Project Management Tool

[Swango1980]

I was just curious if anyone in here knows of Project Management Tools that could be used for a small company, and if they are any good / expensive?

I run our Consultancy Department, and for well over a decade we have simply used Excel. We use it to create Quotes, set up Jobs, and Close them down before Invoicing them (using another Excel Template). It all works fine, although it isn't really the most efficient.

As we get busier and start to push forward, I would love to have something that makes these tasks so much quicker and simpler. Automatically keeps your client database, to be used for future projects. Generates the quotes and invoices with a push of a button (after minimal editing if required), etc. I guess there may be companies that could create a bespoke product for us, but would be interesting to know if there are other options out there that can be bought of the shelf, not overly expensive and does what we need.

 

[harpo_72]

During my stints of project management we had a series of bespoke software solutions that set out milestones and objectives. But they all really were rubbish and disconnected from reality like the timing plans which never accounted for weather variations, and holiday periods.

We all used to revert back to excel for Gantt charts as opposed to Microsoft project. ( you can drop in shared milestones in and vary dates easily but it was a phaff to share or convert to other software) ..

Do you use excel macros ? If so you could possibly put in forms that could minimise interactions

 

[patricks148]

i use gantt charts and teams planner.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Latterly company policy had me using MS Project…but if I could get away with it I’d often use Excel or dump a plan out of Project into Excel. We used a separate package, name escapes me, for reporting purposes - financials, milestones etc. - but only to capture and collate data from MS Project and MS Excel Finance spreadsheets the company had devised.

 

[Swango1980]

During my stints of project management we had a series of bespoke software solutions that set out milestones and objectives. But they all really were rubbish and disconnected from reality like the timing plans which never accounted for weather variations, and holiday periods.

We all used to revert back to excel for Gantt charts as opposed to Microsoft project. ( you can drop in shared milestones in and vary dates easily but it was a phaff to share or convert to other software) ..

Do you use excel macros ? If so you could possibly put in forms that could minimise interactions

It is a spreadsheet that certainly has some sophistication to speed things along. Most of this rarely needs to be touched or edited, but it's one of those things that when it does, you spend about an hour scratching your head to remember how it was set up originally, and Googling "why will Excel not allow me to do....."

It takes my colleague the best part of a day to go through the process of closing off jobs and invoicing each mont. Stuff like that could probably take less than an hour if it was a simple case of ticking a button to close job, generate invoice, etc.

 

[harpo_72]

It is a spreadsheet that certainly has some sophistication to speed things along. Most of this rarely needs to be touched or edited, but it's one of those things that when it does, you spend about an hour scratching your head to remember how it was set up originally, and Googling "why will Excel not allow me to do....."

It takes my colleague the best part of a day to go through the process of closing off jobs and invoicing each mont. Stuff like that could probably take less than an hour if it was a simple case of ticking a button to close job, generate invoice, etc.

Yes I know what you mean, I am not so proficient in macros and spread sheets. I usually write them as separate functions with explanations so that they remind me. It’s a bit long winded and I am sure some people are laughing their socks off but as you say time can not be wasted.
If you have any staff who are proficient it’s worth setting time aside for them to review and improve or you could look for a summer internship to help