The very best companies zig when everybody else zags, and the same holds true if you’re talking about marketing, sales, hiring, or project management software. No matter what the common misconceptions of how to properly manage your tasks and workflows, going against the flow can give you the advantage on your competition that you desperately need in a tight marketplace. Here are six uncommon ways to beef up your project management for the coming business year.
1.) Ditch Microsoft Project — Moving away from MS Project may seem counter-intuitive, since the product has been used successfully for many years. But the truth is that project management software has long since moved on from the isolated, locally based software paradigm.
2.) Move to the cloud — The emerging alternative to older project programs is primarily cloud-based software. Moving to a solution like Workzone or Basecamp that securely hosts your project files remotely so you can access them anytime from virtually anywhere is the future of managing your tasks at work.
3.) Maximize your usage — Project management is no longer field insulated from all other aspects of business. Instead, cloud-based solutions are expanding to assist your business in all areas, from initial market research all the way to follow-through as you close your deals.
4.) Collaborate early and often — Where archaic project management programs would see managers sending files back and forth via email or flash drive, modern collaboration software encourages cooperation from the get-go. Make collaborating on project files simultaneously a primary tenet of your business philosophy, and you’ll find that smoother jobs and team synergy are a natural result.
5.) Follow up — Following through on important projects is just as important as getting a good head start on them. Utilize online document management features to keep tabs on project files for the duration of a bid or job.
6.) Change your mind constantly — Where some companies will stay the course no matter what their key indicators are telling them, you need to know when to pull the plug, when to retool your approach, and when to keep doing what you’re doing. It’s okay to change your mind, and it’s essential to reinvent your way of doing things constantly to stay ahead of the curve.
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