by OverHeadWatch Team | Feb 24, 2017 | Increasing Revenues, Library
Business projects are stressful sometimes, especially when deadlines are extremely pressing. To prevent your project from failing, it’s important to use a project tracker. This type of tool enables you to plan projects more effectively, monitor important metrics, and become alerted when something goes awry. You can catch problems faster with project tracking software than going at it without the aid of a tool. Below we will go more in-depth on how project trackers can help your business.
What Is a Project Tracker?
A project tracker is a tool that helps you manage projects. Project tracking software can monitor progress toward milestones, task completion, and activities that are relevant to finishing the project. Using a project trackers saves you time while speeding up the process. You’ll get more done when certain aspects of managing your project are automated. Knowing the definition of a project also helps in understanding this term. Succinctly defined by Tenrox, “A project is a one-time effort to accomplish an explicit objective by a specific time.” All projects have a beginning and ending, although growing a business is really a never-ending process.
Who Uses Project Trackers?
Project managers use tracking software to make reporting the progress on projects to executives and stakeholders easier. They also use project trackers for comparing and contrasting results to the initial plan. This will reveal what went well and what could be improved upon for the next project.
Businesses of all sizes use project tracking tools as well. Entrepreneurs and executives utilize project trackers to execute projects on time, within budget, and with minimal disruption to other aspects of the business. It’s a good idea to hire a project manager to oversee projects in the business because they have deeper knowledge and expertise in project management.
How to Use Project Trackers
The nature of the project determines which metrics you need to track. For example, if you’re creating a detailed project that requires a lot of hours put into it, then you should track hours spent working on it. Tracking hours spent will help you determine whether or not you’re falling behind, right on time, or ahead of schedule. Without a project tracker, you might not realize your team has fallen behind until it’s too late, resulting in the project not being completed on time or excessive stress as everyone works overtime. For simpler projects, it’s sometimes enough to just track milestones instead of logging the hours spent working on them.
Your management style also determines what kind of project tracker will work best for your business. Do you have a bottom-up or top-down style? Those with a bottom-up management style works around their employees’ ideas, whereas top-down managers and leaders prefer giving specific instructions to employees.
If you’re in a specialized industry like construction or healthcare, then you should use a project tracker that is specifically designed for your industry as well. The developers behind the application will have a deeper understanding of the industry, resulting in a more relevant product.
5 Ways in Which a Good Project Tracker Can Help Your Business
1. Boosts productivity
A project tracker ups the productivity of your business by automating several tasks, such as expense reporting, scheduling, and time reporting. Project managers can use the analytics to check whether or not resources are being put to use efficiently. They can detect problems faster in order to quickly solve them and maintain productivity. The software also helps improve communication among the team, decision-making, and operational efficiency. In turn, this allows for greater productivity.
2. Complete projects on time
Project trackers allow you to easily schedule tasks and set deadlines. Team members can access the calendar to know when they need to complete their part of the project. When unforeseen events cause changes in the schedule, it’s very easy to adjust in the application. Having an overview of the schedule also helps you work out a schedule that will allow you to still finish the project on time.
3. Stay within budget
A project tracker can help you determine costs of the project in advance. You can save money as well by considering how to differently allocate or approach certain tasks. Project trackers assist with identifying clear goals for the project that minimize inefficiencies in how time and money are spent.
4. Improve organization
Project trackers help keep your business organized throughout the project. The automation features of a project tracker makes it effortless to record specific metrics and carry out certain tasks. Many project trackers enable you to divide your staff into teams with specific deadlines, outputs, and tasks. Being orderly with your tasks boosts productivity because it reduces reasons to procrastination, eases stress, and saves time. When you’re able to quickly locate which information you need to access, you will feel more motivated to get the work done. Staying on track also frees your mind to focus on the more important tasks at hand, rather than stressing about not being orderly.
5. Store a framework for future projects
Another way that a project tracker can help your business is by storing a framework for future projects. This reduces how much time you spend on planning and setting up the new project. Project trackers make it easier to replicate successful projects. And as the business evolves, you can easily implement changes framework as you need to.
Conclusion
A project tracker can improve productivity and increase the chance of completing a project on time. Many entrepreneurs and business owners discover that their projects are more effective, cost-efficient, and fun to execute with the use of a project tracker. Software that enables project management helps prevent the fun from being sucked out of a project by reducing stress, maintaining organization, and improving communication in the workplace.
Although you should have a basic understanding of what project tracking is and how to find the right application for your business, we recommend that you hire a project manager to lead projects. It will free up more of your time, so you can focus on your personal strengths for growing the company.
Have you used a project tracker before? In what ways did it help your business?
Images from depositphotos.com.
Leave a Reply