Project Managers need help in work reporting
In my time as a project manager, I frequently heard the phrase "project lifecycle." This phrase is probably a relic from the days when projects were long and laborious affairs, involving lots of paperwork and meetings. The lifecycle is a series of phases, each with its own tasks and deliverables. The project manager is the person in charge of each phase. At any given stage, the project manager is juggling multiple projects. The lifecycle, though, is not really a lifecycle. It is a list of phases. If you pitch all over a project, you are talking nonsense. A single project might go through many phases, and phases might overlap. At any given time, the project manager might be working on three or four projects. The lifecycle is a diagram meant to help management keep track of what projects the project manager is working on. The lifecycle is supposed to help management keep track of what projects the project manager is working on. The project manager is supposed to be the person in charge of each phase. But management is not supposed to tell the project manager what to do. The project manager is supposed to find the best way to meet management's goals. The lifecycle, though, doesn't really help management. It is just a list of phases, and what management wants most is for things to get done. What management wants most is for things to get done. Management's job is to set goals, and to help the project manager achieve those goals. Lucky for project managers, technology advancement has led to invention of project reporting software that can solve most of these challenges. One of free software for is Finclock
Use project reporting software to achieve more at work
The best managers know how to do two things: run the business, and run the people who work in the business. Both of those tasks involve making choices. The better managers make better choices. And the better choices they make, the better their outcomes. Some choices are easy. You pick which stock to buy, or which project to assign to an engineer. Some choices have fairly clear, objective criteria. Which of the engineers is sick or has the flu? Which of the projects is behind schedule? Other decisions are harder. Who are your best people? How do you reward them? How do you motivate them? How will you deal with the inevitable turnover? What skills do you need most? Of course, you can't know in advance which choices will turn out best. You can't know, for example, that your team won't all leave for a better offer. And you can't avoid making a lot of mistakes. But you can make better choices, and you can make better choices faster, if you learn from your mistakes. And the best managers always learn. The better managers use specific tools to make that learning easy. They measure and track results. They analyze data and track data. They use checklists and templates. They automate repetitive tasks. They track costs. And those tools, though essential, are not the only tools they have. The best managers also know how to ask the right questions: How big a problem is this? Who do I depend on to help me? What do I need to do? They know how to ask the right questions, and then they ask the right questions. They recognize and do the right things, and then they recognize and do the right things. It's not always clear how a particular decision will turn out. Using online project management software tools can help project managers achieve the tons of tasks by streamlining the delegation process.