Different projects require different approaches – which is why so many different methodologies are covered in a Parallel Project Training Course. If you have been managing the same team through  multiple project you may have got used to the software you have been using and be unaware of it’s deficiencies – but unless you offer a Project Management Apprenticeship or have a significant change of team structure you may never have the weaknesses pointed out to you.

Unless you read this guide and realise that your current software is ticking too many of the boxes. Read on to find out more.

The user interface is poor

Maybe when you started using the software it was of paramount importance to keep your team on schedule so choosing a piece of software tailored to time management and project progression was essential. Now you’re more interested in a Lean Thinking idea of waste reduction or perhaps management want better cost controls and you’re forever having to delve into menus or click through boxes before you can extract the information you need. Or worse still – you have to export it to a spreadsheet for analysis.

You’re paying too much for too little

There are free tools out there, and while they may not be powerful enough or provide enough functionality for your needs the very fact they exist should be reason enough to consider whether or not you’re paying too much for your software.

It’s buggy, or needs frequent updates and frequent restarts

Poor software hinders rather than helps you to be more efficient. If your software closes unexpectedly too often, or the developers are sending so many updates that you’re having to restart regularly then maybe it’s time to find a more stable solution. Cloud-based services tend to have ongoing, but unobtrusive updates released as issues arise.

It doesn’t foster collaboration

Your project management software should be available to your whole team so that they can input task updates as they finish and so that the whole team can see how the project is progressing. Many modern tools also have integration with office apps such as Outlook and team messaging platforms like Slack to ensure everyone is kept up-to-date with the project progress.

It supports the wrong methodology

Some project management tools are tailored towards managing Agile projects, with the concept of a sequence of sprints, each resulting in a working version of the product. Others are better suited to a waterfall model of linear project progression, and yet others offer support for Lean thinking or PMI/PMBOK. If you are trying to shoe-horn one type of project management into a tool not designed for it then maybe you should be looking for something more appropriate.

You need to scale up

Some platforms come ready designed to enable scaling up when the time comes to do so, but others simply don’t have the functionality to deal with bigger projects or multiple projects so you may have to switch to expand.