Download - Computer Based Project Management
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COMPUTER BASED PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project managers often speak a language all their own. That language has been reflected in a
special class of software since shortly after the advent of computers. Project management
software was developed to track activities and tasks, to facilitate understanding of the project,
and to find a way to communicate that understanding to others. Project management softwarepackages (e.g., Microsoft Project, Sciforma Project Schedule, Niku Workbench, Planview,
Primavera, Artemis Prestige, and so on) have the ability to produce project reports. Although
those reports take on wildly different appearances, they share common data sets
regarding project work, resource allocation, precedence relationships, and cost and tracking
information. They share the ability to present information in a spreadsheet format or in a series
of reports. They share the capacity to modify the presentation (to varying degrees) to facilitate
understanding.
The tools are not, however, common desktop applications outside the project management
community. Also, although most project managers have a copy of one project management
program or another on their desktop, they cannot expect their peers who arenot projectmanagers to have the same tools. Thus, from a communications perspective, the
information from project management software needs to be transferable to other tools and
applications, including spreadsheet and word processing programs. For many projectmanagers,
the most critical component of a project management software package is not the robustness
of its algorithms, but the tools capacity to have outputs copied into a spreadsheet.
In selecting project management software, the project manager should take the tools
exporting ability into account as a mission-critical capability. Tools that severely limit what
information can be transferred out and how that information can be transferred will limit the
ability to communicate.
e-mail
One place where project information must often ultimately be transferred is into an e-mail. E-
mail is another vital application for project managers, because it allows for the asynchronous
transfer of information from the project team to others inside or outside the team, either en
masse or singly. The ubiquity of e-mail and its widespread acceptance places it among (if not
the) dominant media for project communications. E-mail is a powerful medium, but it is not
without problems, the least of which is the virtual sea of detritus downloaded in the form of
mass advertising, which can sometimes drown out the important messages.
E-mail protocols should be carefully outlined in the project communications plan to ensure
that project messages are elevated to visibility and to ensure that project team members have
a consistent vision as to what information is appropriately transferred (and, as a result,
maintained) by this medium and what information is not. Considerations that should be
outlined in the project communications plan relating to e-mail include the following:
Appropriate/inappropriate language and/or areas of discussion; Subject line protocols and
practices;
Carbon-copy and blind carbon-copy practices (for both the initial send as well as the
reply);
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Document retention procedures.
If not effectively controlled, e-mail can become a weak communications medium, not because
of a lack of use, but because of misuse and misunderstanding of the tool.
Project web sites
Most organizations of any size already have an Internet-based Web site. And even for thehandful that do not, the investment in a project Web site is sufficiently nominal that it is within
the financial reach of most projects. Project Web sites may range in style, use, and application
from a graphics-intensive bulletin board rich with project information to a simple closet
housing project data. In either instance, some commonalities will afford effective use of the
Internet as a project tool.
The first challenge with project Web sites is accessibility with security. If a project Web site is
left open to the public, team members are guaranteed the ability to tap into the site and its
information at will. If a project Web site is left open to the public, however, almost anyone will
be able to find their way to the information and apply it for their own purposes. Data security
becomes a major issue. Even Web sites with password access and higher levels of security canbe hacked, which limits the willingness of some organizations to post information in such a
public forum. Multiple levels of security (Web site access passwords and individual document
passwords) can improve the sense of confidence, but are still not infallible in their ability to
protect an organizations secrets. Many organizations secrets, however, are not really of
interest to outside organizations and may be posted, preserved, and shared on the Internet
with reasonable impunity.
Because some security measures will almost invariably be used, the project managers
responsibility for a project Web site is to ensure that team members are updated on how to
access the site and on what information they may expect to find there. A Web site with
excessive security is a library with a locked door. The information is there, but no one can have
access to it, and team members will only try the door a limited number of times before
finding alternative means to access the information they desire or require.
The other critical notion with any project Web site is the currency of information. Information
maintained on a project Web site must actually be kept up to date. If the Internet site becomes
a repository for outdated information without being refreshed, the site will rapidly fall into
disuse. The project manager and his or her archivist should establish protocols for information
shared on the Web site, including when it will be updated, formats that will be used, how
frequently security access will be modified, and how team members working to reach the site
can get outside assistance. Because help desk support for internal Web sites is generally
limited, the support and assistance is normally established within the team.
Web-based communications
A project Web site is not the only Web application used in project management. Instant
messaging and real-time chat room capabilities have changed the way in which meetings are
held. In some organizations, employees are required to have their desktops enabled with one
of the popular instant messaging systems (e.g., AOL Instant Messenger and Windows
Messenger) so that even if the team is distributed around the globe, team members can
instantly stop down the hall to share information any time a team member is at her terminal.
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Such Web-based chat capabilities are common in nonbusiness applications, but their use in
corporate communication is becoming progressively more common.
The only hurdle to true corporate ubiquity is the concern over the potential for security
breaches caused by instant messaging systems. This has prompted some organizations to
create their own internal messaging systems, which have the advantage of high levels of
security, but lack the capacity to share information outside the organization.
Although the use of such information exchanges can greatly enhance communications speed,
they can also cause information overload. Some users cannot manage the onslaught of
information associated with multiple messages arriving from multiple users on their computer
desktop while they are trying to work on something else. As with the other types of Internet
communication, the protocols to determine how on-line messaging should be used need to be
incorporated within the communications plan.
Personal digital assistants
Many project managers now carry personal digital assistants (PDAs) to monitor and track their
day-to-day activities. Many of these PDAs now have embedded wireless communicationstechnology, which means that they wed some of the most advantageous aspects of both
synchronous and asynchronous communications. PDAs provide the advantage of having a
computer connection with the office when the project manager is in the field, without the bulk
of a laptop.
In using the PDA for inbound communication, the project manager should make clear to team
members and those with direct access to the PDA connection that large attachments and
significant graphics should be kept to a minimum. It is sometimes easy for the sender to believe
that the PDA is nothing more than a computer in miniature, but PDAs generally do have some
significant limitations in terms of large-scale memory and video display capability.
For outbound communication, the greatest limitation of PDAs as a communications technologyis frequently that there is no simple user interface to input data into the tool. Although stylized
alphabets have been created to expedite stylus writing on PDA pads, the ability to input is
generally much slower than is available through touch typing. And while some PDAs have
keyboard attachments, those attachments are sometimes unwieldy for day-to-day, in-the-field
applications. This limitation makes large documents difficult to generate and may also inhibit
the users ability to format the information being sent (particularly in spreadsheet or word
processing applications).