Technology leaders know that there’s no dearth of project management solutions, out there in the market. But for a new technology leader, looking out for solutions, it may get overwhelming given the excessive variety available.
It may be a time-consuming affair for a new technology leader to go through all the advantages and disadvantages of various solutions and then finalize. For someone who is not experienced, the final decision may still carry a tinge of uncertainty. After all, only a few solutions offer customization capability. Hence it is recommended that one harps on the wisdom of seasoned leaders and makes a wise choice.
Isaac Newton said, “If I have seen further than anybody else, it’s because I am standing on the shoulders of giants”.
Ain’t it true in this case as well?
After a decent amount of leadership interactions in the lockdowns, we have curated these project management tips which new technology leaders and project managers will find extremely useful.
Please find the tips below
Advanced project management tools are way more collaborative and automation equipped
After being in the business, for more than a decade – here is what technology leaders/stakeholders observed. Project management as a practice has changed a lot in these years. Though the PMI® fundamentals continue to be useful, lately most teams are adopting agile delivery which is iterative.
If we consider these scenarios, modern project management tools have embedded collaboration features. Atlassian software, Slack, Trello, Monday.com, Asana to name a few.
Project lifecycle processes which might affect your productivity, for example, iterative tasks can be easily automated using professional service automation software. It can surely result in generating better ROI.
With the right project management tool and using the right project management methodology, one can utilize the resources to the best advantage of the project.
“Improve team collaboration and success in project delivery with this Professional Services Automation Tool – Whizible”
Look for data-centric systems
Having one reliable system which keeps everybody well informed is the key. In an organization, lots of data get generated around all the billable and non-billable activities, which must be monitored and evaluated for better project management.
For example, make sure when projects are delayed there is transparency about it. A data-driven system enables all the stakeholders with the single version of the truth throughout the projects and business functions A centralized system helps in data-based decision making. This leads to project success.
Identify urgent vs. important
Project variance is uncertain; we all get it. Especially if you are working in a startup environment.
If you can not assign important and critical tasks on a priority basis you will spend resources on projects which might not generate maximum revenue for your business. To avoid this, one should always go for integrated project management software that lets you help your engineers identify and focus on the ‘important’ tasks.
Use of standalone solutions such as Microsoft Excel or smart spreadsheets for project planning, task creation, and assigning of those tasks to correct resources can lead to siloed data. By gaining insights from effective dashboards a project leader can take informed decisions on prioritizing which projects to focus on for generating more revenue.
“Increase Billable Resource Utilization and Profitability with Whizible”
Remember, Project management is about managing people and their time
Productivity experts suggest that project management is about influencing people to help get done what needs to be done – in the finite and limited time they have.
Project brings together different skills, functional as well as technological. Doing a project plan with just technology people can meet limited success. . It is the functional experts who can predict the real-life scenarios that can go wrong and those that can derail the project.
Forecasting resource demand, tracking their performance, linking it with project portfolio planning are some factors one should consider while shortlisting the best fit of project management tool for any organization.
ALLOCATE THE RIGHT PEOPLE WITH RIGHT SKILLS FROM GLOBAL POOL USING WHIZIBLE TO MAXIMIZE PROFIT FROM PROJECTS
Knowing your organization’s resource capacity and learning from the retrospectives
Do check if the tool is capable of providing the availability of resources by generating dashboards which showcase the resource pool within the organization. Once the project is over, always do the retrospective and update the lessons learned repository. This method will help to take a planned approach to complete the tasks, undertake reviews and grow smarter for the next project.
“Whizible allows capture of lessons learnt, maintenance of the organizational process assets,documentation of retrospectives, updating skills inventory, to name a few”
Communication, weekly meetings, and accessibility
Fluidity in team communication is quintessential as we adopt the remote work environment.- To handle remote work with top-notch efficiency, digital scrum calls or team huddles need to be practiced and this ensures that the project runs smoothly regardless of the externalities.
Weekly or daily meetings are absolutely essential for project management. Having a clear insight on how your billable resources are spending their time will help in re-purposing these as needed.
Facilitate Communication Grounded In Data Using Whizible
Set clear expectations, stick to basics, and maintain one source of insights
By bringing clarity in the scope and deadline the project team members understand the work better. It is commonly agreed that “Too many cooks spoil the broth”, but, at the same time, it is important to have the right stakeholders, well informed to ensure their timely participation and support for the entire project.
Make sure all the departments are sharing a single source of information. Capturing authentic data real-time and publishing the same eliminates understanding gaps, information asymmetry, and data manipulation.
To achieve this, for all our customers Whizible becomes ‘Single Source of Data and Single Version of Truth.
About Whizible – Whizible is a professional services automation platform dedicated to all organizations who offer services in a projectized method.
