- Successful Web Based Timesheets is Not Just About Technology
Project managers use tools (such as project management and business intelligence tools) to plan and track time sheets and projects, follow up with project members on a regular basis, and adjust schedules based on feedback and still, in the end, projects are often delivered late, over budget, and with a less than expected quality. Sometimes, even the project manager is unable to clearly explain and pinpoint where things went wrong.
After many years of working on projects of varying complexity, it has become clear that the key to the successful execution of a Web based timesheet project is not just a matter of following a project management (PM) method or an itemized checklist of what needs to be done by a project manager. Rather, it is the execution of a consistent process that leads to a positive and predictable outcome.
Everything done by project managers as mentioned above is right. They should continue to follow their preferred PM method and verify their checklists. Here is what they need to do more of to ensure success:
Do Not Blindly Trust Your Tools. Consider the Human Factor.
Often, project managers review schedules and drill up and down business intelligence reports on their own or in collaboration with other project managers and executives. In that process, conclusions are reached and decisions are made regarding the project's current status. Based on those decisions, staff is reassigned, budgets are revised or no action is taken… but this is exactly where most projects go wrong.
While Employee Timesheet Software, technology, and real time schedules and charts are fantastic tools, they do not convey the true and entire picture. Project managers should review schedules and analyze charts in the presence of key project stakeholders. For example, let's assume a task called Web Based Timesheets Security was budgeted to take five days. In the monthly review process, the manager discovers that the task has taken twenty days instead. The comments and notes exchanged on the budget overrun are reviewed and the manager decides not to proceed with any further investment in this task. Resources are reassigned without further delay. However, had the project manager spoken to key designers and developers within the team, he/she would have discovered that additional work on Web Based Timesheet Security was to devise a set of preventive measures against newly discovered, potentially lethal, and unpublished security threats. Key project members were convinced that without the completion of this effort, the entire time sheet software project is in jeopardy. There are many examples where one to one or small group conversations with project members would shed a substantially new perspective on the project's true status.
Do Not Take Things For Granted, Verify Claims with Statistics
Similarly, project managers should verify any claims made by various project members against the data and reports that are available. Any discrepancies should be immediately clarified and addressed by face-to-face meetings and live reviews of reports and schedules.
The Personal Touch
In summary, the larger and the more complex a Timesheet software project is, the more project managers tend to depend on software tools and methodologies to measure progress and to evaluate project status. However, this inevitably leads to project managers who are out of touch with the true dynamics of success. Project managers need to walk around, ask questions, and have official and unofficial conversations with project members. Often, one makes surprising discoveries or gets new ideas just on the way to grabbing a coffee with a colleague. A combination of Web Based Timesheet technology, face to face meetings, and the timely and personal involvement of key project members in any review and decision making process is the key to a successful team effort.
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"We were impressed with Tenrox's breadth of functionality and how it allows us to customize the way we track different categories within our projects. Honestly, we've only scratched the surface of the power it offers, but it's easy to use the elements that fit with our business."
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Director of Operation,
Oxford Computer Group |
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