project management tools

project management tools

The Evolution and Impact of Project Management Tools in Modern Organizations

1. Introduction to Project Management Tools

Recently, increasing experience in the use of project management tools has led to the creation and expansion of project management offices (PMOs) within the project-based organization. A PMO has the unique ability to leverage formal project management activities as well as broader strategic management practices to improve project performance across the board. This broader strategic focus is particularly important in today’s hybrid organizations where goals and success factors of different project types may be at odds with each other. Whether or not an organization has a PMO, in most cases it has come to understand the desirability of using a consistent set of project management tools that are part of an integrated set of project management techniques. This paper discusses various project management tools that contribute significantly to the smooth execution of its projects.

With an increase in global competition, the nature of projects has substantially been transformed. Organizations are continuously adapting to these changes through the effective management of their projects. However, their willingness to respond to these competitive pressures is focused on results or performance. The pressure to rapidly complete projects with dwindling resources continues to increase. Project management, particularly in this era of newer project management tools, has therefore gained considerable attention among organizational managers. In other words, nearly every project manager spends at least part of every work week using one or a host of project management tools. While companies with a more centralized project management function, the percentage of time consumed by these project management tools remains the same.

2. Key Features and Functions of Project Management Tools

The project management tools (PMS) market is extremely fragmented, with many players vying for small shares. This context has had the negative consequence of making its potential users unclear about what to expect from a PMS. We develop an overview of PMS, their functionalities, which are best suited for which industry type, and, more broadly, how their adoption should be handled. And we explore how software functional and process designs for PMS were done in successful real-world cases. Then, we test our ideas in 168 companies. The market now can be sure what the state-of-the-practice is in PMS.

We have developed an integrative framework about the implementation of project management tools. Our main contributions are to develop several measurement instruments, to show that sophisticated tools seldom apply the practices that research correlates to project management success, and to provide guidance on the decision of when project management tools modules should be integrated. The thirty months of field research were conducted mainly in Brazil, surveying 168 companies.

3. Benefits and Challenges of Implementing Project Management Tools

Having witnessed the significant benefits that project management software is claimed to bring to an organization’s projects, it is useful to look at the related research literature for verification of the claims. Any rigorous research in support of these positive claims will validate our own professional experience. However, while the claimed benefits do indeed exist, one must not assume that benefits of any technology are easily attained – the perceived returns may indeed come with considerable costs. Providing tangible proof or relevant theory-based explanations of the validity of these claimed benefits will enhance our understanding and encourage us to more confidently invest in, implement and trust the potential of such systems.

After looking at the benefits, we will look at the most popular challenges associated with the implementation of project management software and the steps that are recognized as fundamental to effectively managing such implementation projects. Do such benefits sound too good to be true? We do not expect the answer to this question to come as any surprise: there are indeed numerous and significant research findings which show that the implementation of project management software is replete with challenges. We bring those to your attention too.

4. Case Studies: Successful Implementation of Project Management Tools

The implementation of strict rules for setting up projects, for example, lessens the possibilities and also restricts the treating without due consideration of appropriate transactions. Also, the preparation of the aforesaid rules may create an opportunity for project accountants to participate in policy setting or even to improve their own understanding of appropriate methods or practice. We hope to be able to present some evidence in the continuation of the interests of research in this area that the implementation of project accounting systems may not always provide as much benefit as anticipated in the actual case. The actual case of a major housing association in late 1995 is perhaps a classic precursor of the costs which may outweigh the benefits.

Project management tools are used in numerous ways to both plan and execute projects, and have the added benefit of being able to track detailed information of estimates versus actuals. This possibility provides multiple benefits in terms of accurate forecasts and quicker reaction to trouble spots in a project. In this chapter, we will analyze four case studies in which project management tools were successfully implemented. The first case, which will be analyzed in section 4.1, is closely connected to the latest trend in financial management. The prevention of fraud often means the installation and maintenance of appropriate controls which have been widely recognized as important organizational structures for various reasons.

5. Future Trends and Innovations in Project Management Tools

The widespread use of project management suggests that project management software tools will play an increasing role in terms of supporting and enabling project management activity. However, when implementing project management tools, organizations do not always understand that the tool simply automates the process in place at the time of implementation, rather than providing a prescriptive approach for the project. The accurate and efficient implementation of project management tools will thus be of importance if an organization is to be effective in their use. This chapter aims to provide an overview of both commercial-off-the-shelf project management tools and in-house developed systems and to identify the issues and implications of their actual use, having introduced these issues in terms of their importance.

To stay competitive in an increasingly complex business environment, organizations are increasingly using project management tools and techniques to operationalize ideas, respond to technological and non-technological change, and deliver sustainable profits and benefits. Today’s project managers are using familiar tools – advanced scheduling applications, project portfolio management (PPM) software, and specialized commercial software solutions – to support their projects. Tomorrow’s project managers, however, might turn to more sophisticated technologies such as gaming and virtual reality. When these approaches will be widely available is, as yet, undetermined, but early explorations are already commercialized. As have many of its peers, the field of project management will likely be enriched by these tools, but it will also see new platforms generate unintended consequences that could be aggravating. Here are some of the future trends and innovations expected to shape the use of project management tools in the future.