Expert Guide to Choosing Project Management Software

We have listed for you what you need to choose the best project management software to use when working with your team. You can easily select the tools you will need while choosing the project management software by following the steps in the list;

• Start with the problem you identified.
• Identify user requirements and use during definition.
• Evaluate the tools you need for collaboration.
• Consider what can be integrated into software
• Measure the change impact and decide on next steps.

Let’s go deeper and analyze each step one by one.

5 Steps for Choosing Project Management Software

Step 1: Start with the problem you identified

As solutions expert Maxime Villeger says, “The most important factor is the business problem to be solved with the tool”. It will always be advantageous for you to match the solutions you need with the strengths of the vendors, but first you need to identify the problems in your company.

Marketing guru Andra Fryrear also stressed the importance of taking a step back and seeing the team as a whole before starting to explore the necessary management software tools. It is very important to know the team before choosing a vehicle. If there is no problem in the team during the work and everything is going well, a dynamic tool should be selected that is suitable for the current workflow. However, if problems are found within the team, tools should be chosen to develop and bring the team closer. You should consider the first step while choosing a project management software tool.

Step  2: Identify user requirements and use during definition

While it is not always possible to involve users in the selection process, considering users is a must. If you were running a customer-centric management software project, you would definitely want customer involvement. Therefore, you should consider this factor when choosing a vehicle.

The first thing you need to do is to determine the person or group that will use the tool. There is no need to work on criteria you do not need and to identify people to work with.

As we mentioned in the previous step, you can start by selecting your users, taking into account the data you need to solve the problem.

Maxime, who is very experienced in the software field, emphasizes the importance of getting support from the people who will use the tool. Thus, it also helps to prevent problems and complaints that may arise later. Maxime also stated that a very quick and easy survey will be made by asking questions to the team members and examining the answers given by all of them from a bird’s eye view.

Step 3: Evaluate the tools you need for collaboration

In this step, you now know what users need and can start looking for management software and tools that can meet those needs. It is very difficult to compare management software solutions when most of the functionality is the same. However, it is still possible to take advantage of the small part that exists.

Maxime, who is very experienced in the choosing management software field; Alternatively, it tells us to list only solutions that can meet our needs and compare products that perform the same activity against measurable criteria. If this situation is not taken into account, team members prefer products that are easier to use and less costly, which reduces the quality of the work and the probability of successful results.

In fact, the main factor depends on the current working situation of the team and how they want to work. In other words, in the selection of vehicles, vehicles should be chosen that the team can keep up with both the current situation and the regulations in the future. This allows the team to develop easily.

Maksime lists the criteria you should pay attention to when creating a list for products as follows, the steps in this list will be helpful for choosing project management software:

• The seller’s turnaround time and the service in the product evaluation period.
• Rental, delivery options and internal comparison
• Industry expertise
• Type of service provided

Step 4: Consider what can be integrated into the project management software

At this point, you are closer to the short list you have prepared by considering Maksime’s suggestions. At this point you have more ideas about the products that meet your needs. Now is the time to consider your current management software setup and the tool you should use for your new business.

It can also be integration into your existing system such as customer management or billing. If it will make the work of the working team easier, the integrations to be made are more important than thought. Tools in the category that are compatible with a lot of integrations and can be called reasonable in price can be a great step to make team work easier. However, it should not be forgotten that future updates and integrations may lose their function, which inevitably affects your business negatively.

Therefore, following the updates after integrations is important for the security and efficiency of management software.

Maxime says it will be more efficient if we know what to do where and when, for example, we will save time if we do the copy-paste step automatically instead of manually. In order for the projects to stay up to date, existing integrations need to be constantly monitored, as I mentioned, with the slightest update, your project may face serious losses. Therefore, it is recommended to use better quality and more costly software. Although its cost is high, it can be used safely as an alternative away from the risks created by integrations. You should pay attention to this step for choosing management software.

Step 5: Measure the change impact and decide on next steps

In the last step, think about the impact of the new product on the team and plan what to do. Maksime says that users who use the tool should feel that their life has become easier. After the new changes, the expectations should be felt to the team, even if they meet the new tool, what is expected from them should be conveyed with clear messages.

You can solve the management software and tools you need for business forecasting, taking into account the needs of your team, in line with the steps in this article. You should follow all these steps for choosing management software.

Tags: Maxime Villeger Project Management Software Software Tools