Project management is a key action in information technology companies. This important step depends on the success of a new software or a system built for an organization. Project management ensures that the objectives of what has been proposed will be achieved in the estimated time and in the agreed conditions. Before you understand the importance of project management, you need to understand what a project really is.  

Continue reading and understand the importance and how project management works! 

Invest time to plan 

No project starts before much time is invested in the planning stage. Planning ensures that all variables are thought before the project actually begins to run. Planning is important so that the execution conditions are estimated so that the actions can be performed with a safety orientation. Many systems companies, in the eagerness to start the project soon, devote little time to the planning stage. This is detrimental to the project because you miss the chance to do more detailed research on what you want to accomplish. The design of the system including the maintenance management software used and its functions may be unspecific and a minimum time is devoted to testing other similar systems. To avoid inaccuracies in the future, learn to spend a lot of time in the planning stage. 

Set the scope well 

The scope of the project is what will define everything that will be accomplished, so draw a clear and objective scope. If you are going to do project management for the construction of new software, it is within the scope that the functions of that software, the technical specifications needed, the expected timeframe, and other key details should be defined. One maxim governs project management: only what is foreseen in the scope of the project will be executed, nothing more. That is why defining the scope is such an important step and should be done based on the client's listening and their needs. It is very important that the scope has no subjectivities and is recorded in the document and approved by the client before the actual execution. 

Align expectations 

This is an important topic and should be viewed in detail with your client. Often the customer wants software and creates expectations much larger than the product itself can handle. For example, if you want sales software that reduces the billing time for a company's business transactions, it is interesting to show how the software will contribute to it technically. It should be noted that the existence of software alone will not increase sales volume, as this depends on other external variables including asset performance metrics like MTBF and MTTR. Therefore, the customer should understand the meaning of MTBF and MTTR before applying the metrics. The software will facilitate from the moment the sale is completed, streamlining the procedures necessary for billing. This should be very clear to the client to understand the function of what is being built. 

Have a project management software

Good project management software can make it much easier to follow up. Microsoft Project is known to many managers and is very easy to use. Project management experts consider it to be more of a schedule manager than a de facto project, but it greatly facilitates the transactions. The software helps in the general monitoring of the project, in the division of tasks, in the visualization of what has already been or is not fulfilled. They can also generate productivity reports and graphs that serve to drive the team's work pace. Creating alerts can support and remind members about relevant activities and timelines in the progress of the project. 

Project management involves many activities, but for everything to really work, you need to have effective communication with the team. The project manager is the one to guide and give guidance. Communication channels that make a difference in the progress of the project and in the resolution of issues should be elected.