Choosing The Best Project Management Software for Your Business

There are all manner of project management software around today, designed for different PCs and browsers. These apps are finding their way into almost all kinds of businesses. Some of these software include: Mavenlink, Microsoft Project 2013, 2-plan, 24SevenOffice, Anyplan, Fieldware, Genius Project, Merlin, and the list goes on. There are around 200 in total. So how do you choose the right one? Some of these are free, and with some you need to pay a one-off annual fee. Some of them are designed for specific industries whereas some are generic and so can be used for any industry. This means that choosing the best one can be quite daunting. The best place to start is with an overview of basic features you will need, rather than researching the rare attributes of certain kinds, which you will not necessarily need in every case.

Your business needs to find the kind of software which lets you create new projects and tasks, and assign the tasks/projects to team members. Each member should be given an account and that account should only be accessible to those projects which have been allotted to the team or individual employee. The software should enable the creation of dozens of projects, or possibly hundreds, and then each project should have the capacity to create multiple smaller tasks, all of which will contribute to the delivery of the particular details for the end-product or service. The project management software needs to have an interface which is user-friendly and offering a platform for interactions. The conversations facilitated by the interface should be able to integrate files of varied formats, and all the correspondences should be accurately recorded.

Your chosen software needs to comprise several managerial features: you need to be able to see at a glance who is doing what, when exactly a task was assigned to a team or individual, how much progress has so far been made on it, the deadline of the project, any amendments to the original specification, deliverables, changes of dates, a supervisory facility, and the real-time monitoring of work accomplished by the team. These are all the essential features you need. If your software does not comprise such features, it will be of little use to you.

Whichever software you pick, you need to make sure it is compatible with existing practices at your business.  For example, you may wish all conversations are backed up with emails, or be official correspondences between teams and members.  Your usual calendar or organizer has to be integrated with the software to make the transition seamless. There are a whole host of tools the software needs to get the work done.  These tools must generate accurate reports as and when needed, and there can also be automated reporting.

Finally, the chosen PM software must be mobile-friendly and have the best security available on the market.