In the digital age, there is nothing quite like project management software to keep the work of teams on track. This software provides a constant aerial view of a project. Team members on the ground can zoom out at any time to remind themselves where they need to end up.
Tasks, milestones, assignments, budgets, and timelines are all accounted for and updated as needed. Problems can be solved and goals achieved celebrated along the way.
If you aren’t using this savvy digital tool yet, you probably should be. If you aren’t certain you need it, look for the telltale clues. Here are six sure signs that you need project management software for your team.
1. Leading Your Team Is a Battle
There’s a lot riding on your ability to lead your team, and great project management isn’t easy. You must be the visionary, delegator, mentor, and trendsetter for your team. You walk the line between doing it all and letting your team do the work under your wise guidance.
To lead effectively, you have to know every step of a project and who’s doing what at any given time. You need to see which team members are struggling so you can help them. You must monitor the finer points of the process from beginning to end.
If every project is a fight, it’s probably because you can’t do your job with sticky notes and legal pads. With project management software that tracks every single detail, all you need to do is monitor progress.
2. Your Team Is Rarely, if Ever, in the Same Room
Time was when weekly team meetings would involve everyone sitting around the conference room table. Members would report what they were working on and when they thought they would be finished. Issues that might be delaying progress were discussed and resolved.
That was before a global pandemic forced teams to work from home and before companies started hiring international talent. It was also before the gig economy grew and businesses began using contractors to perform key roles. Zoom alone isn’t enough to keep everyone on the same page.
Technology has enabled far-flung, nontraditional teams to perform at high levels. If your team isn’t under the same roof, project management software can connect them. Missing a meeting will never be an excuse for not knowing what work needs to get done.
3. Your Team Keeps Missing Deadlines
Projects don’t comprise only a launch and a landing. In between are multiple milestones that have to be achieved. If your team can’t ever seem to stick the landing, you need project management software.
This software allows input and tracking of assignments and tasks. Team members share a calendar, so everyone knows who is responsible for meeting specific deadlines. Automated notifications make everyone aware of impending due dates. You can intervene when members are likely to miss a deadline to keep the project on schedule.
You no longer have to hope that team members are doing what they’re supposed to be doing. The software helps you monitor progress so you can be prepared to step in when necessary to prevent serious delays. Deadlines shouldn’t be moving targets; project management software helps hold them in place.
4. Team Members Are Confused About Who’s Doing What
Team projects are a little like relay teams in track and field. A team can have faster runners than every other team. But if they bungle the handoff of the baton, that team will fall behind.
Every member has a crucial role in completing the discrete tasks necessary to achieve the overall goal. But those individual roles can’t be performed in a vacuum. Project management software lists everyone involved in a task so team members can see where they fit in and whom they hand off to.
Smooth transitions are the result of team members knowing their roles and everyone else’s. Software can eliminate role ambiguity and provide the clarity necessary for a true team effort. There is no “I don’t know where I fit in” in “team.”
5. Your Team Can’t Stay on Budget
Effective project management software includes budget details for every step of the process. Moreover, team members all have access to see what those budgets are, line by line. Expectations are set and communicated clearly to every person involved.
Project management software can help an overspending team stay on target. It can also help you as team leader anticipate adjustments to the budget in real time. Teams can watch allocation movement within a project and respond accordingly.
Budgets are set for a reason. Allowing team members to see what their slice of the pie is in relation to everyone else’s is beneficial. This transparency might be what keeps project after project in the black.
6. Your Team Lacks Coordination
Collaboration is an inherent feature of any team project. If your team members seem unable or unwilling to collaborate, it will be apparent in the end product. What should have been a glowing achievement will be a hot mess instead.
Project management software offers the ability to easily share files, customer information, team communications, and more. In fact, the best software solutions encourage collaboration by tearing down information silos. A team member down the line should never be caught off guard by changes made up the line.
Collaboration on a team project shouldn’t be a chore. It should be the status quo. The work of a team, after all, is teamwork.
Heed the Signs
You don’t need to see all six of these signs to know you should consider project management software. Even one sign warrants exploring the available options.
Technology has created some of the challenges of modern-day teamwork, like remote employment and infinite amounts of data. Technology in the form of project management software is also the solution. Heed the signs and use it to make your path and your team’s a far smoother one to walk.
