Project management software can make or break the future direction and ability to ‘keep up’ with the changing business world for companies large and small. Having the ability to come up with, execute, and learn from new projects quickly and effectively is a rare and extremely powerful attribute for any team. There are simple ways to improve project management that don’t require a new team or role changes that go overlooked in a lot of companies. Getting the tools and software you’re using right can improve your project success rate dramatically. And set your company to be a leader in change.
Project management software doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective.
Set common, clear goals:
The ability to motivate multiple people towards a shared goal is one that seems intuitive but is actually very difficult in practice. There are a few simple changes that can help managers better motivate teams to work together leading up to deadlines. One is to have a central place to organize teamwork around project deadlines. In Hibox, there is a project calendar that allows managers to assign tasks and subtasks so team members can work together towards goals in an organized way. It’s easy to make changes and at a quick glance you can see what everyone in the team is working on and when it’s due. This helps eliminate mistakes as well as help everyone feel in the know. When employees can see how their work directly contributes to the overall goal, they are more motivated and productive.
Make conversation transparent and inclusive with project management software:
One of the biggest tripping points of project and teamwork in general is email. Email is too disconnected and distracting to help team collaborate or work together well. Employees spent on average 6.3 hours a day dealing with company email. Hibox eliminates this by allowing teams to organize company chat streams in a way that is intuitive for communicating on projects. Chat is instant and inclusive; perfect for brainstorming. It eliminates the need for useless meetings that just take up time and don’t really lead to any real movement. Right within Hibox chat streams, you can create and assign tasks so it’s always actionable. With more transparent communication, employees feel their opinion is heard and will understand more the common goal instead of hearing things through the grapevine. Happy, motivated employees are up to 20% more productive.
Centralize important information:
A way to boost morale and productivity while making things overall more convenient is to centralize all your file sharing with your team. With Hibox, your team can share any file from the platforms you already use like Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box right within your chat stream and attached to tasks so information is organized. You can find all the files you’ve shared in convenient file lists for each stream and, as always, it’s searchable. Nothing is ever lost in emails and multiple versions of the same document aren’t being sent around. Team members have access to the latest Google Drive files at anytime and can edit and add simultaneously.
Don’t forget about keeping work personal:
Something that is easy to forget with remote work, screens, and separate offices is connecting personally as a team. Employees that build strong relationships with other team members are likely to be more engaged and happier at work, which leads to better productivity. A great way to make sure your team is personally connected even if you’re all remote is to make video conferencing a regular part of your project. Using a video conferencing tool, like the one in Hibox, at least once a week as a team to make sure everyone is staying connected. Sometimes video conferencing is better discussing and brainstorming over digital communication as well.
Make processes easier with simple project management software:
Often project managers will try to make things organized and improved with multiple tools, but often this just causes more confusion and they go unused as employees return to old ways like email. Simplifying the amount of tools necessary to get to work will help boost productivity and keep your team sticking to the same process. It’s also cheaper than paying for multiple project management software. Hibox provides all of the functionality your team needs to manage projects without multiple logins. With organized company chat, task management, file sharing, and video conferencing all in one, all the essential tools for project collaboration are included in one platform. Your team just needs to login in once and be in a complete digital workspace where they can find everything they need and reach anyone. It’s easier to introduce one tool than five!
Project management seems like an intuitive thing but can be daunting and the biggest source of frustration for many companies. Know which kind of project management software to use and how to use it can make a huge difference in project, and company, success. Try Hibox for free today with your team for your next project.
