projectplanning - Sponsored Articles - ERPcommunity.com2024-03-28T22:37:44Zhttps://erpcommunity.com/sponsored-articles/feed/tag/projectplanningThe ultimate task manager guide to help you get more work done, faster.https://erpcommunity.com/sponsored-articles/the-ultimate-task-manager-guide-to-help-you-get-more-work-done-fa2021-04-08T08:22:46.000Z2021-04-08T08:22:46.000ZArthur Gothardhttps://erpcommunity.com/members/ArthurGothard<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8771803901?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><div id="ember708" class="ember-view">
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<p>On an average workday, how many tasks does your team tackle?</p>
<p>If your office (virtual or not) is anything like the average, the number is easily in the double, if not triple digits.</p>
<p>If you want to keep track of the progress of multiple projects and critical business processes, email, spreadsheets etc., pen and paper just isn’t going to work.</p>
<p>The good news is that there are much simpler, more accessible systems for keeping work organized. With a dedicated task manager system, you can manage all team projects and workflows much more efficiently.</p>
<p>In this article, we’ll cover what a task management platform is, how you can choose the right one, and how to speed up your workflows with automations and integrations.</p>
<p><strong>What is a </strong><a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank"><strong>task manager platform?</strong></a></p>
<p>A task manager or management platform is a software application that makes the process of outlining, assigning, monitoring, and evaluating work items easier.</p>
<p>With a task manager, there’s no need to email each individual employee about their tasks. Everyone can see what they should be doing in one shared platform, in real-time.</p>
<p>Managers also get a much better overview of the real project status, with color-coded task statuses, priority rankings, and flexible task groups.</p>
<p>In essence, it’s a platform to help your team get more work done.</p>
<p><strong>How to find the right task manager software for your company?</strong></p>
<p>With 272+ different software options out there, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed.</p>
<p>But the right option for your company is out there. To find it, start with the following:</p>
<p><strong>1. Consider your workflow</strong></p>
<p>Do you have a complex workflow with both internal and external reviews of wireframes, prototypes, and finished designs or products?</p>
<p>In that case, you need a flexible platform that can be easily customized to suit how your team works.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter if the software seems good in every other way. If it fails your team here, it won’t become the foundation for increased productivity and better teamwork.</p>
<p><strong>2. Assess for scalability</strong></p>
<p>If your company is growing fast, or you plan on transitioning more than one team, you need a robust platform that supports multiple teams.</p>
<p>Can you add multiple boards and a logical structure for different teams? If your task manager requires everyone to work from the same table, things will get messy.</p>
<p>Imagine if everyone had to spend time sifting through hundreds of unrelated tasks to find what their team was working on.</p>
<p><strong>3. Explore real reviews from similar users</strong></p>
<p>What are the experiences of existing users? Reading real, verified reviews can often highlight the essential advantages and disadvantages of different platforms that will help you choose.</p>
<p>Check confirmed consumer review sites like Capterra and G2 to compare platforms.</p>
<p><strong>4. Find a solution that integrates with tools you already use</strong></p>
<p>Chances are your team already uses a wide variety of other SaaS tools every day. If you add a standalone app to that, it’s not going to help them be more productive.</p>
<p>However, if the project management app integrates with many of those tools, it can become a platform for keeping everything organized and maintained every step of the way.</p>
<p>Instead of having to check separate sites and apps all the time, your team can expedite work and eliminate confusion by referring back to one platform.</p>
<p><strong>5. Assess for ease of use and adoption</strong></p>
<p>If you ask your employees, they’ll probably say that the last thing they need is another tool. If it’s something complicated and hard to learn, it will be difficult to get them onboard. However, if the platform or app you choose is easy to learn and use will make a huge difference for team adoption.</p>
<p>A straightforward platform that makes their life easier will have a high adoption rate all on its own.</p>
<p><strong>6. Check what kind of training and support it offers</strong></p>
<p>The final consideration is understanding how much training and support your team will require to work with the platform. Does the platform offer onboarding videos, webinars, and an easy-to-browse knowledgebase?</p>
<p>Does the application or platform offer technical support for all users?</p>
<p>These are important considerations before making your final choice.</p>
<p>If you want a <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">task management platform</a> that can take your team to the next level, you’ll want to make sure your tool of choice can also tackle these 5 automations.</p>
<p><strong>5 smart task management automations to boost productivity</strong></p>
<p>The average office worker spends over 3 hours every day on tasks that could have been easily automated. Yuck.</p>
<p>These range from simple data entry, like copying data from one application to another, to manually making changes on each platform.</p>
<p>A smart task manager platform includes automations that enable it to basically run itself, and save your team valuable time. Here’s how monday.com saves teams valuable time by enabling speed with automation.</p>
<p><strong>1. Automatically assign tasks to another user based on status change</strong></p>
<p>With <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">monday.com’s</a> automations, you can use status changes to assign tasks, notify someone, or create a new task item.</p>
<p>You can also set tasks to get deleted automatically when their status changes to something. For example, “final upload completed” or “accepted by client” could be used here.</p>
<p><strong>2. Automatically create new time-based items every week or month</strong></p>
<p>If you have a weekly workflow that includes repetitive tasks, you can set up automations that perform these tasks for you.</p>
<p>You can also automatically assign tasks to the right team or person.</p>
<p>For example, if you have weekly goals for sales calls or a number of A/B tests, it makes sense to auto-create new task cards.</p>
<p><strong>3. Automatically notify managers when due dates are passed (and the task is still in progress)</strong></p>
<p>Even with dashboards and reports that offer an overview of projects and tasks, your managers won’t catch every problem.</p>
<p>That’s why managers must get notified of potential bottlenecks or delays as early as possible. Then they can step in and allocate more resources to the task to make sure it gets resolved quickly.</p>
<p>If you set due dates or even just benchmarking dates, you can use that to set up smart notifications.</p>
<p>You can also use the status as a qualifier. For example, if the task is still “in progress” or “working on it” at the due date, alert someone. If it’s in review, don’t.</p>
<p><strong>4. Automatically track work hours based on status changes</strong></p>
<p>If you use timesheets and rely on time tracking for every new task, you can make that easier with <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">monday.com.</a></p>
<p>One option is to set up automations for starting and stopping time tracking based on the status.</p>
<p>For example, if the status is “working on it,” you can start time tracking and then stop it when it changes.</p>
<p><strong>5. Scheduling: automatically set a task’s due dates after its dependent tasks are complete</strong></p>
<p>If you plan complex projects that include task dependencies, manually scheduling them correctly can be difficult.</p>
<p>With <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">monday.com,</a> you can set rules in the task manager to automatically move dependent tasks after their parent task in the timeline.</p>
<p>This rule also helps you avoid human errors when scheduling tasks.</p>
<p>If you’re still using an inefficient system to manage your tasks and projects, there’s no better time to change that than <em>right now</em>.</p>
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<div class="reader-flag-content__wrapper mb4 clear-both"> </div></div>How to write a killer project plan in 6 simple steps.https://erpcommunity.com/sponsored-articles/how-to-write-a-killer-project-plan-in-6-simple-steps2021-04-04T06:25:53.000Z2021-04-04T06:25:53.000ZArthur Gothardhttps://erpcommunity.com/members/ArthurGothard<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8754110691?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><div id="ember60" class="ember-view">
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<p>Here’s the thing about project plans—they won’t necessarily stop things from going awry.</p>
<p>Even the most well-documented project plan can fall flat. All it takes is a bad stroke of luck or an unforeseen crisis and you’re blown off course.</p>
<p>So why write project plans at all?</p>
<p><strong>It’s simple: the real value of a project plan lies in the ability to spot high-level deviations as they occur. </strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong>By having a Project Plan in place, you’ll be able to recognize and respond to unplanned changes before they get out of hand.</p>
<p>Not only that, but a well-written project plan sets project expectations. That way you, your customers, your team, and any other key stakeholders are on the same page—literally.</p>
<p>Need help getting started? Follow this step-by-step guide on how to write a project plan and the best <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">project management tools</a> to use to make each stage of the process simpler.</p>
<p>First off, don’t confuse your project plan with your project schedule. Your schedule is only one aspect of your plan.</p>
<p>Your project plan is a formal document that outlines the whole project. It’s like a Sherpa leading your project up a mountain – it shows you where to go and who’s in control.</p>
<p>A project plan will set out the purpose of your project along with the milestones to reach that project objective. It should cover the resources you’ll use, the timescales you plan to stick to, and the deliverables at each stage.</p>
<p><strong>In short, your project plan defines, organizes, prioritizes, and assigns activities and resources throughout your project lifetime.</strong></p>
<p>For those looking to implement more agile <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">Project Management </a>frameworks, a project plan might seem a little rigid at first.</p>
<p><strong>It doesn’t have to be, it’s just there to work as a guide to keep you on track.</strong></p>
<p>Over of all projects experience scope creep. This is where the team ends up doing more work than originally planned.</p>
<p>Basically, by outlining your expectations and intentions for project goals, timescales, and budgets, you can pinpoint the moments when these things start to go awry.</p>
<p>Look, 50% of projects aren’t completed on time, and 45% of projects are over budget.</p>
<p><strong>A project plan can help to curtail wily overspending and late turnaround by identifying these issues early.</strong></p>
<p><strong>How to create a project plan easily.</strong></p>
<p>There are no hard-and-fast rules for a project plan. It can be as simple or as complex as suits you.</p>
<p>Some organizations just create a simple project plan on a whiteboard or briefly cover what’s what on 1–2 pages. Others go into every detail about how the project will be executed.</p>
<p>If you’re looking to create a comprehensive project plan that covers all angles, answer these 6 questions:</p>
<h3>1. Should you start with an executive summary?</h3>
<p>The executive summary goes at the beginning of your <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">project plan </a>to summarize everything in the document.</p>
<p>While it goes first, it’s a wise idea to write it <strong>last</strong> as you’ll be pulling out the main points from the rest of your plan.</p>
<p><strong>It should be no longer than a page, offering a brief overview of:</strong></p>
<p>· The project goal</p>
<p>· Your chosen project methodology/framework</p>
<p>· The final deliverables and acceptance criteria</p>
<p>· Key scope risks and countermeasures</p>
<p>· Summary of milestones</p>
<p>· An overview of the project timeline and schedule-based risks</p>
<p>· Resource and spending estimates</p>
<p>The summary serves as a snapshot of your project.</p>
<p>For stakeholders who aren’t actively involved in the mechanics of the project, they can get an understanding of how it will run easily.</p>
<p>For project managers, the executive summary serves as a quick reminder of the key project goal, scope, expectations, and limitations.</p>
<p>Since a third of projects don’t meet their original goals, it’s important that project managers review the project plan regularly to stay on track or monitor changes.</p>
<p>The executive summary helps them do this quickly without having to read everything all over again.</p>
<h3>2. What’s the scope of the project?</h3>
<p>There are few things worse than starting on a project only for it to balloon.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">project scope</a> sets boundaries. It defines when the project starts and finishes, along with the expectations for deliverables.</p>
<p>You want to make sure everyone involved is on the same page about what’s included within the project’s remit and what isn’t.</p>
<p>You’ll also need to dive into the acceptance criteria for deliverables. This means specifying who approves deliverables and what the process is for these approvals.</p>
<p><strong>Always remember to cover your back. </strong></p>
<p>Outline the potential risks associated with meeting these expectations and give countermeasures to mitigate these risks. Define exactly who’s accountable for tracking these risks.</p>
<p>Organizations complain that half of all their projects experience scope creep, yet only 27% of organizations go to the effort of creating a scoping document every time.</p>
<p><strong>Learn from these failures</strong>—create a comprehensive project scope for <em>every</em> project.</p>
<h3>3. How will you structure your project?</h3>
<p>The way you structure your project will depend on the framework you’re using to guide your project.</p>
<p>For example, if you’re using the waterfall framework, you’ll be planning everything in advance.</p>
<p>You’ll move through all the stages of development sequentially — initiation, requirement gathering and analysis, design, implementation, testing, and maintenance.</p>
<p>Roles are clearly defined, with each team member stepping in to complete their specialist task at the right phase.</p>
<p>Each phase has a clear start and end date and all the tasks for that phase are completed in one go.</p>
<p>Task delivery is constantly reprioritized with each piece of new information, so you won’t need definite deadlines for each phase. Rather, you may just plan how to monitor and control the volume of work-in-progress.</p>
<p>Whichever framework you choose, this section of your project plan should show how you plan to organize and assign deliverables and accountability.</p>
<p>Remember that the centralization of project structures can negatively impact success, so try to work out ways that teams can work autonomously.</p>
<p>It’s not good to have one approver who’s accountable for everything — it will bottleneck your processes.</p>
<p>Equally, when teams share knowledge with each other, projects are more successful. Make a note of the communication structures you’ll use to encourage collaboration.</p>
<h3>4. What resources do you have available?</h3>
<p>Define the resources you have available for this project:</p>
<p>· Team</p>
<p>· Time</p>
<p>· Budget</p>
<p>· Technology</p>
<p>· Physical resources</p>
<p>You need to be precise when you’re assessing what you’ll need, otherwise you’re baking a cake with all the wrong ingredients.</p>
<p>Take your team, for example.</p>
<p>When teams have the right highly-skilled people, projects are 30% more likely to succeed. Yet, a third of people don’t believe their teams have all the right skills for the project—a recipe for failure.</p>
<p>It’s no good saying you can make do with 2 software developers, only to realize you’ll miss every deadline because they’re overloaded. If you want to effectively allocate your resources to meet expectations, you’ll need to be realistic about resource limitations.</p>
<p>This may, for example, mean adjusting timescales if you’re short on staff or increasing your budget if you need more specialist equipment.</p>
<h3>5. What does your timeline look like?</h3>
<p><strong>Organizations that implement time frames into project plans are 52% more likely to succeed. Despite this, 80% of projects don’t always set baseline schedules. That’s probably why 43% of organizations say they rarely or never complete successful projects on time.</strong></p>
<p>In this sense, it’s wise to add a <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">project schedule section</a> to your project plan. This part of your plan should set expectations on when you’ll deliver and how you’ll stick to your project timeline.</p>
<p>Your project schedule will look a little different depending on which framework you choose.</p>
<p>The tasks that you have a ‘Work in Progress’ (WIP) will depend on your team’s capacity. In this section, you should set your maximum number of WIPs you can have in each column at each time.</p>
<p>For example, say it’s a blog-writing project. You might have 10 writers but only 2 editors. You’ll need to limit how many blogs get passed through to editors so they don’t get overwhelmed.</p>
<p>Whichever framework you’re working with you’ll want to add a <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">schedule risk management section</a>. Explain the risks that might delay deliverables or create bottlenecks. Make sure you outline contingency plans to mitigate these risks.</p>
<h3>6. How will you manage changes?</h3>
<p>With a robust project plan in place, what could possibly go wrong?</p>
<p>Answer? <strong>Loads.</strong></p>
<p>Ever heard of a ‘black swan event’? It’s an unexpected event with a huge (usually negative) impact. While hindsight is 20:20, you can’t always see every obstacle or diversion ahead of time.</p>
<p>That’s why organizations put change control in their top three project challenges. If you don’t solidify a change<a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank"> management plan</a>, your team will be clueless on what to do when unplanned change hits.</p>
<p>A dynamic change management plan will outline the steps to follow and the person to turn to when unforeseen changes occur.</p>
<p>That way, your project is far more nimble—it’s able to bend without breaking.</p>
<p>5 project planning templates to help you write a good project plan</p>
<p>It’s not easy to write a project plan straight off the bat—you’re going to need to plan your plan.</p>
<p>These tools are a lifesaver when it comes to visualizing each section. Try these 5 project plan templates to make your project planning process a little more straightforward.</p>
<h3>1. Structure your project</h3>
<p>Looking for a general project plan template? This <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">Project Overview Dashboard</a> is particularly helpful if you’re using the Waterfall framework.</p>
<p>Using this highly visual template by monday.com, you can structure your subprojects by set time periods and allocate accountable personnel to each phase.</p>
<p>Prioritize each project and add a timeline to show when deliverables are expected.</p>
<h3>2. Plan out your resources</h3>
<p>Resource management is a breeze with easy to use templates – <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">take a FREE trial here.</a></p>
<p>Use the dashboard to organize all your project resources—from your technological tools to your specialist staff members.</p>
<p>You can allocate resources to individuals and tack on timescales so your staff knows what resources they’re responsible for in which phase.</p>
<p>Attach a location so that teams know where to hand over resources as they transition from one phase to the next.</p>
<p>During project execution, you’ll be able to track project resources so nothing goes AWOL.</p>
<h3>3. Calculate your project budget</h3>
<p>It’s far easier to plan a budget when you can see all your costs in one place.</p>
<p>That’s why a <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">Project Cost Management Template</a> is so incredibly handy…</p>
<p>Add each subproject and plan out projected costs, allocating totals to each department. You can use the document to estimate the budget you’ll need and to record your approved project budget.</p>
<h3>4. Sketch out your project schedule</h3>
<p>Plan out your schedules with a <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">Project Timeline Template.</a></p>
<p>While this dashboard isn’t really suitable if you’re working with the Kanban framework, it’s ideal for those operating under Waterfall or Scrum frameworks.</p>
<p>For Waterfall projects, add in your milestones, attach a timeline, and allocate a set number of work days to complete the tasks for each milestone.</p>
<p>Tag in the team leader for each phase so project managers know which milestones they’re responsible for.</p>
<p>During project execution, teams can use the status bar to track progress. They can also add updates to each milestone by clicking on each item, which encourages inter- team collaboration.</p>
<p>For Scrum projects, you can organize the dashboard by Sprints, adding in the specific tasks as they’re decided.</p>
<h3>5. Work out potential project risks</h3>
<p>Visualize all your project scope and schedule risks with a <a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank">Program Risk Register Template</a>. There’s nothing better than a vivid color-coding system to highlight which items are a serious risky business. Use color-coded status bars to illustrate risk status, risk probability, and risk impact for your project scope and schedule.</p>
<p>You can even categorize risks, add a risk owner, and suggest mitigation strategies. That way other project team members know what to do if these risks start to blossom into real glitches.</p>
<h2>Optimize your project management plan instantly</h2>
<p>Got a better idea of how to structure your project plan? It’s time to start fleshing out this skeleton structure with the details of your own projects.</p>
<p>Remember, it’s far easier to write the executive summary at the end, once you know the points you need to summarize. Don’t try to write it first — you’ll only find yourself stuck on the first page of your project plan.</p>
<p>Equally, don’t struggle planning your project plan. Take a FREE trial of<a href="https://mondaycom.grsm.io/arthurgothard5371" target="_blank"> Monday.com</a> pre-built planning templates to help you break down each section of the plan as you go.</p>
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