From well-established businesses to startups, every type of project-oriented business has to deal with a long list of processes, people and resources. Well, managing a business has never been an easy task but we can be thankful that we are living in an era of technological advancement where software solutions have made everything easy for us. One such software that has allowed businesses to stay organized, accurate and effective is project management software.
The dynamics of running a project-based business have surely changed but by using project management software, you can match up with the evolving dynamics of running a business efficiently. The advantages offered by project management software in a business is surely priceless. All the businesses that have shown resistance against the adoption of this advanced solution have either crumbled down like a sandcastle or likely unprofitable project outcomes.
Also, they have been pushed behind in the tough race of competition. But in order to harness the advantages of project management software, you will have to choose the right one as well. As a non-technical person, it can be quite tricky for you. But you don’t need to worry as we are going to address some of the most important things to look for while choosing a project management software for your business.
Collaboration
Although many things make a project successful, one of the most overlooked things that act as a pillar of any successful project is collaboration. If a project management software is not able to provide you enhanced collaboration, then you will never be able to harness its advantages, no matter how feature-rich and advanced the software is. From the project manager to the team member, everyone needs to work collectively in order to make a project successful. This is why collaborative project management software is very necessary.
With better collaboration, the people involved in the project will be able to come up with new ideas, solve problems more easily and contribute in a better way. Some of the most common collaboration capabilities that project management software offers include:
Seamless and secure file sharing,
- Remaining tasks with the due date for on-time completion
- Project communication from inception through close-out
- Project linkages such as shop drawings linked to respective change orders and work orders
- Online huddles,
- Annotation and much more.
- Resource management
Along with collaboration, resource management is one of the most important parts of any project. Before the commencement of any project, resources are assigned to keep things in control and your project management software should facilitate resource management for you. You should know that resource management is surely one of the most difficult parts of a project and when we talk about the resource, we mean equipment, workforce, money, along with the time that goes into the project. If you want to be an effective project manager, then you should know how to manage the resources.
A good project management software will allow you to manage your resources very easily. From organizing and identifying to tracking the resources, your project management software should help you in every aspect of resource management. While choosing a project management software, it becomes imperative to look for resource management tools like attendance reporting, time tracking, inventory management, etc. All these tools will together help you in managing the resources in the best possible way.
Document control
Documentation is another major part of any project and there are many types of documents involved in a single project. Well, managing documents manually is almost near to impossible and this is why your project management software should provide you complete document control. An ideal project management software like Crows Nest software should provide you seamless tracking and creation of project documents like Project Specs, RFIs, RFQs, and POs. In addition to this, the software should also allow you to search the document you need without any hassle easily.
You should also look at whether your project management software has a built-in file explorer or not. A built-in file explorer will allow you to see your project file without the need to go through a long list of files related to your project.
Help and support
Help and support in the case of software services play a key role in the smooth functioning of the software. There is no denying that business software like project management software will always need to be configured for your business if it is going to gain buy-in from your uses. Therefore the software must be built to enable user configuration without required custom programming. Additionally, the software must be backed up with attentive technical user support. Whether it is through phone, email, chat or FAQs, you should get solutions to your queries in the minimal time possible so that you can maintain your business continuity and keep on working on the software.
In order to know how responsive the help and support from the software development company is, you can check the reviews of the original customers.
If you are on your hunt for finding the best project management software, then you should definitely look for all the above-mentioned features. An ideal project management software like Crows Nest software comes equipped with all the aforementioned features.