Project Management Means People Management

Project management has become a highly regarded role, it’s become a career rather than a job. The gradual shift in perception of Project Management roles and principals is a welcome development for the industry, giving companies a greater respect for practitioners of PRINCE2 and other Project Management methodologies.

It has also led to a greater requirement for PRINCE2 training and qualifications. Qualifications like PRINCE2 accreditation teach you how to create stable and useful frameworks for Project Management, but once you have the qualifications; you will need to develop those skills yourself. How? By learning to manage your people.

People Management

Photo by: x+y, Creative Commons, Flickr.

Focus on Your People

When deadlines are looming, it can sometimes be extremely difficult to focus on anything other than the tasks which need to be completed. This is fine and good, and a very natural thing to do. For this reason, it is essential that you focus on your team members from the very start of the project.

The mistake that many project managers make is to be entirely task-oriented. This is an idea which it is difficult to let go of, since Project Management training generally focusses on structuring the project in terms of tasks.

What you have to get past to become a good Project Manager is the idea that this is all there is to it. In order to manage a great project, you must learn how to work with the people on your team and get the best from them; after all, they are the ones who will make the Project great!

Spend time with your team

In your day-to-day workings as a Project Manager, you will come across a lot of issues which it will be your job to solve. It is your job to make sure the project goes smoothly, and that means dealing with the problems your people have, whether they be problems with the project or problems with each other. If you are going to reach your deadlines on time, and more importantly if you are going to have a good product at the end of your project, getting over these difficulties as soon as possible is key. That means paying attention to your team members and spending time with them to make sure that any issues are addressed as soon as they occur.

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Top 5 Project Management Google Apps

google appsIn the past we have brought you the Top 5 Online Project Management Tools - a collection of the best SaaS project management tools. Here we look at the best project management tools available from Google Apps.

Project managers are likely to already use Google Apps with Google Mail, Google Docs and Google Calendars all now classified as Apps. These services are great for collaboration as everything is stored by Google, allowing you to share documents, appointments and contacts easily with anyone in the world.

Companies such as the ones below have taken advantage of Google’s popularity by designing tools that connect with other Google Apps – recognising docs, appointments, contacts and more. This is useful for project management as you don’t have to re-enter data for each project as it is skimmed from existing spreadsheets, emails etc. into a new project. These projects can then be shared with other team members, stakeholders and clients.

Using Google Apps to manage projects shows how useful cloud computing has become in the work place.

Here are the Top 5 Project Management Apps on Google App Store ranked by user rating: Read the rest of “Top 5 Project Management Google Apps”

Online Project Management Tools – Top 5

Project Management tools are vital for time management and collaboration on a project; here we look at an alternative to software based project management – Online Project Management. These tools are all web based so require no downloads and can be accessed anywhere in the world – this is an obvious advantage for projects that span different countries! Online Project Management tools usually require less training than software and can be an easy way to keep clients involved in the project. Some are free while others are priced depending on usage – we’ve compiled 5 picks of the best with a range of prices and functions..

Although these tools are useful they will not make up for a lack of good Project Management Skills. PRINCE2 is the industry standard of Project Management accreditation and we offer a full range of PRINCE2 Training Courses.

Top 5 Online Project Management Tools

We’ve had a look at a range of Project Management tools on offer and have compiled a list of our favourite 10 with a summary of how they’re useful.

DeskAway

DeskAway is a web-based project collaboration software that provides a simple to use, training free application aimed at small to medium businesses. They really promote themselves with ease in mind as there is no hardware or software involved and you can be up and running in minutes. DeskAway claim to have the ease and cost of a simple Project Management tool while providing a service closer to a complex, expensive tool.

DeskAway project interface

DeskAway

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