Project management in the digital age

Project mode is very popular. Many companies are adopting it. It's popular for its cross-functional approach and the way it's implemented. But as easy as it may seem, it's not something you're born with. Without tools and methods, there is a high risk of failure, budget overruns and delays. Read all our reviews of project management software.

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Project management and its four key dimensions

Bringing a project to fruition means bringing together a diverse and varied set of conditions.

The members

The choice of profiles

A good project is above all a good team. But how do you put it together? You start with the skills you need. Choose complementary areas of expertise. On paper, your team will have everything it takes to succeed. But from a human point of view, it's just as many people, each with their own personality, who are going to have to work together towards a common goal. Will the chemistry work? Will they connect? Difficult to guarantee.

The role of the project manager

The management of human resources in project mode is essential. And this is where the team leader has a crucial role to play. As a leader of men, he or she must mobilise each member of the team individually and as a team, by understanding the challenges that each person faces in view of the collective stakes involved. In addition, they must have an overall view of the project's progress or delays.

Resources

Allocation

Human resources are the capital allocated to the project. But very often, the team members mobilised here are also mobilised elsewhere at the same time. To give a clear picture of the project's potential progress, you need to be able to estimate each person's workload and deduce their availability.

Their limits

If human resources have their limits, so do finances. Firstly, because of the time spent remunerating staff. But also in terms of the costs and investments associated with the project. It may be necessary to rent a meeting room, a workspace, dedicated IT equipment, specific machines in certain cases, etc.

The processes

There are the resources, both human and financial, and the way in which they are deployed. These are the processes, with their associated work methodology. But very often, the bureaucratic or protocol aspect takes precedence. And the means of communicating, whether to request authorisation or simply to exchange views with colleagues, are poorly adapted. More and more emails are sent out, either bilaterally or to the team's mailing list, and finding information is a real headache.

The tools

Working methods are intrinsically linked to the tools used and the possibilities they offer. If each member of the team uses a different tool, either out of habit or as a matter of course, incompatibilities are likely to arise. This may mean exporting in one or more formats, so that the other members of the team can open it. The heterogeneity of the tools adds time-consuming and laborious handling.

When the project turns into a nightmare

If a company embarks on a project without considering the above points, it could pay a high price.

Let's take the example of a project, planned over six months, bringing together the departments of different international subsidiaries. The time difference will be an aspect to be taken into account. As some people will be in Asia while others will be in Europe or the Americas, it will be necessary to work at different times. If collective meetings, by videoconference for example, become impossible because of the time constraints, exchanges will mainly be in writing.

And if the only means of communication is by email, the risks of confusion and wasted time are high. Let's say a mailing list is set up for the team. If, for one reason or another, one of the emails is skipped over for the umpteenth "reply to all", the recipient in question will miss out on a whole series of exchanges, as well as any attachments that may come with them. If he continues to work on his own, on his obsolete version of a document, it will then have to be reconciled and consolidated with the others.

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Digital technology for successful projects

Project mode is expected to be a source of agility. To maintain this quality, it is essential to equip yourself with the appropriate tools, capable of streamlining both exchanges and processes. Various dedicated software packages exist. Genius Project is one of them. With its unique, ergonomic interface, it is quick and easy to use. Its EDM (Electronic Document Management) enables dynamic management of work media. Everyone can access each other's changes in real time and share information using the social collaboration platform. The project manager also has up-to-date visibility of everyone's availability. As a result, the collaborative approach takes over, and progress is optimised.


Projects are subject to strict quality, cost and deadline constraints. To meet them, your best ally will be the relevance of the methods you use. Thanks to digital technology, there are now tools that can be adapted to your company, such as Genius Project, to give project teams every chance of succeeding under the best possible conditions.