Archive for August, 2009

An introduction to Project Management Software and Time Management Software

Saturday, August 29th, 2009

Project Management Software encompasses many different types of software that work together for managing any project. Some of them are cost control software, budget management and collaboration software, quality management, scheduling software and documentation or administration systems whose functions are to ensure that the project is tackled in a correct manner. On the other hand, Time Management Software may be defined as software which is used for planning as well as scheduling time, generally with the purpose of enhancing the efficacy or efficiency of any project.

Project Management Software has some tasks or actions. One of its actions is scheduling or planning the succession of events. The complication of this particular task may fluctuate depending on the way this tool is used. Another task of this software is calculation of the critical paths which are found in various complicated schedules which contributes towards the optimization of the project timings. Project Management Software also provides plenty of information to different people in order to rationalize the amount of time spent on its usage.

There are different approaches to Project Management Software. It can be applied in the form of a program which can be run on every users desktop. This includes both graphically-intense and non-graphically intense interfaces. It can also be implemented as a Web application which is accessible by means of an intranet or an extranet using a web browser. Project Management Software can also be used as an application for the management of personal projects such as running lifestyle or home projects. Generally speaking the interfaces for single user systems would be simpler than for those designed for more than one user.

The Time Management Software is extremely simple to use. Once it is installed this software will assist in working with several projects without any feeling of being weighed down. With Time Management Software one is able to take over, organize as well as manage multiple projects in a central place. With the help of Time Management Software the larger projects can be divided into a number of smaller steps by using the number of levels required. This helps in efficient organization of a project and aids in controlling time as opposed to being controlled by it.

Project Management Software also helps in separating projects from the tasks which in turn assists in focusing on the outcomes and not only on actions. Time Management Software makes for productive planning of the day to day activities pertaining to the projects. One knows the daily progress of each project and also what goals to achieve for a particular day or week or month with the help of this software. It is clear therefore, that Time Management Software is of great help when it comes to effective time management of any project. It enables a person to work systematically and at the same time helps him or her in the optimum management of time on that particular project.

Both Project Management Software as well as Time Management Software are very useful today. Both simple and complex projects need these types of software to ensure timely and successful completion.

Benefits of Construction Project Management Software

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Project management is a concept that is used to efficiently manage the resources the way that they should be handled. Every project has different terms and ways of management, therefore it is important that you understand the limitations and try to overcome them.

A construction project management is entirely different from other types of project management. It includes getting construction project leads, selecting the construction area, design, architecture, cost involved and other aspects. With the introduction of construction softwares, it has now become easier to feed relevant information about the project in a single database and to build the reports for a client presentation later. Further, you save yourself from making a mistake or leaving an important point by using construction software.

With the construction software industry continuously evolving, vendors across the market are trying to come up with new features to make project management easier. These new additions will help the contractor to operate more efficiently and adopt easier & smoother work practices.

Construction management softwares have many benefits besides reducing the need of paperwork and preventing logjams. It is the increased demand of real time data that has zeroed the paper reporting work. With real time reporting, contractors can track the cost of the project instantly as well as review the updated cost of the job from anywhere. In this way, you can monitor the construction budget more closely and effectively that further helps to provide clear updates to clients.

Apart from helping in making the payroll and tracking the job cost, a construction software also works for projects that include documents like submittals, RFI’s and change orders. These days construction softwares allow the paperwork to be created, reviewed, submitted and approved online, which removes the need to take print outs of documents and keeping a hard copy. The software not only makes the process easier and efficient, but also reduces the chances of errors.

You can also manage the documents that are now produced within the software through construction management software. After scanning the document, attach it to the transaction record and you can easily refer to it for answering queries.

Earlier these project management softwares were extremely costly and only big construction companies were able to afford them. But the increasing competition has slashed down the rates of these softwares. You can buy affordable software that would monitor the job schedules, make notes, link to job cost transactions, give critical path information as well as provide relevant information to the management. These highly complex features are now featured with all the construction software and can improve the efficiency of operations.

The article is written by a construction software designer working for Construction Wire. Get information about construction project leads.

How to Earn a Project Management Certification With Ease

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

Project Management is one of the hottest careers in the world today. Project managers with proven skills and experience can find exciting, well-paid and high potential job opportunities in a wide range of fields.
However, the job market and company’s employers have became more demanding today as they would require and desire a PM certification for anyone that they would like to recruit as project manager. The significance of the certificate demonstrate the necessary mastery on projects on the job which is required.

Employers recognize the certification as evidence of an individual’s commitment to increase both theirs and their company’s efficiency and productivity with adequate skill sets. Certification is also becoming the standard if you want to compete in today’s fast-paced workplace. There are many certifications on project management which are available today,

1.The PMP Certificate Program - This program offers the PMP Certificate Program on-site for employers from all types of industries, namely for manufacturing, software technology, biotechnology, health care, construction, etc with customization.

The skills and knowledge you gain in this course will help you avoid making costly mistakes and increase your competitive edge in this profession. The PMP certifications can be achieved through some tough examinations.

2.The CAPM credential recognizes a demonstrated understanding of the fundamental knowledge, processes and terminology as defined in the book on PMBOK Guide that are needed for effective managing project skills.

The CAPM was created for project team members, and entry-level project management employees working to establish and demonstrate fundamental project management knowledge. The CAPM provides a view of the process and terminology of project assessment and provides employers with an indication of knowledge level. It also provides opportunity for less experienced team members to learn the standard project management terminology and processes.

3.And if you are already an experienced PM or a senior level manager who wanted to get some additional skills, then APMC is for you ( APMC refers to advance PM certificate ) , you should enroll in this program to expand your knowledge focusing on today’s higher-level strategic PM issues. This program is ideal if you are a PMP. The APMC program is designed to help you deal with complex project management issues you face everyday, from managing risk and quality to managing portfolios and multiple projects.

4.If you have 3+ years experience of managing projects and the required education, you may apply for MPM ( Master Project Manager) Board Certification or CIPM ( Certified international project manager )to better equip yourself with a more advanced certificate for your career path.

The Project Management Institute’s (PMI), Project Management Professional (PMP) credential was developed to provide an indication of project management skill level. With the growing importance of Project handling techniques, the importance of recognized certificates in PM is growing. In this situation it becomes really important that one gets proper certificates from a well-know institute to make sure that he or she stands a chance of having a successful career as a project Manager.

A certification in the PM field may help one in making a giant leap in your career. Preparing for the PMP certification exam is a tough job. Although it may be a time consuming, and tough at the same time, it can act as a great resource for you to be paid competitively due to this certification.

For more information about project manager job descriptions and project manager certification, visit ProjectManagerAdvice.com

Project Management Training: Managing Organizational changes

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Organizations across the world are undergoing changes and one change is the changing anatomy of projects. Today, the project scope is getting enlarged from locally bound to global environment, accompanied by new and challenging issues. As the geographical boundaries diminish organizations face globalization which has arrived and is here to stay. In the context of globalization, the traditional way of functioning does not work and importantly for a project manager he has to think out of the box to perform. Organizations and their services are moving beyond the geographical demands resulting in a paradigm shift in managing projects.

When professionals are increasingly expected to be skilled at the principles of project management add on to their other skills, the frontiers of Project Management demand in addition to the basic project management skills. In a fast paced working environment, professionals need to adapt to the new technology to help streamline their projects. Not only project managers have to become more creative but also expand his dimension of thoughts and ways of managing risks, resources and deliverables regardless where the project is being implemented or the project resources are from. These global opportunities confront and challenge a Project Managers old ways and morphing him to grow and affect overall project delivery.

As the things have changed the new project manager is rightly called as the global Project manager. The face of Project Management does not look like what it was as it has undergone many cosmetic surgeries. In the wake of these changes and development for a professional to get his PMP certification is the need of the hour. Project Management training prepares professionals to take on the project challenges heads on with their global teams. The best practices in Project management have proved time and again indispensible for organizations and now in the times of globalization too they have come out strong. Managing organizational changes with a PMP certification comes as a boon for any professional to plan and work with his remote teams and remote projects.

PMP Certification is the most popular and esteemed certifications among PMP aspirants. PMP certification from PMP, USA is a renowned certification according them with the expertise and skills to take on project challenges. Moreover, for a rising career graph and performance a PMP certification by a project manager is an added advantage. PMP certification process involves undertaking PMP exams which requires taking up intensive exam preparation. Project management training is an important aspect of PMP certification and plays a decisive role in attaining this certification. For PMP certification Training in India a name that has made its mark in the project management training is AstroWix Corporation. A register education provider of PMI, it has been providing PMP aspirants project management training for over a decade now.

To know more about PMP® certification Training, Project Management Training Visit : www.astrowix.com

10 Things You Need to Learn From Successful Project Management

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

To be successful in project management is not difficult, the most important facts are to make sure the key items and things which would highly caused the failing of a project to be well taken care of, by designated leads, with great prioritization and attention,

1.All project deliverables and project activities must be visualized and communicated in vivid detail.
- In short, the project manager and project team have the same focus in the same direction by knowing what are the priorities and expectation for the project . Avoid vague descriptions at all costs.

2.Project managers must focus on the three dimensions of project success
-which means to complete all project deliverables on time, within budget, and within agreeable level of quality as defined by and to sponsors and stakeholders. The project manager must keep the team’s attention focused on achieving these broad goals.

3.Top management must actively set priorities.
-In today’s world , it is common for project team members to play active roles in many projects at the same time. Ultimately, there comes a time when resources are stretched to their limits .
-In response, some organizations have established a Project management Office to act as a clearinghouse for projects requests. The Project Office reviews the organization’s overall mission and strategies, establishes criteria for project selection and funding, monitors resource workloads, and determines which projects are of high priority to be approved, to prevent multi-project log jams

4.Successful projects work great with a proven time tested project life cycle tool
-Models such as the standard ISD model helps to tailor in professional standards and best practices into our project plans. These models support quality and help reduce rework as much as possible.

5.Project managers must enforce on-time management and sense of urgency.
-Because every projects are finite endeavors with limited time, money, and other resources available, they must be kept moving toward completion. It’s up to the project manager to keep their team focusing on project deliverables and deadlines. Regular status checks, meetings, and reminders are essential and cannot do without.

6.Project manager responsibility must be matched by equivalent authority.
-Project managers must obtain equivalent authority to execute their responsibilities to drive the success of any projects. Specifically, managers must have the authority to acquire and coordinate resources, set expectations, give instructions, set priorities, and resolve any disputes in the team. He is also authorized to make appropriate, binding decisions which would have major impact on the success of any project.

7.A good manager is a good communicator. If you have an aptitude for management, you have the Midas touch of great interpersonal skills, eliciting others hidden strength and skill sets, and to work with you to obtain the best results for any projects or initiatives. Good communication skills can infect everyone, and the management point of view is a great way to manage “up”-building lines of communication with the people over whom you have no power.

8.Good management of resource allocation: how to juggle Good (quality), Cheap (money and other tangible resources) and Fast (deadlines and perceived convenience) when coordinating a project.
-Each project resources allocate and has an agreed upon ratio on these three resources. - This ratio is sometimes called the expectations of the project. If there are any issues with any one of these resources, alert the upper management about the problem as early as possible and also you need to be able to suggest alternatives to the management that will either solve the problem or minimize it. These other alternatives may propose the use of additional resources beyond the current budget, or as the final resort, they may even review and propose a change in the objective which make it more achievable.

9.A good project manager listen and empathy: This is the integral part of communication. One need to be able to listen and understand what’s going on. Empathy is the softer side of listening and truth. You should be able to understand how people feel, why they feel that way, and what you can do to make them feel differently. Empathy is especially important when you’re dealing with your customers as this makes them come back for your service.

10.Division of Work
This is an activity of breaking down large tasks into sub-tasks which are easier to get managed. These sub-tasks can be assigned to a larger groups of individual employees. Ideally you want to figure out how to accomplish a large objective by dividing the work up into manageable pieces. However you also need to provide careful attention to the interdependencies among each division and to carefully assess each employee’s strengths and weaknesses to the best possible way.

For more information about project management and steps and project management skills, visit ProjectManagerAdvice.com

PMP Certification: Enhance your Project Management Competency

Monday, August 17th, 2009

Projects in the 21st century are way more complex than the ones that were executed earlier. With the rapid advancement in technology and business situations that are ever changing, it is has become imperative that project managers and project team member implement proven practices to execute their projects. In this scenario, PMP Certification has become a must have tool for professionals as it instills in them all the necessary knowledge and best practices in project management. It also certifies that the professional has the required skills for achieving project results.

The need for project management discipline arose by the businesses that realized the advantages of organizing work in projects and the necessity to communicate and coordinate work better across departments and teams. The roots of Project management go much farther than it is known but to put it in the modern sense began in the early 1960s. Amidst the talk of projects and project management implementation, the role of the project manager emerges as one of great importance and responsibility. Project management training and certifications thus have become an important aspect of any project management professionals career. For a smooth flow of a project, it is the project manager’s job to direct, supervise and control the project from beginning to end It is formal project management training that equips them with skills to

PMP Certification is offered by Project Management Institute (PMI), which is globally recognized. This certification not only addresses the requirements of project managers in project integration, quality, cost, human resources, risk and time but importantly builds up skills in communication management too. In India, for PMP Certification, AstroWix is a Registered Education Provider of PMI providing PMP Certification Preparation to help professionals get the PMP Certification, USA.

PMP certification requires rigorous training and preparation. AstroWix with its years of experience in the field Project Management assists professionals in preparing them to identify their strengths & weaknesses and improve their various skills that are required for successful passing the PMP certification exam. AstroWix is one of the few recognized names to help candidates for PMP certification preparation with a pass success rate of 100%, which is far above the average. Individuals who pass this certification find the Project Management skills effective to execute projects and effectively communicate with all stakeholders.

To know more about PMP certification project management training Visit www.astrowix.com

How to Choose a Project Management Training Program

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

A Project is a temporary and unique endeavor, with a defined beginning and end, to reach specific goals and objectives within time, budget and technical constraints. Project Management helps us to achieve project goals by optimizing processes through proper planning, organization and allocation of resources and integration of sub-processes within the project. Project Management skills are in demand by a wide range of sectors, ranging from engineering and construction to IT, health care and administration.

Project Management Training Programs are usually sought by:
Individuals who want to launch their career in the field or working professionals who want to advance their careers, by enhancing their ability to motivate people, effectively handle complex projects, and learn advanced project management techniques to ensure cost-effective results for their company.
Corporate looking forward to train project managers and employees to increase their organizational effectiveness; smoothen and simplify their workflows; increase coordination between teams working on a project across borders; and ensure on-time delivery of a project with higher profit margins.

To choose a Project Management Training Program that works for you, it is necessary to meditate upon your objectives and desired results from the course. A number of universities and institutes offer hordes of this Programs, online and offline, with varied curriculum and at varied levels to serve their target audience. The trick is to choose a program at an appropriate level that trains you in skills that you and your industry require. You also have to see whether you are interested in joining a program that includes general management skills or not.

Working professionals may prefer part-time or online courses that allow them the flexibility to sustain a full-time job and study as well while a fresher usually goes for regular courses that might also offer practical experience through internships in leading industries. The past track record of the institute or university in providing internships and placement assistance to its project management training graduates might be a good indicator of what you can expect at the end of the course. Corporate and business firms might choose on-site this programs or sponsor their individual employees for reputable project management training courses, depending on the group size of the employees and how personalized they want the training to be.

It is very important to verify the accreditation of the institute and qualifications of instructors who are conducting the Project Management Training Program you choose. You have every right to demand full details of academic and professional achievements of the instructors who are going to teach you. Ideally, an instructor of a Project Management Training Course should have academic as well as extensive industry experience in the related field. Accreditation of an institute guarantees that it meets certain basic standards of education quality and contents of the course.

Last but not the least, you should look for a Project Management Training Program that provides ample practice and offers applied knowledge. The skills and concepts you learn in the program will need to be put in use on a regular basis. Hence, a program that helps you implement your knowledge and lessons on simulated and real projects are more effective in evaluation of how much you have actually learned from the program. Project Management Training Programs, at higher levels, can provide excellent opportunities to network and collaborate with industry leaders. Hence, if you are going for advanced project management training, looking at a list of alumni and classmates is a good idea too.

IIPMR provides detailed information on Project Management Training, Project Management Certification and PMP Certification, IIPMR recommends that you visit www.iipmr.org for more information.

Hospitals of Esslingen County choose InLoox as their enterprise project management software

Monday, August 10th, 2009

Streamlined collaboration and improved workflow

Munich, 2009-02-17,

The company management preferred InLoox because of its intuitive user interface and its outstanding integration in Microsoft Outlook (the groupware solution from Microsoft). InLoox reduces instruction and training efforts to a minimum. Users accept project management even more when the solution is embedded in a system they are already familiar with from day-to-day business.

Hospitals of Esslingen County ensure professional medical services at the locations Kirchheim, Nuertingen, Plochingen and Ruit in Germany. Each Project involves various specialists - often distributed throughout the enterprise. For example, the new building complex project at the location Nuertingen concerns medical staff, project teams and management executives all at once. This requires a solutions that coordinates resources in real-time, regardless of location, department or branch. In order to meet these challenging demands, the corporation was looking for an enterprise-proven software solution.
“We demanded a software simple-to-use, yet suitable for project management in an enterprise environment. Lengthy training sessions for our 300 users throughout the organization would have been way too costly”, explains Gerhard Bauer, the customer’s IT division leader.

InLoox now empowers the four hospitals to manage projects efficiently and successfully. This includes project planning, resource allocation, project document management, time and expense recording as well as project accounting and reporting. Besides, InLoox provides a powerful notification feature: stakeholders and executive officers, who are not directly involved in a project, can be informed about its status and the expected completion date. In addition, team leaders have access to the progress of all construction tasks in their division. Easy-to-use role permissions secure project data in a very powerful and flexible way.
Redundant work is drastically reduced, as are planning and reporting overhead; medical personnel have more time, allowing them to focus on their core competence.

Moreover, InLoox complies with the customer’s complex Citrix/Terminal Server farm. The project management software fulfils this requirement without drawbacks. InLoox uses the existing Microsoft Active Directory structure for its own permission management and access control. Also, the replication feature of Microsoft SQL Server is fully supported, providing a centrally deployable offline-use. Hence, InLoox has shown to be the ideal choice for the enterprise that uses Microsoft and Citrix technology extensively.

The complete solution for over 300 terminals (software + installation + training) was implemented by the distributor OptCon within only few man-days. Due to the Terminal Server infrastructure users are able to access InLoox from each computer at each location with a single InLoox client access license.

Please find more press releases on the InLoox website.
About IQ medialab

InLoox is a product of IQ medialab, an innovative manufacturer of software solutions, based in Munich. The company is a partner for modern IT and multimedia technology and is engaged in the ongoing professional development of business software solutions geared to optimizing productivity and competitiveness. Founded in 1999, IQ medialab sees its core business in the project management system InLoox, which is fully integrated with Microsoft Outlook. Over 750 companies from all sectors of business have put their trust in the know-how of IQ medialab. Well-known customers of IQ medialab include: Alcatel Space Operations, Storopack, Liebherr Household Appliances, LTN Liechtenstein, German Tenants’ Association, Munich Airport, KfW (German Federal Reconstruction Loan Corporation), Microsoft Network, NDR (North German Broadcasting Service), German Federal Environment Agency and ZDF (German State Television Channel Two).

IQ medialab develops software solutions that integrate, simplify and accelerate your business processes. Our flagship product is InLoox, the project management software which is integrated in Microsoft Outlook. InLoox has more than 25.000 users.