How Project Management Software Improves Your B2B Business & Productivity

Well, as we work in the business to business industry, we often hear about the terms “Project management.” What does it mean?

If you go by the actual meaning, it is a sophisticated method of managing a project or workflow of an organization. The management of projects requires physical and mental efforts by the company’s members to achieve aimed results.

The project management also decides a systematic approach as to which action shall be taken first and what should be the next following step. That’s precisely what happens through project management. It draws an outline of the work to be successfully done.

In the case of B2B marketing, project management plays a pivotal role as a bundle of campaigns are launched at once, racing to meet competition and succeed. The deadlines are stiff, and milestones need to be achieved. These are not typical projects that will live through mere workplace management. They definitely need a well-thought plan to be executed under supervision.

With project management comes a plethora of benefits of using it. Some of them are like:

• It improves the chances of making successful results
• It sets the scope, budget, and schedule rightly from the first stage
• It decides the priority of business and works it accordingly
• Project management reduces the risk of losses and controls funds
• It boosts customer satisfaction
• It gives a competitive edge over others
• Encourage communication among the team members and productivity

Therefore, project management for B2B companies is beneficial. There are plenty of tools that offer project or task management, such as real-time communication, time tracking, progress tracking, calendar platforms, project financial reporting, etc. Project management is vital for B2B companies due to loss of funds, mismanaged functioning, or lack of coordination.

Generally, a project management method works under five stages.

• Stage 1: Initiating
• Stage 2: Planning
• Stage 3: Executing
• Stage 4: Monitoring & Controlling
• Stage 5: Closing

• Stage 1: Initiating – In this stage, the information is collected from the project before launching it officially. Related strengths and weaknesses are discovered. A goal is set, keeping the scope, project participants, and prospects in mind. The management team identifies groups or organizations who hold interests in the project in the form of stakeholders. They are later approached for funding.
• Stage 2: Planning – The project is well-analyzed and planned in the second stage. Planning is done to ensure the objectives are achieved within the mentioned timeline. The planning includes documents like stakeholders list, funds baseline, communication plan, etc.
• Stage 3: Execution – The documents issues and related problems arise. The decisions are well performed and documented in a file solely formed for the project.
• Stage 4: Monitoring & Control – Periodic reports are created to analyze the project’s performance, track usage of resources, and estimate the progress and future status of the project. The effectiveness of the actions is monitored, and faulty steps are controlled to eliminate the risk factor.
• Stage 5: Closing – A report is created to document what worked for the project and what failed. This is done to share the authenticity and transparency of the project. It also ensures the same faults do not recur in future projects.

Now that we know about the concept of project management for the B2B industry, its advantages, and various stages it works upon. It is time to see how business-to-business companies can use project management software and tools to enhance operations.

Slack:It is a known and prominently used messaging application for office teams. Slack can create different channels to organize your projects, topics, or only any group discussion. You can send direct messages to your team member or even a group of members. The option to launch voice calls or video conferences makes it suitable for members working from remote areas. The project members can share files, videos, and other confidential documents by maintaining security through Slack. For any project management, communication is critical. Therefore, it is an efficient software application for that purpose.

As said by Hunter & Bard,

“If your organization isn’t using Slack, stop what you’re doing and get it now. Right now. Seriously. Slack has brought our distributed and diverted team together and has become our virtual cafeteria. It has reduced our internal emails to nil and has enhanced our productivity. It’s just wonderful. We love Slack.” 

Wrike: It is a convenient tool for project management for companies with any size of teams. You can create projects, request forms, manage and edit documents, create Gantt Charts, and track time and budget. Wrikealso enables users to create to-do lists and sync with calendars.

MindMeister: It is an online mind mapping software for project management, which allows users to seize, design, and share ideas visually. MindMeisterlets a bunch of team members discuss using an integrated chat section and converting mind maps into presentations. It’s a useful app for event planning and brainstorming project plans.

As per StoreYa Blog,

“If you wish to brainstorm ideas, but creating a list just isn’t your cup of tea, then this app is right for you. You can map out the ideas so that you can get a clear and visual understanding of executing your ideas.” 

Scrumy: One of the very essential tools for improving B2B project management is Scrumy. It is excellent for software developers as it is an online sticky-notes application with added features.

Image Source: https://blog.trello.com/beginners-guide-scrum-and-agile-project-management

As per a review by TechRadar,

“Organising a team to work on a project can be difficult, time-consuming, and stressful – or you can simply use Scrumy. You don’t need any registration, just enter a project name and you’re off. Scrumy is basic, but also convenient to use and effective.”

Mavenlink: It is a unified project management tool for accounting, resource management, time management, business intelligence, project financial reporting, team collaboration, and task assignment. The online project management tool is designed to integrate with various platforms to extend its operating capabilities. Mavenlink can be integrated with Google, JIRA, NetSuite, and more.

Teamwork: A prevalent software for project management as it helps in assigning tasks to each member uniformly. This can be accessed from the desktop as well as mobile phones (Android and IOS), so the members can work remotely too. You can also use Teamwork to create a checklist format to keep track of daily, weekly, quarterly, or annual work reports.

eXo Platform: This software application is excellent to manage project dashboard, wiki, internal communication, calendar, project portal, etc. it is a business collaboration tool that can be used for the content management system. eXo Platform is created to expand social dimensions that offer a space to other companies of the same type of work. This improves the functionality and productivity of your organization. 

Conclusion:

Running a successful project is no easy deal. A team of efficient members spends hours brainstorming, analyzing, and creating a plan that works best. Project management software help companies ease their job by keeping reports, documents, and records of every small detail. They secure the future of your business and creates a transparent way of working. The tools, as mentioned earlier, will enable your company to have smooth project management and execution. It will not only be limited to smooth functioning, but it will also boost the team’s morale as a whole.