Project Planning Software

How can project planning software support you?

Project planners often struggle with a lot of scattered information about a project that they need to bring together in order to create a transparent project plan. Project planning software can help to provide all information - from budgets, resource utilization and tasks to relevant documents - with just a few clicks, without having to gather it from different systems.

In contrast to simple to-do lists, project planners can use software to get an overview of their project in real time at any time, with the individual pieces of information being linked interactively. For example, if a team member completes a task and marks it as done, this is automatically updated in the project plan. In this way, all team members have access to the current progress of the project at all times and can always make decisions based on up-to-date data.

Project planning with project planning software

Every project should begin with a concrete project objective. The desired project results are specified in a project order, a catalog of requirements or specifications.

The project planning then describes in detail how the project objectives are to be achieved. The following elements should be included in project planning software:

1. Task Management
2. Scheduling
3. Resources
4. Budgeting
5. Communication

1. Task Management

The overarching objectives of a project are broken down into individual tasks that are manageable in terms of time and content. Tasks that belong together in terms of content can be grouped together in so-called collective tasks in order to structure the project plan more clearly. You can assign tasks to the members of the project team for each individual task in the InLoox project management software. In this way, the project planning software makes it clear at all times what needs to be done by whom and by when.

2. Scheduling

A time frame should be defined for each activity. It is not only important to put activities in a sensible logical and chronological order, but also to define the dates for milestones and deadlines. Time planning can be visualized in the project planning software in the form of a Gantt chart, for example. With InLoox, this visual overview makes it easier to coordinate and plan your projects.

3. Resource Management

As part of project planning, it is also important to get an overview of the available resources. Resources can be employees, rooms, machines, infrastructure, software and much more. These should be utilized as efficiently as possible with the tasks at hand, but not overloaded. With InLoox, not only project commitments but also other calendar dates are taken into account when allocating resources.

4. Budgeting

In addition to the quality of the results and the time available, the project finances are of course a decisive factor. Budget planning determines the available financial resources, the expected income and expenditure and how these are to be distributed. Based on an effort estimate for the individual tasks and the individual hourly rates of the project staff, the corresponding personnel cost planning can be created in the project planning software.

5. Communication

A project depends on the optimal flow of information between the project participants. To ensure this, responsibilities and competencies must first be clearly defined. On the one hand, project managers must maintain an overview of the project landscape and always keep an eye on the current level of progress; on the other hand, team members must always be informed of the latest changes. With the help of project planning software, many communication tasks can be automated. This means that project participants are neither inundated with information nor do they miss important information or changes. In InLoox, you can finely configure when and how project participants should be informed automatically - for example, if there are changes to a task.

Project planning is always subject to change during the implementation of the project. Adjustments are made time and again as part of project organization. Goals and requirements change, activities take longer than expected or resources are not available as planned. All of this can make it necessary to change the plan. Particularly in the case of complex projects and extensive plans, one change can result in numerous other changes to the project planning.

If a project is planned without project planning software, it is very easy for a project manager to lose sight of the big picture. Project planning software supports project managers, teams and external partners in all of the aforementioned project planning subtasks.

How do you find the right project planning software?

Users of project planning software should first clarify for themselves whether they want to operate the solution on their own server or obtain it as a service in the cloud. InLoox, for example, offers both options: The software solutions for project planning are offered both as a cloud solution and as an on-premise solution. The SaaS editions InLoox Professional and InLoox Enterprise are particularly suitable for companies that use Microsoft 365, for example, or want to stop operating and maintaining their own servers. For all companies that want to continue hosting project data on their own servers, the InLoox On-Prem Edition is the best choice.

With the InLoox project planning software, users can also choose whether they want to plan their projects directly from Microsoft Outlook or in their preferred web browser. The Outlook-integrated and browser-based versions can also be easily combined, as both products work on the same database.

Project management with Microsoft Outlook integration is particularly convenient, as Outlook elements such as appointments, tasks, emails and contacts can be used for projects at the same time. Online project planning software is therefore particularly flexible and well suited for mobile team members, as it is platform and device independent. With the help of a project management app, changes to the project plan can also be tracked on a smartphone while on the move.