What is the best way to monitor project progress?
ProjectManager is an award-winning project management tool that helps you monitor and track progress. Its suite of project management features are integrated to assist managers and teams alike, which makes it much more than a project tracker. ProjectManager helps teams to collaborate and work more productively, while providing managers with the transparency they need to make sure everything is on schedule and budget. Time tracking, task tracking, resource management, team management, and many other key features are all present in one, robust online project management software. Show
Work Together With Multiple Project ViewsUsing project management tools that help with collaboration when monitoring and tracking makes evaluating project progress easier. ProjectManager has visual, timeline-driven Gantt charts, drag-and-drop kanban boards and interactive task lists to help teams collaborate on tasks in the way that works best for them. These three views empower teams to collaborate and execute effectively. Gantt ChartsUsing the Gantt chart, team members can get an overview of project progress. Project managers can see their team’s progress by looking at the duration bar that connects the start to the end date of each task. The more shaded in it is, the closer it is to completion. Gantts also have a milestone feature to break the project into smaller stages, which also helps track the larger movement of the project. These interactive features make ProjectManager’s Gantt charts a much better choice than plain Gantt chart templates when it comes to task and time tracking. Task ListsPerfect for task tracking and facilitating team collaboration, the task list view also allows anyone working on a project to filter tasks down to just those for which they are responsible. Task lists show who is assigned to the task, the priority, due date, progress and more. There is a deeper tier of data that can be seen, such as logged hours, and tasks can be sorted and filtered to quickly find the task you’re interested in. Kanban BoardThe third view to check out is the fully-customizable kanban board. Kanban boards allow teams to organize their product backlog and managers get transparency into the process so they can reallocate resources as needed to avoid bottlenecks or blocking team members. This task tracking tool is commonly used by businesses because of its simplicity. Any changes made in the three standard ProjectManager views automatically populate to the other two views. This makes the project management process as seamless as possible for your entire team. View Progress in Real-Time DashboardA dashboard acts like an instant status report, as it is constantly monitoring and calculating various project key performance indicators, which it then displays in easy-to-read graphs and charts. This high-level view gives project managers a clear view of the overall progress of their project. View our dashboard and get live data on your project’s health, including: the progress of individual tasks, overall project progress, expected time consumed versus actual time, planned versus actual cost and the workload of individual team members. Get Task Management ReportsReporting features go further in collecting valuable information on a project’s performance and progress. It helps managers make data-driven task management decisions. Create a task report in our tracking tool and drill down and see how individual team members are doing, and monitor their progress. See all the tasks that are included in the project you selected. Track Big Steps With MilestonesProjects are large, and milestones are a way to break them up into more manageable chunks. Milestones can be used to mark deadlines, important dates or the end of one project phase and the beginning of the next one. Place milestones on our Gantt chart with a single click. They’re represented by a diamond-shaped symbol. Now, you can track critical deadlines and the passage from one stage to the next—and see how the project is tracking against the milestones set during the project planning phase. How Tracking Builds a Successful Project Reporting PlanMany types of project reports are created during the execution phase in order to track the progress of a project. Project status reports act not only as an important communication tool during project execution but also as important historical documents that inform the development of future projects. This makes estimating the scope of future projects less of a shot-in-the-dark, and more of an educated guess. Project status reports have a few key objectives, including:
Project monitoring, tracking and reporting are a highly-collaborative process. Without monitoring and tracking the progress of a project, the reporting is not accurate. Therefore, teams must collaborate when creating reports, so communications are clear. This collaboration and communication is facilitated by the right project management tools. Project tracking software helps with critical project management areas and processes such as task management, time tracking, and resource management. The Six Elements of a Project ReportAs the execution phase progresses, it’s important to report on project progress so the schedule doesn’t go astray. Comprehensive project reports include six elements: Project InformationStart with the basics. What is the project’s name? Who will be managing the project? What are the available resources? Effective time, cost and task tracking requires detailed information. It’s an unsafe bet to assume stakeholders share your familiarity with the project. Instead, provide information you know they will need, even if it seems like overkill. This helps things run smoothly, and also sets groundwork for the project to be referenced as a precedent when future projects are being planned. Status InformationReport dates are the most important project status information, and should always be front-and-center. Also, data separating status reports from other reports crossing stakeholders’ desks should be visible to grab attention. ProjectManager is a robust project management information system (PMIS) that can help you organize all your documents, timesheets, reports and more. Milestone ReviewMilestones are major touchpoints for your project. They play an essential role when it comes to time tracking because they serve as a guidepost for remaining work, and the timeline for it to get done. Conducting a milestone review lets stakeholders see actual progress versus what was estimated in the project proposal. Project SummaryThe project summary includes a projected completion date, as well as resources and costs expended. Inclusion of issues causing delays is an important summary component. There should be a clear explanation of how these issues could affect budget and timeline, and work being done to ensure things are corrected to get the project back on track. Issues and RisksThis section is straightforward. Use a risk tracker to document the risks you have encountered. Note how these are being resolved. Finally, outline how resolutions are positively impacting project execution. Risk assessment and risk management processes must be implemented throughout the project life cycle. Related: Issue Tracker Template Project MetricsBack up statements with hard numbers and data points. Project planning details should have outlined these metrics. Show how data illustrates the success of your project to date, or, highlight needs for immediate improvement. Determining metrics to measure project progress is essential for tracking tasks, time, costs and managing teams. Project Reporting Best PracticesWith these elements in mind, there are some project reporting best practices to consider:
Throughout any project, it’s important to evaluate reporting to avoid scope creep. As project teams start to work, and silos of activity develop, it’s vital to keep everyone aligned. This ensures project scope doesn’t creep. Monitoring Scope CreepDefining the project scope and keeping track of it must be a priority for every project manager. There are five ways to avoid scope creep:
Project reporting can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Taking things step-by-step can help ease anxieties among everyone involved, and ensure a winning result. Make sure you use project management software, or at least a project tracking template, to facilitate the creation of reports. Project reporting can be tough, but also efficient with the right tools. ProjectManager offers tools that make collaboration and development of project reports less time-consuming and more intuitive. Check out our reporting capability in action by taking a free 30-day trial. How you would monitor progress of your project?How do you measure project progress? (12 tips). Decide on your project progress tracking method. ... . Make project tracking a team effort. ... . Use the right project tracking tools. ... . Use checklists and milestones. ... . Make project stakeholders aware of the progress. ... . Make effective communication a priority.. What are the 5 things you need to monitor a project?5 Things You Need to Monitor During Projects. Note the percentage complete.. Maintain baseline dates.. Keep an eye on the quality.. Know your budget.. Manage external dependencies.. What is the best way to track your progress?An effective method for measuring progress is documenting it. Consider recording your overall goals, tasks, milestones and deadlines. Then you can use a calendar or a planner to help you track your progress by checking off tasks as you complete them and milestones as you achieve them.
What methods can be used to monitor a project?These methods may include financial auditing, auditing of resources and analysis of person-hours spent on the project. Qualitative methods monitor non-numerical aspects of the project. Methods may include holding certain meetings, providing certain reports, interviewing team members and analysing project documentation.
|