Whether you’re part of a small business or a huge corporation, project management software has the potential to streamline your operation and save your company money. What you require from management software may differ slightly from what another company needs, and your requirements will depend on your business. There are a few universal must-haves, and you can find them all on web-based applications. Recognize the most important features of web based project management software to save your business both time and money.
1. Task Management
The best project management software acts as an easily accessible hub for assigning projects, clearly marking deadlines and tracking progress to make sure everyone will meet their deadlines. It should also be easy to assign access only to those involved with a particular project and for people to make changes and alert everyone involved with the project.
Comprehensive project management software allows you to schedule projects ahead of time, making sure that no one person has too little or too much to handle at once. It’s also convenient for those occasions when employees are on the road. Collaboration doesn’t stop just because one employee is across the country. Everyone involved in the project can easily continue to make changes right up to the last minute. For example, a last-minute bit of information can be incorporated into a presentation for a client even as the employee is en route to make the presentation.
2. Spreadsheets
Keep accounting and sales figures in order with project management software. Having easily accessible spreadsheets makes it easy to share figures with the people who need to see them. Management software ought to let you decide who gets to see each document or spreadsheet, so you won’t have to worry about sharing confidential information with non-intended recipients.
Good management software is essential in the payroll and human resources department. For example, employees are able to keep a close eye on their forms via the cloud so they can alert someone to errors before payments are already issued.
3. Graphics and Presentations
Whether you’re working on a presentation for your colleagues or for clients, you’ll want to make sure your presentation make a strong impression. The quality of your work may determine whether or not you make a sale, or how well you are able to communicate your ideas with your colleagues. Management software should help make putting together dynamic, engaging presentations a breeze. Look for interactive presentation templates and compelling graphics that you can drop right in to your next presentation project.
Management software should also make it simple to share your presentations securely via the cloud; that way, you won’t have to hold meetings or even be in the same building to share information, and you won’t have to worry about the content leaking online.
4. Usability
Your software ought to be easy to use and user-friendly. This seems so obvious that it’s often overlooked, but you want your software to be accessible. The whole purpose of management software is to make it easier for your employees to complete tasks more efficiently. If software is difficult to use, the whole purpose will be defeated.
Your ideal business project management software will be easy to use, social media compatible, graphically capable, and equipped with spreadsheets and time management applications. How often you use a particular feature of the software is largely up to your company’s objectives. However, you are sure to need these basic features at some point, so pay close attention when you choose software.
About the Author: Contributor Cari Roy is the IT manager for a staffing company that uses project management software to collaborate and manage resources.