Project Management Software: frequently asked project management software questions
I wanted to answer some of the questions that people often have about project management software.
What are the "projects" that project management software tackles?
Because people have various conceptions of the term "project," it makes sense to start off with a common definition. A project is an activity that has a defined start and a defined finish, produces some measurable result, and requires time, money, and resources to reach completion. Any work that resembles this definition can be better managed with project management software.
What is project management?
Although the term management often refers to loosely defined qualitative activities, the term project management actually refers to a rather specific set up four activities related to making sure that you successfully complete a project:
1. Organizing and showing the individual pieces making up a project.
2. Showing the timing of tasks: both the time required to complete tasks and the time tasks start and stop.
3. Identifying and allocating the resources needed to complete a project.
4. Comparing he planned outcome with the actual outcome. Comparisons are usually made in three areas: time spent, resources required, and money spent.
I talk in more detail about the four project management activities on the Project Management Software ABCs web page. The main thing to understand is that project management software automates this work by performing the many calculations required.
How does project management software work?
Project management software, as noted in the previous paragraph, automates the four project management activities. Essentially project management software supplies a set of tools for creating project schedules. Project management software also provides project team managers and other team members with other tools and numerous reports that can be used to view project information in different ways, analyze the project, track the project's progress, and communicate about the project with other people.
Is project management software overkill for simple projects?
No, I don't think so. Project managment software is easy to use for simple projects
One neat thing about using project management software for simple projects is that simple projects are good "first projects" for new users of project management software. By using project management software for simple projects in the beginning, you can pretty easily become productive and effective with the project management software. Later,if he or she wants, more complex projects can be tackled using the project management software.
Is project management software difficult to learn or use?
If you learn the mechanics and language of project management software--you can get most of this information from the Project Management Software web site--you won't have trouble. However, I should caution you that implementing sophisticated project management concepts with project management software can be a little tricky at times. For example, using project management software for resource leveling can be tricky to get working right. And project management software that allows you to assign probability values to task durations can be tough to work with, too.
That said, however, most people should find project management software relatively easy to use--and a real lifesaver.
How costly is project management software?
Project management software is not particularly costly. Desktop project management software costs start at a few hundred dollars.
Where can I get more information about project management software?