The cursed legacy of Microsoft Project

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StrategyDriven Project Management Article |Project management tool|The cursed legacy of Microsoft ProjectThe idea of having a project management tool completely separated from your processes and task management is, or should be, a thing of the past. For some time now we’ve entered an era of having everything connected and if you’re still on the sidelines, this article is for you.

There are still thousands of companies using MS Project and other, similar tools for their project planning. I blame MSP for the current gap in the understanding of how important it is to connect both project and processes worlds. MSP never expanded beyond its own environment and very few people realized the missed potential. If you’re one of them, imagine this:

  • every task you plan can be immediately assigned to a person, who is notified about this,
  • the task assignee can start working on the task and change its status, thanks to which you get immediate info about the current status of all the tasks in your WBS,
  • the assignee can also report time spent on the task so that you also get instant and accurate info about the task’s progress,
  • all the data can be aggregated and reported,
  • everyone can have access to the project plan,
  • every member of the project team has a personal dashboard with all the upcoming tasks clearly listed.

Does that sound like a fantasy? Of course not! It’s the minimum you should have with the current market trends.

Jira – the most popular tool for handling your processes

Out of many tools available on the market, Jira is the one we recommend the most. With its cloud instance available within just a few clicks it’s probably the easiest one to start with. It’s really a matter of minutes and you can start creating your first Epics, User stories, Tasks, Sub-tasks, or whatever you need.

Jira also has very robust administration capabilities. It’s well designed with complexity on demand built into the tool. You can restrict data access, manage roles for people, group them and make sure that your data is secured on several different levels.

Talking about data, you also can create your own issue types, statuses, workflows, link types, and many more. When it comes to flexibility and accommodating your different needs, Jira is like no other. It’s definitely one of its strongest sides.

But pure Jira is just the beginning. For specific needs and broader applications of its functionalities, Jira also offers thousands of Apps that can be added to your core system. Those Apps allow you to extend the capabilities of Jira even further.

Some of these Apps allow you to extend your project management capabilities. We at Genius Gecko are experts in implementing project management solutions in Jira. We constantly analyze all the tools in this area, so that you don’t have to. We also have our favorites when it comes to creating reliable project management solutions.


BigPicture – a PPM solution for Agile, Waterfall, and Hybrid approaches

BigPicture has been available in Jira for many years now and it’s grown into the best tool out there.

It offers a unique way of organizing your projects into programs and portfolios with Boxes, which are its building blocks. Interestingly, you can also use Boxes to break projects into smaller pieces, like Program Increments, Iterations, Sprints, Teams, Phases, Quarters, Months, or whatever you may need.

If you’re working with a waterfall approach, BigPicture has a built-in Gantt chart that has you covered. It also comes with all of the important features like milestones, markers, data aggregation, data grouping, dependencies, unlimited hierarchy, what-if scenarios, and more.

If you’re agile, BigPicture has you covered too. It has a super-functional Board module which allows you to plan your sprints ahead of time for multiple teams at the same time, and later on of course also follow the progress of work, all in real-time.

And here is the best one – if you’re a Hybrid, somewhere in between Agile and Waterfall, BigPicture has you covered as well. It has several features that allow you to connect both worlds and still manage your projects in an effective and user-friendly way (and I mean both project teams and stakeholders).

That’s not all at all, though. BigPicture has a lot more to offer. Because it’s built on top of Jira, it’s reusing all the data that Jira has. Everything you’ll be planning in BigPicture either comes from Jira or will go to Jira (when you create it). This is exactly where the big difference lies. You no longer have a tool for just doing your project planning, you have a tool that seamlessly connects your projects with project teams, stakeholders, project sponsors, dev-ops, IT, marketing, sales, and anyone else involved. All the important information is in one place. You can always revisit it, see all the changes, and notify people when something important happens, or when a new task for John has been added.

You can also manage your resources through BigPicture, and make sure that you have enough people for the job, that they are not overbooked, that they have appropriate skills, and that their workload plans and holidays are taken into account.

You’ll also be able to easily manage risks for your project, create objectives and goals for everyone to follow, and build your own reports.

BigPicture training – a sure way to successful implementation

BigPicture is an amazing tool and it deserves to be looked after. We’ve been working with it from the beginning and based on our experience we can tell that if you want to get the most out of it, make it work seamlessly with your Jira environment, make sure that all the reports are doable, and climb to that next level of project management, it makes sense to have someone help you achieve it.

You’ll be able to:

  • get clarity on your goals,
  • ensure the proper flow of information,
  • make your teams more engaged,
  • manage your resources with short and long-term planning,
  • manage your project risks,
  • build informative and easy-to-read reports,
  • track time for your project items,
  • save time thanks to automation and templates.

We currently have almost 70 companies that we’ve successfully trained or guided through the implementation of BigPicture and we’re constantly getting new prospects interested in working together.

If you want to learn more about our awesome BigPicture training, or:

  • managing projects in Jira environment and have us help you find the best tool for your needs,
  • implementing processes and tools in Jira,
  • working with other PM tools like Structure, Advanced Roadmaps, or any other Jira App

Reach out to us and let’s have a chat!

Be extraordinary!

Tom Pabich

SEO of Genius Gecko

Use These Strategies for Better Project Management

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StrategyDriven Project Management Article | Use These Strategies for Better Project ManagementEvery project manager has preferred tools and methods for completing an assignment. They understand that it is easy to get overwhelmed in the minutia of tasks. As you sit down to start your first, tenth, or even eightieth project, take the time to evaluate the system you use and look for areas to improve. Here are some tips to help you be more successful.

Find a Tracking System

There are many software applications available to help manage your project. They allow you to monitor timelines and provide detailed status reports. Individual team members can post updates, ask questions, or make comments. With so many Monday.com alternatives, it is important to find a system that works for you and your team.

Ask Questions

With every new project, be sure you completely understand the final purpose of the assignment. Ask your manager clarifying questions about the project, final deliverable, budget, and timeline. Gather information, such as:

  • What other employees, if any, are involved in this project?
  • How does the priority of this project align with my other responsibilities?
  • To whom and how frequently should I provide status updates?
  • Do other teams depend on the project? If so, how does their timeline affect mine?

Develop a Guide

Successful project management entails identifying the steps required to complete the project. Work with your team to write down all of the things that need to be completed to deliver a final product. Include goals, budget, timeline, roles and responsibilities, and final evaluation.

Look for Challenges

Now that you know what is needed to complete the project, ask everyone involved to consider what can negatively impact those projects. Employees should be creative and offer possible solutions. When encouraged to think out of the box, you better understand the scope and intensity of the project. Some things you may consider include:

  • Company holidays impact the number of hours employees can commit to a project.
  • Seasonal increases in workload may limit the time you can work on a project.
  • Enthusiasm for the project may falter if key managers leave the company.
  • Current hardware cannot efficiently support the final product.

Pick the Best Ideas

It is easy to get derailed if you lose focus on the key components. Ensure your team stays on track with the highest priority tasks to deliver the final product. If they work on a feature without approval, it can delay the timeline. Successful communication helps you stay on track.

Learn From Experience

Once complete, it is necessary to thoroughly review the project. Write down the challenges that you experienced. Evaluate each one individually and within the scope of the project to determine how you can prevent or mitigate them in the future. Many project managers forget to take the time to analyze what went smoothly. Review these strategies and incorporate them into your next project.

These techniques help you become a stronger project manager. You will find yourself more confident in managing your project timeline. Communication with employees and managers is easier. Employers recognize your commitment to a successful project.

How to Excel in a Partnership Project

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StrategyDriven Project Management Article |Partnership Project|How to Excel in a Partnership ProjectA successful business requires financial investment, hard work and time, and a bit of luck as well. Working within one’s own company might seem easy and comforting as you know the scheme of systems, however, the real task starts when you have to work within a partnership project. Managing different crews of vendors and collaborators spread out can be pretty tough, especially when they have verbal, cultural, economic, political, and social barriers that separate them from the rest of the partners. Aligning different people of different caliber and bringing them at a single pace is a difficult task, but with proper planning and management you can excel in a partnership project, and here is how you can achieve it.

Find a Common Interest

Certain clashes are sure to occur when different people with different organizational interests work together. Conflict arises even when people have to work with different teams of the same company. To proceed in a partnership project, you have to sit with other team members and discuss the points where you share common interests with others. Find a common ground on which you all can fixate your task assignments. To find a common interest, communication serves as a key, interact with your partnership team members and clients, stakeholders, and vendors to know them better.

Create Data Rooms

Virtual data rooms help several businesses, teams, and collabs to work simultaneously on a single project and get easy and safe access to project documentation and data. Firmex is providing excellent services in organizing virtual data rooms for partnership projects and giving a secure way to keep the paperwork flowing. Virtual data rooms are a safe way to share important documents with other companies and this specifically helps while you are dealing with several partners at once in a project.

Time is Crucial

Every partner works at its own pace but the deadline for the project is often the same for every partner involved. Time management is very crucial when you work with different partners on a project. You might have to face new challenges while dealing with different companies and people, however, it is the project manager who has to be alert and keep things running at a flow. A delayed delivered project would bring every involved person at risk, so it’s better to keep the differences aside while working on a project and work as a team.

Stay in Touch

It is quite possible that your partners are not from the same place where you are from. The intercity or interstate differences always cause an issue in managing a project symmetrically. To avoid any problems you must always stay in touch with your team members. Email them, call them, share screens while working, and stay on the same page. Technological inventions have made it quite easier for the business partners to align their work pace and thus keeping in touch is not a difficult task anymore.

Digitize Your Partnership

Digitizing the partnership means that you have to work on common, reliable software to speed up the work tasks. Outsourcing can bring many disparities to the different parts of your partnered team but they are all united under a common goal by taking assistance from the software and apps, whatever that might be for this project. You have to provide your teams with simple but dependable software solutions. This ensures quick, glitch-free performance and also gives you a common measure for determining the productivity of each team, especially if it includes time recording or task management.

Be Flexible

When you work with different companies and partners, giving others an edge is equally important. You have to be flexible and listen to what others are saying. Keep your homework ready, keep your plans ready but always give some space to other partners also. Discuss what they want and how they want. Working collaboratively improves the relationship and increases the likelihood of delivering the results and outcomes expected from the project.

Aim for the Best

It is important that all the partners are optimistic and positive about the end results of the project. When people are positive about achieving a task, they put their best and work efficiently. This brings success to the project partners and aids in business growth.

How To Improve Quality in Construction/Building Projects

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StrategyDriven Project Management Article |Quality in Construction|How To Improve Quality in Construction/Building ProjectsWith so many construction and DIY projects on the go, there has been a lot of discussion as to the prevalence of cowboy builders and how you can ensure that your project stands the best chance of success. This article will outline the best ways to guarantee that your building and construction is the best that they can be. The rise of the solo worker and independent contractors has been steep and is expected to continue, so it’s worth making sure you do your research. It is a great business opportunity of the moment, yet one that will need thorough thought and planning.

Materials

The materials that you use for any building or construction work must first meet the standards that are set by national and international building regulations. If you expect the end product to be professionally made, long-lasting, and safe, you really need to start out with the best raw materials and use construction materials and products that are of the highest quality and standards.

Manpower

Having the right labor and skills on-site at the right time is one of the hardest aspects of the construction process to get right. It is all about making the best use of time and resources, as bringing trades onto the site when they aren’t needed is simply a waste of their time and your money. Labor can be one of the most expensive costs on a building site and, as such, it needs to be monitored and recorded clearly.

Ongoing monitoring and evaluation

The trend is to use an NEC Supervisor to monitor progress according to set plans and project milestones. You need to have made a booking and then have them come to do an inspection on site. The idea is to have a professional service that can advise as to the technical requirements and building standards.

The right project management apps and software

If you intend all of the aforementioned to happen in a seamless fashion, one of the main aspects required will be project management software and skills. All works on site are time-constrained and will need to be planned and integrated. The best way to do this is online and via shared services where all those working on the project are able to see and share the latest works documents and everything that they need for their role in the project.

Utilities, water, and electric

The connection to utilities, water, and electric for the site is critical. Regardless of whether you have a generator to supply the power needed to run the site, you will need water and actual electricity to test and install any household goods.

Improving your building and construction projects is a complex thing to get right, in that if the building is substandard, it will be a slight against the company’s reputation. Furthermore, it can be such that these buildings cause harm or safety issues around improper construction. Therefore, the tips provided above will serve to ensure that your building and renovation works are as professionally done as possible.

Don’t Fall Off Track With Your Current Project

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StrategyDriven Project Management Article |Project Management|Don't Fall Off Track With Your Current ProjectManaging any sort of team is not easy. It does not matter whether you have ten team members or you have 50, you have to make sure that the project remains on the right track so that you can achieve your objects on-team and on budget. However, this can be a lot easier said than done. As any project manager will attest, it is difficult to ensure things don’t run off in another direction. So, what can you do to aid this? Let’s take a look:

  • Make sure there is a clear direction – You must make your team’s goals and mission clear. The importance of this cannot be overlooked. After all, we tend to find that projects go off track when people are on different pages and things aren’t very clear. This can result in people prioritising the wrong things, for example. Clear and effective communication is at the core of every project today.
  • Targets should be communicated on a regular basis – Setting a clear target is a good place to begin. However, you then need to make sure that your employees can achieve these targets, and that is where supporting management strategies come in. Communication is key here. After all, you are only going to be able to move forward if you communicate with your team regularly throughout about their performance. Onboard learning management systems can be beneficial here.
  • Self-awareness should be promoted – All of the people working on your project need to have a thorough understanding of the individual role they play. This not only relates to their own specific tasks. It also relates to their part within the bigger team. This can be challenging when you have people who are preoccupied with issues relating to everything from policies to processes and governance. Nevertheless, the mindset of your individuals is what is going to make or break your project. This highlights why it is vital to make sure that your team has good self-awareness.
  • Encourage your team to collaborate effectively – Aside from the points that we have discussed above, it is important to create an environment that is highly collaborative. This is critical in terms of reaching your goals, as you need everyone to work together, and you need them to do so in a manner that is as efficient as possible. You cannot be a dictator as a project manager. Yes, you need to give out tasks and lead, but you also need to encourage others as well.
  • Don’t drift away from your project plan – Last but not least, the final thing that you need to keep in mind is to make sure you do not drift away from the plan. This is something that can easily happen when the end goal seems so far away. This is why it is vital to make sure that you set smaller milestones and targets along the way to keep everyone on track.