Stage 2 Draft: User Guide
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Stage 2 Draft: User Guide
Project management Software User Guide
People in different fields are involved in managing specific projects directed at achieving different goals and objectives. The project managers are required to adopt the use of project management software to ensure that their projects are effectively and appropriately managed. It is vital to note that project implementation requires every party’s efforts within the project; thus, project management software needs to be used by individuals within the project (Sethi and Hnatyshin, 2012). In this regard, creative directors, project managers, marketers, or IT professionals can use the project management software. Different parties within a project need to adopt the use of project management tools to streamline the operations towards a project to achieve business objectives. Consequently, novice users find it difficult to use project management software; thus, they need to be effectively guided. Failure to understand project management software makes them less productive such that it does not meet the intended objectives.
Project management software use
Project management software is adopted in different fields to improve efficiency in and service delivery in organizational projects. The project management software is universal and can be customized to fit any organization (Arnold and Javernick, 2013). Equally important, project management takes creating, organizing, and implementing plans in a project to meet different goals and objectives. Project management takes the combination of different aspects and activities that are interrelated. Project management software is adopted to streamline the operation and aspects to increase organizational efficiencies and boost team performance. Additionally, the guide will ensure that the project management software users understand concepts and terminologies involved in the software, thus enabling them to use it productively.
Background
The software development was informed by different challenges and barriers involved in the operations of a project. The project developers include different tools in the system to ensure that all issues are effectively addressed (Arnold and Javernick, 2013). The elimination of barriers and challenges ensures that operations are effectively streamlined to meet the intended goals and objectives.
Software functionality
The software needs to be used effectively to ensure that productivity is achieved. The effective use of the software in the project management ensures that the right decisions are made with the project (Huesig and Endres, 2019). In this regard, the software assigns and updates tasks to ensure that operations are streamlined and project teams are reading from the same script.
The software provides scheduling to ensure that parties to the project understand the tasks and time allocated to those tasks (Huesig and Endres, 2019). The scheduling is developed using different tools such as calendars, Gantt charts, and milestones. The user needs to read the scheduling and understand it before taking different implementation steps.
The software provides a file-sharing icon to ensure that the project’s parties are effectively informed on project aspects (Huesig and Endres, 2019). The file-sharing ensures that vital project documents are passed from one party to another. Additionally, the file-sharing approach ensures that time wastage in searching documents and files is eliminated and readily available in soft copy.
The project management has communication platforms that ensure that project teams interact and communicate in the project’s course, thus ensuring that the project is on the right track. Communication is vital to ensure that projects run smoothly with no conflicts or misinformation (Abramov, Poznakhirko, and Sergeev, 2016). Communication is a vital element in ensuring that proper decisions are made regarding the existing and future circumstances.
The project management has reporting functionality that the users need to present important information to the project teams. The reporting functionality can be used in informing the progress or the completion of tasks within the project. The project teams need to consistently update their operations to ensure that all parties are involved in implementing the project (Abramov, Poznakhirko, and Sergeev, 2016). The progress reporting on the software ensures that decision-making is effectively done concerning the project’s subsequent tasks and operation. The reporting functionality further ensures that adjustments to the project can be made to accommodate the environment’s changes or counter arising challenges.
Figure 1: System functions
The above figure represents the project management software system functions.
The software has different functionalities that guide the conduct of the project. The project teams need to have information on the functionalities and the time to use them. The project teams need to click on the specific functionality when they need to use them. The functionalities have sub-functionalities that guide the users on the decision or steps to take. The steps or activities taken are updated such that project teams can know the progress and status of the project in general.
System generated by the system
The software inputs in the form of reports and communication are produced as outputs through the system’s information. The information or results generated by the software enhances the effective and efficient guidance of the project.
The different information provided under the project management software is vital in the project’s progress and completion. The user needs to consistently evaluate the information to enhance effective decision making on a different project aspect (Kerzner, 2017). In this regard, information on the overview information on period to complete tasks ensures that one can manage their operations to complete the stated period’s tasks. Moreover, the users can make adjustments if they cannot meet the deadlines to ensure that they do not compromise the project’s progress and completion. Consequently, the software provides early warnings on risks and threats involved in the project in its implementation. The software can detect threats and risks that are barriers to the implementation of a project. This fact ensures the project teams adopt countermeasures to eliminate barriers and challenges in the system. Moreover, the software provides information on the effective utilization of available resources in implementing the project. Projects have limited resources; thus, there is a need to capitalize on the available resources to complete the project. Equally important, the software can provide information on the collaboration of different parties to the project. The software identifies the collaboration gaps between the different parties involved and reports on the same. This fact ensures that teammates, customers, and other parties collaborate to implement the project, thus making it a success.
The users need to be consistently involved in learning and implementing the project management software to ensure that they can productively use the software. The software has different functionalities that are vital in implementing a project as they effectively counter the risks, threats, and challenges involved in the implementation of projects.
References
Abramov, I., Poznakhirko, T., & Sergeev, A. (2016). The analysis of the functionality of modern systems, methods and scheduling tools. In MATEC Web of Conferences (Vol. 86, p. 04063). EDP Sciences.
Arnold, P., & Javernick-Will, A. (2013). Projectwide access: key to effective implementation of construction project management software systems. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 139(5), 510-518.
Huesig, S., & Endres, H. (2019). Exploring the digital innovation process: The role of functionality for the adoption of innovation management software by innovation managers. European Journal of Innovation Management.
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Sethi, A. S., & Hnatyshin, V. Y. (2012). The practical OPNET user guide for computer network simulation. CRC Press.
