There are many choices available when it comes to planning a project. To-do style apps are fantastic for organizing private tasks. But a dedicated project management software is needed to organize the workload of an entire team.

That's why it's so essential to choose the right project management tool. The right tool affects the performance of the project and helps the project manager to deliver on the time. It can effectively accomplish or impair  a project.

Why do you need dedicated software for project management?

A project management software assists with each phase of running a project: from planning and scheduling to resource management and cost control to reporting. It also allows communicating and collaborating with teams. Moreover, it generates transparency for stakeholders and members of the group.

Project management software enables project managers to efficiently organize the project from beginning to finish. It equips them to gain a hold on what is supposed to occur during that moment, when it should occur, who and how.

Because project management software enables project managers to centralize all operations linked to job and project in one location, they become more structured and controlled. The correct tools make managing tasks much simpler.

How to choose the right software for project management

Since each project and each team is distinct, there are no one-size-fits-all when it comes to project management tools.

Here are the key things to consider before making a decision.

1) What Are The Needs Of Your Team?

Teams consist of distinct ability sets and job practices, resulting in the need for project management tools with diverse sets of characteristics.

Team size, company nature, and project complexity will influence the sort of project management software you need.

Some teams need only a basic device to assist maintain track of particular duties or lists of assignments. Others (e.g. small business, HR, administrative activities) could profit from extra characteristics such as assigning tasks, monitoring progress and reporting. Companies requiring competent and business-critical PM operations (e.g. system integration or consulting facilities) will need wider functionality including job assignment, resource allocation, budget scheduling and invoicing.

2) What Are Your Business Challenges

Sometimes it is difficult for team leaders to articulate precisely what they need from a project management tool. They won't inform you, "Hey, here in marketing, we need stronger task management and reporting system!" Maybe you need to sit down with your team to chart how the job is being accomplished to find out where the inefficiencies are.

There's a method there? Or are the difficulties resulting from the absence of a cohesive system that everyone knows and follows? Do members of the group understand where to search for data or who to go for issues and help? Is there adequate accountability included in the method?

You can describe the particular project management software characteristics after you know the present problems that can best assist you to streamline your method and boost productivity.

3) What Do You Need From A Project Management Tool?

Make a list of all your team's needed features. Consider what alternative you're going to use for. Need characteristics like customization options, levels of access? Will you use it for planning and scheduling purposes only? Do you need characteristics for reporting? Make a precise inventory in a project management software application that represents everything you need. Besides, verify whether there are any conditions for accordance.

4) Who Is Going To Use That Tool?

Who uses the tool is as important as what it should have features. Are your stakeholders in-house or external? Management of projects in-house could benefit from a less formal approach. If you work with different clients then it is necessary to look professional. It may also be a good idea to estimate the size of the team roughly. Smaller teams may need a simple solution. On the other hand, enterprise software could be a better solution for big teams.

5) What Methodology For Project Management Should Be Consistent With?

There are different approaches to manage a project. Without attempting to modify it, the fresh approach should sustain your present methodology.

Proactive Methodology

According to a proactive methodology, such as the waterfall method, proactive work teams emphasize record keeping and a well-defined workflow in a linear system. This methodology relies on setting dependencies and prioritizing them.

It might sound like design, initiation, evaluation, layout, construction, inspection, execution, and retention in the event of website development.

This methodology enables expectations to be managed easily and ensures that the job is accomplished. Each member of the group operates on a distinct aspect of the project and functions and duties are delineated.

Reactive Methodology

Reactive work teams using methodologies such as (Agile, Scrum or Lean) are more versatile to manage their workflow, but often have little understanding into what's next. Team members often don't understand how much to finish.

Projects are initiated, divided into sprints, and project priorities are evaluated and tasks reassigned at the end of each sprint.

With no strong due dates, as the project grows in reaction to customer feedback or fresh findings, team and breadth could develop over moment. Software development and technical teams most frequently follow this methodology.

6) Do You Need Integration With Third Party Apps And Software

Some project management applications give extensive features including invoicing, communicating, monitoring time and monitoring expenses.

You can take care of all these functions within one software if you choose one of these applications and no longer have to change from software to another for various functions.

Bigger is not necessarily better, though. You may not need such complicated technology at all.

Alternatively, a simpler project management instrument can be selected and applications like Slack for communication, Dropbox for file-sharing or ResourceGuru can be added to schedule particular requirements. You can then use applications such as IFTTT or Zapier to connect these tools and the project management software.

Conclusion

To help everyone function more effectively and become more efficient, a project management alternative chosen with the requirements and processes of your team in mind is crucial.

When selecting your fresh project management software, be careful to suit the different characteristics to the demands of your company and the method of your team so that you can discover a tool that best serves your goals.

During the assessment and test drive cycle, do not overlook to involve your team members so that you can integrate their feedback into your selection method. This will not only assist guarantee that the software meets the requirements of distinct agencies, but also get the buy-in from your team to create a much smoother method of transformation and execution.

Are you looking for an integrated project management tool to help you keep track of projects and stay organized? 

What is Business Process Automation?

Business Process automation refers to the act of using technology to automate repeatable daily tasks. It helps in making work get done faster by routing information to the right individuals, teams and departments at the right times through pre-defined rules and actions. 

Benefits of Business Process Automation

• Workforce Optimization

Manual processes require a lot of time and usually includes a large number of employees doing many repetitive actions to make sure the process is moving properly. Business Process Automation helps you free up your workforce from these repeated actions enabling you to reorganize your organization structure and focus more on creative tasks and innovation.

• Reducing Costs

Business process automation ensures that you can maintain the same output with a reduction in number of employees, thus with BPA you can start focusing more on the quality of your employees instead of the quantity, eventually reducing the overall cost of business operations.

• Reducing Human Errors

No matter how efficient a person is, he/she are always prone to errors and it is impossible to avoid human errors. Automation can limit if not completely remove the possibility of errors in certain stages of  the business process.

• Increased Collaboration

Monitoring all employees in a company and ensuring a proper flow of information is a very difficult task. With BPA you can keep track of all the business processes from one place, make sure all teams are being updated properly, set the right goals and deadlines and ensure your company is running smoothly towards achieving its goals.

• More Insight into the Business

Automating business processes allows you to gain deeper insight into different aspects of your business and allows you to monitor and track the output and changes helping you make better business decisions for the future. 

Some Real Life Examples of Business Process Automation

HR Onboarding

HR onboarding is a tedious job that includes tens if not hundreds of small tasks including setting up contracts, collecting documents, preparing access, providing computers, stationary, access to facilities and more. Handling this in a manual manner is prone to result in a ton of errors every time it is done. Through Business Process Automation you can simply create the process once, assign it’s owners so that whenever there is a new employee joining the company this process will notify each task owner of what they should be doing and when streamlining the entire onboarding phase and improving your employee’s experience.

Accounts Payable

Accounts Payable teams usually rely heavily on manual paper based processes where invoices and copies of contracts are being manually routed between each other. This leads to paper copies being misplaced or delayed on someone’s desk leading to unpaid invoices and upset vendors. Following up on paperwork and answering phone calls from vendors takes up a lot of an employee’s time that can be better spent elsewhere. With Business Process Automation organizations can take their manual accounts payable processes and start tracking all invoices from the moment they are received through the different stages each invoice goes through until it gets to the final cycle helping them reduce errors and boost vendor satisfaction as a result of a faster and more efficient process.

You May Also Like: Best Invoicing Software for Small Businesses in 2019

Customer Support

Any organization that has customer support teams providing support to their customers via email, social or a website know that their support inboxes are always packed with hundreds or thousands of support tickets that they have no way of taking care of them all. With technology advancements the use of AI and Business Process automation allows them to identify specific keywords, find the right resolution for it, send it to a customer service rep for approval before it is communicated the customer who raised the issue accelerating resolution times and increasing your customer’s satisfaction.

Social Media Management 

Social media is one of the most important aspects of building and maintaining your brand’s reputation. That’s why you can’t let just anyone post on your social media channels with getting the green light from all concerned parties. Business Process Automation helps here by building a process that sends any created post in an approval process from the community manager, to the marketing manager to the GM as an example and once approved it will be automatically posted online. 

Final Thoughts

Organizations seeking to be competitive in the market nowadays can’t hide from business process automation. It needs to be a core component in its strategy and operations since it helps in organizational management, helps in making more informed business decisions and increases the output while reducing costs.

Learn how Exceeders can help you automate your business processes and encourage growth of your business. 

In recent years, companies have seen a sharp rise in online shopping numbers.

It is estimated that in 2018 alone, over 2.4 trillion dollars were spent in online retail worldwide – a figure that has almost doubled since 2014. Online shoppers today make up over 47% of the internet population.

What makes e-commerce so appealing?

• Convenience: Why go out to buy something when you can do so from the comfort of your home or office at any time – round the clock?
• Choice: E-commerce opens the doors to more choices. Where ten years ago, consumers were almost limited to what was available locally, today, shoppers can make purchases from halfway across the world
• Price: In many cases, shoppers can find items online cheaper than they are in showrooms and stores as online retailers do not have the burden of showroom costs, on the ground sales, and can save on marketing and advertising
• Assurance: Before making an online purchase, online shoppers can do research, check reviews, and make comparisons to help them decide if the product or service is the right one for them

It is no wonder that with all of these advantages, even businesses are making their purchases online these days.

As a leading IT software and services enterprise market store in the Gulf, we have taken note of online purchasing trends. Five years ago, it was challenging to make a sale without multiple visits to our customers, guiding them through the sales cycle – making them aware of the product or service, telling them about its benefits, and trying to convince them that it is something they should be buying.

Today, we find that so many customers have already done their research – they know what products and services are out there, and they already have the top two or three vendors or service providers shortlisted. They have done 70% of the groundwork required for a successful B2B sale.

How did this happen so quickly? Quite simply, business owners and buying decision-makers are following the same habits they’ve formed when making a consumer purchase – research, compare, and buy. Sales Account Managers and Relationship Managers are now viewed as ‘brand ambassadors’ – promoting a specific vendor or service – as opposed to actual consultants. The consultants and everything customers need to know is now online.

Because of these shifting purchasing trends, it is estimated that this year, 2019, B2B firms will spend more on e-commerce technology to facilitate online purchasing than online retailers do.

This massive investment in ‘online stores,’ complete with comparisons, reviews, and round the clock access to chatbots and digital account managers will undoubtedly impact on the ground sales personnel, who will probably be engaged only later in the sales cycle, and act more as facilitators for customers than actual account managers.

The Gulf region is no different from the rest of the world. Since 2016 to date, we have seen a dramatic increase in customer research hours. Organizations, governmental and private, now dedicate hundreds of hours annually to research IT solutions for their problems. IT managers now approach us asking about a specific product or service that could potentially resolve their issue – they refuse to be limited to what is being sold locally by the handful of service providers and vendors on the ground.

This was the main inspiration behind Exceeders.com. When we launched Exceeders back in 2016, our primary goal was to ensure customers had options. Investing in IT solutions in a growing region like the Gulf should be about having international prospects and the ability to bring in the best possible product, even if it does not exist locally.

Today, Exceeders is also about making IT solutions easy to access, research,  and purchase as we believe that this is the natural future of IT sales. IT decision-makers are also consumers who make their purchases via Amazon, eBay, etc. When you combine that buyer mentality with progressive governments such as the Government of Dubai which has mandated that by 2021, all internal and customer transactions will be digitized to enable a paper-free government for a faster, more convenient, and environmentally friendly experience – where else is there to go but online?