Anna Shalomova
PPM Consultant
In any project management process, one shared concept is to define and set clear goals. Achieving the goal may vary depending on which method the PMO director chooses.
Some projects may be simple without the need to track data in detail. But some may require deep analysis and resource planning. As a result, PMO directors or PPM administrators should choose a project management system depending on their project portfolio management needs.
What can the project management system chosen wrong lead to?
Not considering all possible organization’s needs can lead to incorrectly chosen project management systems. It can lead to multiple challenges:
- Miscommunication
- Poor project planning
- Inefficient project administration
- Goals are not achieved
If any of the above challenges describe your current situation, you need the right tool for enhanced project management.
Find a way out to improve the situation
There are plenty of management platforms to choose from. Microsoft is one of the market leaders with several PPM software tools available. Microsoft Planner is suitable for teams with simple task organization. On the contrary, Microsoft Project provides deeper analysis.
Microsoft Project or Microsoft Planner?
Microsoft Project and Planner feature task management, project scheduling, and resource assignment. But these systems are entirely different.
Microsoft Planner is free and included in the Office 365 project subscription package. On the other hand, you need to buy a separate license to use Microsoft Project.
What is Microsoft Planner? A cloud project management system is usually used for a Kanban board method when dealing with easy task management. Team members can collaborate and update tasks on the board. This system can be configurated for the team’s workflow to meet your specific needs. It allows you to group tasks by Bucket, Assignments, Labels, Status, and Priority. One more feature is that MS Planner easily integrates with Microsoft Teams.
Talking Microsoft Project usage – is more advanced. You can monitor deeper time-phased project data, including task dependencies, baselines, roadmaps, programs, portfolio management, etc. Teams get entirely involved. Work effort can be assigned to resources based on task duration. Team members can interact with assigned tasks (create, update, and resolve them), track time. Tasks can be managed in a grid, timeline, and board view filtering by Bucket, Progress, and Finish Date.
Stop losing opportunities
Comparing Microsoft Planner vs Microsoft Project, it’s hard to say which one is better. Organizations need to choose the one that satisfies all their needs. But there is just one clear thing that you can’t keep working just in Excel. You certainly need to choose a project management system if you don’t want to get poor cross-team collaboration and ineffective project management.
In case you decide to use both, check out how to deal with multi-platform integration strategies, approaches, and challenges.
Project management tools offer simple and effective solutions
All Microsoft Project management software brings organizations unsurpassed benefits:
- Project management tools help facilitate good communication among team members, clearly defining goals and expectations and keeping team members on track and focused.
- These tools help maintain budgets due to clear goals and effective communication.
- These tools help enable a cooperative and productive employer-employee work environment, as effective communication gives employees a high sense of importance.
- Through more great organizational practices, the tools help reduce clashing deadlines. Better time management and reminders are always in place.
- They improve project tracking. Good project management tools equal better project monitoring.
Define your needs, requirements, and goals, and choose the most appropriate project management system for your organization.
Find out about automated integration
of Microsoft Project and Office 365 Planner solutions
