The Benefits Of Implementing A Formal Project Tracking System

One of the most stressful work environments is Internet and high tech. High-tech a field where things go wrong constantly. Customers demand immediate resolution to their problems and if they feel neglected in any way, they'll leave for greener pastures. A pressure cooker field like this demands organization and accountability. To compete and succeed you must have project tracking software in place. There are too many details and the consequences are too grave not to have it.

Here are the advantages to running your workplace with product tracking software:

1. You users are all in the system where they work online as a team.

Project System is a collaborative work environment. It's built from the ground up as project tracking software. When projects are managed and tracked in the system, managing workload becomes much easier. This is because the client information and job information is in the system accessible to all team members.

2. Jobs are added and assigned to team members.

One of the biggest problems in project tracking is the constant changing of job assignments. After a client's phone call the nature of the workload may change. Project System is perfect for a dynamic work environment. When changes come in, simply call up the job and add the additional information. The next time a team member accesses the job the updates are in place. This real time project tracking makes adapting to changing conditions easy.

3. Jobs are tied to team members and clients.

One difficultly in project tracking is assembling the information so the team member can go to work. In a manual tracking environment the team member may not know about the client. Even basic information like phone numbers and email addresses may be missing. These things take time a gather. A lack of information can lead to confusion and missed assignments.

In Project Tracking Software the job is tied to the client in a relational database. It takes just one click to get all client information. The team member gets immediate access to phone numbers, addresses, work history, job history, notes, and status regarding the client they are working for. Informing the team member with detailed client information prior to starting the job mode makes the project go easier and faster.

4. Projects are made up of hundreds of individual tasks

As a project manager your team members function like musicians in an orchestra. It's your job to set down the music to get everyone working together. This is done by a job system. The project manager usually has responsibility for carrying out the wishes of the client. This is done by breaking the client's needs down into individual tasks and entering they them in the system.

For example, let's say you've just met with the client. They laid out an ambitious statement of work and a tight deadline. You've got five team members to get the job done.

Come back from the meeting, open project tracking software, and go to work. You're job as the manager is to put all the individual tasks into the system and get them assigned to the most capable person. If you are developing a web presence for example, you may assign one person to write the copy, one person to shoot the video, one person to develop the cover art, and still another person the set up the physical site and email. Now you've got people working together as members of the same team.

5. Project Tracking Software makes individual responsibilities clear

One of the biggest problems facing small business is keeping employees on task. With project tracking software this ambiguity is eliminated. By assigning specific tasks to specific people you are making sure that work is getting done. It is completely possible for everyone to be working hard without any real progress being made. This is because employees will typically do what the want to do (or what the fell they should do) in the absence of any real marching orders.

Project tracking software eliminates this "lack of marching orders" problem. On the contrary, project system makes sure that each employee knows exactly what to do. When a team member logs onto project system, the first screen they see are the tasks they should be doing that day, starting with the first task at the top. Employee subjectivity is eliminated.

There are times when team members will decide to do what THEY feel is important and ignore the top job in their work queue. This is a common occurrence and left unchecked, could bring down an organization. Project tracking software makes is glaringly obvious when a team member is not doing their job. Project system gives you the tools to deal with this rogue behavior and get your project back on track.

6. Project tracking software eliminates dropped balls

Project managers have lots of balls in the air. Project tracking software allows you to keep ten times as many balls in the air and not drop a single one. When was the last time a client called in for status and you didn't know what to say? Things move fast in business. Jobs come in. Details are flying all around. You cannot manage a work environment by winging it off the top of your head. By the time you're at the end of the day, you've forgotten 80 percent of what went on.

Project tracking software gives you a formal system to enter these details as they come up. I'm not saying do them as the come up. I'm saying, just get the details entered and don't worry about doing the job until later.

When things calm down you can review the jobs in the system. Start with the oldest and highest priority job and do it (or delegate it). Then just do the jobs in an orderly fashion. There is no stress and no dropped balls. Plus you have a record of everything you do if the client calls in.

If you need to talk to a client, right click, open the client screen, and have a discussion. If the nature of the job changes, make the changes in the system and keep on working.

Stop winging it. Put in a project tracking system.