One of the many concerns of most of the firms, especially small business and startups is money.

Improper management of business funds can more likely bring any business to a halt, which is not something any investor would want to happen.

Hence, to make sure everything runs smoothly, business owners spend an ample amount of resources over the management process.

Nevertheless, business is all about uncertainties, as no one can determine what will happen in the next moment. However, as a business person, you can always prepare yourself to counter any such uncertainty by investing in the right tools and strategies.

Crude project management is one of those uncertainties that can add to your business woes.

Are you always in the fear of losing too much? Is your project losing money? Do you have the right set of tool for managing the team and project?

If these questions keep pampering you, then it is time for you to take the necessary actions against them. And here is where a project management software makes its way.

Project managers have multiple views about project management software. Some think it puts the business in the driver seat while other argue that investing in any such tool is a mere waste of money.

Well, to understand this in a better way, it is necessary for us to get some valuable insight into what challenges a project manager faces in the course of getting a business project done. And we will also find what role does a project management tool play in the whole process.

What Are The Challenges of Managing Projects?

Project managers have to face numerous challenges during the lengthy process of completing and managing a project and here are some of those:

1. Tons of Tools to Choose From.

Project managers have to keep track of various activities and using the right tools here makes the process a less hectic.

However, project managers often overload themselves with plenty of tools, which makes the tracking process grueling.

A tool for reporting, a tool for time tracking, a tool for billing, a tool for commotion list? If this is the way you manage your business, then you are doing it wrong.

Read also: The Benefits of Using PDF for Business

2. Indistinct Expectations.

Indistinct expectations equal unclear goals, and unclear goals are dangerous for both – organization and employees.

From the outset of the project to its completion if there are no defined goals, it will never be started off on the right foot, and there will be a delay in completion.

When employees will not be able to get their work done on time this will add to company’s financial woes.

3. Delayed project delivery.

Sometimes a project starts on a good note, but as it progresses, a lot of changes due to numerous reasons may cause the project to delay.

This actually happens when targets are not realistic or structured in a right sequence, leading to late project delivery, unhappy customers, and lost business opportunities.

4. Issues between employees.

When working on a project with colleagues, it is obvious that everyone would have ideas they would like to bring into the light.

There will be agreements, disagreements, side talks, gossips within the team.

These talks can quickly turn into hatred for the other and such feelings if not managed can leave a negative impact in the workplace.

5. Poor communication.

Communication right from the start to the end is a must. Effective communication helps an organization run smoothly, and can improve the bottom line.

Employees work efficiently if they are clear about the goals they need to achieve at the end of the day.

On the other hand, miscommunication will lead to a delay in project completion due to lack of knowledge of what is happening in the organization.

6. Who is doing what?

Things get difficult to manage when the project manager or employees have no idea of who is doing what.

This happens when there is no system of assigning tasks to make sure the work is being distributed as equally as possible.

Someone might be overloaded while some might be just playing around to pass the time.

After reading the points penned above, it is clear that every business needs a management system that can make sure that the work is done is an aligned manner.

Either a business can heir a project management professional or can invest in project management software to help them manage work easily.

How Project Management Tools Effect Business

Costly yet effective?

Many businesses argue that quality project management software is often too expensive. Also, the price tag is the only reason why they hold off from switching to a project management software.

However, project managers also argue that project management software is self-contained, thus can help cut down training cost, which would save money.

They also do not like the fact that the software comes with extra charges such as its implementation and maintenance cost.

Moreover, some products are sold with different modules that may make them more expensive. To conclude, yes project management software is expensive but worth the money you will spend.

Well Designed v/s Poorly Designed Software

To be honest, the transition from classic spreadsheets to a project management software is not easy. At times employees get frustrated due to the confusing interface of the tools.

If you invest in poorly designed interfaces that are ugly and overloaded can cause quite the inconvenience. Instead of raising productivity, the team will more likely start falling short of deadlines, thus causing you money.

A well-designed project management software, on the other hand, can result in better employee engagement. And better employee engagement is the key to better employee morale.

Everyone would be aware of what the other person is doing as far as the project is concerned thus making things more trackable.

A strong project management leads to increased employee engagement. The teams will feel valued and have a clear sense of purpose that will directly affect the earning capacity of any business.

The Icloud System

Project management software can also save the company’s money by creating an Icloud based filing system.

Such systems can store notes, files, documentation, and everything important within Icloud storage that could be accessed by employees on the go.

Such a filing system is much more comprehensive than a standard filling system and allows for less error and more money saved in the physical filling. Icloud saves both time and efforts you had to put searching a file from a pile of files.

Also, with tools like Icloud sharing data becomes much easier. However, it has its downfalls such as the unauthorized viewing of sensitive project data by an outsider. Forget to change the settings in access control, and you could have many eyes gazing at private company information.

Project tracking made easy

Project management and project tracking go hand in hand.

With proper project tracking, you can have a clear track of the progress of each stage of the task, and you can easily monitor the time each employee is giving to the project.

In case of any mess up, you can consider again to shuffle the tasks.

This way you get an idea of what an employee is capable off and where you can use his/her earning potential to get high gains. Thus, having a precise handling of the project and a clear picture of the project is necessary.

Project tracking is a lot like assignment writing,i.e., should be planned in advance. You have to be very clear on how you want things to happen. When you have a clear outline of what needs to be done, only then you can guide employees into the right direction.

Complication

Although project management software is meant to help companies to organize things and get them done quickly, ironically getting well versed with project management software itself takes time.

Based on the program’s complexity, a learning curve needs to be taken into consideration which could be mind-numbing at initial stages.

Project managers will need to what are the programs key features, how they work and have to ensure that the team members also get in line with the components of the software.

It will obviously take time for everyone to get up to speed and before the new system is being used by everyone smoothly.

Like any other thing in the world, project management software also has its advantages and disadvantages. While it may not save you money at the initial stages but once brought into regular use, it can save you a major chunk of your money by cutting training cost, preventing mistakes from being made, etc.

About The Author

Saun Tatt has over 10 years of experience as a project manager. Currently, he is working with OnlineAssignmentWriting . He has managed projects for system, software/application etc.