Project monitoring plays a vital role in the decision-making processes of a project manager.

However, despite being an often overlooked method, if put into practice, project monitoring can help the project manager and his team to foresee potential risks and obstacles that if not treated could bring the project in the wrong direction.

What is a project monitoring plan?

 The monitoring plan of a project consists of keeping track and monitoring of all the data related to the project.

Thanks to this activity the Project Manager can always have control of the situation, identify potential problems, and put the corrective actions into practice. The monitoring plan assures that the project is within the field of application and respects the specified deadlines and budget.

In simple terms,

Monitoring is the fourth phase of the five phases of project management according to the PMBOK: starting, planning, execution, monitoring – precisely – and closure.

The monitoring phase should be performed together with the execution of the project, so that to have useful information on the project.

Project monitoring helps to keep track of project performance and progress using key performance indicators (KPIs) given during project planning.

The most important part of this phase is to identify when a change is needed, what the change entails and how to implement it by impacting the minimum possible on the project.

Why is the project monitoring plan important?

 When project managers make important decisions without verified data, it is like they move into a dark room they don’t know with their eyes closed.

Decisions will be based on very little or no evidence. The action could therefore not be very efficient and could only be a waste of time and resources.

This is why it is important to monitor projects diligently and use the data collected to reach rational and logical decisions.

ere are some basic questions to ask during the project monitoring phase:

• Are the activities performed as planned?
• Are there unintended consequences that arise as a result of these activities?
• Are there any elements of the project that need to be modified and if so which ones?
• What is the impact of these changes?
• Will these corrective actions lead to the expected results?

Automation in project monitoring

Automated tools and technologies can simplify the project monitoring process.

Most project managers have already adopted project management tools to delegate tasks and monitor their projects.

However, project monitoring is a complex process and here the project manager must always be actively involved.

The six advantages of project monitoring

Project monitoring offers six advantages:

1. Align progress with the plan

Monitoring project progress will help assess whether the project is in line with the original plan. Moreover, it will help to understand, if the project is going wrong, what corrective actions to apply.

2. Involvement of interested parties

Monitoring improves stakeholder engagement. If a problem or risk is detected too late, the project sponsor is often powerless. With regular monitoring and clear communication, it will be easier to deal with risks and contingencies.

3. Customer satisfaction

Open communication and feedback increase the likelihood that the final result will meet expectations, thus considering the project a success.

4. Team motivation and responsibility.

Team motivation will have fluctuations during the execution of the project. By monitoring progress and completing the milestones, the team will have clear goals for the project.

5. Management of external suppliers.

Communication is essential for any project, especially when working with external suppliers. Monitoring the performance of these resources will help meet key deadlines, manage the given budget, and take into account unexpected project planning delays. Similarly, it is necessary to share project changes with suppliers, so that they can update their internal plans and be available accordingly.

6. Continuous learning and improvement.

Monitoring represents an ideal opportunity for continuous learning and improvement, as well as planning and project execution. Once the project is finished, it is essential to document the lessons learned, a task that is easier if the project was monitored during the execution.

Methods and techniques for monitoring the project

Project monitoring starts already during the project planning phase.

During this phase, the project manager must decide which are the factors that will define the success of the project. He will also determine how to measure the target using key performance indicators (KPIs).

In this phase, it is also necessary to consult the team and the sponsor of the project.

The KPIs used to track and measure success can be, for example:

• Cycle time: the time required to complete an activity.
• Number of program adjustments: how often project planning has been changed.
• Budget variance: how much the actual budget varies from the project budget
• Number of errors: the number of times the job needs to be repeated.

Moreover, it is possible to keep track of customer satisfaction, planned working hours compared to the actual ones, etc.

Choosing KPIs is therefore the first piece of the puzzle.

 The 6 phases of project monitoring

1. Identify the goals of the project

The definition of the program goals begins with the answer to three questions:

• What problem is the project trying to solve?
• What steps are taken to solve this problem?
• How will the project team know when the project was successful in solving the problem?

Answering these questions will help identify what the project should do and how the team, and especially the project manager, will know if it was a success or not.

2. Define the indicators

Once the project goals have been defined, it is time to define the indicators to track progress towards achieving them. The indicators trace the progress of the project and help to answer the question “Are the activities implemented as planned?”

3. Define data collection methods and timing

Now it is time to decide the methods for data collection and how often the data will be collected. The method chosen will have important implications for project monitoring. In fact, a wrong method could lead to a wrong perception.

4. Identify roles and responsibilities during monitoring

It is important to decide who is responsible for collecting data for each indicator from the early stages of planning. Data management roles must be clearly decided so that everyone is on the same page.

5. Create an analysis plan and report templates

Once all the data has been collected, someone will have to draw up a table of results for internal review and external reporting. The project monitoring plan should therefore include details on what data will be analyzed and how the results will be presented.

6. Plan data disclosure

The last element of the monitoring plan describes how and to whom the data will be given. For example, a project team might want to review data on a monthly basis in order to make policy decisions and develop future work plans, while other stakeholders may want to review the data every quarter. These options should therefore be discussed with stakeholders in order to determine reasonable expectations for data review and to develop dissemination plans at the beginning of the project.

These six steps are all you need to set up a good quality project monitoring plan.

By consistently applying these steps, each project manager will be able to see how his project is going. Above all, he will be able to intervene promptly to correct the course when necessary, avoiding inappropriate failures.

Like in the commercial sector, where organizations adapt to the changing needs of the market, even public administrations are forced to adapt public services not only to legislative changes, but also to the perception that citizens have.

The “customers of public institutions”, citizens and legal persons, as well as those of commercial activities, in fact require fast, cheap and quality services.

The situation in the private sector is easier to manage, as there is at least one basic measure of success: profit analysis.

Public authorities, regions, cities and municipalities are instead obliged to work diligently in order to achieve a certain level of efficiency and to compare themselves with other public agencies.

The goal is that this level of services is equal for all organizations.

The purpose of the functioning of public sector organizations is in particular to satisfy the needs of others rather than their own. For public administrations, social goals should balance the economic ones.

These are mainly services that provide people with basic social assistance services such as health, safety, housing, education, cultural and social activities, etc.

The public sector is represented by the public administration, which includes a set of institutions with central or territorial jurisdiction.

The public administration is the backbone of a modern state, just as banks are the backbone of the economy.

It is therefore necessary to effectively coordinate this central government and here the project management in the Public Administration comes into play.

Project Management and its meaning

 According to the most recognized global professional association in project management, the Project Management Institute (PMI), project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and technologies to the activities in order to satisfy the requirements of a specific project.

To satisfy the specific goals of the project, three fundamental factors must be defined for the management of the project:

• Time: the limit for planning the sequence of activities,
• Resources: both people, as members of the project team, as well as materials, such as tools or machines.
• Cost: the use of financial resources over time.

Depending on the complexity, the projects are divided into:

• Investment projects,
• Non-investment projects
• Mixed projects.

In the case of the Public Administration, we mainly talk about large projects that are the object of investments.

The investment project is rather demanding and involves a set of technical and economic studies necessary for its preparation, implementation, financing and efficient operation.

Non-investment projects are also called “soft projects”. These are projects focused on innovation, know-how, consultancy, etc. Processing is generally simpler than in the case of investment projects.

There is also a third type of projects, the mixed one. Mixed projects are those that include both the investment and non-investment part of the project.

Differences and similarities between the public sector and the private sector

The similarities between the two sectors mainly refer to management functions, while the differences focus on the conditions or constraints in which the management operates.

The main distinction between public and private organizations is their ownership. Unlike private companies, owned by entrepreneurs or shareholders, public organizations are the collective property of members of political communities.

Here are some additional differences between public and private organizations:

• Complexity: public organizations are confronted with a wider variety of stakeholders, each of which places demands and constraints on managers;
• Permeability: public organizations are “open systems” easily influenced by external events;
• Instability: political constraints determine frequent changes in politics and the imposition of short time horizons;
• Absence of competitive pressures: public organizations generally have few competitors. Even when competition is present, public managers often enjoy a dominant position in the market, such as in education and healthcare.

It is also emphasized that the goals of public organizations are more vague than those of their private counterparts, because organizational goals are imposed through the political process, rather than selected by the managers themselves.

Another feature of public organizations is that they usually have more formal procedures for decision making and are less flexible and more risk averse.

Moreover, economic efficiency cannot be used by public managers as a primary decision criterion, due to the mission that public organizations have. This means that public managers should follow public service ethics in their activities.

The role and skills of the Project Manager in the Public Administration

 Project managers play a crucial role in all types of projects and have a key role that determines the success or failure of such projects.

However, progress in public sector projection is creating a growing need to develop skills for public sector project managers.

Their role, in fact, is unique and very particular. This is also because in public projects we are always dealing with multiple and different stakeholders whose opinions can strongly influence the project.

Public sector project managers work in a different environment compared to the private one. Very often the public environment is not familiar with results-oriented project management. Project Managers are indeed often constantly involved in the management of political interference when they carry out projects.

Project management in the public sector therefore plays a key role in how society as a whole behaves. Here, project managers not only deal with the ability to successfully conclude a project in the right time, but they go further.

The importance of ethics for the public sector project manager

The public sector project manager must therefore possess the so-called “Skills Triangle“, which includes similar types of skills – but not identical – to those of the private sector: technic, leadership and ethics.

Without having an ethical competence, which refers to conforming to moral values and norms, project managers cannot use their professional skills in the right way within the public sector.

There are proper training programs and academic curricula tailored to the needs of public sector employers. These are paths that can help the project manager to do his job even more efficiently, in favor of the public good.

Every organization works on some basic principles and on a particular structure.

Working according to the principles of this particular organizational structure allows the achievement of a common goal, as well as the growth and development of the organization and the employees that are part of it.

There are different types of organizational structures and the functional organizational structure is one of these. And we will talk about this in this article.

What is a functional organization?

A functional organization is the most common type of organizational structure.

This is the organization divided into smaller groups based on functions such as IT, finance or marketing.

This departmentalization allows greater operational efficiency because the employees have their specific skills and knowledge to share within the group.

These people are supervised by a functional manager, who has experience in the same field.

This experience helps him use employees’ skills effectively, which ultimately helps organizations achieve their business goals.

In a functional organizational structure, the reporting relationships are grouped according to the specialty or functional area.

The purpose of the separation of the areas is has the purpose of letting the individuals deal with and worry about different and specific activities.

Here the authority, regarding for example the allocation of the budget, the allocation of resources, the decision-making process, etc. remains in the hands of the functional manager.

Project Manager vs Functional Manager

Usually, in this type of organization the role of the Project Manager is limited, since he will need the permission of the functional manager to satisfy his requests.

The functional organizational structure is generally suitable for companies producing standard products or goods, such as manufacturing industries.

Let’s consider a company that designs and sells clothing and fashion accessories, for example, and let’s imagine its creative department that carries out the projects.

The creative department will do its specific thing and will not focus on everything. Instead, it will be the task of the accounting and finance department to keep track of the amount spent on design creation and mass production. The sales and marketing department will be responsible for presenting specific plans for the sale of the products and for attracting the consumer, while the human resources department must ensure that the employees work to their maximum potential.

All these activities will be governed by the president and mid-level managers of the organization. More products will lead to the creation of more departments. Each department will have many other functions to perform, but these are the basic functions of each department.

The advantages of a Functional Organization

Every type of organization has its strengths and its shortcomings. Obviously, this also happens in the case of a functional organization. Let’s start from the merits:

• The team is run by an experienced person with a high skill and ability, who can adequately understand and review the entire job.
• Team members have the opportunity to work with other people in the same field. This allows the sharing of thoughts and knowledge and allows the learning of new special skills.
• Team members have the opportunity to make a career and then be promoted within their functional areas. This can be a great reason to stay in the workplace for a long time.
• Thanks to people’s skills, workers with specialized skills can perform tasks quickly, efficiently and with greater security, while reducing work-related errors.
• Functional organizations generally represent an optimal type of structure for small businesses focused on the production or supply of individual products or services, because they have the possibility of maximizing performance. Peer cooperation within the different units is encouraged through supervision and coordination. Specialization, therefore, leads to operational efficiencies and improves productivity levels.
• The hierarchy is obvious and employees must not report to multiple supervisors running the risk of generating confusion. Each employee reports to his functional manager and this reduces the number of communication channels.
• There is no duplication of work because every department and every employee has a fixed job responsibility.
• Cooperation and communication are generally excellent within the department.

The shortcomings of a Functional Organization

Let us now examine the shortcomings of this type of organization:

• In a functional organization the grouping of units is carried out based on their special skills, abilities, tasks or roles. This will allow the entire team to operate correctly. However, business strategies and the level of bureaucracy make it difficult to respond to changes immediately. This is why this type of organization is quite rigid.
• Another disadvantage of the functional organizational structure is that these functional groups may not be able to communicate more often than scheduled, thus reducing flexibility and innovation.
• When a company uses this type of structure, people are grouped based on their knowledge and skills. This therefore requires a management system that allows the promotion, development and visibility of individual skills in each functional area.
• The lack or inefficient horizontal coordination within the department could give rise to management problems. The motivation of the employees is strongly influenced by the lack of innovation and by the narrow visions of the organizational goals. This structure can be rigid and standardized methods and high formalization can hinder or prevent a faster decision-making process.
• Another weakness of the functional organizational structure may be the lack of coordination of the unit. As a result, although functional units may have a better level of efficiency, they may have difficulty working well together, and cooperation may therefore be compromised. Moreover, some people may be particularly “territorial” and individualistic and may not be willing to cooperate. These unhealthy coordination can lead to delays, unfulfilled commitments, competing interests, waste of time and, in general, delays in completing the project.
• Employees may feel bored due to the type of monotonous and repetitive work and may lose enthusiasm for the job.
• Conflicts can arise if the performance appraisal system is not properly managed. For example, an employee can perceive the promotion of a colleague with lower skills as unjust and this could lead to demotivation.
• A highly qualified employee costs more.
• Departments have an egocentric mentality. The functional manager pays more attention to his own department and usually does not care about the other.
• Employees may have little concern and knowledge of events outside of their department. This causes obstacles to communication and cooperation.
• Generally, the functional manager makes autocratic decisions without consulting his team members. This may not always work for the organization.
• When the organization gets bigger, functional areas can become difficult to manage due to their size. Each department can begin to behave as a small company with its facilities, its culture and its management style.
• Functional departments can be distracted by departmental goals and focus on them rather than the organization’s overall goal.

 

To conclude, it can be said that among the various types of organizational structures a functional organizational structure is more suitable for organizations that do not change their working methods and function too often and where there is no intense competition in the market that could require quick action.

This structure requires a very powerful management, capable of resolving conflicts and internal problems. In essence, a management that allows employees to function as a team, despite the specialized departments working like a “watertight compartment”.

Moreover, it is ideal in a smaller environment where there is only one product or service to offer. For a larger organization, this structure may not be really effective.

An Agile coach helps organizations with the implementation of the Agile methodology. It helps developing agile teams and facilitates organizational change culture in order to ensure effective results.

The goal of an Agile coach is to provide the right knowledge to an agile team. The teams will have to receive the right training and will have to know adequately the indispensable tools. The goal is to ensure that members are able to use this method to its full potential.

Agile coaches can be employees of an organization or work as external contractors.

Organizational benefits of an Agile coach

The implementation of an Agile methodology can help simplify the processes but, as many will know, it is not easy to make changes in an organization.

Typical challenges faced during a change can be grouped into five categories:

1. Primary problems: any elementary situation that has to be solved. For example, the organization wants to increase customer satisfaction. To achieve this, it may be necessary to reduce marketing time or maintain competitiveness in a dynamic market, etc.

2. Awareness / inattention. People are not aware of what they do not know and, for this reason, they need help to have a clear understanding of problems, gaps and opportunities that allow improvement. In Agile, awareness is an indispensable condition for promoting continuous improvement.

3. Low sense of belonging. Lack of involvement and participation is one of the most typical challenges for many organizations. For this reason, many companies need help to create elements that foster collaboration and increase the sense of belonging of their employees.

4. Skills gap. Perhaps people will need a different set of skills in order to reach the desired state. Most of the time, change means adopting different behaviors and new ways of working. People have to learn different responsibilities and activities during an Agile transformation. For this reason, they will need assistance and support in order to develop these new skills.

5. Organizational barriers. Business agility is a great desire for most organizations. As a result, companies must optimize their processes and organizational projects in order to achieve greater flexibility, adaptability, and responsiveness to unpredictable changes. This is why companies need help to identify and overcome barriers during their path of improvement.

Encouraging everyone to accept a new methodology requires significant effort from the management.

The agile coach in support of the Team

Having a coach able to guide and direct the change in the right way, can help a team to overcome the difficult phases, especially in the first period of change.

An Agile coach will allow the company to maintain its activities while at the same time committing itself to create an agile team. These factors will help save time, money and resources in the long term.

Moreover, another task of the Agile coach is to understand the reasons why, in certain cases, Agile does not provide the expected results. It will be his task to find possible solutions to remedy the situation.

Before the Agile coach finishes his job, the goal is to have a fully functioning agile team ready to embrace the new methodology.

The Agile methodology is indeed easy to understand, but difficult to master. The consequence is that many Project Managers encounter problems during the transition.

Most of these problems are due to unrealistic expectations. There is a tendency to overestimate the simplicity of implementing Agile within a team, a department or within the entire organization.

The role of the Agile coach

The role of an Agile coach can be temporary or permanent, depending on the needs of the organization.

Larger companies, with more teams, may want to keep this figure within the human resources department. His presence will be useful to help supervise the application of the agile methodology in the long term, but the position is generally temporary.

For most companies, especially medium and small organizations, it is more useful and economical to hire an Agile coach temporarily in order to help make the team work in an agile manner.

There is no valid strategy when it comes to agile adaptation, so every organization will have unique needs in the process.

Agile coaches take advantage of their background in project management, IT and other related fields in order to understand what will work for a particular organization and what will not.

The essential qualities for an agile coaching

In particular, there are five qualities necessary for effective Agile Coaching:

1. Knowledge of everything that surrounds the Agile methodology

Agile is not a standard recipe, but a complete philosophy. It is a mentality in which change is not the goal, but rather the starting point. The Agile methodology uses different methods and frameworks, such as Lean and Scrum for example. An Agile Coach must therefore be aware of all these different methods and know how and when to use them.

2. Possessing an open mind

The study following the Agile methodology is relatively new and is still under development. For this reason, an Agile coach must be constantly open to new techniques, tools and insights.

3. Understanding and empathy

An Agile coach does not say what should happen or what went wrong, but helps the team to get more information about their performance and take responsibility for it. This only works if this figure is able to gain the complete trust of the members of the team. This is why an Agile Coach needs a good understanding and empathy.

4. Addressing conflicts

In an Agile environment, self-managed teams have the space to do their jobs as they want.

This also means that they must be able to resolve tensions and differences of opinion within the group itself. In this case, there is no manager to intervene and calm the situation.

Conflicts in the workplace are not a disaster in themselves, as long as they don’t get out of hand. The Agile coach therefore has an important role in identifying open or underlying tensions and giving the opportunity to speak about it correctly.

5. Patience and perseverance

Developing an agile mentality is usually a difficult process and some people need more time than others.

An agile coach must be able to focus on the things that are going well and, above all, keep looking forward. Changes always take longer than what one thinks.

 

Agile Coaching is therefore a vast activity that aims to allow improvements in organizations and helps people to evolve their mentality and behavior.

The task is not at all simple and can vary greatly depending on the context. There are more forms and techniques to do it and it will be the Agile Coach’s ability to find the best way in every situation.

 

Choosing a project management software is never easy, especially if we are talking about specific sectors.

The offer of softwares for project management on the market has in fact exploded exponentially in recent years.

These programs are specially designed to improve collaboration between team members and the project manager. They offer a variety of functionalities necessary for the success of a project and it is not so easy to choose the ones that best suit the situation.

A reliable project management software will in fact give the opportunity to share everything about the process in real time. The interaction of the team and the results will consequently improve, but if there are no specific functions indispensable to the project, it may not produce any concrete advantage.

With such a wide offer on the market, the question arises: “Which software is suitable for my project / organization?” Let’s try to build a coherent path of choice.

To choose a project management software, you need to be clear about why you need it

A well-designed project management software will keep everyone up to date on the progress of the work and ensure that the project is progressing as planned.

Many project managers, even today, keep track of projects using Excel, Google spreadsheets or other spreadsheet programs.

These work well up to a certain point and are okay for relatively simple projects that require only few resources.

However, as elaborate as they may be, these tools have significantly lower performance compared to a dedicated project management software.

Here are the telltale signs that indicate the need to use project management software:

• The team is using too many tools to track different aspects of the project.
• The team looses too much time writing emails and doing meetings and does not have enough time to generate results.
• You want to move the project management system to the cloud so that everyone can access information from anywhere and at any time.
• Business and organizational needs have exceeded the capacity of the current software.
• Someone does not receive adequate updates or sufficient visibility through the current software.
• Problems are not tracked properly and risks are not reported in time.
• The software is too complex, to the point that it is creating inefficiencies, rather than increasing productivity.
• Collaboration between team members is not efficient or effective.
• Too much is spent analyzing data and generating reports.

It is precisely the Project Manager who must identify these deficiencies and decide if and when the time has come to make the qualitative leap.

10 essential features in a project management software

Many project management solutions have similar characteristics, but can be addressed in different ways. In our opinion, here are the 10 essential features for a respectable PM software.

1. Good project management software must be easy to use

Project management software will not be useful unless the team uses it.

Some project management tools are very complex and may require a few days of training.

It is important to choose a software that offers the right mix of features provided through an intuitive interface. The simpler it is to use it, the more team members will be convinced to use it.

2. It must allow a complete and correct management of the activities

This function should not only allow you to list all the activities, but also to assign them to the correct team member, so that everyone knows what needs to be done and by whom.

Some project management tools allow you to sort tasks using different filters, such as by resource, department, completion day, etc., so you can quickly locate and organize information.

Most software warns the responsible team member when a deadline is approaching in order to make sure that tasks are completed in a timely manner. If some of these functions were missing, the software in question should be discarded a priori.

3. Planning as a priority of a respectable project management software

You may be able to manage a small project thanks to a simple list of activities on a spreadsheet, however, things can become very complicated in the case of a large project.

If you do not have the opportunity to view the history and understand how the various activities are dependent and influence each other, it may be practically impossible to plan them correctly.

A Gantt chart is therefore a function that is not only important, but indispensable in order to allow the visualization of activities, the interdependencies between them and, consequently, the entire planning of the project.

Choose only software that has an extremely clear and easy to set Gantt function.

4. File sharing as an element of interaction and speeding up of the steps

Most software offers the possibility to share files internally. This allows team members to have quick access to the information they need to do the job.

It is however useful to check if the Project Management software offers the possibility to share files even with people outside the organization, such as suppliers, contractors or customers. Sometimes sharing this could be indispensable in order to not being forced to resort to additional tools.

5. Instant communication within the team

Good communication is essential to facilitate collaboration and ensure that activities are carried out in an efficient and timely manner.

The need for simplified communication is becoming increasingly important. In most major projects, in fact, an increasing number of people work remotely or are distributed among offices in different places, also in the third sector.

An integrated messaging feature therefore, helps team members communicate quickly in real time without having to exchange hundreds of emails daily.

In addition, other team members can take a quick look at a discussion.

Nowadays, choosing a PM software with the integrated Instant Chat function has become essential.

6. Reporting tools in an efficient software that allows the creation of Reports in real time

Reporting tools collect the previously entered project data and create reports on project budgets, expenses, resource allocation, team member performance and more.

Most project management software has a predefined set of reports that can be generated and some also include custom reports. Before choosing the software for a determined project, it is essential to check the efficiency of these features in depth.

7. A good software must provide a simple and intuitive dashboard

This feature allows you to have a view of the project status through a dashboard with graphs, visual metrics and key indicators.

A simple and intuitive Dashboard not only for the Project Manager but for all team members is certainly a help in focusing on the activities to be carried out and identifying priorities.

The Dashboard should be able, when necessary, to be shared also with stakeholders. In fact, these graphical reports instantly communicate the status of the project and some interested parties might be interested in seeing the general data of the project but do not need to see all the details presented in a written report.

8. User friendly user interface

Even though visual design may not seem like a top priority, it has some importance anyway.

A poor and messy interface could make it difficult for users to find what they need, thus hindering productivity.

A clean, simple and professional interface makes the user experience more enjoyable and may even help team members be enthusiastic about using the software.

Moreover, a well-designed interface is even more important if the project management tool is also used by an end customer.

In fact, a modern and professional design will improve the image of the organization in general.

9. Choose software for the management of projects that allows the personalization of work environments and reports

Customization allows to create a “work environment” that reflects the preferences and needs of an organization: from the logo to the color scheme, from customized reports to the way data are organized.

Moreover, the customization of reports and columns of data allows you to selectively display information. This allows to quickly show relevant data and metrics to different stakeholders.

The possibilities to customize these aspects when choosing a software are often underestimated, but not taking them into consideration can definitely be a mistake.

10. Time, budget and resource management

These three aspects often overlap. The ideal is to have them all together in a single project management software. This surely would represent a valid help for the allocation of the team and resources in a more efficient way.

Optional advanced features

Depending on the nature of the organization’s activity and the complexity of the project, a project manager might also like to have features that are not usually found in default project management softwares. Let’s see together what they are:

1. Additional visualization tools to simplify communication

If you often handle complex data and relevant reports, the Gantt chart may not be sufficient to give a complete view. You may need to use additional visualization tools to simplify the communication of various data and metrics involved in the project.

2. Possibility of integrating risk analysis

If you work with complex projects with many moving parts, an integrated risk analysis feature can be very useful.

This feature allows to identify, analyze, and react quickly to risk factors for the entire duration of a project.

The advantages, as you can well understand, can be enormous not only from the financial point of view but also for the purpose of the project itself.

3. Expense and billing report

Some advanced project management software (but not all) offer customer relationship management features, so-called CRMs, and invoice automation. This allows customer interactions and information to be automatically synchronized.

The billing function synchronizes with time tracking and expense reporting so that all information can be consolidated before an invoice is created.

 

After understanding the various features offered by the project management tools on the market, it is therefore necessary to clarify one’s needs.

Several factors must be taken into account based on the specific circumstances of an organization in order to ensure that the selected project management software meets the needs. Not only that, it will also be necessary to choose the one that best suits the nature of the projects and the structure of the company, considering current and future growth needs.

When choosing a project management software, it is important to make sure to combine the various features with the requirements of the organization and the team in order to choose the tool that best fits the goals.

Closing a project is not like turning off a computer. After having apparently finished a project, there is still a lot to do and, even if it does not seem, many things can go wrong.

So much time and effort is made in the planning of a project, but often it is forgotten that the end of a project is just as demanding and important.

Once the final products have been delivered, it does not mean that the project is complete. Ignoring the project closure process results in incomplete project management.

These are the goals to be achieved by closing a project:

• Delivery of the final product
• Meet all the requirements of the contract
• Transfer the project to the customer
• Review the project in its success stories and shortcomings
• Guarantee all contracted and received products and services
• Notify suppliers of project completion
• Complete the final report

The 4 steps (+1) for the closure of a project

Below we will describe 4 steps (+ 1) that a PM must take in order to properly close a project. Even skipping just one of them would give a sense of incompleteness such that the manager’s reputation could even be questioned.

1. Organize the post-project

The management of a project does not only concern the activities and resources, the budget and the deadlines, but it is an experience from which one can constantly learn.

Having a meeting with the project team to receive feedback on what worked and what didn’t and encouraging honesty, is a positive practice from which the project manager can have many advantages. In addition to the human relationship that can be established between the members of the Team, thanks to the documentation of the errors and the successes of the project, it is possible to create a catalog that offers historical data and information that can be consulted when planning new projects. Each project closure represents a new knowledge produced.

2. Write a complete documentation at the end of the project

Each project generates a lot of documents that must be signed and approved by the stakeholders. This includes the closure of all contracts that have been entered into with internal partners or suppliers or other possible resources. This also includes the closing of all outstanding payments such as invoices, commissions, bonuses, etc.

3. Release the resources once the project is closed

Putting together a team for the project is a formal and crucial process, but releasing it is just as important. Each team is brought together for the mix of skills and experiences that their members bring to a project. It will be the type of project that will then determine the choice of the team members. Each project will be reflected in the team hired to execute it. This applies to both internal as well as external resources.

In the case of external resources, the closure process may seem more obvious. The contract with them expires and it must be ensured that the resources are paid according to the agreements.
In the case of internal resources instead, which often remain within the same organization, it is necessary to remember that even their time for the project is limited. Once the project is finished, these internal resources could be directed to another project. Therefore, not releasing internal resources in time could lead to difficulties and problems in the case of other projects.

4. Archive project documents

Every old project brings with it the so called lessons learned. However, if you do not have an archive where to find old records, any knowledge acquired is lost due to bad organization and documentation management. If you work hard to get a successful project and its related documentation, then it is essential not to lose it.

Before closing a project, it is important to archive all the documents and all the data that could be useful. Even if you do not directly access it, you need to keep track of the work done for other people in the organization. You never know when someone might be interested in going back in time to find out how an old problem has been solved.

5. Celebrate success at the end of the project

There is nothing stupid about rewarding and celebrating the project team to recognize a successful job. This underlines the closure of the project, but also plants a seed that can flourish in later projects when there will be an opportunity to work together again. When a job well done is underlined and acknowledged, the morale of the team and of the people are being built. This creates a bond of loyalty between project managers and teams. In the future, these resources will be ready to work even harder in other projects.

As you now know, project closure is an important step in any project, simple or complex.

The closure of the project is an educational experience in which many aspects of project management are learned with respect to what was done during the execution of the project.

It is therefore necessary to resist the temptation to immediately start a new project, but concentrate on completing the formal closure process.

Efficient project closure creates value for all project stakeholders, project managers included.

 

Managing a project effectively is a complex task. It requires a lot of time and high capacity. This is why the implementation of a project management software possibly in the mother tongue simplifies the process.

This implementation becomes more and more essential, if we consider that companies have goals to achieve that can also be taken as a reference point to measure the overall level of success and growth.

he value in purely economic terms of the organization also depends on success, growth, and efficiency. It is clear that if a project management software can be simply used by all members of the team, it can facilitate the achievement of goals, becoming an indispensable resource for the company itself.

An effective general management of the project cannot depend only on the skill of the Project Manager in managing tasks and resources, but also depends on the possibility that the Team has to feel supported, to interact, and to check individual and group progress. All this and much more can be achieved only with the use of a good software in the mother tongue of the Team that helps the PM managing the entire project and the Team to carry it out.

Project management software and its advantage

Since managing a project is a complex and time-consuming process, streamlining it using a project management system is a valuable solution that can be applied to an increasing number of projects and organizations.

The main purpose of the project management software is to assist the team in planning and monitoring the project, taking into account the resources, components, and overall stakeholders.
This investment is economically advantageous in the long term, if we consider the amount that the company could lose with poor project management and if, as already mentioned, we consider the added value that the company has for every goal achieved.

Companies that are not yet using project management softwares are likely to do more work with less profits. This is due to the time wasted on adjustment activities.

If these activities have already been taken into consideration in advance and are already planned, the project manager, with his team, will have more time to concentrate on the fundamental operations for completing of the project.

Here are some reasons why a project management software is useful for organizations of any size:

Scheduling and planning of activities

Without a computerized system, it can be difficult for the team to meet deadlines due to the lack of a fixed guideline on what should be done, by whom and by when.
Even the overall visualization of the tasks to be performed helps. Time is lost when employees show up for work without knowing the tasks they should do.
The use of a software outlines the activities and makes them visible and clear to everyone.
Setting deadlines and priorities, together with planning, avoids misunderstandings and overlaps of activities and schedules.
In fact, some of the indispensable functionalities in a project management software are a synchronized and shared team calendar that provides an overview of everything. A calendar that shows the timing and milestones and that allows everyone to see the overall progress.

Management of the resources needed for the project

Resource management is another reason why a project management software is useful.

Managing resources efficiently is important to ensure the proper functioning of the project activities and phases. Good management does not waste anyone’s time.

This feature describes the resources that will be used and when they will be used.

Knowing the materials that will be used in a project allows you to work smoothly without blockings caused by a missing tool or equipment.

The calculation of the use of a resource must also be present. This allows, in a cost saving perspective, not to forget certain resources and to avoid their excessive use.

It is clear that this leads to a reduction in expenses and ensures the payment of resources only when they are really needed and used.

Budget management

Each project comes with a budget that also counts contingencies and profit.

The goal of a project manager is to keep the actual cost below, or at least equal to the estimated cost, in order to maximize the profit earned by the company for the project.

To manage expenses efficiently, the simple creation of an Excel spreadsheet will not be enough.

In this case, some essential functions that a good PM software should have can be the monitoring of the time spent on the various activities. The monthly and weekly reports on expenses, a financial reporting dashboard and, in some cases, the automated billing option will become valuable references for the Project Manager.

Management of the project documentation

Many organizations use excel spreadsheets, others, probably the smallest, can even use pen and paper to track project progress.

However, these methods expose to potential errors. A research shows that 88% of the data in a spreadsheet contains errors that are alarming for organizations that use it as a reference tool for managing business operations.
The use of a project management software guarantees an accurate documentation  based on the data collected in a detailed and methodical way.
A project management software can therefore definitely help you get the projects under control and go in the right direction.

Collaboration within the work team

When managing a large project, each member of the team is designated with individual activities.

To ensure that everyone has the same focus, it is necessary to use a project management software to simplify team collaboration.

When a member has questions or concerns, he must immediately get the right answer by communicating internally to the team. He must communicate with the right people within the right project, without wasting time looking for other sources. Therefore, it is almost essential to have an internal chat within the software.

This reduces the time spent searching for answers

A chat also optimizes the sharing of documents, timelines and status updates to notify everyone of important information such as the amount of work done and how much time is left to complete it.

Some features not to be underestimated can be the possibility of file sharing, sharing of customer data, a chat for each project integrated in the system, and a dashboard for each team that provides an overview of the progress of each single piece within the project.

The choice of a project management software in the mother tongue

In short, thanks to a project management software, it is possible to maintain the management of the group and the project.

But this can only be done if all the members of the Team will be able to use it to its full potential. And how will all this be possible if not all the members of the team fully understand the language of the software?

When choosing a project management software, the language is often underestimated, while playing a key role instead.

Having a software available is certainly important, but it’s not just about having it … You also need to know how to use it and make it work.

There are some aspects related to team management that are strongly related to the language. They are aspects that are a great part of the success or the inexpensiveness of a project.

The software, in the realization of a project, is an almost indispensable resource, and for this reason is important to use a project management software with a multilingual version or a project management software that contemplates the mother tongue.

Certainly, many project managers will understand English, given the amount of foreign terms in the sector.

However, when we talk about other collaborators and team members who have to deal with the system, the situation changes. It is essential to make sure that the chosen software is available in the mother tongue.

It would not be nice if, due to a bad interpretation of a term, the workflow of a given project was somehow interrupted. Interpretation is the enemy of efficiency.

Choosing a project management software in native or multilingual language is essential to ensure the use of the software itself. If the team finds a pleasant environment, where the barriers to use are not present, it will definitely be more inclined to use the tool. Clearly, this will guarantee a constantly updated and performed project.

But there are other aspects related to the language that have to be taken into consideration. Let’s see them together.

Support

Assistance must also be an aspect consider when choosing a software.
In fact, if you choose a project management software in your mother tongue, you can also have mother tongue language support. Any need, any doubt will not leave room for interpretation, the understanding will be immediate and the intervention of the PM will not be necessary.

Integration

The software becomes a tool of great value if integrated with the production processes. For this reason, the language becomes strategic in allowing the team to switch from one application to another without having any kind of shock.

Cloud or Enterprise

When choosing a software with a multilingual version, it is essential to think about the evolving company.
Today, choosing whether to install the software or keep it in the cloud is a strategic choice, but it must not become a constraint.
Usually companies start with cloud projects and then evolve towards enterprise solutions. This is why it is necessary to start immediately with a project management software in Italian.
Only thanks to this choice, whatever the evolution of the company, the software can be enjoyed serenely and without barriers by the whole team.

Do you use a project management software? Are there certain fundamental benefits for you that we have not shown in this article? Write us your opinion!

 

3 Reports to analyze in detail the future of Project Management. 3 reports that the Project Management Institute has just published on the evolution of Project Management taking into consideration the “disruptive” technologies.

These reports were presented during the seventh PMO Symposium in Washington CS, where more than 650 project management executives came together to understand the future of the role and the industry.

The focus was on disruptive technologies  and on how cloud solutions, Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have changed the way of doing business in organizations and transformed whole industries.

We have therefore decided to investigate these topics, dedicating this and future articles to the individual reports of the PMI in order to show what awaits us in the near future.

Report 1: Forge the future: evolve with disruptive technology

The Report, born from the collaboration between Accenture and PMI, is very interesting as it looks at the creation of a culture of innovation through the adoption of interruptions.

 Through the adoption of these emerging technologies and new ways of working, the PMO will continue to evolve as a strategic collaborator that guides the delivery and execution of the strategy.

Disruptive technologies are the new reality for every organization in every sector.

Artificial intelligence, cloud, digitalization, blockchain, all offer endless possibilities for organizations to transform themselves and their related industries.

Unfortunately, though, it is true that for organizations it may be easy to imagine how these new technologies and strategies will work.

In fact, there is often a significant difference between the development of the strategy and its implementation in the everyday life.

Therefore, the project management office (PMO) and project managers can fill this gap, but only if they are ready to evolve first.

Here are some actions that can help:

1. Enforce e a collaborative leadership culture that embraces change and drives innovation
2. Reorganize and retrain project managers to incorporate new skills
3. Evolve traditional delivery methods to include key performance indicators that evaluate organizational progress in achieving strategic goals

Disruptive technologies: threat or opportunity?

The new technologies that emerge every day radically change the way we work and live.

Exploiting their potential requires much more than a technological focus. Organizations have to face their broader business strategy, their ways of working and change management accordingly.

Moreover, they must be willing to evolve and invest in acquiring new skills.

Organizations that already recognize the power of these technologies to increase revenue growth, profitability, and innovation are starting to create interesting evolution systems.

The Report highlights how innovative organizations, i.e. those that exploit disruptive technologies in order to obtain a competitive advantage, in general:

• have a mature digital transformation strategy
• are committed to making changes at the organization level
• experiment with new ways of working
• see the adoption of disruptive technologies as a high priority

Most organizations have undergone significant transformation in recent years using disruptive technologies, but only about a quarter of these have produced tangible benefits.

So, what prevents organizations from gaining the benefits of disruptive technologies and digital transformation?

The main obstacles include:

Selection of the right areas for the investment

 Leaders must first determine which part of their business would benefit the most from new technologies, it can be profitability increase, better customer service or cost reduction. The wrong choice, in fact, not only costs money, but hinders the business.

Choose the right technology and integrate it harmoniously

Once the technological investment priorities have been set, the next challenge is to select the right tools. Because of limited resources, companies need to choose wisely the new technology and therefore need to understand how to integrate it into existing systems without interrupting the business.

Lack of funds

The cost of moving to new technologies can still be prohibitive. In addition, organizations often find themselves spending significantly to train their workers on new ways of working.

Resistance of employees to change

This is a key factor for any transformation program and it determines the real chance of success – or not. Many employees consider the new technology a threat and therefore resist change. At the same time, the organization is not able to give them a clear vision or an understanding of the importance of change.

Gaps between strategy and execution

While senior managers are at the forefront of defining a strategy to exploit disruptive technologies, their strategic goals are not always translated into actions at the project level.

These general goals – from top to bottom – must be converted into tangible and measurable results. Gaps in communicating the vision and the lack of support from middle management can hinder the plans.

The project manager of the next generation should be a version of himself ready for change and far-sighted. Project managers should not be afraid to experiment and embrace new ways of working and should be ready to help team members make these changes.

An organization could take years to complete its digital transformation. During this process, the project manager must therefore have the opportunity to contribute to creating a culture of innovation, agility and critical thinking, reinforced with the right tools and educational opportunities.

The fundamental steps for change

Organizations will have to face change by implementing the following practices:

Enhance the project manager and / or the PMO

The project manager and the PMO must be able to concentrate on the strategic goals of the organization. Strategy and results must be always aligned. To do this, a project manager must have authority and be able to change course if the project is not achieving the goal.

Evolve in traditional delivery metrics

This means, including KPIs that evaluate the organization’s progress in achieving strategic goals.

The project managers and the PMO should therefore not rely solely on the use of traditional delivery metrics.

These new KPIs evaluate the organization’s progress in achieving its strategic goals. The project managers will take care to ensure that the KPIs at the organization level are reflected in the business results and KPIs at the project level.

Reorganize and retrain project managers

In light of new technologies, project managers must embrace all those skills that enable them to deliver projects and programs successfully. For this reason they must be trained on all the new tools and knowledge.

In conclusion, we can say that these changes and disruptive technologies represent important factors for organizations and, in turn, for the workforce.

Therefore, a robust organizational change management program is a top priority to help organizations stay in the market with greater success and predictability.

Project managers, together with the PMO, play a crucial role as agents of change.

Here the link to download the full version in PDF

 

 

Nowadays, applying Project Management to the construction sector is also a must.

Construction projects evolve and become more and more structured, here we find many moving parts and heterogeneous resources that have to be managed.

Moreover, in every construction project, there are many phases that have to be managed as well, from planning to construction itself. This means that managing such a project requires high technology, knowledge and tools to successfully complete it.

The types of Construction Projects

Even in construction, it is essential to use specific project management techniques that oversee planning, design and, of course, managing a project from beginning to end.

Let’s try to understand the specificities of this sector beginning by understanding how, in the construction sector, we can distinguish six different types of construction. These are:

• Agricultural
• Residential
• Istitutional
• Commercial
• Industrial
• Environmental

However, these types are not watertight compartments and this further complicates things. The same subjects involved in various projects, in fact, can belong to different types.

We are talking about engineering and architecture companies or design studios, but it is also common to find construction companies, industry professionals and facility management companies.

Construction Project Management: the choice of the construction company

It is no secret that the management of construction projects is a fairly complicated task.

It all starts with the project owner (client) who gets in touch with contractors asking for quotes. It is also possible that the owner establishes a competition between contractors in order to receive offers.

There are two types of scenarios concerning bids in the construction field:

1. Open bid: open offers are inextricably linked to projects and public works. These are auctions in which any entrepreneur is invited to make an offer. A public offer is normally promoted and advertised openly.
2. Closed bid: private projects are generally based on closed offers. The project owner himself sends an invitation to a specific number of contractors.

After collecting all the estimates, the owner moves to the selection of the contractor through one of the following three methods:

1. Selection of the lowest bid: in this case, the main interest is the price. The project owner selects the lowest bid from an economic point of view and proceeds with it.
2. Value-based selection: this process evaluates both the qualifications and the contractor’s price. The owner chooses the most attractive offer in terms of both quality and money.
3. Selection based on qualifications: this method is adopted when the qualifications are used as the sole criterion for the selection of the construction company.

Once the construction company has been officially chosen, the bidding process is finished and it is now time to start concretely with the project.

Construction Project Management: the start of the project

In general, each project has a standard life cycle, regardless of its special characteristics. This structure could be outlined in four basic phases:

1. Initiation of the project
2. Planning phase
3. Execution phase
4. Final phase

In the initiation phase, the goal and feasibility of the project are determined.

This is a crucial phase, as it can tell if this project is a good opportunity or not.

If necessary, a feasibility study is conducted and a recommended solution or plan is issued on the basis of the results.

Once everything is decided, a project charter is created. This document provides the foundation for the construction plan and is one of the most important documents in project management.

Construction Project Management: planning

The project planning phase is where the team identifies the work that has to be done.

The main priority during this phase is the planning of times, costs and resources for the project.

Based on these requirements, the team develops the strategy to follow. This is also known as scope management.

Another important document that has to be prepared is a work breakdown structure – or WBS -, a checklist that divides all the necessary work into smaller, more functional steps.

As soon as the budget, program and work are defined, the project is almost ready to start.

The next step in this phase is the risk analysis. At this point, the team should examine all potential threats to the project and find solid solutions.

Finally, a communication plan is also needed. This will establish an efficient flow of information between project stakeholders, the team and the project manager.

Construction Project Management: execution

In the execution phase, the construction project management plan is finally put into practice, ie. in execution.

As a rule, this phase is divided into two main processes: actual execution, and monitoring and control.

The project team ensures that the required activities are performed. At the same time, progress is monitored and the necessary changes are made accordingly.

In fact, a project manager spends most of the time in the monitoring phase and, depending on the information he receives, redirects activities and thus maintains control on the project.

Construction Project Management: end

The final phase of the project represents its official completion.

The project manager will evaluate what went well and what did not. The team writes a project report, calculates the final budget and provides information on any activities left unfinished.

The project report, combined with the analysis of potential bankruptcies, will provide a valuable feedback for future construction projects.

The role of a construction project manager

A construction project manager is responsible for planning, coordinating, budgeting, and supervising a construction project from beginning to end.

In short, a construction project manager must take care of the following:

• Draw up a budget and negotiate cost estimates.
• Organize the working hours of employees and workers.
• Choose the most efficient construction methods and strategies.
• Stay in touch with customers for issues related to work or budget.
• Discuss technical and contractual details with workers and other interested parties.
• Keep an eye on the personnel on site.
• Collaborate with construction specialists.

In conclusion, managing a construction project is a very demanding effort, but that in many respects – at least on paper – is similar to any other project.

There are many parameters and elements that should be analyzed exhaustively.

This is why not only the project manager has to be specialized in construction, but he should have the possibility to use the most modern project management tools for the construction industry.

Twproject is structured to support the construction project manager.

Thanks to its nature and structure, Architects and Builders, as well as dedicated Project Managers can:

• Trace the progress of projects
• Manage the time of the whole team
• Record all supplier data
• Share project files on the web securely and without any complications
• Store and share building permits
• Choose whether to leave data in the internet or in a dedicated remote hosting.

In short, Twproject is much more than a project management software, it is the unique management place through which is possible to carry out projects.
Thanks to its specific features and to the possibility of developing an enterprise version, the PM can really dedicate itself to its real main activity and successfully complete the construction projects.

 

Project scheduling is one of the main activities of project planning.

It is summarized in a document that describes all the work necessary to deliver the project on time and with success.

A project, in fact, is composed by many activities and each activity includes a beginning and an end. In the same manner, people have different times and different availabilities and all this must be rationally included in a project schedule.

The project management program is a document that outlines the work to be done, the order in which it must be done, what resources are required, how they will be distributed, and how long they will take to work on the various activities.

Project scheduling also helps project managers communicate and deal with team members as well as stakeholders and also helps keeping the project on track.

Specifically, a project schedule includes:

• Milestones Derivables
• Tasks required to complete the results
• Dependencies between tasks
• Requirements and allocation of resources
• Deadlines, time intervals and duration of activities

As it is he case in many aspects during project management, also scheduling is performed in various steps.

When creating a program, project managers estimate work, timing, and resources. However, all this information is subject to change once the project is in progress.

Scheduling is usually created during the initial phases of the project, but is detailed throughout the project life cycle.

How to plan a project

There are three basic questions for project scheduling:

1. What must be done?
2. When will it be done?
3. Who will do it?

Once obtained the answers to these questions, it is possible to start the project schedule in details.
Here are the steps necessary for managing a project’s planning.

1. Plan the scheduling management

in this beginner phase, the directives and procedures for the development, management and control of the project schedule are established.

In this phase, you can organize a brainstorming meeting, where you can create a draft of the program or obtain a list of ideas.

Moreover, during the meeting, it is useful to ask for feedback from the people who will actually work on the project.

In fact, team members have a unique vision of how much time they will need in order to perform the tasks and what their skills and knowledge are.

During this meeting it is also good to acquire inputs from the client and other stakeholders.

2. Define the activities

This is the phase in which the specific activities and tasks to achieve the project goals are identified, ie the tasks to produce the derivable and complete the project with success.

3. Sort the activities

In this phase, we identify the relationships and interdependencies between all the project activities. To do this, it is necessary to consider how the activities relate to each other, in addition to any time or resource limits.

4. Estimate the duration of the activities

In this phase, we proceed with the estimation of the activities identified matching them with the estimated resources.

It is probably one of the most difficult parts of the project schedule, but it is also one of the most important as it has a huge impact on the total cost.

The term “duration” refers to the number of working hours, days, weeks, or months that team members need to complete a given activity.

Properly estimating the duration is important for both parties: this keeps customers happy, as work proceeds according to plan, and keeps team members happy, as they can easily meet deadlines.

5. Develop the schedule

In this phase, we proceed to analyze all the previous points in order to create the definitive project scheduling model.

6. Control the schedule

In this last phase, the project status is monitored throughout its life cycle in order to update and modify the schedule as the details become clearer.

For simpler projects with a narrower scope, the points from number 2 to number 5 are so connected that they can be performed by one single person.

Best practices for project scheduling

Once you have seen the basic steps for creating a project schedule, let’s see what are some best practices.

These are based on the opinion and experience of renowned project management organizations such as the Project Management Institute (PMI), as well as other project management experts.

• Be clear and detailed. If this were not the case, team members would not know exactly what to do and when to do it. The more detailed the project schedule is, the more effective the work will be. But be careful not to fall into the opposite error, which is overloading the team and the stakeholders with too much information.
• Make sure that the workload foreseen in the project schedule is balanced.
  It is important to assign the right people to the right tasks and that the workload is distributed evenly. Moreover, it is advisable to ask the team members to review the program in order to make sure the workload is reasonable. This is particularly crucial in organizations where budgets are limited and / or staff has limited availability (link a https://twproject.com/it/blog/organizzare-il-tempo-di-lavoro-del-team-livellamento-delle-risorse-o-smoothing/) . It is also recommended to regularly review all the tasks the team is working on in order to ensure that distribution is maintained appropriately.
• Building the schedule based on results and milestones, not around activities.
  It may be instinctive to build the program around the tasks, because they represent the actual work of the team, but there is nothing more wrong. If the planning is built around the activities in fact, it is difficult to say whether the requests for changes fall within the project or not. Activities can be carried out in a number of different ways and can have a variety of outcomes.
  Milestones, on the other hand, are quantifiable and follow certain standards and criteria. In addition, creating a program on these elements helps you stay in line and to achieve the project goals (link a https://twproject.com/it/raggiungi-i-tuoi-obbiettivi/).
• Prepare for change. It is not a question of whether the program will change, but when and how it will change. Needs, events, risks and activities of the parties constantly change in the management of the projects. For this reason, the project schedule is a work in progress throughout the life cycle of a project. When drawing up the schedule, it is appropriate to make assumptions about what changes might occur, when, and what kind of effect they might have on the project. Including extra time for important tasks allows you to make changes without sending the project off course. However, it is also necessary to create limitations in order to prevent changes that do not address the scope of the project.
• Organize regular team meetings. Meetings with the team, the clients and the key stakeholders will help to manage the program more effectively. During these sessions, all the parties can ask questions, get updates on the progress of the activities and make decisions about the estimates and work.

New trends in the management of the project schedule

Considering the current global market, highly competitive and highly flexible, managing the project schedule properly becomes even more important.

In particular, there are two emerging practices for project scheduling:

Iterative scheduling with backlog

In this model, the requirements are reported in customer records and prioritized prior to product development. Ideally, some of these deliverables can be completed and delivered to the client during the work, instead of doing everything at the end of the project.

The great advantage of this method is that it accepts and applies the changes during the life cycle of the project, therefore during the development of the deliverables. It is therefore an iterative program.

Scheduling on request

Unlike the previous one, this approach is not based on a schedule developed previously for the requirements and product development. Here, the requested job is reported into a backlog in order to be executed when the resources become available. To give an example, it is a situation like: “Here is a list of things to do. Good! Maria is available to do the work and can finish it in a week “.

Project Management Software

Another trend in project scheduling is the use of project management softwares and tools (link a https://twproject.com/it/project-management/ ) .
While project scheduling in the past was carried out via printed calendars or shared worksheets via e-mail, today most organizations and teams use project planning tools and software.
Typically, project scheduling is just one of several features that project management software can have.
The use of a project management software helps project managers and team members to communicate, track, and review the schedule more efficiently and effectively, thus leading the project towards success.