A lot of growing businesses have realised the advantage of project management tools to have a standardised approach to handling multiple projects at once. Rather than doing everything on default, using a project management tool is the best solution for maintaining organisation and accuracy in several business areas.

Is one project management tool enough?

Though project management tools are widely available, there exists a gap between the functionalities of these tools and what businesses want. Most of the time, users find themselves using two or more tools to compensate for features that lack. For example, a project management tool that has a file sharing feature can miss other vital features like invoicing and quoting.

Simplicity is attractive but can be rendered useless in today’s business environments with ever-changing needs. Features that businesses want in a tool include but are not limited to the following:

• Time tracking
• File sharing
• Scheduling
• Private messaging
• Invoicing
• Quoting
• Collaboration
• Status updates

These are just some of the many aspects that companies want in a single project management tool. If only all the necessary features are present, users wouldn’t choose other alternatives.

How exactly does a project management tool impact your business?

If you think your team currently needs a reliable project management solution, here are some of the benefits of having one to help you streamline multiple business processes daily.

• Clear assignment of roles and task delegation

A big challenge you can face when handling a project with multiple participants is assigning roles and delegating tasks in a precise manner. Sometimes, the reason why a project fails to be completed is that people are confused about their responsibilities.

A project or workflow management tool helps work get done by allowing managers to document in writing the roles and tasks people need to fulfil and sharing these with the entire team. That way, everyone knows who should do what.

• Increased deliverability of projects

No matter the size, difficulty, or deadline of a task, a project management tool guarantees an improved delivery rate by allowing managers to estimate the ideal time it takes for a task to be completed. Proper allocation of hours can be made.

The exact date of a project will be indicated and the percentage completion of that project will be shown – if the chosen tool has been designed to include these functionalities. Setting milestones is also crucial so employees working on a task know that they have reached an important point in the task’s life cycle.

• Accurate cost estimation

Before teams work on a project for a client, one crucial thing that needs to be done is to come up with an accurate estimate of the costs involved. This is to make sure that businesses make a profit and clients get their money’s worth.

While it’s vital for teams to be knowledgeable of project costs and consider uncertainties, using a project management tool that provides a financial breakdown of every aspect of a project helps them be more realistic about their quotations in relevance to the complexity and duration of the project.

• Project management maturity

Having a project management tool enables managers to have a clear picture of the outcome of a task. Since accurate reports of critical areas can be generated, problems on a project can be identified such as missed deadlines, unbilled hours, and more. Teams can discuss how processes can be improved in the future.

People responsible for the completion of a project will be able to communicate better, plan more effectively, accurately define roles, and identify all requirements needed for the project to reach its completion.

Final thoughts

The fact that projects aren’t always successful gives companies more reasons to optimise work flows with the use of a project management tool. No matter the project success rates you currently have, a comprehensive tool ensures that everyone stays on the same page and can see the impact of their efforts on project results so they can further improve.

When it comes to the choosing a project management tool, it’s important for companies to clearly identify what they need and what employees can easily adapt to so that they pay for something that will remain useful for years to come.