Today’s active businesses have a lot of responsibility in more areas than just the business side of things. There are many demands and you will need to be flexible to change quickly if need be. This is why project management is so important to your business. However, project management is not as easy task. There are people who do this full time for a living and even they use specific tools to help them manage the processes that are involved.
Project management software can greatly help your business meet these demands. This software will give you state-of-the-art tools needed to be fully operational and it doesn’t matter how small or large the business is. Basically, project management software will help you be able to start a project and take the project to completion with a few clicks of a mouse button. When you choose an online software package you also have access to technical support and twenty four hour tracking of each and every project. More features are as follows:
- Track Deadlines – When setting up a project, certain tasks need to be completed before others can be started. This means all tasks have deadlines that must be strictly adhered to in order to complete the project on time. You need to have a firm hand on all these tasks and without this type of software, it would be nearly impossible to stay on top of everything.
- Assign Tasks – Those who are on your team need to know what their tasks are and what is expected of them. Assigning tasks is easy with the project management software and as stated above, you can track who has what assignment and how far along they are on their tasks. This takes away the need for the many meetings that would typically take place when completing a project.
- Billing – If the project is for an outside client then you can easily send them billing statements through this same software. The software also tracks payments and allows you to see when payments are overdue and when they have been paid.
- Charts and Graphics – Charts and graphics are great tools that clients want to see to show your progress on their project.
- Supply Ordering – While your company may have a separate system for ordering supplies, when ordering for a project where a client is billed, you need to order these supplies separately. This way, the client pays for those tools and supplies rather than the company.
There was a time when best project planning software package would require huge servers that were needed to run it as well as a large sum of money for technical support. Today, with all the advances in technology, these packages do not require any extra software. They can be loaded up on your server or on personal computers for the project managers in your company. If you handle all of the projects then they can be installed on your computer and the computers of those who are on your team.