Project management software is supposed to be a thing of joy for you especially when it comes to using it to improve your productivity and manage your project successfully. But when there are challenges obstructing your use of the tools you may want to give up thinking about why it is difficult to use PM software well. From the moment you finalized your decision on which PM software to choose for your team and when you introduce it, the battle has just begun and so you need to think about how to fix it.
Problems With Project Management Software
When talking about the problems with most project management software, there are different perspectives from which people see it. For example, looking at the problems from the angle of features, we see we can understand there are some key features that PM software should have and which they don’t have.
One of the most important features lack by most PM software includes issue tracking, time tracking, and document management. Apart from these, some project management tools don’t support integration with other apps that users use. This can be a disaster for a team where they need to use other tools with the PM software.
All in all, the following are the problems with project management software:
The complexity of the software
Most PM tools are difficult to use and understand. It’s very important to consider ease of use when choosing project management software for your organization.
Resistance to Change
Change is a risk and hard to accept. If you’re ready to transition to an advanced PM software solution when your teams are not, it may not be easy for them to adopt the new software. Here are some difficulties you may encounter why trying to switch to new project management software:
Changing Your Team’s Perspective About It
It’s true that project management software makes managing a project easy for project managers and their teams, but the perspective of your team can make things worse for you if they’re not properly convinced about the need for the change. Convincing your team about this change becomes necessary if you see they have different and opposing perspectives about the software. One thing you need to know is that change is difficult to adopt for many people for some reasons. Some of the reasons why most people are indifferent to change include fear of failure while trying to adapt to the new system, lack of readiness to give up their established routine (which they already have comfort in), and lack of confidence in the management team’s decision.
Considering all these factors, it’s normal you shouldn’t expect your team to accept the change headlong without some hesitations, questions and comments. You should be ready to help them feel comfortable about the switch. The only way to do this is by setting aside time to address their concern, questions, and comments.
Not Being Patient While The Change Is Ongoing
One of the biggest reasons most project managers find it difficult to have their teams using project management software well is the lack of patience on their part. When switching to a new project management software, there are many things involved in the migration process. From transferring files from the old system to the new one, and from setting up profiles and thinking about the new workflows to create, there are so many activities to consider. But being patient and optimistic there will be a success at the end of the day is all you need to get through all these difficulties. More so, you need a teamwork spirit to make things easier for yourselves. By being supportive and patient with one another, there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.
Figuring Out Features and Customization
Unlike your old software, you need time to get used to this new system. While you’re learning the new software, you are likely going to want to get up to speed with mastering the different features and customizations the software offers, this will take time. So rather than being hard on yourself take time to start exploring the features and customizations available in the new software. However, some features like reporting may take a longer time to get right. This is especially true for organizations whose billing is based on a flat, per-project fee basis in that billable hours will be of no importance to such organizations. Instead of allowing this feature to lie idle, you can fill it with other workloads.
Easiest Project Management Software
Without doubts, project management software can be difficult to use if you didn’t choose the right. While some are difficult to learn, others are simple to learn without having to go for any training. Here are some project management tools that are easy to use:
• Bonsai
• Wrike
• ProofHub
• Asana
• Trello
• Basecamp
• TeamGantt
Looking at each of the above-listed project management software, let’s briefly see where they offer ease of use.
Bonsai – Best For Making Project Management A Breeze
Project management is a difficult task that requires excellent skills. You can also make things easier by getting a supportive tool for doing different tasks. That is where Bonsai comes into play. It will automate your duties, such as tracking income, communication with clients, and much more.
The software allows you to keep projects organized in a specific folder. Viewing them is also a breeze with the intuitive dashboard. This platform also does not take much time to log in and load. You also don’t have to worry about the trackers stopping when you’re not using Bonsai.
Internal notes under client profiles will help you update customers on their projects. This means you will not have to schedule regular appointments or send emails to your clients that may be perceived as spam. The customer can also have control over other things, such as contracts.
Syncing your calendar and Gmail to Bonsai is also easy with its high integration capability. The best thing is you can also improve your experience by integrating Bonsai into other project management programs like Zapier.
This is a great option if you like some features of other programs that you are using and want to sync data to Bonsai without much hassle. If you run into trouble, the software also has an efficient customer support system with multiple contacting methods. For example, you may use in-app chat to talk to operatives quickly and get your issue resolved fast.
Wrike – Wrike is an ideal PM software with super-fast simplicity. It lets you work within different styles of project management of your choice. It’s also an easy-to-use tool for streamlining internal project and collaboration processes between your team regardless of their locations.
TeamGantt – TeamGantt is a project scheduling software that offers you seamless scheduling by letting you view schedules and track project progress in a timeline. It takes off your neck the stress and complexity in project scheduling by offering what you need in project management.
ProofHub – This is the right PM software for mapping, assigning, and following tasks. ProofHub offers you multiple timers that you can pause and restart anytime. This allows team members to track their working time for tasks and helps project managers keep a time record of both working and billable hours.
Basecamp – When talking about the best project management software solutions for structuring project communication, Basecamp is our number one choice. With many companies having about 98% of their internal communication happen inside Basecamp, the software helps you synchronize everything from social chatter, project-related works, internal debates, company-wide discussions, automatic check-in, policy updates, status updates, official discussions, and announcements inside Basecamp.
Asana – Asana is a great PM software when it comes to simplified and streamlined collaboration. With the tool, you can collaborate on your team’s goals and routine tasks within the system. It also helps you simplify the process of creating tasks with due dates and set reminders and prioritize your tasks into well-organized lists. Asana allows you to view your team’s work in one calendar so you can easily see the task that an individual in your team is working on.
Trello – Trello is a great PM software solution that delivers on visibility and coordination. With the tool, you can view tasks in their current projects and workflows. Trello lets you see when different parts of your projects should be finished, so you can keep your projects on schedule.
Wrapping Up
There you have it all as to why it is difficult to use project management software well. You also now understand why your team may find it difficult to adapt to the new system when switching from old software to a new one. Overall, change is difficult but with patience and team spirit, you can easily get through the hurdles in using project management software.