The struggle is real – keeping projects on track and teams aligned is a constant struggle for project managers. Every year, there’s a new batch of software tools and methodologies promising to revolutionize how we work. But how much of it is just fluff peddled by overpriced consultants?
There is a lot of noise related to the PM hype out there. That’s why I did a dive into what’s actually working today based on real insights from project teams in the trenches, not miracle-product marketing speak. Here are some top tools and techniques proven to streamline project execution this year:
Rethink Those Update Meetings
Regular update meetings are now an embedded ritual for manufacturing product development. But have you noticed how they often devolve into long winded status updates or problem-solving sessions? Are update meetings really needed or are they a waste of people’s time?
Today, smart teams are moving to Slack (or Microsoft Teams for the corporate diehards). Using a dedicated Slack channel, team members post their daily updates async-style with issues, roadblocks, and priorities for the day. The whole team gets visibility, but without having to spend 30 minutes listening to Fred ramble.
Any crucial impediments or escalations can be flagged with an @here mention. Otherwise, teammates can just skim the updates at their convenience. This async approach is proving way more efficient than calling a full meeting.
Automate Your Project Reporting
Remember the days when project managers had to manually consolidate status reports and metrics from disparate systems into PowerPoint slides? What a nightmare. Today, that busywork is getting automated with new reporting tools.
Tools like the corporate world’s preferred Microsoft’s Project Software offer similar automated reporting capabilities worth checking out to streamline your command center. Excellent as MS Project is, for the manufacturing world, unless you are developing something as complicated as a new airplane it’s a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Smartsheet, software that feels a bit like Excel can handle most project management tasks and will generate dashboards on the fly. Anyone can see a real time status update at the click of a mouse or on your smartphone.
No more late nights formatting slides – these platforms serve up real-time project insights on a silver platter.
Stop Letting Issues Fall Through the Cracks
It can get complicated with so many communication tools that businesses use.
How many issues and action items still get lost in the endless Slack, Whatsapp, IM, Skype channels and email threads? Too many, that’s for sure. There’s a smarter way to manage that feedback loop.
Because so many corporations use Microsoft Office as standard, people tend to gravitate towards Excel as a project management tool. Don’t. It’s not designed for project management and can be really clumsy. Ditch those haphazard spreadsheets and start using tools like Smartsheet, ClickUp or Jira.
No more important tasks slipping through the cracks or getting buried in communication debt. These tools keep stakeholder feedback and work items organized, prioritized, and transparently tracked from submission to resolution.
Prioritize Async Collaboration
Notice a theme here? Excessive meetings and synchronous status check-ins are killing productivity for remote and hybrid teams. The most efficient teams nowadays are adapting by going “async” as much as possible. This is where team members do their work at a time that suits them, rather than being binded by office hours. Even if they are all contributing to the same project, there is no need for the team to all be online at the same time.
Aside from moving updates to Slack, teams are also leveraging asynchronous video platforms like Loom to replace meetings that don’t require real-time collaboration. Product managers can use Loom to record walkthroughs, new product development, or provide design feedback in short videos. Developers can async-reply with follow up questions or screen recordings of their own work.
Instead of dragging everyone into a long Zoom session, these async videos boost transparency while allowing team members to watch and respond on their own schedule. Async collaboration enables people to work through requests and deliverables in focused bouts without constant context switching.
The project management world hypes up plenty of buzz-worthy concepts that don’t really pan out. But the techniques and tools highlighted above are legitimately streamlining teamwork in business today.
