Project Management Software For More Than Just The Schedule

What comes to mind when you say project management software?  Typically Microsoft Project.  Maybe something like Primavera or another scheduling package but creating the schedule is only part of what a project management tool needs to do. Project management is not just about managing the schedule.  Here are some other functions that you need to automate.

• Risk Management.  Logging risks and managing mitigation actions.

• Issue Management.  Setting up an issue log and managing actions to resolve the issues.

• Change Management.  Documenting changes and managing their approval.

• Meetings.  Producing agendas for meetings and generating minutes.  Recording and managing action items from meetings.

• Budget and Expenditure.  Setting a budget and managing expenditure against the budget.

• Timesheets.  Recording time spent on projects.

• Roles and Responsibilities.  Setting up responsibilities for each role in the project.

• Benefits.  Documenting benefits and creating action items to validate benefit delivery.

• Quality Assurance.  Recording quality events and creating action items to rectify quality defects.

• Document Management.  Managing all the documentation associated with the project including the different versions.

• Glossary.  Keeping a glossary of project terminology.

You may have noticed a theme through all the functions above – the inclusion of “Action Items”.  There are action items associated with risks, issues, meetings, benefits and quality assurance.  Rather than have a separate list for each, it makes sense for the project manager to manage them all as a consolidated list of action items.

So if you look at project management tools, you usually find one tool to manage the schedule and a mix of spreadsheets, lists, home built tools, and even post it notes.  What if you could have a single project management tool to manage the schedule and all the items above?  Project Administrator is one such piece of project management software available from Project Perfect.  It has been sold in over 50 countries and has tens of thousands of users. Clients who have purchased it range from the US Army to contract project managers who take it from one assignment to the next.

The software is based on Microsoft Access so is easy to use and to install.  You can be up and running in a quarter of an hour and it can support multiple users over a LAN.  Take a look at it yourself by downloading a trial version from http://www.projectperfect.com.au/pa-download-enq.php