In today's times, we are faced with difficult decisions. Remote work, without the right tools, can cause significant challenges, not only with monitoring currently executed projects but also with efficient reporting (or efficiently collecting reports). How should we handle this? Should we invest in tools, or try to create a remote solution ourselves, perhaps using a spreadsheet? We will try to help make this decision.
Where should we start?
Let’s begin with an analysis of the needs within our organization. Let’s consider who and how the tool should help. Who is the primary stakeholder? Are we focused on collecting project statuses, or perhaps preparing reports? Or maybe full project management? What’s more, before we make a decision on the tool selection, let’s think about how many projects we have in our organization and how large and long-term these ventures are. If we manage more than 30 projects concurrently in a year or a dozen large and strategic ones, this is the moment to consider investing in project and portfolio management tools. Depending on the answers, we will know what kind of solution we need.
Emerging doubts
Questions that will arise within the organization will undoubtedly concern the business justification for such an implementation. Especially now, in an era of cost-saving and allocating financial resources only for the most necessary and essential expenses. So how do we justify to management the desire to purchase this kind of software? Aside from the costs associated with implementation and licensing, we may also need to modify or adjust the methodology within our organization, and the question arises: is it worth it? Once again, we need to consider what we will gain. The most important benefit of choosing specialized portfolio and project management software is the time savings for project managers, who will no longer have to spend as much time preparing and collecting data. The saved time can then be used for more thorough risk analysis in projects or increased communication with the project team, leading to more efficient and effective project execution. We will also gain significant time savings in preparing reports by the project office and project managers. This is also a great advantage for the organization, as when management requires not just „some" data, but real and verified data, it can significantly improve decision-making. In today's world, decisions must be made quickly, and we cannot afford mistakes, as they can be costly.
Which solution to choose?
Once we have analyzed the needs and drawn conclusions, we need to explore the market to see what solutions are available. If we are focused on collecting project statuses, a spreadsheet may suffice, as long as it’s structured appropriately and stored online where everyone can access it. This is the quickest and cheapest solution for gathering project status information. It is also a good idea to supplement such a spreadsheet with a brief description from the project manager of what has been achieved since the last report and what their plans are for the next reporting period. Another option is a BI-class tool. For this type of tool, we need to prepare the necessary queries to generate reports from the available data sources within the company (such as spreadsheets, accounting systems, etc.). The skills needed to prepare such queries are probably available within the company. However, if we want to monitor and support project managers in handling the full scope of a project (schedule, budget, competencies, risks, periodic reports), we should look for a complete solution. We should also consider whether we want to design all processes ourselves and „build" a tool tailored exactly to our needs (which might take several months, or even up to a year or more), or whether we should choose a ready-made „boxed" solution and implement it in a few weeks (at most a few months). Some companies offer to implement their software in just five days. This sounds great, but what about the costs? Are tools for portfolio and project management expensive? Not necessarily. Most providers offer their software via subscription in a SaaS model and the monthly cost is not prohibitive. However, we should consider whether the security requirements of our company allow storing data outside of the company's servers. If not, we should check if the provider offers a subscription model with an On-Premises solution. This way, monthly or annual subscription costs won’t be such a significant burden on the company’s budget. There are many financing options available and it is worth exploring what the market offers.
What to pay attention to?
When creating a short list of providers, we should check how many implementations the provider has completed. Do they have references? Perhaps our colleagues have already worked with one of these providers? We can ask the provider if they can arrange a reference visit with one of their customers who is already using the tool, allowing us to learn best practices from another organization. Companies are usually willing to share their knowledge and experiences. Ask the provider if they can offer a trial of the solution, preferably one that is pre-configured to meet our needs. This will help us verify whether the tool meets our expectations. We will be able to check how our organization needs to prepare for full implementation. What else should be considered before making a decision? Let’s check if the consultant who will implement the tool has project management experience, as this will allow us to benefit not only from the vdry" implementation but also from valuable advice and suggestions based on their experience. Moreover, we will likely receive project consulting as part of the implementation price.
Summary
In the current situation, where we can’t meet with the team to discuss project issues and collect project statuses directly „over coffee," a comprehensive tool for remote project management can significantly streamline the workflow. With online access ensured, management and other project stakeholders will have ad-hoc access to real-time and up-to-date information about projects and their statuses. The project office can focus primarily on those projects that truly need attention. With one integrated solution for managing project portfolios and individual projects, most tasks are handled automatically. This is all possible because project managers can manage their projects in full scope in one place.
