Keep track of your projects before they get out of hand

Is your project monitoring optimal? Are you using effective project management methods and tools ?

Coordinating and monitoring the progress of your project guarantees productivity and profitability. That's what adds value to your project.

Would you like to introduce more consistent project management? The formula is simple: method + interpersonal skills + pragmatism = 360° vision.

Follow the guide to become the head of project management! 🧑‍🍳

See all software Project Management

The 4 stages of project management + our tips for successful follow-up

From scoping to monitoring: manage your projects step by step

Project management ( ) covers the organisation, planning and control of a project, from its conception to its follow-up. Both strategic and operational aspects are taken into account, estimated and scheduled. It therefore covers :

1. Defining the project objectives

• The project's most important or priority deliverables;
• The breakdown of the project into sub-assemblies for finer estimation and easier reactivity;
• The tasks required to complete each deliverable and sub-deliverable.

2. Analysing and estimating the workload for these tasks

To estimate the workload as accurately as possible, consider :

• prioritising the tasks
• assessing their interdependence,
• anticipating risk factors
• planning them over time.

3. Allocate the necessary resources to each task

• Human resources (staff);
• Financial resources (budget);
• Material resources.

4. Monitor the project

• Visualise objectives achieved or delayed, and actual progress compared with forecasts;
• Communicate with all stakeholders, whether the internal project team or your partners, customers and suppliers. Propose corrective actions if necessary.

Best practice in project management

To effectively manage and monitor a project, it is strategic to :

• plan the project on the basis of a thorough preliminary study,
• list the risk management criteria to better anticipate any imponderables,
• show leadership and manage your team using collaborative working methods such as the agile or Scrum method,
• control at all levels and all phases of the project.

Why and how should you monitor your project?

Scrupulously ensure that tasks are properly managed, from their definition to their allocation. Detailed and global progress monitoring allows you to: up to monitoring allows you to :

• measure the progress of an operation in relation to forecasts, the allocated budget and the material and human resources available;
• anticipate, view and correct deviations in real time, thereby limiting resource constraints and delays.

To achieve this, the project manager can rely on various tools:

• the specifications, drawn up when the objectives and deliverables are defined,
• the project schedule, which determines the actions to be taken over time,
• dashboards and diagrams, graphically representing the objectives achieved, the work still to be done, successes and problems encountered,
• the organisation of regular follow-up meetings, to get concrete feedback from the project team on progress and bottlenecks,
• project management or planningsoftware.

The right tools for monitoring a project

We've just touched briefly on the tools for monitoring a project, but it's in your interest to get to know them in detail. 👇

Project specifications

The aim ofthe project specification is to set out in writing all the requirements of the customer or of management for in-house projects. Its purpose is to serve as a frame of reference for the objectives to be achieved.

In project management, it is absolutely essential, as it provides a framework for :

• determine the deadlines and deadlines to be met
• monitor expenditure and cost allocation
• meet quality targets.

Reports and minutes

In the age of mobility and dematerialisation, it's impossible to ignore, especially for projects requiring on-site intervention and site monitoring, for example.

With software like Kizeo Forms, your mobile teams can enter their reports to give an account of their progress in real time. The interface also allows you to export and analyse this data, for optimal, geolocalised monitoring, whatever your sector of activity.

Follow-up meetings

The agile method favours short-term planning and, as a result, rapid, regular face-to-face meetings. The aim is to determine which tasks and corrective actions should be given priority.

This short-cycle project management reduces the "tunnel effect" and provides greater visibility and responsiveness to unforeseen events. All the parties involved in the project are aware of the overall progress of the work and of each other, and at what stage they are.

Communication tools

On a day-to-day basis, however, communication (which is essential to any good project management) should not only take the form of meetings. If there are too many of them, they quickly become time-consuming!

That's why specific tools need to be deployed internally. We're thinking in particular of the use of company chatrooms, which are useful for resolving bottlenecks in real time, dealing with emergencies, spontaneously discussing a subject, keeping abreast of project progress, etc. Some tools go even further.

Some tools go even further. Gryzzly is an ideal tool for streamlininginternal communication. With a Chatbot that can be integrated with Slack, this software reinvents the way workloads are estimated. It's up to employees to declare their working hours, in a fun way. All this data is then entered into a dashboard to monitor the consumption of customer budgets and the time spent on each of their projects.

The dashboard

The dashboard is a proactive, methodological tool for closely monitoring the progress of your projects. It provides an instant overview of all the key data, objectives, constraints, phases in progress and resources, and enables you to anticipate any problems that may arise.

Ultimately, it also serves as a reporting tool to help you understand the areas in which management is making progress.

To draw it up and choose realistic, measurable and time-defined key performance indicators (KPIs), ask yourself the right questions, for example:

• Will the project be completed or delivered on time?
• Has the allocated budget been exceeded?
• Is the project progressing satisfactorily?
• Are resources being used as agreed?

Performance monitoring indicators are essential to project management, as they help you to assess the situation at a given point in time, so that you can make the right decisions.

Create dashboards to manage your project portfolio more easily with PPM software like Project Monitor.

With this software, you can create dashboards using standard, configurable templates, and monitor your progress by defining the key indicators that interest you (risk, resources, planning, budgets, etc.). Whether qualitative or quantitative, all the data is updated in real time. And since many companies have to monitor a large number of projects, you can benefit from a single or multi-project view.

The Gantt chart

The Gantt chart is another popular visualisation tool. You can use it to plan, monitor and analyse the activities and workload of each member of your team.

How do you use it? By graphically presenting the progress of tasks and their deadlines, with the list of activities (on the vertical axis) and the units of time (on the horizontal axis).

Each task can be linked to :

• resources (human or material)
• connections (with other tasks),
• dates (start and finish).

The board in Kanban mode

Widely used in the agile method, it is used to represent the workflow (task handling process), based on the principle of post-it notes on a board. Each task changes status from "scheduled" to "in progress" to "completed".

Project management software

A management or planning tool for project management is a decision-making and anticipation aid.

An Excel project tracker is certainly an option for small-scale projects.

But cloud-based solutions have the advantage of enabling real-time monitoring, whatever the deadline, budget, complexity or number of people involved. Communication is also easier. In a collaborative approach, teamwork is eased, with everyone's tasks clearly defined and accessible.

Gladys

Gladys is a highly intuitive Made in France project management software package that lets you monitor your projects in real time using different display modes (dashboard, Kanban, Gantt, list, etc.). You can identify the indicators you need and track the progress of your projects wherever you are, on your mobile, tablet or computer. You'll also benefit from a task and document manager, instant messaging, a shared diary, pre-configured and customisable project templates and a made-to-measure support programme!

monday.com

Monday.com is an intuitive work management platform that simplifies project management for managers. It offers highly visual dashboards, including the Gantt chart and Kanban view. In this way, managers can monitor the overall progress of the project from a single platform. Ultimately, they can estimate the workload and assess the budget continuously, at every stage of the project.

Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects, an all-in-one project management tool that allows you to track the progress of your projects in an efficient and organised way. You create tasks and assign responsibilities while communicating in real time with your team. Zoho gives you a 360° view of your projects so you can make quick, informed decisions to maximise productivity.

And if you need to manage the monitoring of multiple projects, there are PPM ( Project Portfolio Management)tools for you, such as :

• Clarizen, which enables collaborative monitoring of multiple projects, even for dispersed teams, including tracking of problem resolution, workload plans, time and expenses.
  
  
• z0 Gravity, which provides real-time visibility of the achievement of all your objectives, thanks to a 360° workspace and augmented visualisation modes.

Advantages of project management software

There are so many benefits to be gained from using the right project management software, it would be a shame not to take advantage of them.

Would you like to take a look at some of the benefits? 👇

• Incomparable time savings when it comes to invoicing;
• Centralisation of information entered in the same collaborative workspace, for greater productivity. No need to switch from one platform to another;
• The same level of information is available, making it easier to see and work together;
• Time-based analysis to prevent time overruns and estimate margins per project.

See all software Project Management

Monitor your project closely

The success of a project depends on controlling the time, budget and resources available.

But strategic management (or monitoring) also involves capitalising on the knowledge of your project team and rigorous follow-up, both of which enable you to bounce back easily if a problem arises.

The benefits are obvious: time savings, financial savings, competitiveness, productivity, customer satisfaction, and also the satisfaction of your staff, which leads to motivation and greater commitment to your side for future projects!