Comparison of Project Management Software

Companies work and think in projects. To manage the numerous projects, there's a need for project management software. The software offers users extensive project management tools. These ensure meaningful task distribution, ongoing controlling, and effective communication between project members. Learn about the benefits of project management software in detail.

These are popular project management tools:

• Trello

• Asana

• Jira

• awork

• monday.com

• Joinpoints

• MOCO

• Notion

• Wrike

• Bitrix24

• Stackfield

Basics of Project Management Software

According to the general definition, a project is a temporary endeavor to create a unique product or service. A project is fundamentally divided into five phases: initiation, planning, execution, control, and closure. A project management software should provide tools for all five project phases to make the work easier and as efficient as possible.

Project Management Approaches:

• Waterfall Method: Tasks are completed one after another before the subsequent project phase is opened. Due to the linear task perspective, it can be difficult to correct errors from previous phases.

• Iterative Method: Project work is done in cycles. After the completion of a project sub-section, an exhaustive check is carried out. Identified errors get resolved. Only then does a new sub-section begin.

• Lean Method: This method aims for effective and resource-saving work. It helps eliminate project tasks at early stages that do not provide added value, thereby increasing productivity.

• Critical Chains: Based on a tried-and-true management philosophy, which focuses on constraints that can jeopardize the success of a project. By identifying the most critical restrictions, companies can prepare to avoid project problems.

• Process-Based Method: Focus on results to realize benefits. This method aims to identify additional optimization possibilities for products or services that offer unanticipated added value during the project work.

After a brief insight into the basics of project management, we now turn our attention to the benefits of project management software. The overview allows for a detailed glimpse into the functions, thereby facilitating the internal coordination and decision-making process.

Project Management Software – Benefits for Companies

One of the main reasons for using project management software is the clear administration of tasks, resources, and costs over time. Besides, the following points speak for its use.

Main advantages of Project Management Software:

• Clear management of parallel running projects.

• Improvement of teamwork due to practical communication tools.

• Intelligent monitoring of the respective project phases based on an easy-to-understand rating system.

• Increases productivity and purposeful work of project staff in the long run.

• Uncovers available resources. Out of this, new possibilities arise.

• First-class design of calendar and project views.

• Meaningful integration of other software components.

By the way, companies have different options available for the implementation of project management software. Best-of-Breed software solutions provide exclusively tools for project management. All-in-One suites offer customers cross-departmental software solutions. Point solutions complement project management tools with functions such as project collaboration or project analysis. Industry-specific software providers direct their offer at certain sectors.

Main Functions of Project Management Software

The following standard functions are included in most project management solutions:

• Tools for project definition: Using the project definition function, the project structure can be defined and determined. After implementing the project structure, project participants can adjust tasks.

• Project plan templates: Project members use templates to create new projects. Project plan templates serve as a starting point for a project. They contain important rules that concern project deadlines, task dependencies, and workflows. They are available for everyone to view.

• Milestones: A project is divided into five phases. Milestones, a bundle of tasks that must be completed within a specified period, are assigned to the phases. For sensible project planning, milestone tools are a must-have in project management software.

• Visualizations: Visualization tools visually represent tasks, deadlines, and milestones. They allow users a drilldown to every level of the project structure to clearly layout activities, costs, productivity, and free resources. They can be integrated into reports with just a few clicks.

• Process and Workflow: These tools define the activities in the respective phases of a project. These functions are flexible to use and can be backed up with approvals.

• Resource Management: Resource management is particularly important as it can significantly impact project costs. Project teams benefit from the ability to distribute resources across multiple activities of a project, allowing them to procure materials in large quantities and save procurement costs. In addition, unavailable resources can be replaced with compatible alternatives.

• Tools for Project Documentation: They serve the administration of documents fundamentally needed for project work. Contracts, work statements, offers, and proposals are stored electronically so that users can easily share them at any time. It's important that a project management solution includes this function.

• Analysis Tools: Reporting, analysis, and dashboards are used by all parties involved in a project. Therefore, it's important that the analysis function is flexibly usable. At the same time, confidential information like private data or financial data should only be shared with authorized users through secure portals and not freely available to all project participants.

Additional Software Solutions for Project Work

Some software providers have already increased their software offer. Other providers offer software functions separately, as add-ons, for their customers to use. This concerns the following types of software:

• Collaboration Software: Collaboration platforms can be used separately from project management software. However, the benefits lie in the system integration, especially for complex projects.

• Document Management Software: File sharing is an important function allowing all parties to access documents. With advanced document management features, users can collaborate in creating and modifying documents. Access to documents should be managed by task areas to restrict access to confidential information.

• Billing and Cost Management Software: they are not always required for project management, but can be very important for complex projects. When multiple parties are involved in a project, it needs to be ensured that the personnel and material resources used are appropriately billed.

• Project Optimization Software: is used to analyze completed projects. The software uncovers bottlenecks and other factors that have had a negative impact on previous projects. There is a huge improvement potential in the analysis of projects, which should by no means remain unused.

• Simulation Software: Through project simulation, scenarios can be created and compared for projects in order to determine the best possible option for a new project. Each scenario describes possibilities for assigning resources and milestones and can also take into account restrictions and bottlenecks. Complex projects benefit from software integration.

• Project Accounting Software: This is a module of accounting. The main advantage of integration is the transparent tracking of project costs and revenues, as project accounting provides important information on the financial performance of each project, which ultimately flows into profit.

• Earned Value Management Software (EVM): Another way to transparently track project performance. EVM helps businesses to estimate project costs, determine and track actual costs, and calculate the earned value of the project. The high-performance software is expensive and therefore more beneficial for businesses with a high volume of projects.

• Risk Management Software: Despite intensive planning and monitoring, projects can be adversely affected by unexpected events such as natural disasters, hacking, or staff changes. With project risk management software, potential horror scenarios can be simulated – a significant learning effect that can positively affect project work.

• Customer Service Software: Is profitably used to ensure compliance with terms and conditions in a customer-project service provider relationship. The customer service department is usually the main point of contact between a company and a customer. It is important for them to be able to respond quickly and efficiently to customer requests. They are also responsible for identifying issues that can jeopardize the relationship with the customer and forward them to project managers.

• HR Software: HR software is an indispensable part for large companies with many employees – also in project management. HR software is needed for the preparation of work plans, compensation models, and compliance with employment law and collective agreements. Since wage costs are a significant part of a company's total costs, they should be clearly and neatly traceable.

• Consulting Software: Project consulting services support companies in further developing their project work. Consultants work with executives and project managers to determine how project work can be sensibly optimized. Through integration, a permanent consulting possibility arises.

• Content Management System Software: Depending on the sector and complexity of the project performance to be provided, project managers need to use marketing tools to communicate correctly with various interest groups and represent their views meaningfully.

• Partner Management Software: Project managers often work with external companies that specialize in business areas for which the company does not have the necessary expertise. For example, companies may need to work with legal advisors to ensure that contracts and other documents comply with regulations. Outsourcing certain tasks to freelancers can also be more advantageous than hiring new employees. In these cases, project managers need to be able to track who they're working with, what they're responsible for, and how they work.

• Process Automation Software: Serves to define team processes in companies with a large number of employees to optimize work. While a project management software contains some functions for workflow management, the tools of a process automation software allow integration into business process management software.

Access Rights and Usage Possibilities in Professional Context

Leading project managers need full access to all features of the software. They create new projects, define goals and tasks, and monitor all phases of a project. They recognize deviations and intervene steeringly in the project. Project managers should also be able to manage access rights for internal and external employees. Employees involved in the project use project management software for updates of their work progress and for communication with internal and external stakeholders. They thus always get a current insight into the project.

External service providers should have limited access. The protection of internal company data is paramount. Customers receive automatic feedback and the possibility of communication with the service provider. They use the function for scheduling and exchanging important project data.

Executives mainly use analysis reports to monitor projects uncomplicatedly. In addition to status reports, the overall effectiveness of project work is of interest. They also benefit from automatic hints when important milestones in the project work of their employees were achieved.

Current Trends Related to Project Management Software

In the future, more and more providers will bundle their features within a multi-cloud. So, alongside the actual functions for project work, there will also be programs for customer management, accounting, or customer support. This leads to cost reduction while simultaneously increasing functionality. As a result, in the future, many smaller businesses will be able to afford the software which ultimately positively affects internal working methods, project work, and team communication.

Another trend relates to the Lean Manufacturing principles developed by Toyota. At its core, it's about conserving resources throughout the entire project. Project managers are encouraged to reduce unnecessary waste in the spirit of environmental protection and sustainability. Other providers focus on virtual project management. Tasks are to be completed in virtual teams to cut internal costs. Virtual teams refer to employees who work remotely at several locations. In this way, a project team of highly qualified employees can be put together regardless of the workplace, who exchange their experiences and perspectives with each other and bundle them for the project.

Possible Problems During the Use of Project Management Software

Problems usually concern the project management tools or the integration of the software. Depending on the size of the company, the requirements for software increase over the years. Individual functions might then no longer be sufficient. It's always annoying when the only solution is an expensive switch to another software provider. Our tip: Evaluate new project management software not only from the current perspective but cast your eyes into the future. Does the software already consist of all necessary tools today? On the other hand, small businesses should ask themselves whether the scope of the software tools is too extensive and consequently too high-priced.

In addition, there's a risk that employees reject the new software. They resort to freely available software or tried-and-tested working methods. As a result, so-called information silos arise. These, in turn, lead to errors in data processing. Again, communication is key! Project staff should be involved in the decision-making process and get the opportunity to test a new software in advance. In this way, possible weaknesses of the software can be uncovered, and problems in use can be avoided much earlier.