Technology plays a vital role in managing projects. There are different kinds of tools and software that assists project managers throughout all phases of the project management process. Let us discuss a software called Microsoft Project as one of the tool that assist project managers.
Microsoft Project
A few years back, Ms. Project was free. I enjoyed
using it because it was user friendly and convenient. Ms. Project could easily
integrate with outlook and hence make it easier to keep traction of tasks that
are to be completed. I personally depend a lot on my outlook calendar so
it was an added advantage for me to have everything aligned. Software advice
when ranking the ten most popular project Management Software products, ranked
Microsoft Project as the number 1 project management tool.
Features
Project scope, timelines/schedules and budget are key in managing a successful project. A project management tool should be able to assist a project manager keep traction of the timelines and budget aspects. Once you have the deliverables/key milestones in place, Microsoft Project Management provides the necessary help that any project manager would require such as: -
- · Ability to build a project plan with resources,
- · A default view that shows the task entry information,
- · A Gantt chat that shows all resources that are assigned to a task
There other aspect that is worth mentioning include
the ability to enter and track costs associated with tasks and resources.
Throughout this course, we were exposed to different ways to capture project
information, for example allocated costs versus actual costs incurred. With Microsoft Project, you can feed in all that cost information for specific tasks and
resources. As you allocate the costs, Microsoft Project would calculate based on
resources allocated and as the project is executed. It is much easier to
determine current project costs. A down side to it is the fact that a project
manager is the one who feels in the information and Microsoft Project will only
produce reports based on what you enter. It is critical that changes and
adjustment are made regularly to ensure the reports generated are accurate. The
generated reports can then be exported to Ms. Excel and easily used by other
team members.
Reference
O'Loughlin, E. (2016, July 01). 10
Most Popular Project Management Software Products. Retrieved March 02, 2017,
from http://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/most-popular-project-management-software/
