Many companies rely on Project Management Offices to centralize management activities. Just as companies have to modify some of their processes and workflows to get used to working on the web, offices must be at the forefront of those modifications to manage the company’s projects so that they successfully reach the goals and objectives of the Projects.
Let’s break down a few points if you’re trying to create an online employee-friendly project management office to organize and manage geographically dispersed employees, clients, and partners:
Share project data securely online. Project data exchange has been an ongoing issue in project management tools; it becomes more important as teams leave the boundaries of office compartments. The office needs to become more sophisticated communicators of project status data (including schedules, tasks, milestones, and customer requirements) and the team at all levels of the project, from the “employee bee” to the executive stakeholder. The goal is for information to be clear, logical, and understandable to everyone, which means views of project data can’t always be shared simply by using a Gantt chart.
Move communications out of the email inbox. It is proving to be a key feature for online collaboration software. While email is a common and most widely used form of communication, it does not serve as a repository for project documents. Even if you can’t convince your team to use online collaboration tools, you encourage them to keep documents online in one centrally accessible place. Email notification or thread reply are the best examples to incorporate email feature in project management software.
Implement new project management tools. Microsoft Office and spreadsheets are common project system tools, but are best suited for project teams working under the same roof or compartment. The web is the future of online project management tools: Online project services are examples of web-based tools that are affordable, powerful, easy to use, and help promote team collaboration.
Rearrange meetings. Meetings are always unfavorable to production and are presented to suggest that meetings will have to change in shape, priority, format and technology. Online project collaboration software provides a better alternative to time-consuming and budget-intensive meetings, such as online chat for real-time meetings, plus tools to record those meetings for later reference.
Since Office entered a new era of online web working, the old way must give way to new tools, processes, and work styles to ensure team success and timely project delivery.
Remember that corporate culture, not technology, drives online collaboration, and web project management software is in a position to ensure that geographically dispersed project teams have the framework, leadership, and tools they need in an environment of overall work.
What are your tips for building a web worker-friendly project management office? Share them below.