Recently, one of my clients had asked me to hold on to my work for a couple of days. He wanted to make some changes to the work. He emailed me saying that he would let me know when to resume the work. For almost two weeks there was no mail from him. I decided to send him an email to find out the status of the work. My email was a reminder to him. It had slipped his mind that he had to send me the changes. It could be because I am at a remote location and my client has a habit of letting the in-house team know about the changes by simply sticking post-it notes on their monitors/desktops. If he had a project management application in place, maybe this would have been averted.
It is a popular myth that only big businesses need project management apps and tools. Just about any business can benefit by using project management techniques and tools. The entry barrier is especially low when the tool is free and easy-to-use – like Apptivo’s Projects App.
Project Management ≠ Administrative Overload
Most entrepreneurs feel that their business is small and they do not need the administrative load of project management. However, it become apparent that some kind of standardized process is required every time the entrepreneur needs to conduct a risk assessment, business expansion, sales campaign, or recruitment. A project management tools can quickly standardize the process. The process can be tweaked with every iteration till it is optimal.
Odds of Achieving Success
Although project planning app cannot assure you of success, it will definitely empower you with knowledge so that you can avoid some of the common obstacles and don’t make fundamental business mistakes. For example, manually delegating orders down the hierarchy can lead to distortion in communication. However, a project management tool will help retain the essence of the message.
Want a FREE Project Management tool? Check out Apptivo’s Project Management
You can afford it
Another misconception is that cloud project management are prohibitively expensive. However, small business can implement project management know-how with minimum capital investment. Did you know that there are either inexpensive or free project management applications available on the internet? Check out Apptivo’s Projects App (free project software), it is free and seamlessly connects with other apps on the cloud, so that you can manage and complete your entire project on the web.
Fail to plan = plan to fail
Doing things without analyzing the situation is a sure-fire away of spending precious time and resources doing them again. Through project management one can judge whether a certain activity will yield adequate returns. Also it will help you to move rapidly in a systematic and effective manner. Check out the Project Management Checklist for Small Businesses for more info.
Learn on the go
The current online project management system offer ease of use and minimal learning curves. Most business owners already know what they need to complete the project effectively, the project management systems helps them clarify their goals and next steps.
Collaborate Effectively
Most projects require inputs from different team members. A project management tool allows team members to see progress, share documents, sign off on milestones and collaborate in hundred other ways.
Time spent implementing Project Management techniques is time well spent
Would you prefer to have a flawless end product with little more investment of time or a product full of flaws delivered in a shorter time span? Sure, you would go for the first. Doing things well the first time is imperative and project management processes ensure that.
Test Drive Apptivo’s Projects App and see if it fits your organizations needs.
