation of the organization which leads to failure of a project and not a flaw in the design of the project which leads to the flaw in the outcome of the project management activity. This is not even dependent upon the project management software which churns out results of a project management activity.

7. Once a project starts, it won’t end:

No matter if some of the best online project management software is being used or if an experienced project manager is engaged in the activity of devising project management results, there always remains the possibility that the organization may come up with some modifications to their existing project and devise some new course of action. In this scenario, the project manager may have to adopt a new approach to his project management approach. However, generally, it is not an ongoing activity and culminates once the desired objective of the client is achieved. This can be managed through project management software.

These are just a few of the common myths which surround a project manager’s job role. Besides these, there are few others as well but before you set out to believe on any one of them blindly, make sure that you understand the exact repercussions of those myths.

How to Manage a Software Project successfully?

Some of the best practices to follow, to manage your software project successfully are as follows:

1. Make sure that all your stakeholders acknowledge your requirements well.

2. Create a team that stands responsive for the risks, if any.

3. Create a detailed work plan using project management techniques.

4. The communication should take place effectively.

5. The progress should be monitored and tracked regularly, with the help of the project tracker. 

6. The potential risks should always be kept in mind.

Market Trends to Understand in Project Management

Some of the most important market trends to acknowledge in Project Management are:

1. The development of Automation and Artificial Intelligence because of the increase in the number of project management software.

2. Involvement of more and more of hybrid management outlooks, using more of the project management techniques.  

3. The growing influence of emotional intelligence (EQ).

4. Giving extra attention to numbers and data analytics, which is possible by using the best PMO software. 

5. Using advanced project management instruments and solutions.

6. Increase the time of remote working in your overall project management schedule.

What is Agile Project Management?

Agile Project Management is a methodology that provides value to the entire project management process by imbibing error-free high-quality results for high-priority projects. Project Managers who include agile methodology and agile project management tools in their processes are often rewarded with supreme customer satisfaction and reviews. Many project management methodologies lead to dragging, cost miscalculation, and error-prone results. But Agile overcomes all these obstacles enabling a very optimal solution.

It is a well-known fact that no software project is unchanging. But, Agile Project Management is all about embracing the changes that arise even at a later stage of development.

A highly complex strategy involves developing an entire project, testing it, deducing millions of flaws, and then reworking on it. But this complexity is readily reduced by Agile methodology. It ensures that the entire project is divided into several small usable segments, each developed individually. This way each segment is tested individually and edited accordingly in a much more effective manner due to it being smaller segments of the whole. This way smaller components can be delivered separately for user testing during the development stages of the project commence.

Benefits of Agile Project Management Methodology

1. Deployment of software is quicker leading to value to the customer at an early stage

2. Less resource wastage due to working on up-to-date tasks

3. Faster turnaround time

4. Better adaptation to changes and faster response

5. Quicker bug detection and fixing

6. Experimentation and testing of new ideas made cost-efficient

7. Premature optimization does not take place

8. Knowledge sharing and quicker feedback

Drawbacks of Agile Project Management Methodology

1. Due to regular changes, documentations are inconsistent

2. Measuring progress is a bit more difficult here

3. At times projects can become unending due to no clear end of the scope

4. Clients with time and budget constraints can get stuck in the middle due to no finalization of either

5. When project development is in segments, then it is crucial to be hyperactive when it comes to integration otherwise the entire project can become disjointed.

6. Iteration takes place in short cycles which often leads to leaving out the designing discussions. Hence, designs or UX may be lacking

Agile project management methodology is built upon years of experience in facing the challenges of traditional methodologies. Though it counteracts the ill effects of traditional methods, it also has its own limitations. Even because of that, at present agile project management software make for the best and most effective project management methodologies.

Steps to Choose the Best Project Management Software Program

Organizing an entire team’s workload is what project management is all about. In the age of technological advancement and modern outlook towards systems, the use of a project management system can help project managers achieve this task quite efficiently. Making use of project management software can ensure effective collaboration and communication between the members of a team. This is why the selection of appropriate software for this purpose is essential. The right project management software will yield success for the managers and the enterprise as a whole and would save essential time.

1. Why make use of spreadsheet programs to manage a project?

Counted among the most feasible solutions for a project manager, a spreadsheet program can help achieve a lot in a shorter time frame. This is best for small teams which are physically located at one location. However, using spreadsheet programs to manage a large team may turn out to be a cumbersome job. Thus, as long as constant upgrades and changes are not part of the plan, a small team can make use of these programs to solve much of their project management related tasks.

2. Why should you choose a dedicated project management software?

From planning to schedule, a project management software helps in managing every tiny detail which is related to a project. This is why project managers go to great lengths to make project management software comparison so that they can make the right selection for their organization. This is one way how teams can communicate and collaborate with each other and involve all team members in the tasks involved.

A project management software helps a manager remain organized from the time the project starts until the time it ends. It allows the manager to stay in the loop of things and keep track of what is happening. The major advantage of project management software is that it helps to maintain things in a centralized manner at one place, becoming the focal point of every project related activity, helping a manager gain more control of the tasks involved.

3. Understanding a project management software

Before you begin considering project management software as the ultimate last-minute resort to all your problems, it makes sense to understand that the software is not only meant for the project manager himself but also for the team. For this reason, the team needs to be briefed on how the project management software will be put to use and how the solutions will be implemented to solve a given problem. Training sessions can be used to enable your team to understand what the software is all about and how it can be used. The integration of project management software with relevant project management tools can assist a team in gaining a clearer insight into the intended goals of the project.

Recent Events Which you Should Know About Project Management

Some of the recent events which have taken place and are essential for you to know are:

1. JetBrains launched Space for developers, which is a collaborative tool for work management.

2. A list of 8 management behaviors was found, which promotes trust between the employees. 

3. The organizational change movement (OCM) tries to add smartness to the strategy of project management with the help of a software project management plan. 

4. So far, in 2020, Gartner has identified ten strategic technology trends for project management software.

5. Dominic Price predicted the most popular ten trends in the software project management plan, which will become very famous in 2020. 

What Types of Business Uses Project Management

The product management software can be used commonly by all types of businesses. Still, its usage is most critical for the industries that are in marketing, information technology (IT), and education. The reason behind this is that in these industries, business commonly works on many time-sensitive tasks at a single time. Therefore, it requires collaboration with the other teams for contrasting assignments. 

Common Issues Faced in PMS Implementation

Project Management is the implementation of the procedures, techniques, abilities, comprehension, and the experience to attain specified project objectives, according to the conformation criteria of the project, within the agreed framework. Project management has outcomes that are forced to a limited time scale and budget.

The primary factor which differentiates project management from just ‘management’ is that it has some outcomes and limited and fixed time restrictions, contrasting control, which is a continuing process. This is the reason why a project professional needs an extensive range of knowledge, where the most important is technical expertise. Also, some people management skills and ethical awareness relates to business. 

While executing the project management software, some of the significant challenges in using the project management best practices are:

1. Mistakes or Duplications in the Designs.

2. Absence of Combinations.

3. Lack of Commitment in the Leadership Process.

4. The Ignorance of Change Management in the Implementation of Project Tracker Systems.

5. Incompetence to use the PMO Software.

Conclusion

There is joy in successfully completing a project that was weighing you down. There is even more joy when your boss and stakeholders grin at the accomplishment. But, for you to achieve that, you need to make a good choice of PM. Such software will help you schedule, track and monitor every step along the journey of your project, manage to overcome the challenges associated with resource management resources and accounting errors.

Also, you need to make note of the trends in PM technologies that will help you keep up with changing times, for improved efficiency.