ProjExc - Project Management Consultants

Project Management Software - beware the coach before the horses

There are some excellent project management tools out there, both in the traditional licenced applications space and in the already crowded Project Management software as a service (SaaS) or 'cloud applications' arena.

At ProjExc Project Management Consultants we are often asked what is the best tool.  As is often the case this little question deserves a bigger answer. We have experienced that it is critically important to first define how project management is (or should be) done in a business.  At that stage it is appropriate to search the market for the right tool to support what makes the business special and successful. Sadly all too often we are invited in after the business has already been committed to buying the tool, despite what it needs to do not having been identified.

We are constantly watching what is new on the market, and a new SaaS application has come to our attention this week.  Project Minder from IRIS looks good.  It has a nice interface, we like the look of the GANTT chart (this matters to a lot of people) and applaud their attention has also considered resource utilisation.  Sadly to the best of our abilities we have not yet found the pricing on the website (without unleashing their sales team), and in our experience that means that there is some bad news to hide.

As mentioned it is launching in a busy space occupied by the likes of BaseCamp, Huddle, Liquid Planner, Pelotonics, Wizehive, Wrike, and a whole lot more.  Many of these are going through significant updates at present so in the next few months there may be a lot more option open to those who want to use some straightforward tools to improve the success of their projects.  We are working though an article for our Project Management Portal reviewing many of these tools in more detail, and if you would like us to include your favourite tool, do drop us a line with some details.

If you are looking at systemising your project management in order to improve visibility and success rates, then call us now on 0845 527 9971 and arrange a free, no obligation, discussion on what you need and how best you might achieve it in the most cost effective way.

Project Management Tools and Software

We have now started compiling the latest update for our PM Tools and Software Listing for our Project Management Portal. 

If you use something and would like to tell us a little about it, we'd love to hear from you.  Ideally please provide a rating (1-5, 1 poor, 5 amazing).  Similarly, if you provide a tool/service/template for project management, do let us know.  If we think it's worth listing we'll take a look and may provide a rating and link.

We're open to your suggestions on any project management tools - software, SaaS, cloud applications, collaboration tools, templates, and more.

Feel free to comment on this blog, or drop us an email: Email ProjExc

Free Online Gantt Chart Tool

For clients who occasionally need to create GANTT Charts or project timelines, investment in a project planning tool such as MS Project or Merlin just isn’t appropriate.

We’ve recently been testing a free Software as a Service (SaaS) tool which appears to do the trick, and quite nicely too.  What’s more it’s possible to save, and even import/export with Microsoft Project.  Obviously it’s a stripped down functionality compared to the commercially available tools, but still a very useful tool to those not managing projects themselves.

Give it a try, and do let us know how you get on.  www.gantter.com

New Project Management and Task Management Applications

I notice that FranklinCovey have announced their release of the new project management and task management tools ProjectsPlus™ for Microsoft® Outlook and TasksPlus™ for Microsoft® Outlook®, two applications created "to significantly increase users' productivity within Microsoft Outlook". Further evidence that Project Management is becoming THE business profession for the 21^st Century?

We'll be looking at these new tools at ProjExc, and will of course post on this blog our thoughts and observations. In the mean time we would appreciate comments from anyone who has tried them.

Project Excellence – elements for success

Project Excellence is increasingly becoming the key to business success. We often work with our clients on a "three-legged stool" model of project excellence and how to keep the balance right for business projects:

Element 1 – Processes
The first of the 3 elements of project excellence (and so business success) is getting the process or methodology right. Balance is critical. Too simple and there is no benefit, too complex and no-one can follow it.

Element 2 - Tools
The second of the 3 elements is equipping project managers with appropriate tools and templates. We consider the scope of these tools, their purpose and how to avoid common pitfalls (like buying an expensive tool that doesn't fit the business process). On our PM Portal we list many of the PM tools which we commonly come across in our consultancy work.

Element 3 - People (Usually Leadership)
Finally, the people angle. It is imperative that project managers are given the skills appropriate to achieving success. It sounds simple but this critical element is all too often overlooked. In addition to the usual "hard" project management skills (planning, estimating, reporting, risk management, quality management, ....) we find that leadership and client relationship management are an increasingly critical element in the competence toolkit.

If you'd like to know more about how ProjExc can help sort the elements out for your organisation call us for a free, no obligation chat on 0121 250 3534, or visit our website to find out more.

Agile Project Management ScrumWorks Pro 3.0 released

Danube Technologies has recently released the latest version of their ScrumWorks Pro. ScrumWorks Pro is an Agile Project Management tool that helps track team progress through individual iterations and whole releases of software development. General aesthetic and usability improvements are key to the new release, including: New Product Creation Wizard; Docking Framework; Tabbed Editing; Split Feature; Sprint Detail View;

Danube believe that the most important change is their support for MySQL, Enterprise customers wanting to scale to larger deployments needed more than an embedded database.

ScrumWorks Pro provides both a Desktop and Web client - the desktop is full featured while the web client provides a view of the sprint for updating task status and estimates. The server component will run on Windows XP/Vista/2003 Server, Mac OS X 10.4.2+, and Linux, while the desktop client supports: Windows XP/Vista, Mac OS X 10.4.2+, and Linux KDE.

New Free Project Management Templates

At ProjExc we offer a number of free Project Management Templates for clients and the broader project management community alike. We've just added a few more to the ever growing list on the ProjExc Project Management Portal at www.projexc.info. This time we've added registers for Risks, Actions and Issues in both xlsx and pdf format. Why do we give these valuable resources for free? Well, if you like the templates, we'd like you to tell your colleagues where you got them. It's as simple as that. If you need help in using or implementing these or many of the other tools and templates for project management that we have at our disposal, contact us via our business website at www.projexc.com.

Liquid Planner

We're currently trialling a new on-line tool which has captured our interest.

Currently available as a free beta (they haven't yet announced a release date for the final version), LiquidPlanner provides a means of organizing, assigning, and tracking tasks. It also includes tools that are designed to help project managers keep everyone on deadline.

Because LiquidPlanner is web-based (a major trend that we observed in PM Tools at the recent Project Challenge), there's no software to download, which makes it quick and easy to set up. It is also easy to use, whether you're trying out collaboration software for the first time or making a transition to it from a product such as Microsoft Project. It offers many of the same features as that latter application, but goes the extra mile in offering a "probabilistic scheduling" feature that allows for more-realistic task scheduling.

We'll keep this blog posted with how we get on, but we'd also really appreciate your thoughts on the tool if you've used it.

IT Project Failures – Reduce them using PPM?

Michael Krigsman has written an interesting article on the ZDNET blog suggesting that while Project Portfolio Management (PPM) tools can be useful, they are not the answer on their own. He suggests that from the perspective of IT failures, PPM brings discipline to four key areas:

• Standardizing the investment criteria used to evaluate project funding.
• Making project-related investments explicit.
• Prioritizing projects across the enterprise.
• Providing a way to measure project success, relative to organizational investment policies.

Looking for Project Management Tools – where do you start?

At ProjExc we are often asked to provide Project Management tools. This is one question where we answer "no", but for a good reason.

There is no, "one size fits all solution". We believe that it is crucial to get the process right for the organisation first, and then to go to the market for the best solution, which will be different depending on needs, legacy systems, budget, etc. Each time we trawl the market there is a huge array of tools out there, and they are all evolving quickly, with new entrants joining the market place on what feels like a daily basis. We continue to maintain our position of independence from the tool suppliers, and support our client in the specification, procurement and integration process for appropriate tools, as they need.

There is a helpful resource available on the excellent website of the PM Today Magazine. If you're seeking some project management software for the 1^st time, this could be a good place to start, but be aware that there are many other excellent tools out there which are not included in the list. We're compiling a list of our own at the moment, which we hope to add to the ProjExc PM Portal website soon.