task management software Archives

How To Increase Productivity – Choosing The Right Project Management Software

Every person at some point in his life starts to feel the need to get more organized for a better productivity. Some have this revelation sooner, others later and a few of them will never have such needs… Depending on each individual a better organized work style may be reflected in the use of different productivity tools: pencil and paper, To Do lists, task management software and even project management software.

In what follows we shall exclude the classic tools like agendas, pencil, paper, white boards etc. and focus only on the software products. When it comes to organizing their lives things are simpler since the needs are not that big. There are many good solutions on the market to manage your personal list of daily activities and many are even free. All it needs is to be able to create simple items with a start date, completion status, a duration and maybe a priority.

Things get more complicated when someone needs to handle more details for his activities… And now we are talking about issue tracking systems or task management tools, tools that go beyond personal life and intersecting with the daily work from the job.

And at the top there are complex solutions that range from project management software to enterprise resource planning systems. This category of products only apply to business management and are used mainly by companies.

General recommendations when choosing productivity software

No matter what type of productivity tools one needs there is a set of general recommendations that should be taken into consideration. For start it is best to find a user friendly software. The easier it is to learn how to use it the faster you get more productive. Plus there is no need for trainings hence no additional costs. And if still the case, when in need for help a rich user community with active forums or social networks might do the trick for you. (more…)

By Lucian Ioan|2022-11-18T10:20:09+00:00January 16th, 2013|Project Management, Project Management Software|Comments Off

Who needs a task management software and when?

Many people find themselves at a certain point in their life looking for a task management software to help them refocus and keep their finger tips on what is important. Task management products organize, schedule and ensure that tasks get done on time. On short it can boost your productivity. By being better organized and more focused on what you have to do, you save time and reduce stress.

Good task and project management software was hard to find a few years ago when people were using Outlook. Nowadays productivity has become almost an obsession of geeks everywhere, so the increasing request for such tools generated a large base of good task and project management solutions. There are a lot of choices to help manage the tasks, ranging from standalone applications to web-based services.

What exactly are users looking for?

Most of them are actually looking for a personal organizer application to put some order in their busy and messy life. “In the beginning, I somehow managed to keep everything in my head. Then, as I began to take on more projects, I realized that I needed a task management system to keep me organized and focused.” says Deborah Woehr a freelance researcher and writer.

These personal organizers generally take the form of the so called “To Do List” applications where users create a list of tasks for which they set a start date, some deadlines and a priority – something very simple.

The Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology

Most of the to-do-list applications these days adopt, to one degree or another, the GTD approach to task management according to the work-life management system by David Allen that provides concrete solutions for transforming overwhelm and uncertainty into an integrated system of stress free productivity. Apps vary as to how tightly or loosely bound to GTD they are.

The problem, though, with To Do lists and personal organizers is that are only good for your work. Task management or task tracking software is more than just a to-do list. In a business many of the tasks are collaborative and require multiple team members to fulfill several tasks in a single project. In this case you need an application where assignments could be made, all tasks could be tracked, and completed work could be archived. This is a true task management tool.

Users sometimes need to manage multiple projects and delegate work to resources, schedule tasks in time or even create plans. This is a further step to an upper level: project management or project planning software. (more…)

By Tiberiu Ghioca|2022-11-18T10:20:12+00:00July 22nd, 2011|Project Management Software|Comments Off

Upgrade From Spreadsheets To Project Management Software

Spreadsheets are an excellent way to manage information on workplace tasks but if you would like to see the impact of one assignment over another then perhaps you should start using a project management software.

This kind of software has been created to assist users in the organization of projects by analyzing the added information regarding the time and resources allocated to the tasks. A number of people all across the world rely on project management solutions to help assure the completion of certain projects. The best way to describe project management software is to say that it is a computer program which serves to smoothly run the process of a project from the beginning to the end. Over the course of this time, this kind of software can help to eliminate many of the mundane steps that are usually required.

Spreadsheets are a useful way to see how some aspects of the project impact on others, but for an all-round, more detailed understanding of the evolution of task users may like to use a project management tool instead. The applications are designed for effective project management and can reveal relationships between the added data, such as the impact of delays on the costs of the project, which is its main advantage ever spreadsheets like MS Excel or Open Office.

For example, it is likely that your budget is being used to fund a series of tasks throughout your project. This means that there are several areas where your finances may be affected, for instance if you are building a new product for a client and your source materials recently increased in value, this would affect the outcome of your assignment. A project management solution can calculate the impact of these changes on your overall funding and relate it to other information, things that can not be achieved using a spreadsheet. Basically, project management can be considered as a certain type of method to achieve goals and targets while staying completely organized.
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By Tiberiu Ghioca|2022-11-18T10:20:13+00:00January 11th, 2011|Project Management Software|1 Comment