Project Management Software

Projects are expensive. Project financing is how they acquire the funding to pay for the project. To understand this process, one must begin with the meaning of project financing and then work towards the various methods of getting it. We’ll go over that, explore various project financing sources, explain the process of getting that financial support and provide an example to see how this plays out in the real world. We’ll end by sharing some free templates to help estimate costs, budget and more. What Is Project Financing? Project financing refers to the process of securing and managing the financial resources needed to execute a project. It involves structuring fundin…

Whether it’s investors or customers, stakeholders are important to every project. But what is a stakeholder? There’s more than one answer to that question. Let’s take some time to define what a stakeholder is, examples of stakeholders and free stakeholder templates that can help with stakeholder management. What Is a Stakeholder? A stakeholder is either an individual, group or organization that’s impacted by the outcome of a project or a business venture. Stakeholders have an interest in the success of the project and can be within or outside the organization that’s sponsoring the project. Stakeholders are important because they can have a positive or negative influence …

Stakeholders are anyone who has a vested interest in the project. They can be internal, such as project managers, teams, owners or investors, or external, such as clients, customers or suppliers. There can be a lot of stakeholders in any project and managing them requires stakeholder management templates. ProjectManager is project management software that helps you manage projects and stakeholders. If you’re not ready for a free trial of the software, we also offer dozens of free project management templates for Excel and Word that can help with every phase of your project. Here are some free stakeholder management templates. 1. Stakeholder Analysis Template There may b…

Project management has developed the means to increase the likelihood of successful completion. That starts by breaking a project down into project management phases. What are those project phases? We’ll define them in detail. This is a great opportunity for those new to project management, but also serves professional project managers and their teams who can never go over this critical information enough. What Are the 5 Project Management Phases? The five project management phases are a structured approach to planning, executing and completing a project. Based on the Project Management Institute (PMI) framework, these phases help project managers and teams stay organiz…

Before defining an issue log, let’s define project issues. An issue is any roadblock or unintended impact that directly affects your project’s timeline and or performance. It’s different than a risk, which can be defined as a potential problem or future issue that might happen in your project. An issue is something that has already come up in your project, and you need to identify and track that issue immediately. What Is an Issue Log? An issue log is a simple list or spreadsheet that helps managers track the issues that arise in a project and prioritize a response to them. We have created an Excel Issue Log template you can download for free. It’s an easy way for you to…

The term stakeholder is familiar to those in project management. These are individuals, groups or organizations that have an interest in or are affected by the outcome of a project. However, not everyone understands that they can be broken down into internal stakeholders and external stakeholders. To understand the difference between internal and external stakeholders, we’ll first define both and offer examples of them in project management. Identifying them is only the first step. After that, we’ll spend some time explaining how to manage internal stakeholders and external stakeholders What Are Internal Stakeholders in Project Management? Internal stakeholders in proje…

Projects are delicate operations. There is so much that can impact them; a storm cutting off the supply chain, equipment failure or a labor dispute are merely three possible situations in a seemingly endless succession of risks. The risk response plan that you create to deal with these risks, which describes risk identification, assessment, and mitigation response strategies, could mean the success or failure of the project. It’s no wonder so much of project management is focused on risk! Controlling risk, having a risk response plan and implementing risk response strategies are methods to better manage your project and deliver success. Another way is to have project ma…

Starting your projects in the right way makes it so much easier to manage your work and your team. While it’s tempting to dive straight in and get on with your tasks, it pays to take a bit of time at the beginning to plan out your work and check that you’ve got everything you need. Set your projects up for success with this easy-to-use checklist. Work through the list and make sure you can say ‘yes’ to each item: then you’ll know you can start work confidently. But first, let’s run through some basics about project kickoff. /wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Project-kickoff-template.jpg Get your free Project Kickoff Template Use this free Project Kickoff Template for …

Goals are set easily enough, but reaching them takes work. Sometimes that work is falling short, and project teams need to figure out why and how to get back on pace to meet their goals. For that, they use something called a needs assessment. But what is a needs assessment, often called a needs analysis? We’ll answer that first before going into when one should take place and how to do it. To better understand, we’ll share an example and even a template to help readers get started. What Is a Needs Assessment? A needs assessment is a systematic process to identify and evaluate gaps between a current situation and desired outcomes. It helps organizations, teams or individ…

Need to know how to plan an event? If you’re planning a big event like a conference, we can help you successfully create, structure and lay out your event plan. This blog will cover everything you need to consider when planning an event, including event planning steps, tips and an easy-to-use event checklist. What Is Event Planning? Event planning is the process of putting on and managing a variety of events, from something as small as a meeting to as big as a convention and everything in between. When event planning you’ll be taking into account every aspect of that event, whether it’s a birthday party or a networking event. That means you’ll be estimating budgets, cre…

Defining the project scope is a critical part of the project planning process. That’s because the project scope defines the boundaries of what will and won’t be part of the project work, which is essential when making the project budget and schedule. Naturally, scope management is an important area of project management and there’s a lot to learn about it. But before we jump into that, let’s start with the definition of project scope. What Is Project Scope? The project scope is the total amount of work that needs to be done to complete a project. To define it, project managers must break down the project into the tasks and deliverables that’ll be executed to meet goals …

There are many project risks that can affect your project and, as a project manager, you’re responsible for the risk analysis process. Risk analysis, or risk assessment is essential because it allows project managers to classify project risks and determine which of them should be tracked closely. What Is Project Risk Analysis? Risk analysis consists of using tools and techniques to determine the likelihood and impact of project risks that have been previously identified. Therefore, risk analysis helps project managers decipher the uncertainty of potential risks and how they would impact the project in terms of schedule, quality and costs if, in fact, they were to show up…

Projects don’t just happen. There’s a lot of work before they’re approved, and once they have been given the go-ahead, there’s even more planning and scheduling needed! How do you communicate that information with stakeholders and the team so they understand the project? You use a project brief, an important document that outlines what the project is about, to do just that. A project brief lets you convey the main goals of the project so that everyone understands what they’ll be doing. Read on to learn more about them, and how to make one for yourself. There’s even a free template and in-depth example of a project brief for a construction project to help you get started…

If you don’t have the funds, you’re not going to complete the project successfully. That’s why a project budget is so important: it’s the lifeblood of the project. Follow these steps to secure the funds necessary to support the project through every phase. But first, we need to define what a project budget is. What Is a Project Budget? A project budget is the total projected costs needed to complete a project over a defined period of time. It’s used to estimate what the costs of the project will be for every phase of the project. Creating a project budget is a critical part of the project planning process. The project budget will include such things as labor costs, mate…

Construction projects are complicated and rarely are executed without change orders or some other internal or external impact that affects their schedule. Construction project managers have techniques to assess these issues, such as time impact analysis. What is time impact analysis? We’ll define the technique, explain when to use it and who is responsible for conducting one. Then we’ll show how to do one and why it’s advantageous to use this method to keep projects on track. What Is a Time Impact Analysis? A time impact analysis (TIA) in construction is a project management technique used to assess how specific changes or disruptions will affect the overall project tim…

Your business operations are only as good as your ability to monitor and control them. For example, manufacturing teams would be lost without a controlling process that lets them measure and improve on their management function. The process of controlling management is essential for any business to remain viable. When you monitor with software and control the process of your manufacturing, you’re able to see what works and what isn’t working. What Is Controlling Process in Business Management? The controlling process in business management is when managers set, measure and refine their business operations and manage cost control. By using a controlling process, a compa…

Scrum is a flexible project management methodology that’s designed to help self-organized teams execute projects quickly in an agile environment. The scrum framework consists of artifacts, roles and ceremonies. These elements help product and software development teams manage their work. Scrum artifacts are critical for the success of any scrum team. But before we learn how to use them, we need to define them first. What Are Scrum Artifacts? In software development, the term “artifact” refers to information that stakeholders and the scrum team use to describe a product that’s being developed. Scrum artifacts define the work that must be done, and they always add value …

Managing a project with copious moving parts can be challenging to say the least, but project evaluation is designed to make the process that much easier. Every project starts with careful planning—this sets the stage for the execution phase of the project while estimations, plans and schedules guide the project team as they complete tasks and deliverables. But even with the project evaluation process in place, managing a project successfully is not as simple as it sounds. Project managers need to keep track of costs, tasks and time during the entire project life cycle to make sure everything goes as planned. To do so, they utilize the project evaluation process and make…

Project managers often wonder if they are measuring the right things on a project. It’s difficult to know how much time to spend evaluating past performance and how much time to spend on keeping the work moving forward. Of course, there are many indicators of project success, but what do you need to be measuring while the project is in motion? At various points during the project, you want to evaluate five points: schedule, quality, cost, stakeholder satisfaction and performance against the business case. You should be doing this informally anyway. A formal project evaluation is of use during the end of a phase or stage as it can give you a clear indication of how the p…

Construction project management is designed to deliver projects on time and on budget while maintaining or improving quality. Value engineering in construction is one method general contractors use to achieve those goals. What is value engineering in construction? We’ll answer that question and show how to implement it through various techniques. Then it’ll become apparent why this benefits anyone involved in construction projects. What Is Value Engineering in Construction? Value engineering in construction is a systematic method aimed at improving the value of a project by optimizing its function while reducing costs. It involves analyzing project components, processes…

Project managers know the importance of project documentation. Project documents must be accurate and constantly updated to keep current with the project. Creating and managing project documentation throughout the project life cycle is critical for project success, but where to start? This guide defines what project documentation is and why it’s important in addition to outlining the top 15 project documents that you should always create to plan and execute your projects. What Is Project Documentation? The term project documentation refers to the project management documents that are created throughout the project life cycle. These documents, such as the project plan, p…

There’s a change order process to manage when there are requests for something new or altered in a construction project. A variation order is also instrumental in managing change. This is especially important in construction, where the project often undergoes many changes. What is a variation order? We’ll define the term and explain when to use one and who requests and approves it. Then we’ll break down the components of variation orders and illustrate how they work in a real-life situation by providing an illustrated example. What Is a Variation Order? A variation order is a formal document issued to modify the original contract terms, typically concerning the scope of…

The triple constraint of project management has been given many names – the Project Management Triangle, Iron Triangle, and Project Triangle – which should give you an idea of how important the triple constraint is when managing a project. If you’re managing a project, then you’re working with the Triple Constraint. Therefore, it can be easily argued that the triple constraint might be the single most important concept in the history of project management. When used in combination with effective project management software, it can give you the ability to drive your projects to success. What Is the Triple Constraint in Project Management? So, what is the triple constrain…

An abundance of information is created, transferred and stored over the project management life cycle. Without a way to organize the documentation that’s produced, your project may be doomed to fail. That’s when PMIS comes in, an acronym for project management information systems. A PMIS enables an organized and controlled flow of information so nothing is siphoned off or misplaced. Project management software that’s collaborative and offers unlimited file storage, such as ProjectManager, is a given. Our tool can organize your documents and make them accessible to the project team on any of our multiple project views. For example, the list view allows teams to share file…

The scope of a project is the sum of all the work that needs to be executed. A project scope statement helps project managers define the boundaries of what will and what won’t be done. But scope statements aren’t just about work management. To write a project scope statement, you’ll need to understand the project goals, work breakdown structure and requirements, among other things. Then, once you’ve defined your project scope, you can create a scope document. What Is a Project Scope Statement? A scope statement is a document that defines all the elements of the project scope as well as assumptions, project requirements and acceptance criteria. Your project scope stateme…