Choosing Project Management Software

Project management is enhanced and facilitated when you use project management software. Project management software is available to perform everything from project planning, scheduling, to payroll.

All project management software packages have the capacity to produce eye-catching charts and graphs, such as Gantt charts, histograms, milestone charts, and tables. With regard to scheduling, these packages can:

• schedule and track people working on multiple projects
• identify conflicting resource demands and allocate resources accordingly
• schedule and track dates
• make formal work estimates
• prepare status reports to monitor scheduled activities.

There are two main types of scheduling packages: resource-driven scheduling and duration-driven scheduling.
Resource-driven scheduling packages emphasize tasks. If, for example, you want to schedule and track your project based on the number of work hours, resource-driven scheduling software is your best bet. If, on the other hand, you typically plan your schedule based on task durations, you should purchase a duration-driven software package.

Both types of project management software produce schedules that show project dependencies as well as any leads or lags the dependencies might have.

Project management software is designed to simplify life for project managers. The trick to making this type of software work for you is to determine whether you schedule with an emphasis on work hours or task duration. This factor should drive your choice of software to ensure that the software you buy is compatible with your project management preferences.