While the right solution might differ depending on what you create, there are a few features that your project management software should have to manage large projects.
When you manage projects that have a huge scope, it’s important that the tools you use can accommodate that. Standard project building software is not always designed to manage projects that can have thousands of individual tasks and components.
Project management systems that are built to help you split your projects into smaller, manageable phases while still keeping the big picture and final deadlines in mind is a must. Being able to visualise your timeline and overall progress is important in order to meet your client obligations.
As well as the ‘big picture’, the project management software will also need to be able to help you keep track of every part and hour spent. This is crucial to managing your project margins. While working on large projects can seem like huge money-makers, it’s no secret that the project margins can be extremely slim. Because of this, spending a few extra hours on a task, or having to replace broken parts can quickly cut into the profit you’re making.
The software you use should be able to help your team or project managers to get visibility over these smaller details, to help spot and fix issues before they impact the whole project.
When projects span over months or years, it’s not unheard of for plans to change. Maybe your client gets a new ‘vision’ you need to accommodate, or shortages in supplies cause major delays. Either way, when things don’t go to plan, your software should be able to help you reevaluate and restructure.
Whether it’s being able to modify project briefs to get reapproved by the client, or allowing you to track how changes might need to change your billing totals, the system should be able to accommodate this.
It’s also important that even as plans change, your system keeps a great record of what’s planned, what’s agreed to, and what’s still to happen. This can be anything from signed agreements, emails with new requests, or pictures of the progress.
A good project management system, designed for large projects, should make it super easy to store and retrieve files and information easily. It should also be easy to access for anyone on your team that works on these projects.
Read the "5 Essential project management tools your business needs"
Managing large projects is all about balancing the big picture with the important details. Finding a system that helps, rather than hinders, with this can make a huge impact on how you manage your projects, making tracking and understanding your large projects much easier.
Read Inc.com's 7 Reasons Large Projects Go Over Budget to Learn More